Found a monument

[Boyd]

Wandering around the Atlantic County Park at Estell Manor yesterday, I stumbled across this

And this one was not far away. What is its purpose?

After I got back home, I found the monument on NOAA's website

DATABASE = NGSIDB , PROGRAM = datasheet95, VERSION = 7.87.4
1        National Geodetic Survey,  Retrieval Date = AUGUST 19, 2011
  JU2888 ***********************************************************************
  JU2888  DESIGNATION -  STEEL
  JU2888  PID        -  JU2888
  JU2888  STATE/COUNTY-  NJ/ATLANTIC
  JU2888  USGS QUAD  -  MAYS LANDING (1989)
  JU2888
  JU2888                        *CURRENT SURVEY CONTROL
  JU2888  ___________________________________________________________________
  JU2888* NAD 83(1996)-  39 23 05.48667(N)    074 43 55.09277(W)    ADJUSTED
  JU2888* NAVD 88    -        1.    (meters)      3.    (feet)  SCALED

I created a waypoint on my Montana using averaging, which took about a minute for the unit to claim "100% confidence". Back at home, I imported it into Globalmapper and did this comparison with the actual coordinates. Pretty good.

It was beautiful out yesterday, here's a view of Stephen Creek near the old Belcoville railroad bridge location. But wandering around the park, it's kind of shocking how many big pine trees have been killed by those damn beetles.

 

[Teegate]

They are Geodetic Control Stations. Basically, they used by surveyors to calibrate their equipment and get an accurate readings on where they are. The one with the triangle is the actual station, and the one with the arrow is a reference station. Years ago when they first started placing this type of station around the world they would actually have parties with many of the family members of the men installing them joining in. The reason was they had to build large steel tower called Bilby Towers at the location which sometimes would take days or even a week. The equipment had to be brought in and erected before they could use the towers for their intended purpose.

The towers consisted of two towers, one inside the other and some of them could be 100 feet tall. The center tower would hold the equipment and they would climb up the outer tower so as to not shake or disturb the inner one. Then on a clear night they would place a light at the top of multiple tower sometimes miles apart and use the light on each tower to calculate their exact location. Hanging from the center of the middle tower would be the steel pointer aligned exactly in the center of the hole which you can see in the middle of the triangle on your photo.

Because this operation was so involved, they had concerns that if the station was disturbed it would be a major undertaking to replace them in the exact location again. So to elevate that problem they usually placed two and sometimes three "reference marks" ( the one with the arrow on it) in close proximity to the station with the arrow pointing exactly at the station. So if the station was destroyed they would just find the point where the two or three arrows intersected and the station could easily be replaced. With the introduction of GPS technology the reference marks are not as important anymore, so when they are destroyed they are not replaced. I found the "Sleeper" reference mark laying on the side of the road in Wharton and reported it damaged, and I have a written letter from the Geodetic Survey saying that it would not be replaced and if I wanted it I could have it. It now resides in my side yard. So Boyd you need to look again to see if you can find the second reference mark which surely was or is there. Look the data sheet over for that info.

The Sleeper. It appeared to me to have been removed by equipment when road work was being done to eliminate flooding or puddles in the road.

You can read more about Bilby Towers here.

http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/magazine/bilby/welcome.html

And for those of you who have never viewed one you can easily find a few at various location in the pines. If you are at the Atsion Ranger station just walk up to the highest point along 206 in the field and you will find the Atsion station. Along the woods line nearby is one of the reference marks. At the fire tower in Batsto you can easily find the Batsto reference mark on the far side of the fence, and occasionally you can find the station showing in the ground about 5 feet from the tower.

It must have been an interesting time back in the early 1930 when these tower were erected all over the pines in some really remote locations. Then to spend an evening 100 feet off the ground in places that I would love to be able to do today.

Guy

 

[Teegate]

A quick look and I found the Devious datasheet. They built a 77 foot tower on the hill there.

A 77-FOOT TOWER WILL CLEAR ALL LINES OBSERVED.

Guy

 

[bobpbx]

Guy, is Jess's shoulder still sore from her lugging it out for you?



Good info.

 

[Teegate]

Good one Bob!

Actually, I was not sure how much that was going to weigh, so my brother, Rob from work, and I went there at sunrise one morning to pick it up. As you know it is illegal to remove anything from Wharton but I had written permission from Washington to take it so I decided to do that. We pulled up in my brothers Jeep and realized that two of us was enough for the job. So when finished loading we got back in the Jeep and as we started to pull away a vehicle came out of nowhere and started following us down the road. It was so early we still had our headlights on and we just could not believe someone was behind us. In the end I got it home, dug a hole and dropped it in. The arrow with the word Sleeper points right at Jessica's bedroom

Guy

 

[Boyd]

That's fascinating stuff Guy - I knew you would have a lot to say on this topic. You can see the location of this marker on the Mays Landing Quad - the triangle and dot that looks like the marker in my first photo and has the name "Steel" (right above the "K" in "Creek"): http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.38562867049737&lng=-74.73145008087158&z=15&type=topo&gpx=

I guess that "Steel" is short for Steelman Landing, just South of there? I figured there was some relationship between the second marker and the one with the triangle, since the arrow on the second one points to the station. It's perhaps 30 feet away? I'll have to look for others - it occured to me that there might be more. The chiggers are just terrible this time of year though, and I had already gone through as much tall grass and underbrush as I could stand for one day.

 

[Boyd]

Just read the whole data sheet - it's a really interesting narrative all by itself. There is a second reference monument, which was still in place in 2004. In 1949 (year I was born) they couldn't find it however. If anyone is interested, here's the full history. Note the reference to the tower, "A 90-FOOT TOWER WILL CLEAR ALL LINES.".

JU2888 STATION DESCRIPTION
JU2888'DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1935 (JB)
JU2888'THE STATION IS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 7.2 MILES S OF MAYS
JU2888'LANDING ON EDGE OF RIVER IN THIN SCRUBBY BRUSH, 13 PACES E OF
JU2888'MARSH EDGE AND 20 PACES W OF ANOTHER MARSH EDGE AT END OF
JU2888'ROAD. APPROXIMATELY 20 PACES N OF WATER EDGE ON PIECE OF LAND
JU2888'WHERE IT PROJECTS FARTHEST INTO WATER. THE STATION MARK
JU2888'PROJECTS 4 INCHES.
JU2888'
JU2888'TO REACH STATION FROM INTERSECTION OF N.J. HIGHWAYS NO. 48 AND
JU2888'NO. 50 APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE SW OF MAYS LANDING, TURN S ON
JU2888'NO. 50 AND GO 3.6 MILES TO SIDE ROAD ON LEFT. TURN LEFT
JU2888'AND GO 0.2 MILE TO CARE TAKERS HOUSE FOR PERMISSION TO
JU2888'ENTER PROPERTY. TURN COMPLETELY AROUND AND TAKE FIELD ROAD TO
JU2888'LEFT FOR 0.4 MILE TO JUNCTION AND GATE ON RIGHT. TURN LEFT AND
JU2888'GO 0.5 MILE TO LEFT CURVE. TURN LEFT AND GO APPROXIMATELY 250
JU2888'FEET TO FAINT ROAD ON RIGHT. TURN RIGHT ACROSS FIELD AND GO 0.3
JU2888'MILE TO STATION ON POINT.
JU2888'
JU2888'A 90-FOOT TOWER WILL CLEAR ALL LINES.
JU2888'
JU2888'SURFACE, UNDERGROUND, AND REFERENCE MARKS ARE STANDARD BRONZE
JU2888'DISKS SET IN CONCRETE AS DESCRIBED IN NOTES 1A, 7A AND 11A.
JU2888'
JU2888'REFERENCE MARK NO. 2 IS 26.900 METERS OR 88.26 FEET NW OF
JU2888'STATION, 4 PACES E OF 8-INCH GUM, 7 PACES W OF CENTER LINE OF
JU2888'ROAD. MARK PROJECTS 4 INCHES.
JU2888'
JU2888'REFERENCE MARK NO.1 IS 18.510 METERS OR 60.73 FEET N OF STATION,
JU2888'4 PACES W OF MARSH EDGE, 8 PACES SE OF 10-INCH OAK. MARK PROJECTS
JU2888'4 INCHES.
JU2888'
JU2888'NO AZIMUTH MARK SET. STATION SPOIL CAN BE USED FOR AZIMUTH.
JU2888
JU2888 STATION RECOVERY (1937)
JU2888
JU2888'RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1937 (LDG)
JU2888'THE STATION AND REFERENCE MARKS 1 AND 2 WERE RECOVERED IN GOOD
JU2888'CONDITION. THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION WAS FOUND TO BE COMPLETE
JU2888'AND THE TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES HAVE REMAINED UNCHANGED. HOWEVER,
JU2888'STATION IS LOCATED ABOUT 5.7 STATUTE MILES AND NOT 7.2.
JU2888
JU2888 STATION RECOVERY (1949)
JU2888
JU2888'RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1949 (ITS)
JU2888'STATION MARK AND REFERENCE MARK 1 WERE FOUND IN GOOD
JU2888'CONDITION. REFERENCE MARK 2 WAS NOT FOUND AT THIS TIME DUE TO
JU2888'A HEAVY GROWTH OF UNDERBRUSH. IT IS BELIEVED THAT REFERENCE
JU2888'MARK 2 IS STILL IN EXISTENCE. THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION WAS
JU2888'FOUND TO BE COMPLETE AND THE TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES HAVE REMAINED
JU2888'UNCHANGED. A NEW DESCRIPTION FOLLOWS--
JU2888'
JU2888'STATION IS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 7.2 MILES S OF MAYS
JU2888'LANDING ON THE EDGE OF RIVER, IN TIMBER LAND, 13 PACES E OF MARSH
JU2888'EDGE, AND 20 PACES N OF WATERS EDGE, ON PIECE OF LAND WHERE IT
JU2888'PROJECTS FARTHEST INTO WATER.
JU2888'
JU2888'STATION MARK IS A BRONZE STATION DISK SET IN CONCRETE AND PROJECTS
JU2888'4 INCHES. UNDERGROUND MARK IS A BRONZE STATION DISK SET
JU2888'IN CONCRETE.
JU2888'
JU2888'REFERENCE MARK 1 IS A BRONZE REFERENCE DISK SET IN CONCRETE AND
JU2888'PROJECTS 4 INCHES. IT IS 18.510 METERS (60.73 FEET) N OF THE
JU2888'STATION, 4 PACES W OF MARSH EDGE, AND 8 PACES SE OF A 10-INCH
JU2888'OAK TREE.
JU2888'
JU2888'REFERENCE MARK 2 WAS NOT FOUND AT THIS TIME.
JU2888'
JU2888'NO AZIMUTH MARK WAS SET AT THIS STATION.
JU2888'
JU2888'TO REACH THE STATION FROM THE INTERSECTION OF NEW JERSEY STATE
JU2888'HIGHWAYS 48 AND 50 APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE SW OF MAYS LANDING, GO
JU2888'S ON STATE HIGHWAY 50 FOR 3.8 MILES TO A T ROAD LEFT AT
JU2888'THE CORNER OF THE NEW JERSEY SOUTH RIVER GAME PRESERVE, TURN
JU2888'LEFT AND GO 0.2 MILE TO CARETAKERS HOUSE ON LEFT, STOP HERE AND
JU2888'OBTAIN PERMISSION TO ENTER PRESERVE. CONTINUE STRAIGHT AHEAD ON
JU2888'DIRT TRACK ROAD FROM HOUSE TAKING RIGHT FORK AND GO 0.6 MILE
JU2888'TO ROAD LEFT. CONTINUE STRAIGHT AHEAD FOR 0.5 MILE TO DIM
JU2888'TRACK ROAD LEFT JUST BEFORE REACHING CLEARING. TURN LEFT ON
JU2888'DIM TRACK ROAD AND GO 0.4 MILE TO END OF TRUCK TRAVEL AND
JU2888'STATION.
JU2888
JU2888 STATION RECOVERY (1983)
JU2888
JU2888'RECOVERY NOTE BY LOCAL ENGINEER (INDIVIDUAL OR FIRM) 1983 (CT)
JU2888'STEEL 1935 RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION.
JU2888'
JU2888'STEEL NO 1 1935 RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION.
JU2888'
JU2888'STEEL NO 2 1935 RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION.
JU2888'
JU2888'DESCRIPTION IS ADEQUATE AND CAN BE USED TO LOCATE STATION. PROPERTY
JU2888'IS NOW ATLANTIC COUNTY PARK AND ACCESS ROADS ARE PAVED WITH
JU2888'EXCEPTION OF TRAIL TO STATION. STATION MARK WILL PROBABLY REMAIN
JU2888'UNDISTURBED.
JU2888
JU2888 STATION RECOVERY (2004)
JU2888
JU2888'RECOVERY NOTE BY INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS 2004 (HBH)
JU2888'TO REACH THE STATION FROM THE WESTERN INTERSECTION OF US RT. 40 AND NJ
JU2888'RT. 50 IN MAYS LANDING, GO SOUTH ON NJ RT. 50 FOR 3.6 MILES TO THE
JU2888'ENTRANCE TO THE ATLANTIC COUNTY PARK ON THE LEFT. TURN LEFT INTO THE
JU2888'PARK AND GO 0.1 MILE TO PARK LOOP ROAD ON THE RIGHT. TURN RIGHT ONTO
JU2888'THE PARK LOOP ROAD AND CONTINUE FOR 1.0 MILE TO THE FAR END OF A
JU2888'GRAVEL PARKING LOT NEXT TO A SOCCER FIELD ON THE RIGHT.
JU2888'WALK SOUTHEAST ALONG THE DIRT TRAIL LOCATED IN THE WOODS PARALLEL TO
JU2888'THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF THE SOCCER FIELD FOR 0.3 MILE TO THE STATION IN
JU2888'A CLEARING AT THE END OF THE TRAIL. THE STATION IS APPROXIMATELY 16
JU2888'PACES NORTHWEST OF THE MARSH EDGE ON THE PIECE OF LAND WHERE IT
JU2888'PROJECTS FARTHEST INTO THE WATER. STEEL 1935 RECOVERED IN GOOD
JU2888'CONDITION. MARK PROJECTS 2 INCHES.
JU2888'REFERENCE MARK NO. 1 RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION. MARK IS 3 PACES WEST
JU2888'OF A 3-FOOT TALL STUMP AT THE EDGE OF THE MARSH AND IS 4 PACES EAST OF
JU2888'A 24-INCH OAK TREE. MARK PROJECTS 1 INCH.
JU2888'REFERENCE MARK NO. 2 RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION. MARK IS 1 PACE
JU2888'SOUTHEAST OF A 15-INCH PINE TREE AND IS 6 PACES WEST OF AN OAK TREE
JU2888'WITH A DOUBLE TRUNK ON THE EDGE OF THE TRAIL. MARK IS FLUSH WITH
JU2888'GROUND.

 

[Teegate]

Finding them can sometimes be tricky so don't always believe they are missing when not found. I found the Batsto Azimuth when it was not found in 1995. I added in this info. My initals (GJT).


JU2993 STATION RECOVERY (2005)
JU2993
JU2993'RECOVERY NOTE BY INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS 2005 (GJT)
JU2993'THE AZIMUTH IS SOUTHWEST OF THE STATION.
JU2993'
JU2993'TO REACH THE AZIMUTH FROM THE STATION, PROCEED SOUTHEAST TO THE PAVED
JU2993'ROAD A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY. TURN RIGHT AND GO SOUTHWEST LEAVING THE
JU2993'PAVED ROAD AND CONTINUING STRAIGHT ON THE DIRT ROAD FOR ABOUT 400 FEET
JU2993'TO THE AZIMUTH ON THE LEFT. THE AZIMUTH IS 26 FEET FROM THE CENTERLINE
JU2993'OF THE SAND ROAD, 2.5 FEET FROM A 8 INCH PINE, AND PROJECTS 2 INCHES.
JU2993'THE COORDINATES FOR THE AZIMUTH ARE - 39 38.55.7 (N) 074 38.37.1 (W)
JU2993'


Also, two different members of this site discovered the location of the Nescochague (mispelled Nesochague on the Azimuth) and the Bear Swamp Hill Azimuth. I had looked for them for a couple years off and on.



Guy

 

[manumuskin]

I started out benchmark hunting before I knew it was called that.All i had was some photocopied topo's from the Millville Library (they were reference and could not be taken out) and an orienteering (Silva) compass.I actually found almost every marker I set a bearing on.I estimate distance by paces and eyeballing as well as the terrain would allow.Now I have GPS and stone maps,The old days are gone.

 

[MarkBNJ]

Good one Bob!

As you know it is illegal to remove anything from Wharton but I had written permission from Washington to take it so I decided to do that.

Guy

My feeling is that those marks belong to the federal government, not to the state of NJ, so you had every right to act on the permission the feds gave you. It would have been an interesting conversation if you'd been stopped, though.