I am following a 1960 survey by a respected firm in Westchester County, NY. They call for 2 found brass pipes. I have found 2 copper welds.
(Refer to the Sept. 2011 Beer Leg thread for more on the description of copper welds.)
I assume in 1960 they were a relatively new item and the field crew just called them "brass pipes." They hit very well.
Anyone have a clue on when copper welds were introduced, or when they first came to be used as survey markers?
Thanks
KS
In PA, the Pennsylvania Dept of Highways were using them 40± years ago.
Introduced about 1954 by the "Copperweld Corporation."
Or something like that.
Loyal
Copper what???
If you had copper monuments around here there would be none left in the woods. If they will dismantle an air conditioner to get it... then they would sure as hell pull the strait out of the ground
Copper what???
There is copper weld wire, which is steel on the inside and copper on the outside. It is used in grounding systems and amateur radio wire antennas, because at radio frequencies, the current stays on the skin of the conductor; no point paying for expensive copper in the middle where there is no current. Then there is CADWELD, which you can read about at http://www.erico.com/products.asp?folderid=41
CADWELD is a form of exothermic welding. It is used to permanently bond the different parts of underground electrical grounding installations together. A mold is placed around the parts to be joined, filled with a copper-rich chemical mixture. The powder is ignited, lots of sparks fly, and molten copper joins the two parts.
Copper what???
Thankfully, most scrappers don't think about survey monuments.
Although some NGS stuff goes missing - but I'd bet that's more to souvenier hunters than scappers.
Copper what???
Copperweld monuments are copper clad steel rods, used where ferrous metal rods would deteriorate to quickly. Used a lot back in the 50's & 60's here in Ak, mostly SE and SW AK.
-JD-
I believe they are now called Crown Survey Markers.
Short discussion here about where to find them.
http://www.californiasurveyors.org/clsaforum/showthread.php?t=3925
Made somewhere in Pennsylvania but can't remember name of manufacturer. Recollection is they were made by Copperweld Corp but they stopped and another company took over the business.
Copperwelds were offered in the 1965 Lietz Co. catalog.
April 21, 1954
Mr. Penry - why am I not surprised that you would have the answer.
Thanks for all the replies!
Ken
I have seen a lot of them over the years. I believe it was a Pittsburgh company, long gone (or moved on?). As I recall, they didn't corrode.
They're still in business, see
Personally, I don't by it a ton at a time, so I buy
it from suppliers like this:
http://www.davisrf.com/antenna-wire/copperweld.php
And being an electrical engineer rather than a surveyor, I buy much thinner stuff than a surveyor.
I see from the history link on the fushiweld page that they were founded in Rankin (a suburb of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River), and later headquartered in Pittsburgh, as I thought.
Last year I went on a tour of the old Carrie Furnace in Rankin, the only structure left standing in an old mill site there. If you ever get a chance, it is a fascinating tour: