Nate...
I would have used a large spoon to dig that hole through the pavement. It would have taken virtually no effort. I can assure you I would not have even broken a sweat. I would have gone through the sub-base with a pick and the same spoon.
The trick is a coffee can with both ends removed, and a few holes on the side for air near the "bottom" end. Lay 5 charcoal bricks on the spot to dig, a healthy dose of lighter fluid on the charcoal, and light. You will have an inferno in the can due to air flow. Add lighter fluid as needed.
In the winter in Ohio...10 minutes of burn will really get it going, and what you scoop out stays in a nice hot pile. That answers your last question...how to fill them back in.
I have had as many as four cans burning separate holes at one time on rural roads. In Ohio, we really do not have any fire hazard seasons. I would advise against this if you are in a burn risk environment.
The hole is not the surveyors problem. It is the fault of the entity that is responsible for that road. Every surveyor for some unknown period into the future needs to recover the monument. They should have installed a monument box during the construction project. DO NOT let them off the hook. Assure them that you will not be the last surveyor to ever need that corner. We, as surveyors, must push for reasonable access to the monuments we must use.
I did tell them that this would happen again.
And, that I was better prepared to "add to, and refurbish this marker".
I wanted to do it... So my log home spike woild be near the surface.
John, Evers, thank you.
The sub on this rd. Was like concrete.
I had a good 15 min dig, after getting through the 4 to 5 " of pavement.
I want to "put it away right".
Nate
I did tell them that this would happen again.
And, that I was better prepared to "add to, and refurbish this marker".
I wanted to do it... So my log home spike woild be near the surface.
John, Evers, thank you.
The sub on this rd. Was like concrete.
I had a good 15 min dig, after getting through the 4 to 5 " of pavement.
I want to "put it away right".
Nate
I did tell them that this would happen again.
And, that I was better prepared to "add to, and refurbish this marker".
I wanted to do it... So my log home spike woild be near the surface.
John, Evers, thank you.
The sub on this rd. Was like concrete.
I had a good 15 min dig, after getting through the 4 to 5 " of pavement.
I want to "put it away right".
Nate
In Texas, it is rare that any monument would remain where any State highway has been constructed.
Too much change has happened in that location for a 150 year old monument to remain.
I know of a few Headright monuments that have been set within the r/w, just not where pavement exists.
We mostly have reference monuments to work from that are in place to reveal the location of the actual monument placement.
When there can be found the reference, why must the original monument be dug up again and again.
I have tools to get me there and once I've found the monument in a roadway, I do not hardly ever dig it up again, unless I am ordered to by my client to show him and at a cost they hardly want to pay afterwards because of the time involved to properly provide access and find it and then leave the roadway as it was found.
The same for our county rural roads. A great amount of dirt work has been made and the soil has been tilled rather deep and stabilized with lime and gravel for heavy loads like logs trucks carrying about 40 tons and usually overloaded to get to a nearby stockpile.
I have stopped setting monuments in pavement and rely upon reference monuments set on or outside the margins of the road along with other witness like pipe fence corners, power poles, pipeline vents and other nearby stable objects.
@jim-frame We are having similar issues getting through some of the hard pavement with our Bosch Rotohammer in Marin County. Are you still lugging around the 30lb demolition hammer? What is your current setup for chewing through pavement? Thanks
There is....
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6'2" 235lb 20yo named Butch that wants to become a surveyor.....
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???? ???? ?????ÿ
@nate-the-surveyorNate,
I bought a Chinese gas powered jack hammer for $250. It starts on the second pull everytime. A half hour job with a digging bar takes 2 minutes. It has several bits for digging, asphalt, and pin driving. I love it!
Is the one you bought able to drive t posts, or would you have to make a custom bit for that?
Thank you,
N
We are looking for something to dig through hard pavement that our Bosch Rotohammer is not able to accomplish. I saw a post by @jim-frame that said a 30lb demolition hammer is a good option. Does anyone have any experience with these? If so what demo hammers and generators are you using?
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Other ideas are welcome. Thanks?ÿ
The trick is a coffee can with both ends removed, and a few holes on the side for air near the "bottom" end. Lay 5 charcoal bricks on the spot to dig, a healthy dose of lighter fluid on the charcoal, and light. You will have an inferno in the can due to air flow. Add lighter fluid as needed.
I am out the door to do this... but stop at store, and get briquettes...
should be fun...
N
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I have a job coming up to set tall rebars on line in dirt packed hard by tens of thousands of semis driving over it for decades, so the dirt is now more like concrete.
Battery powered tools have come a long way in the 8 years since this thread started. I've got a Milwaukie rotary hammer with a 6aHr battery that will defeat most pavement.
Cold pack asphalt can be as good as hot. The trick is to pack it down sufficiently. I pound on it with an engineers hammer until it won't pack any more. In a few days the patch is nearly invisible. Here is a patch I did a couple years ago.
Reporting back. I did the charcoal trick. It helped alot. I also used a 12 lb sledge, and a tire tool. (one of those super hardened kind) and got down through the pavement, and dug out USRB No. 2, on lake Greeson, in Pike Co. AR. It changed my survey by 2-1/2 feet. This is the easterly side of Daisy AR. on Hwy 70.
I'm going to have to work on my can and charcoal method. I don't think I have the holes near the bottom big enough, and I think I also need a small whisk broom to sweep away the ashes from the charcoal, so they don't contaminate the mix, as I dig it out of the hole. It was a nice 25 degree day, and the pavement was quite frozen. Also, a small dust pan, and a can to put the diggings in, and maybe some tar to mix with it. I had purchased some cold mix in a 50# bag, from Plyler's Home Center. I used this, because the ashes contaminated the material that I dug out. I brought an extra 1 gallon can, with a wire handle across the top. This is where I put the hot charcoal when I was done. Also, I used about 4 LBS of charcoal, on the hole.
So far, the tire tool and big sledge is one of the BEST "Last Resort" devices to get through HARD pack soil, and such.
Thank you,
Nate
PS, what battery powered tool, would you recommend? I really should get a good HAMMER drill. There are so many models, and specs.
I don't want to spend 900, when 400 will do.
Thanks!
Get a rotary hammer, NOT a hammer drill. I have Milwaukie D-Handled rotary hammer obtained from Home Depot. Milwaukie is a good brand but I'm not married to it. I bought it because Milwaukie is easily found at HD, and has the biggest selection of battery tools. You want commit to one brand so that batteries can be swapped between tools. Get the biggest you can afford, and a pair of the highest capacity batteries you can swing. But at least 5.0 Ahr each, no less.
The mechanism of a rotary hammer is different from a hammer drill and many times more effective. Also, battery rotary hammers always use the SDS-Plus style chuck, the bits for which cost about the same as hammer drill bits but last many times longer.
Thank you Mark. Would you suggest this one?
Or this one?
They both use battery M18.
Of course, the bigger and meaner the better, I'd guess!
Nate
That second one is like the one that I have. I'm happy with it. The first one is more expensive, I think, and a bit heavier duty. If you can swing the cost I'd go go with the bigger, more robust one. If you can't the lesser one will still do a good job.
I used a Milwaukee battery powered hammer drill with a chisel bit and it worked like a champ. Battery lasted about 4 hours being used every +/-5 minutes setting pin flags in compacted base.
T. Nelson - SAM
We have two DeWalt rotary hammer drills. We use them mostly for setting rebar in stone or concrete, but occasionally put on the chisel bit and go to town. Makes life so much easier!