I had a monument idea...

Sounds like a great idea. I'd be interested to know whether a deeply buried aluminum cap in a high rainfall area oxidizes heavily or not.

I been doing something similar. I set a 4" DuraNail with a stainless steel washer with my name and number directly below pipe monuments that I have to dig holes for. I consider it a tie out directly below the corner. I also leave a DEEP-1 magnet to help recovery if ever needed. I try to leave some dirt between the tie and the bottom of the pipe so you need to dig the hole a bit deeper. If the pipe ever gets torn out the tie should still be there unless they bulldoze over 2-1/2 feet deep. It does take some extra time and I note it in the record I file.

When I worked for BLM Cadastral, the practice was to place a magnet in plastic container below the monument, exactly for the reason you mention. Makes for a good accessory. As I recall, the magnets are not called out in the field notes, but are part of the special instructions.

BLM Field Notes

I have some preliminary/draft Field Notes for a BLM Dependent Resurvey in Utah (project not yet completed), that recite the placement of the magnet in the Official Field Notes:

“...Set an aluminum post, 30 inches long, 2 1/2 inches diameter, 26 inches in the ground, with aluminum cap marked:”

“Bury a magnet beneath the aluminum post.”
“Set a steel fence post along the aluminum post”

I LIKE this inclusion of the memorial (underground monument) description within the body of the Official Field Notes, it certainly serves to document the memorial, and further perpetuate the Corner position.

Loyal

> /... I'd be interested to know whether a deeply buried aluminum cap in a high rainfall area oxidizes heavily or not.

Aluminum Caps are used plenty in the Pacific NW and while they acquire a patina when exposed to the elements they don't really deteriorate. They do wear smooth quickly when in regular contact with tires. In British Columbia aluminum bars were used for common property corners for a couple of years in the mid '60's. When I would dig any of these up in the '90's they would be as shiny as a new penny.

My opinion is that an aluminum monument will last much longer than an iron one. But they don't ring a pin finder at all without that magnet or some added iron.

Here is a typical monument restoration record from Washington County, Oregon showing something along the lines of what you are doing.

I recall retracing some lines in or near the Golden Gate National Recreation area that had corners monumented by BLM with stainless steel pipes. I was told that something about the area (soil and/or rainfall) made aluminum a short-lived choice, but I don't recall any specifics.

Aluminum probably is a bad choice on the Coast.

Stainless Steel would be my first choice but my employer wouldn't like the cost.

But in Amador County where I am working the BLM aluminum monuments from the early 80s look almost new. They also set some iron posts with brass caps.

Those aluminum monuments are 30" long but I call them 27" long after bending the tabs on the bottom up 90°. They don't bend in an arc like the picture shows.

OK, let's be practical about it.

You set a rebar, that is say, 20" dp.

Dozer whacks the aluminum one.

So, surveyor 1 straightens it, shoots top.

Surveyor 2 pulls out the alum mon, finds your pin, and uses that.

There is now a difference of .30' between the plats.

OK, I am in favor of setting the lower pin, with your cap. Plastic cap only, though. BUT, I think you should put it in the NOTES of the corner, that it is there, so others are forewarned, that it is there.

Nate

Nate as a practical matter 3 tenths in Timberland is zero tenths ;-).

DEEP-1 Magnet

> I also leave a DEEP-1 magnet to help recovery if ever needed.

The USFS round these parts has been setting DEEP-1 magnets under the new corners they set. Seems like a good idea.

They also memorialize the corner by tossing a penny in the bottom of the hole under the DEEP-1. I like the quaintness of this gesture, although it does increase the cost of setting the corner by $0.01.

Coins under corners

Too bad the GLO didn't throw a Double Eagle under every Corner, then maybe some of the Jack-Legs would ACTUALLY spend some time looking for them!

🙂
Loyal

Coins under corners

> Too bad the GLO didn't throw a Double Eagle under every Corner, then maybe some of the Jack-Legs would ACTUALLY spend some time looking for them!
>
> 🙂
> Loyal

Good point Loyal. Sadly, most Jack-legs can't find their own a$$e$ with both hands, so I think such an effort by the GLO would have been for naught in the Jack-Leg arena

Coins under corners

Obviously if monuments had cash value, even significant scrap value, somebody would dig them up without worrying about what they marked, and probably put in more labor there than on a legitimate job. Look at the number of houses that have had copper wire and plumbing removed for a few bucks salvage versus thousands to repair.

About 20 years ago, I set some control with aluminum caps along a big highway project. If your serious about knowing, I could go check on them for you.

Douglas

DEEP-1 Magnet

What are the odds that a magnet set by a government agency follows the color code as quoted on the Berntsen site, and the odds that one used by a private surveyor does so?

DEEP-1 Magnet

> What are the odds that a magnet set by a government agency follows the color code as quoted on the Berntsen site, and the odds that one used by a private surveyor does so?

i would say almost 100% for a government agency....
Most durable monumentation is Stainless Steel post with a clear magnet at the base... Aluminum corrodes easily in some environments. We've also lost near a townships worth of aluminum post to forest fire in the space of just a few days. Nice and light though...

here's a cap with a hole through it and the new rehabbed one underneath.

Rod of iron...

"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

-Psalm 2