On paper, this corner marker should not have been difficult to set. It's an 18-inch #5 rebar with a 2-inch aluminum cap, my standard monument (the rebar length varying with soil condition).
The problem was that actually setting the marker involved (a) shoveling the gravel bed off the permeable fabric it was resting on, (b) peeling back the permeable fabric to expose the actual underlying soil, (c) discovering that the underlying soil was actually a bunch of bits of rock, uncompacted soil and clayey muck, (d) digging out an 18 inch deep hole, (e) filling the hole with compacted caliche borrowed from another spot, (f) replacing the permeable fabric and gravel, and (g) setting the danged marker in the new soil.
None of that would have been tough had I only known that this was going to be a landscaping reconstruction and restoration project. I cringe when I see wall-to-wall landscaping. A five-gallon bougainvillea was occupying one of the other lot corners.
Here's how I dealt with a similar predicament about a year ago:
Not shown is the finished install, which included course sand to backfill the hole around the monument.
The original design of the shared driveway called for poured concrete, and that's what I based my cost proposal on. When I learned of the change to pavers, I had to increase the charge for monumentation due to the additional effort required.
Unfortunately, I failed to include the cost of physical therapy for the medial epicondylitis that resulted when the 2" core bit bound in one of the holes. The rotohammer continued to spin with me attached to it. By the time I was able to release the trigger, my right palm was facing directly away from my left knee. It's not supposed to do that.
I tried to ignore the injury for about 8 months, but in October when I found myself closing my truck's tailgate with my knee because lifting it with my right arm hurt too much, I decided to get it looked at. I'm many hours and a couple of hundred bucks into PT so far, but it seems to be getting better ever so slowly.
Lesson learned: keep a light hand on the helper grip *and* the trigger when drilling large-diameter and/or deep holes.
Yes, in an ideal world, the landscaper would have left some suitable stone or something firmly planted where the corner would fall. In that ideal world, it would just be a simple matter of setting a tablet or fastener and disc in the stone.
In the real world, the landscapers would probably miss the corner by about two or three feet.
In my case, the very first thought I had was to get out the rock drill and just run a hole down into the rock that had to be not very far down. Then I took a probe and discovered I could run it almost to 24 inches through the muck and other stuff that wouldn't hald a rod in place. There was an underground ATT cable somewhere in the vicinity and I was pretty keen that I wouldn't be the surveyor who would be discovering that you actually could sever an underground ATT cable by driving a rebar through it. Hence the solution involving all the hand excavating and backfilling.
Nice work Jim. Many surveyors would have been proud of a lightly scratched "+" on that block. Yours is an example of someone who truly enjoys both your profession and reputation.
Kent, you just need a bigger hammer
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Kent,
I've had occasional problems with corrosion on old Aluminum Caps, so instead of using a punch, I drill the point with a 1/8" bit, all the way down to the rebar. Then I can just sand off the top corrosion and find the point again without another setup.
Jim,
That sure is a neat job. Sorry about your hand. After a similar experience with a big Hilti, I now hold the roto-hammer between my legs.
Dave
I agree with Jerry, Jim. That's nice.
We run into those kinds of situations quite a bit at a nearby lake with about 1500 lots surrounding it. There is quite the mix of simple cabins on mostly vacant acre sized lots and completely landscaped 1/3 acre lots with little room for monuments and even less for instrument set ups. Those cables you mention add a whole extra dimension to the job.
Changing the subject... I understand the idea behind the off center punch marks, but I'm not sold on the practice. I'll have to think on that. Why not adjust the rod to meet the calculated position?
> Why not adjust the rod to meet the calculated position?
In that case, it was easier said than done. That giant terra cotta planter behind the corner was anchored in place and wasn't going anywhere. The off-center punches are harmless as long as the rod is firmly set. It's not as if the punch is going to disappear.
> I've had occasional problems with corrosion on old Aluminum Caps, so instead of using a punch, I drill the point with a 1/8" bit, all the way down to the rebar.
Fortunately, the limestone soils of Central Texas are not highly corrosive and aluminum caps last very well, punchmarks intact. If a surveyor can read the stamping, the punchmark would be a cinch since it is considerably deeper. I like the idea of drilling a hole, though, but have to wonder whether some other type of mark might be better if corrosion is that extreme.
Kent, which model of Hilti do you have? I have been wanting one for a while now, and one that can hurt you is probably big enough for the job. No shame in a job well done. good on ya!
I now hold the roto-hammer between my legs.
>
Dave, that could have other SIDE effects too!
N
> Kent, which model of Hilti do you have?
The hammer drill I use is a gasoline-powered Ryobi ER160, unfortunately no longer in production. I have two that I've used for twenty years now. The largest bit I've used is a 3/4 in. bit - nothing as challenging as the large bit that the AMA probably helped Jim Frame buy, expecting a good return on their subsidy - but even a 5/8 in. bit will bind when you're drilling in some types of rock if you aren't careful to pull it out to clear the dust from the hole from time to time while drilling.
Kent, you just need a bigger hammer
Do you use the AT&T hammer, the Verizon hammer, or the Sprint hammer in these situations, Perry? :>
This gives me an idea for a movie...
The Little Monument Around the Corner with Kent in the Jimmy Stewart role. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Kent-
Alex said she will hire you as a consultant gardner !
Cheers,
Derek
PS-
Do you do Winter Gardens?
Looks like a good place to have set two monuments, one deep and one over it at the surface. Seems a waste to set something so well, when it will probably be destroyed when the pavers and base are removed then gravel and concrete takes their place. I have some pins set under existing sidewalks that required shovel work to set with a PK nail set in a star drilled hole with lead as a filler on the surface of the sidewalk. I did that because I knew the sidewalk would be replaced someday and any monument set through it would get destroyed when it was removed but a monument set below the expected grading level had a good chance of remaining undisturbed and in the meantime the surface monument was there for all to see.
jud
> Alex said she will hire you as a consultant gardner !
> Do you do Winter Gardens?
Derek, in Ontario, wouldn't I have had to build a campfire over the spot where I needed to dig out the old subsurface material and replace it with good Texas caliche (weathered limestone) soil? I'd worry that it would have cracked that large terra cotta planter or at least singed the plant in it.
Why not set the point (lead and tag) at the property line produced to the concrete and reference it on your map? That was how all the front corners were set in newer subdivisions in Southern California, and all were happy because they could always find the point and never questioned if it had been disturbed. My 2 cents. Jp
> Why not set the point (lead and tag) at the property line produced to the concrete and reference it on your map?
In general, marking the actual corner where it can be done is the better practice. In this case it could be. It just took a bit of time.
Reference markers may work if the record of them is readily accessible in the public records. In this case, since the corner is that of a lot in a subdivision and the lots have been conveyed by reference to the subdivision plat and probably will continue to be, the record of some reference markers wouldn't appear in the chain of title and so would be invisible. This is the difference between California practice with the archives of records of survey and corner records and Texas practice where the records of boundaries are in the descriptions made a part of conveyances.
