A boundary survey in west Texas finally has me playing in the middle of the sand box. A valiant resurvey was performed by licensed state land surveyor, Robert Estes in 1935. He calls for having set various sized iron pipes at 3 of the 4 corners of the section I am trying to resurvey. It becomes apparent why he didn't monument all of the corners when you get close to the section (I didn't get any pictures, so here is a streetview shot from google maps):
Found two monuments at the southeast corner that are not called for and got a reading on the schonstadt at another corner but the sand is too dry and loose to dig down to it. Might have to get a backhoe involved. The project is going to take longer than expected.
My favorite armchair hobby is locating images and locations. Given the vastness of W. Texas I had my doubts if I could find your pic. But there is only one sand dune that looks like the one in your photo:
31?ø57'54.2"N lat., 103?ø00'52.5"W long., Winkler County, TX.
Haven't been to Kermit in years. And your right, that blow sand is miserable to work in. Good luck. 😉
Wow. Looks like a challenge! Have fun with that.
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paden cash, post: 430524, member: 20 wrote: Haven't been to Kermit in years
Yea, he finally got busted for selling.
At court, 3 years probation.
[USER=2127]@andy[/USER] Sorry for the hijack. Good luck with the backhoe. 😉
Andy Nold, post: 430520, member: 7 wrote: The project is going to take longer than expected.
Hmmm I heard that before....
"Never let an optimist, price a job".
N
Andy Nold, post: 430520, member: 7 wrote: A boundary survey in west Texas finally has me playing in the middle of the sand box. A valiant resurvey was performed by licensed state land surveyor, Robert Estes in 1935. He calls for having set various sized iron pipes at 3 of the 4 corners of the section I am trying to resurvey. It becomes apparent why he didn't monument all of the corners when you get close to the section (I didn't get any pictures, so here is a streetview shot from google maps):
Found two monuments at the southeast corner that are not called for and got a reading on the schonstadt at another corner but the sand is too dry and loose to dig down to it. Might have to get a backhoe involved. The project is going to take longer than expected.
I think I'd be interested to see what a leaf blower does in the way of excavation - as in cut the bottom out of a trash can or barrel and use it as a sort of cofferdam as you blow away sand on the bottom of the thing.
I was thinking about a 55 gallon drum with the top and bottom removed. Regardless, there is a limit to how deep I'd be willing to go into sand. It could be quite dangerous if you get your head in too deep and suffer a cave-in.
Andy Nold, post: 430520, member: 7 wrote: Found two monuments at the southeast corner that are not called for and got a reading on the schonstadt at another corner but the sand is too dry and loose to dig down to it. Might have to get a backhoe involved. The project is going to take longer than expected.
I suggest a quick experiment with your Schonstadt to estimate how deep the third monument may be by matching its return above the two found monuments with the buried one. Blow sand is no fun to dig in, but I've had to set fence posts in the dunes of the Nebraska Sandhills. Hint, best done in the spring after a good soaking rain. Maybe the rancher has a portable water tank. Good luck!
Looks like fun to recon using an ATV with paddle tires!
Just fyi to those that are wanting to dig in dry sand: a backhoe might work, but the hole has to be pretty darn wide to keep the walls from sloughing.
When I was with the highway department we got a backhoe from the maintenance yard (with operator) out in the dunes off of US 281 south of Waynoka, OK. to help dig up some corners. The rubber-tired JD backhoe failed miserably, but luckily it had a front loader bucket which worked far better in sand. We "excavated" with the loader bucket making a large depression rather than just a "hole". A three feet deep hole wound up being almost 20' wide.
And don't ever drive a State-owned '91 4 door Buick out into sand. A car stuck in sand is 100 times worse than one stuck in mud....;)
Holler, mighta been there.
Kent McMillan, post: 430538, member: 3 wrote: I think I'd be interested to see what a leaf blower does in the way of excavation - as in cut the bottom out of a trash can or barrel and use it as a sort of cofferdam as you blow away sand on the bottom of the thing.
Kent,
I recommend that you never attempt this in suction mode. The static discharge caused by the sand hitting the plastic leaf blower housing at high speed can nearly kill a man. Do not ask me how I know. I should use all caps...but a leaf blower and sand do not mix.
John Evers, post: 430555, member: 467 wrote: Kent,
I recommend that you never attempt this in suction mode. The static discharge caused by the sand hitting the plastic leaf blower housing at high speed can nearly kill a man. Do not ask me how I know. I should use all caps...but a leaf blower and sand do not mix.
If that is gypsum sand that blew in (as I suspect it is), it should be easy enough to move with a good leaf blower. Depending upon how deep the pipes are (I'd cheat and use a probe to test that), a person might even be able to get by with using an extension on the business end of the blower and use lengths of stove pipe or sonotube to hold the sand back as the hole is deepened. If the sand doesn't blow, it should shovel perfectly well and make a hole that doesn't slump in on itself.
I'm pretty sure it rained there a lot today. Not sure what the sand consistency will be in the morning. Fwiw, Greg etal, it's Section 24, Block 77, PSL, Winkler Co., Tx.
I'd rather work in the rain in a place like that than on a normal day.
Sand gets stable when wet.
Remains in good shape until it gets water saturated and then you can not find the bottom.
Lots of good finds today including (the remains of) a wall called for witness in the 1935 corrected field notes, two mons on the east line of the subject section, an old bottle jack, and a bolt in broken concrete and glass. I'll try to post pics tomorrow. I was looking for controlling monuments outside of the sand dunes and even then we found two in the sand.
Kent McMillan, post: 430558, member: 3 wrote: If that is gypsum sand that blew in (as I suspect it is), .
An internet search revealed a document that says the sand in the area is 98% quartz.
Andy Nold, post: 430710, member: 7 wrote: An internet search revealed a document that says the sand in the area is 98% quartz.
I'm going to still say that a leaf blower ought to work well. The angle of repose of dry, rounded quartz sand is reported to be about 30?ø, so you can calculate how large a dish would need to be blown out from that if you have an estimate of depth. Those appear to be active dunes, which means that it won't take much in the way of air velocity to blow sand out of the way. A dust mask would be essential, of course.
No doubt about that. I was just thinking about the possibility of static buildup and a shocking discharge as mentioned in a previous post.
This report from the 1980s is about the same sand formations that extend into Winkler county and is chock full of useless trivia except to surveyors and other weird people. I have only skimmed it, but will be reading it in full. I was wondering why the dune limits I am seeing today are so consistent with the mapped limits from the 1890s. Apparently, while the dunes show seasonal drift of 60+ feet, the tri -something winds push them back to their annual starting point. Very good read.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/books/landscapes/publications/txu-oclc-11854523/txu-oclc-11854523.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwj6mvXx953UAhUHwlQKHZVGADMQFghAMAQ&usg=AFQjCNGeeOanX6w_wjrCMZ4p9arBlRF1DQ&sig2=1pL1Bd_XZau_3mTFuFs5F g"> https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/books/landscapes/publications/txu-oclc-11854523/txu-oclc-11854523.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwj6mvXx953UAhUHwlQKHZVGADMQFghAMAQ&usg=AFQjCNGeeOanX6w_wjrCMZ4p9arBlRF1DQ&sig2=1pL1Bd_XZau_3mTFuFs5Fg