Today’s office

Wow! A pedestal farm.

@holy-cow - the original picture doesn’t show it well. ….

Rebar and cap driven to refusal! 

@gary_g more like pushed to refusal

Just once I would like to see a surveyor report monument replacement as:

Found leaning 1/2"bar with unreadable cap

Pulled bar and replaced with

8" x 14" x 38" limestone with "+" chisel mark on top 

@gary_g 😆

I can see being a little reluctant set a 30"IR flush, but why not at least get it solid and saw it off?

I'll wager that rod was disturbed when those utilities were installed and stuck back in "the exact original location" by some laborer.  

Could be, but I can show you multiple examples in newish sub-divisions around here.  They may not be quite as extreme, say 6" to a foot, but they were definitely set as part of the subdivisions.  And it is not like the Tualatin Valley is known for our shallow bedrock.

Posted by: @john-putnam

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Could be, but I can show you multiple examples in newish sub-divisions around here. 

If I was setting a bar amongst all those utilities I'd be as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I'd stop pounding the instant I felt any resistance at all. No - I'll go stronger than that. I just would not set a bar - of any length - in that area.

That's why I proposed the big stone.  Set about four to six inches deep and heavy enough to not move easily.

Posted by: @gary_g

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Rebar and cap driven to refusal! 

If the ground isn't hard, I'd have the crew dig with a hand trowel to a reasonable depth and back fill around a monument. Wouldn't be 30" but could be deep enough to be solid.

I will never forget the time I was setting a corner bar for a recently constructed home and at about 18 inches I hit a rock.  I turned to the builder and let him hear the distinct sound  He told me there were no rocks in that area.  Then he thought a bit, wandered around and came back to say, "You must be directly over the underground electric.  The city requires it to be covered with a two-inch layer of concrete."  He agreed to use a power saw to cut the bar at ground level.  Normally, I would have kept pounding to try to break through what I thought was a small, flat limestone floater. The lawns were well manicured so I definitely could see no future in six inches of rebar sticking up.