Yesterdays survey

Covid. Sorry. We are low on rebar.

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Posted by: @mightymoe

No really plastic caps.

witness caps........... ?????ÿ

Are you talking about these type of plastic caps? The ones that have been in use for decades (or at least for the ~20 years I have been doing this)?

@flga-2-2?ÿ

Ha, I know these guys, we had a conversation last year about plastic, but that one was yellow.

I believe they will stop setting them, the ones from yesterday were set before our conversation.

I kinda wonder where they usually work, I haven't seen new plastic caps anywhere around the state and we do get around.

I think it's a new thing and is creeping back into bins with newer surveyors that weren't around for the change when plastic caps were declared non-conforming.?ÿ

I had a survey last fall and followed a surveyor who set about 20 corners with plastic.

That was a early 1990's survey so thirty years ago.

About 2/3 still had plastic caps, half of those were still legible.

They seemed to work best when they were covered. During the project the surveyor or his client decided to scrap the plastic and he started setting brass caps. All those are still in place and in very good condition.?ÿ

@mightymoe

I am slightly confused. At first read, I deduced that you found ONLY a plastic Surveyor's Cap, no iron pin, just a plastic cap placed in a hole and covered up.?ÿ After reading the follow-up posts, it appears that the plastic caps on the rebars do not meet the standards for your state.?ÿ Please clarify.

@kevin-hines

That's the way I read it too. In Fl. we are required to have plastic ID caps attached to an 18" rebar on all corners set. Some surveyors have yet to learn to put the cap on the rod AFTER pounding it in so it will still be legible. Then again some surveyors don't want to be identified. Same old....same old.... ?????ÿ

@flga-2-2?ÿ

We have the same monumentation requirements, a minimum of 18" long and 1/2" in diameter in all of the states I'm licensed. We too find pins with the caps beat to obliterate the information on the caps (sometimes intentional) and new pins with caps conveniently left off.?ÿ I am interested to see what Moe's standards are for monumentation.

@kevin-hines

After the 18", 0.2 cross sectional area rebar was required, a big fight boiled up whether a #4 or #5 rebar fit the 0.2 requirements. After a year or so things fizzled out and a #4 was deemed acceptable. A significent price difference when ordering 5000 rods at a time.

@kevin-hines?ÿ

Plastic caps on rebar. Plastic caps are not allowed.?ÿ

1-1/2" aluminum cap on 5/8"x24" long rebar is the minimum.

I only use 2" caps cause the county requires those for the exterior corners of a subdivision. Lot corners can be 1-1/2" but might as well set 2" caps for everything.

Since each corner needs to me identified the 2" caps are way easier to stencil.?ÿ

For a short time a 3" brass on 2-1/2" pipe for all exterior subdivision corners was required. The engineer would go out and inspect the corners before the plat was signed. He gave me a hard time because I wouldn't dimple the monument.

@mightymoe?ÿ

Thanks for the clarification... Which state is it that doesn't allow the plastic caps, just curious because this is a first for me.

@kevin-hines?ÿ

Wyoming

I guess I kind of don't care.?ÿ Plastic's fine with me.?ÿ Have seen more aluminum caps sitting next to the rebar, popped off from frost or bad installation, than I've seen plastic ones missing from the monument.?ÿ Hell, I'm just happy to find any monument

@jph?ÿ

If the bar isn't prepared correctly the aluminum cap won't seat well, that's why there are metal files.

@mightymoe?ÿ

I still don't care.?ÿ Unless you have a rash of unlicensed staking going on, and they're all way the heck off, it doesn't bother me that much if I don't know who set them

There was a prominent surveyor in our city that used plastic caps in the 60's and 70's and we recover them in decent condition all the time.?ÿ Me, I use 2" aluminum caps on 5/8"x30" rebars with aluminum pipe monuments at the boundaries.?ÿ?ÿ

Plastic caps are the norm in NJ.?ÿ There are probably a few thousand plastic cepped rebars with ny license number on them scattered around the state.

Plastic caps on rebar seems to be the norm in Iowa.?ÿ Requiring metal caps is going further than most.?ÿ Heck, I think there are still states that don't require numbered caps/tags at all.

Plastic caps on rebar are ubiquitous in most jurisdictions. Nevertheless, plastic won't survive more than a few years, tops, of the high prairie sun. Even in Oregon I prefer to set them a bit below grade, partly to keep them shielded from the sun. So I can understand that Wyoming would mandate more durable caps.?ÿ ?ÿ

When posting it is a good idea to recall that your audience is a global one, not merely local.

Very rarely encounter anything but plastic caps.?ÿ Most aluminum caps seem to be tied to highway work.?ÿ A few like to use the massive plastic caps with everything except the surveyor's nickname on them.?ÿ 1/2" x 24 " bars or pipe is the minimum and, thus, by far the most common found.