Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Benchmarks

I am looking for a place I can get a custom benchmark made. My friend just built a cabin, and I thought it would be cool to place a benchmark there for them. I would like to be able to fill in name, elevation, and long/lad. Something along the line of the benchmarks in front of REI stores. Any help? Thanks in advance.

Hi Die charges are high for single castings I would opt for a std. brass benchmark pick from hundreds of design take to an engraver and add your data, Company that makes most benchmarks for Gov. is Bernstons I will track down phone/location
I fouund this Co that has blanks Stakehill.com look for brass markers .Thanks Doug

Thanks Doug. Anyone else have suggestions?

When I put in stakehill.com, I get a racking company. Am I missing something?

Try:

http://www.stakemill.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=183

or just:

http://www.stakemill.com/

Dale B. Dalrymple
http://dbdimges.com

There is a place that will make you a personalized bronze benchmark, though not cheap. Mountainclimb makes them for 459.95

can be found under the "make your own marker"

mountainclimb.com

Try contacting this place also:

http://www.mountainclimb.com/marker-sleuth.asp

They make the benchmarks you see for sale in tourist shops, but I recall hearing thay can do custom jobs also, though I don't know how much something like that will cost.

You might try a local land surveyor supply store. They'll have blank and stamped discs. Here's a sample:

http://www.servco1.com/Site/index.php?pg=prodcat&prodcat=185

A lot cheaper than the $459 from that other place!

apples vs oranges.

i believe the original request was for a benchmark or "summit marker". the kind you see on summits.

the other ones mentioned in the previous posts are the kind you see marking property lines and in your streets and curbs for real property surveys. cheaper? yes. but summit markers they are not.

Nope, apples vs. apples. The only difference is the stamping. Those are the same brass discs as set by government agencies.

BTW, they are not summit markers. They are survey control monuments. The surveyors that set those marks are not in the least interested in the actual summit. Their interest lies in line-of-sight. Usually it is the high point, but not always. The name stamped on the disc might be the name of the peak, but all it indicates is the name of the mark. They might be the same, but might not.

All the best,
Gary

That is correct. What I am looking for is a summit marker, but thanks for the suggestions.

point taken.

those markers, commonly known as "summit markers" - hence my original quotes - are called 'benchmarks' by the united states geological survey.

they are also known as 'survey marks' by the national geodetic survey - who actually set them.

so even the big boys can't agree on terminology.

that being said, what the man wanted was a custom benchmark (summit marker).

Hi Maybe just get a duck paint it up nice or a cairn and add some great stuff with some of those fake diamonds or plastic beads and call it good until we find out what they call those brass things.Doug (Retired Surveyor)

ok, i give.

what do you call them?

I'm thinking about doing this at my own house.
Here's a link to one that's been done.
My Own Benchmark

The two main companies that make survey markers are
Surv-Kap and Bernsten pg 16

A custom one off would be about $35-70, depending upon size and material. Not a custom graphic, just stamped alphanumeric.

As to what a benchmark is; here's some info from geocaching, which is probably from somewhere else
Kinds of Benchmarks
Kinds of benchmarks
Benchmarks can be divided into two general groups. The first group, "vertical control points" are objects that mark a very precise elevation above the standard datum plane (usually referred to as elevation "above sea level"). The second group are the "horizontal control points" - objects with precisely established latitude and longitude. At this point, we should explain that "benchmark" is a generic term that is used here at Geocaching.com to refer to all geodetic control points. In the surveying profession, however, the term bench mark (usually two words) is used specifically for points of known elevation, or vertical control. When the benchmark is established at known latitude and longitude, it is described as horizontal control. The generic terms favored by professionals to describe horizontal control are station or mark, rather than "benchmark".


So, call it a survey marker or more realistically a monument and have fun with it.

great post!

thank you for all of the great information!

Here is another good description.

ABOUT SURVEY MONUMENTS AND BENCHMARKS

by Richard L. Carey, revised January 25, 2008.

All across the continental US as well as in Alaska and Hawaii there is a network of survey monuments which are bronze disks about 8 to 10 cm. in diameter set in rock or permanent structures. The exact number can only be guessed at, but I read that the number is one million or more in place in all manner of locations from city sidewalks and bridges to remote ridges and mountain tops. These have been set by surveyors since 1879 and are the basis for horizontal and vertical control for all the mapping done in the US. The survey monuments used for horizontal control are called triangulation stations, triangulation marks, control stations, or simply stations. A benchmark is a monument that is part of a leveling network and is a point of precisely measured elevation. The term is derived from "bank" as in the elevated land along a river. I tend to use the term benchmark for simplicity, but may use the term station in the following discussions.
Looking at most any 7.5 minute or 15 minute topographic map you can probably find several benchmarks on it. Most of those at lower elevations are labelled with “BM” and an elevation next to an "X" mark. The ones of interest to the hiker, which are on high ridges or mountain tops, will be shown with a small triangle and most of the time an elevation is shown. There are some, maybe less than 5%, which will not have an elevation value. The name of the benchmark will be shown in a smaller type than the name of the summit. If the summit is unnamed then only the benchmark name will show. Many times the name of the benchmark is the same as the name of the mountain and is not shown separately.

Benchmark Placement on Mountain Tops

Most of you reading this have probably been to a lot of summits which have had a benchmark in a prominent location that was easy to see. There may be a large rock at the summit and the benchmark will be cemented in place at the very highest point. Surveyors are concerned with visibility to other survey monuments and thus may place the benchmark near, but not actually on the highest point. The elevation of the benchmark will in these cases be lower than that of the true summit and the position as measured in latitude and longitude will not be that of the highest point.
In addition to the primary benchmark, surveyors usually will place two others nearby called reference marks or RM1 and RM2. These will usually be within about 50 feet of the primary mark and be at right angles to each other. They will be marked with an arrow pointing to the primary site to aid in locating it should it be obscured by rocks or plant growth or to help relocate it should it be destroyed.
The primary benchmark will most always have the station name and date it was placed stamped onto it. Only rarely is the elevation put on. The name is the one the station goes by in the National Geodetic Survey data sheets. Benchmark names are not unique and may be used again even in the same area so a number is assigned to them called a Permanent Identifier (abbreviated as PID) which consists of two capital letters followed by four numbers. The PID is unique and is never repeated anywhere in the U.S.



In the Tehachapi range there is a peak that I've heard some locals incorrectly refer to as Bison peak. The reason is that the summit has a benchmark/monument/disk/triangulation station with the word "Bison" stamped on it. The true name of the mountain is actually Covington mountain. There is also an unnamed mountain that has a benchmark/monument/disk/triangulation station with the name "Black Oak" stamped on it. Some benchmark/monument/disk/triangulation stations that I've seen only had numbers. One southern Sierra peak even had a misspelled benchmark/monument/disk/triangulation station. Instead of the proper "Butterbreadt" being stamped on the disk. It was stamped as "butter bread". I'm sure that the original Mr. Butterbreadt that settled/homesteaded in the jawbone canyon area would be offended.

Rafael...