Pub. 12 2017 Issue 1

www.ucls.org 28 Issue 1 2017 / UCLS Foresights Just about August of 2016, plans started coming together and a fundrais- er was organized. Collaboration efforts formed to involve the BLM, APLS, NALS, and UCLS. Cost estimates for products and material were prepared. Cost es- timates came in at roughly $8,000. A fundraiser was started and the APLS, NALS, and UCLS associations kicked off the fundraiser with large donations. Individual surveyors and surveying com- panies soon started sending in their donations. This fundraising effort was complete in only a few short months after we received donations from surveyors and surveying companies located in Arizo- na, Michigan, Nevada, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In all, dona- tions totaled $8, 675.00. The list of materials purchased for this project is as follows: • Three 15-foot flagpoles, one for each state, and one 20-foot flagpole for the flag of the United States of America. In addition, we bought four solar LED lights, wayfinding signs and additional flags. The total was $3,715. • A granite stone (48-inch diameter, 1½-inch thick) for $700. This was a par- tial donation by Southwest Marble & Granite. • Engraving the design on the granite stone: $800. This was a partial donation by Kenworthy Signs & Monuments. • Materials (nine bags of ready-to-use concrete mix, silicone, fencing materi- als, and thin set) for $283 • Two basalt boulders with laser-en- graved black tiles for $500 • Commemorative medallions and easels for $2,680 In addition, other materials were donated for this project: • Sixty bags of ready-to-use concrete mix, one 42-inch diameter x 3½-foot- long sonotube, four 24-inch diameter x 3½-foot-long sonotubes, two tarps, rebar cages for the concrete, and sand. These were donated by Clyde Companies. • Flags were donated by James A. Olschewski. He is a PLS, CET, SR/WA, and UCLS member. • A stainless steel center pin for the mon- ument that was donated by Adam Allen. He is a PLS and UCLS Member. • There were also hundreds of hours of service completed by many men who wanted to be part of this impressive accomplishment. Those who donated their time, money, or materials all received a com- memorative medallion to display. The first step in this re-monu- mentation project was to perform a retracement survey, which was per- formed by the collaboration of the three states’ BLM offices (AZ, NV, and UT). On Friday, November 4, 2016, representa- tives from the three BLM offices, along with members of the three state pro- fessional land surveyor societies of the APLS, NALS, and UCLS met to perform the retracement survey. There were approximately 25 people in attendance that day. To start, Dan Webb present- ed a brief history of the surveys that had been performed over a hundred years ago (a brief history can be read at the end of the article). After the histo- ry presentation, three survey groups were formed, one group heading north on the Nevada and Utah State lines, one group heading east on the Arizona and Utah State lines, and one heading south on the Arizona and Nevada State lines. The crews to the east and south went out a mile looking for and tying in old survey markers, while the crew to the north went about 1½ miles looking for old survey markers as well as evidence of the 1870 Survey mentioned in the his- tory below. This re-survey took most of an eight hour day but was very reward- ing. Each crew used survey-grade GPS equipment that gives sub-centimeter accuracy. The measurements and de- scriptions will become part of the Public Land Survey System Plat and the field notes that are recorded for land manag- ers and public use. The Bureau of Land Management’s Cadastral Survey Program is one of the oldest and most fundamental functions of the United States Government, with origins in the Land Ordinance of 1785. Cadastral Surveys are the foundation of our national land tenure system; creating, reestablishing, marking, and defining land boundaries. After completion of the retrace- ment survey, crews like those mentioned above went out on January 27, 2017, to record and remove the original Tri-State Monument set in 1901, and prepared the ground and poured concrete for the new monument and flag poles you see there today. As the 1901 monument was carefully being dug out we were anxious to see what was in the ground beneath the monument. When Carpenter’s astro- nomical observations determined that the 1870 monument set by James was set 111.51 chains to far north, he indi- cated that he destroyed the corner set by James. The survey crew that head- ed north on the Nevada and Utah State line from the November 4, 2016 survey