After days of rain and cloudy skies, the sun is finally emerging to shine once again. This is the kind of day to take a stroll outside and bask in the warmth. Find a bench and let the winter blues melt away. Land Surveyors rejoice for sunny dry weather, for they too are searching for benches.
This isn’t a structure that you sit on after an afternoon walk.
It is, however, a bench or a rest spot for a leveling rod. The term bench mark originated from the chiseled horizontal marks that surveyors made in stone structures, into which an angle-iron could be placed to form a “bench” for a leveling rod. This ensured that a leveling rod could be accurately repositioned in the same place in the future.
What does that mean?
Simply put, a bench mark is an object that could be:
- a metal disk
- a stone
- a metal rod
This object is then driven into the ground permanently to be used again for a reference point.
You might notice bench marks around your area. Share with us if you spot one.