Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 11.14
Iron pipe found buried below the ground surface
hitting 4 foot stone monument rigidly anchored in the soil. In fact, forcing the
probe into the ground too aggressively can cause the user to experience a notice-
able, and sometimes painful, shock when it fetches up against the stone. Buried
stones often have very irregular surfaces and it is possible to determine this with
the probe. Sometimes, as in the previous sidewalk example, a probe can be used
to penetrate the ground at an angle, thereby helping to discover objects underneath
impervious surfaces. One great advantage of the probe is that it only makes tiny
holes in the ground so when it becomes necessary to look for a monument under
someone's flawlessly kept lawn no damage is done.
If the probing results are promising, a shovel can be used to dig down to the
object. A small whisk broom of the type commonly used with dust pans is handy
for cleaning of the surface of the buried object, for example, to see if it contains a
drill hole. When looking for monuments in areas where people have nice lawns,
the survey vehicle should have a small canvass tarp and a narrow shovel such as
a drain spade or trenching shovel. This allows a very small hole to be dug. First,
the sod should be carefully removed in one piece and set aside on the tarp. The
remaining soil can then be placed on another area of the tarp. If done carefully, the
monument can be located, the hole refilled and the sod replaced in such a way that
it would difficult to notice any disturbance of the lawn. While the hole is still open
