Boundary Monument Rehabilitation at Table Rock Lake
We are finishing up a great project where we are rehabilitating the US Army Corps of Engineers property boundary at Table Rock Lake, just north of Branson, Missouri. Our task from the Corps of Engineers has been to locate 439 boundary monuments that define the Corps of Engineers property boundary on one of the northern fingers of Table Rock Lake. If we find the boundary monument we record its information and condition, and if it is missing we reset a new one and record its information. We also have to cut a 2 foot path of cleared brush along the property line. We have had 2 survey crews out at Table Rock Lake on 10 day trips for the last 3 months, and we have just finished the field work portion of the task
It has been very challenging task because although some of this boundary has been resurveyed in 2016, most of it has not been resurveyed or the brush cleared out since the 1970s. So, no one has maintained the property line in about 50 years. It has been a lot of hard work in some very difficult terrain. But, it has also been in an incredibly beautiful location. The area of Table Rock Lake we have been working in is about a 30 minute drive from Branson in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks. Here is what a boundary monument looks like. You can see that this one is brass and it was stamped in the center with the year 1973. So, it has been there for nearly 50 years. When we can’t find one and reset the monument we place an aluminum one that will last almost forever.
Most of the monuments are marked by a white T-Post and circled with a white painted collar of rocks. You can see both of these below and get an idea of what the terrain looks like that we have to clear a 2 foot path through between this monument and the next one. You can see the other team member in the distance wearing the bright yellow shirt just beyond the orange blaze mark on the tree. He is using a chainsaw to chop down a small tree that has grown in the 2 foot path of the property boundary. This was a fairly flat part of the boundary line. The next boundary monument is beyond our other team member by several hundred feet.
Here is a static screensshot of an interactive map that we put together to show where all the monuments were located that we were rehabilitating. If you click on the screenshot it will take you to the interactive map where you can pan across the map looking at any feature you want, and you can zoom in and out. If you click on any of the dots, which represent the boundary monuments, it will bring up all the data we collected for each of the monuments we located or reset.
So far it has been a fun project, but there is still about a month’s worth of work to do on it back in the office. Now that the weather is turning colder and snow will begin falling it is nice to be working indoors again!