I need some help, fellow dawgs.  I'm planning on building a lot up north and am running into an issue getting some things handled with flood.

If anyone is here, please hit me up... this flood stuff is irritating and would like to hear it from a surveyor or someone with experience.

Thanks!

I think dogo is in the biz...

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--- Postal91 wrote:

I need some help, fellow dawgs.  I'm planning on building a lot up north and am running into an issue getting some things handled with flood.

If anyone is here, please hit me up... this flood stuff is irritating and would like to hear it from a surveyor or someone with experience.

Thanks!

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I am in road construction and haven't done anything in residential in many years except for my own stuff which is pretty basic. I did take surveying in college and we use it some in civil but doubt that I would be any help in flood issues. Sounds like you might need a soil's engineer. What's the problem?

To sum it up, I need to find an 8.0 flood height on my property.  I'm trying to get a footprint for my home and squeeze out as much depth to my house as possible.

I can only go 40' wide, and can only go so far forward due to shoreline setbacks, leaving me an uncertain roadside depth that dances with a potential flood zone.  If I can find that mark, using monuments/bench marks, this will help me know exactly what I am looking at for avoiding flood and still getting a home plan I desire.

If someone had access to Monument maps for whatcom county, that would be heaven. haha

Thank you for the help!




EDIT:   Dogo, since you do road construction.... wouldn't that mean you have access to survey monument maps?  You would need the for road height and other stuff, right? :)

dogo1 wrote: I am in road construction and haven't done anything in residential in many years except for my own stuff which is pretty basic. I did take surveying in college and we use it some in civil but doubt that I would be any help in flood issues. Sounds like you might need a soil's engineer. What's the problem?

The monument should be in the center of the street but not always. Obviously w/o a monument to shoot off you are screwed but you should be able to solve this.

As road construction contractors all of the engineering is done for us by whatever entity we are contracting with, be it municipal, county, state, or federal. The surveying is a separate contract and they come out and shoot and then install hubs and stakes by sequence. Thank God for that too because w/all the headaches we have the last thing we want to deal with is monuments which may have been lost, moved, or destroyed.

My best advice is the county or a local general contractor who has experience building on similar lots. We have been hurt but they have been devastated and I am guessing they would be more than willing to help.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

www.peakbagging.com/Benchmark.htm

Searching for Data Sheets on the Web

Getting data sheets used to require a call or letter to the National Geodetic Survey where your request was handled by the staff. This was a slow and expensive process and a group of ten stations from one 7 1/2 minute block would cost $20.00 in paper form. Due to the cost and lack of information the general public did not see these data sheets. With the advent of the Internet and the world wide web the NGS has put this information on their home page readily accessable to the public for free. You can search the database of approximately 750,000 benchmarks by three methods: First you can select the state to be searched and enter the name. Next you can search an area by entering a latitude and longitude. Finally you can search by entering the PID. The web addressess for these are:

Search by state and name.

Search by area.

Search by PID.

Search by Quad (map name).

Another method is to purchase the data on CDROM. To cover the entire U.S. the data has been divided into five regions which sell for $50.00 each. These can be purchased by credit card if you wish by calling (301) 713-3242.

Please note that the National Geodetic Survey, formerly the Coast and Geodetic Survey is part of NOAA the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the Department of Commerce. It is concerned with the maintenance of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure a part of which has been described. The US Geological Survey under the Department of the Interior is the agency responsible for the production of topographic maps. Sometimes these agencies are confused or thought to be the same organization. For more information see the home page of the National Geodetic Survey at: www.ngs.noaa.gov.

Whatcom County Planning and Development department may have already developed a map that is fairly acurate. This may be adequate for your needs. Go to their web site and poke around. They have maps of flood areas, etc.

Several of the counties in Washington have very acurate maps that have satelite overlays, and then an aditional overlay for everything under the sun. Island County has an overlay for eagle habitat, or somethiung like that for example.

As far as positioning a home, I would hire a ~local~ surveyor. If you could find a surveyor's stake in neighborhood that has the surveyor's cap on it, you would have a good place to start.

The number engraved, stamped, or molded on the top of that cap is the surveyor's state licensed number. You can look that up online, and then probably find them in the phone book. If not, one of the local surveyors will know about them.

I have done this several times when looking at property. Local knowledge can save you a bunch of time and money.

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--- Postal91 wrote:

To sum it up, I need to find an 8.0 flood height on my property.  I'm trying to get a footprint for my home and squeeze out as much depth to my house as possible.

I can only go 40' wide, and can only go so far forward due to shoreline setbacks, leaving me an uncertain roadside depth that dances with a potential flood zone.  If I can find that mark, using monuments/bench marks, this will help me know exactly what I am looking at for avoiding flood and still getting a home plan I desire.

If someone had access to Monument maps for whatcom county, that would be heaven. haha

Thank you for the help!




EDIT:   Dogo, since you do road construction.... wouldn't that mean you have access to survey monument maps?  You would need the for road height and other stuff, right? :)



<blockquote dir="ltr"><b>dogo1 wrote:</b> I am in road construction and haven't done anything in residential in many years except for my own stuff which is pretty basic. I did take surveying in college and we use it some in civil but doubt that I would be any help in flood issues. Sounds like you might need a soil's engineer. What's the problem?</blockquote>

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I get the impression that this is more of a feasibility study to determine what you can actually do. Obviously hiring a surveyor is the safest way to go but if you are just fishing and your lot lines are already firmly established you could shoot off the monument with a level, you don't really need a transit since you are just finding elevation, and set your own hubs as you go. Even if you stake don't forget to write down each station's info as kids will often remove the stakes. Should be pretty easy and then you will get a pretty good idea of what you are up against.

BINGO!

We have the tools to shoot heights, but finding a monument is a huge pain in the arse.  Family is in at the county trying to find a map, but I was hoping there was one that was accessible online.  I doubt the surveyors really want to give up the info they use. haha

I have my boundaries, just need to find that stinking monument to shoot a height and find flood. ughh

Thank you for the info, it has been incredibly helpful.  Everyone!

dogo1 wrote: I get the impression that this is more of a feasibility study to determine what you can actually do. Obviously hiring a surveyor is the safest way to go but if you are just fishing and your lot lines are already firmly established you could shoot off the monument with a level, you don't really need a transit since you are just finding elevation, and set your own hubs as you go. Even if you stake don't forget to write down each station's info as kids will often remove the stakes. Should be pretty easy and then you will get a pretty good idea of what you are up against.