Q 192 PDH

Rich and I checked each corner of the crumbling concrete bridge near the intersection of Lentz Trail (the main road) and Flagstaff Road (the side road leading southwest). Despite a good deal of effort spent clearing away several inches of asphalt on one of the corners and sweeping dead leaves and mud from the others, no mark was found. There was very little evidence at the scene to give us any idea what might have become of the survey disk. On the north corner of the east abutment there is some concrete that, while old, does not appear to be original to the bridge. It’s possible that the mark was obscured or destroyed in the process of making an alteration to the bridge, but we could not be sure. PennDOT’s historic bridge survey database does not mention any modifications to this bridge following its construction in 1930.

Mark not found.

This second order vertical control station is described as being set in the north end of an east bridge abutment. The historical description leads to a large old concrete bridge over Mauch Chunk Creek, just to the west of the intersection of Lentz Trail and Flagstaff Road. There was some confusion about which abutment and corner were meant by the cardinal directions provided, so all four corners were inspected. Only one corner, at the west end of the abutment on the north side of Lentz Trail, seemed about the right size, shape and condition to have ever held a mark. Most of the surface was covered with asphalt two to three inches thick, spillover from recent paving. As much of the asphalt as possible was chipped away to reveal the entire center top surface of the concrete slab, but no mark or drill hole was found. There was no other evidence in sight to provide for positive identification of the station or the mark’s existence. ~Rich in NEPA~