• Intersection Station Finding

Determining whether you have found the correct intersection station

There are several types of intersection stations. With each of them, it is extremely critical to determine:

• Whether or not what you have found is exactly as described.
• Whether or not what you have found is old enough to match the monumented date.

If you are looking for a water tower and have found one in the right place:

Read the datasheet carefully to note the description of the water tower, and the first date the water tower was reported or established as a survey mark. For example, the datasheet says the water tower has 4 legs, has a cone shaped top, and was monumented in 1931.

• If you found a water tower that has 6 legs or just one leg (a standpipe), then the water tower station has been replaced, and the water tower station described is destroyed.

• If you found a water tower that looks newer than one built in 1931, then the water tower station has been replaced, and the water tower station described is destroyed.
• If you found a water tower that has 5 legs and a round top, then the water tower station has been replaced, and the water tower station described is destroyed.

• If you have found a water tower that is in the wrong coordinates, then it is not the correct water tower, even if it is what was described in the datasheet, because all water tower stations are location adjusted and cannot be at the wrong coordinates.

If you are looking for a church steeple, smokestack, radio tower, building cupola, or other such object and have found one in the right place:

Be sure to read the entire datasheet carefully. Pay particular attention to the date that the first date the structure was reported or established as a survey mark. The structure you find must be one that you're certain existed and appeared the same way as it did on that date. If the structure was re-built then the station is effectively destroyed since the re-built version of the structure might be an inch or so different in position. If you're uncertain about what happened during the time between when the structure was first monumented and the present time, check with the structure's building manager.

If you did not find the correct intersection at the location

Unlike some other types of marker, intersection stations are always adjusted stations, so your GPS receiver will tell you whether or not you are at the position of the intersection station.

• Take a photograph, preferably with your GPS receiver showing the location. Try to take the photograph so that it demonstrates that you are in the right place looking for the intersection station. A good example is to photograph the remains of its foundation if they still exist.

• Report Destroyed on a Geocaching log or, in the case of the NGS, follow the instructions given in the NGS Mark Recovery Entry page's note 1.