U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Datums Page Page 1 of 5
Station ID: 8658654 PUBLICATION DATE: 06/16/2004
Name: MOTSU SOUTH WHARF #1, CAPE FEAR RIVER
NC
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 33° 59.4' N ( 33.99000)
USGS Quad: KURE BEACH Longitude: 77° 57.4' W ( -77.95670)
To reach the tidal bench marks from the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 and
State Highway 133 on the west side of Cape Fear River at Wilmington, proceed
south on State Highway 133 for about 16 km (10 mi) to a Y in the road, then bear
left and continue SE for about 8 km (5 mi) to the Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny
Point. The bench marks are on and near Wharf #1. The tide gage and staff were
on the SE portion of the wharf.
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
PRIMARY BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 1 1976
DESIGNATION: 865 8654 TIDAL 1
MONUMENTATION: Tidal Station disk VM#: 3607
AGENCY: National Ocean Survey (NOS) IDB PID#: DD0999
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete wharf floor OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 33° 59.4' N ( 33.99000) LONGITUDE: 77° 57.4' W ( -77.95670)
The primary bench mark is a disk set flush in the concrete floor in the SE
sector of the wharf, 43 m (140 ft) east of the railroad tracks on the wharf, 18
m (60 ft) south of a bollard at an angle point, 0.46 m (1.5 ft) north of the
central cleat on the wharfs east face, and 0.3 m (1 ft) north of a wooden fixed
fender on the wharfs east face.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 2 of 5
Station ID: 8658654 PUBLICATION DATE: 06/16/2004
Name: MOTSU SOUTH WHARF #1, CAPE FEAR RIVER
NC
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 33° 59.4' N ( 33.99000)
USGS Quad: KURE BEACH Longitude: 77° 57.4' W ( -77.95670)
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 2 1976
DESIGNATION: 865 8654 TIDAL 2
MONUMENTATION: Tidal Station disk VM#: 3608
AGENCY: National Ocean Survey (NOS) IDB PID#: DD0998
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete sidewalk OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 33° 59.4' N ( 33.99000) LONGITUDE: 77° 57.4' W ( -77.95670)
The bench mark is a disk set flush in the concrete sidewalk on the west side of
the SE sector of the wharf, 24 m (80 ft) south of a light pole on the west side
of the wharf, 5 m (18 ft) NW of the west railroad track, and 1 m (3 ft) NE of
the NE corner of Fire Station #211.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 3 1976
DESIGNATION: 865 8654 TIDAL 3
MONUMENTATION: Tidal Station disk VM#: 3609
AGENCY: National Ocean Survey (NOS) IDB PID#: DD0997
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete wharf floor OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 33° 59.3' N ( 33.98830) LONGITUDE: 77° 57.5' W ( -77.95830)
The bench mark is a disk set flush in the concrete floor at the south edge of
the wharf, 11 m (35 ft) south of the second light pole on the north side of the
wharf, 0.76 m (2.5 ft) south of the south railroad track, and 0.15 m (0.5 ft)
north of a concrete curb rail.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 3 of 5
Station ID: 8658654 PUBLICATION DATE: 06/16/2004
Name: MOTSU SOUTH WHARF #1, CAPE FEAR RIVER
NC
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 33° 59.4' N ( 33.99000)
USGS Quad: KURE BEACH Longitude: 77° 57.4' W ( -77.95670)
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 4 1976
DESIGNATION: 865 8654 TIDAL 4
MONUMENTATION: Tidal Station disk VM#: 3610
AGENCY: National Ocean Survey (NOS) IDB PID#: DD0996
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete sidewalk OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 33° 59.3' N ( 33.98830) LONGITUDE: 77° 57.5' W ( -77.95830)
The bench mark is a disk set flush in the concrete sidewalk of the south
approach ramp to the wharf, 12 m (40 ft) east of guardshack #S-207, 5 m (16 ft)
north of the railroad tracks, and 1 m (3 ft) south of the most northwesterly
vertical guard rail stauchion.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 5 1976
DESIGNATION: 865 8654 TIDAL 5
MONUMENTATION: Tidal Station disk VM#: 3611
AGENCY: National Ocean Survey (NOS) IDB PID#: DD1000
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete floor OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 33° 59.5' N ( 33.99170) LONGITUDE: 77° 57.5' W ( -77.95830)
The bench mark is a disk set flush in the concrete floor of a work area in the
parking zone on the west side of the wharf, 6 m (20 ft) SW of the enclosed
buildings SW corner, 3 m (10 ft) west of a telephone pole supporting fire phone
#20, 2 m (8 ft) north of the south edge of the work area concrete floor, and 1 m
(2 ft) east of the SW vertical steel roof support.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 4 of 5
Station ID: 8658654 PUBLICATION DATE: 06/16/2004
Name: MOTSU SOUTH WHARF #1, CAPE FEAR RIVER
NC
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 33° 59.4' N ( 33.99000)
USGS Quad: KURE BEACH Longitude: 77° 57.4' W ( -77.95670)
T I D A L D A T U M S
Tidal datums at MOTSU SOUTH WHARF #1, CAPE FEAR RIVER based on:
LENGTH OF SERIES: 2 MONTHS
TIME PERIOD: April 1976 - May 1976
TIDAL EPOCH: 1983-2001
CONTROL TIDE STATION: 8658120 WILMINGTON, CAPE FEAR RIVER
Elevations of tidal datums referred to Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), in METERS:
MEAN HIGHER HIGH WATER MHHW = 1.374
MEAN HIGH WATER MHW = 1.279
North American Vertical Datum NAVD88 = 0.789
MEAN SEA LEVEL MSL = 0.676
MEAN TIDE LEVEL MTL = 0.661
MEAN LOW WATER MLW = 0.043
MEAN LOWER LOW WATER MLLW = 0.000
North American Vertical Datum (NAVD88)
Bench Mark Elevation Information In METERS above:
Stamping or Designation MLLW MHW
NO 1 1976 3.524 2.245
NO 2 1976 3.818 2.539
NO 3 1976 3.612 2.333
NO 4 1976 4.149 2.870
NO 5 1976 6.162 4.883
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 5 of 5
Station ID: 8658654 PUBLICATION DATE: 06/16/2004
Name: MOTSU SOUTH WHARF #1, CAPE FEAR RIVER
NC
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 33° 59.4' N ( 33.99000)
USGS Quad: KURE BEACH Longitude: 77° 57.4' W ( -77.95670)
D E F I N I T I O N S
Mean Sea Level (MSL) is a tidal datum determined over a 19-year National Tidal
Datum Epoch. It pertains to local mean sea level and should not be confused
with the fixed datums of North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88).
NAVD88 is a fixed datum derived from a simultaneous, least squares, minimum
constraint adjustment of Canadian/Mexican/United States leveling observations.
Local mean sea level observed at Father Point/Rimouski, Canada was held fixed as
the single initial constraint. NAVD88 replaces NGVD29 as the national
standard geodetic reference for heights. Bench mark elevations relative to
NAVD88 are available from NGS through the World Wide Web at
National Geodetic Survey.
NGVD29 is a fixed datum adopted as a national standard geodetic reference for
heights but is now considered superseded. NGVD29 is sometimes referred to as
Sea Level Datum of 1929 or as Mean Sea Level on some early issues of Geological
Survey Topographic Quads. NGVD29 was originally derived from a general
adjustment of the first-order leveling networks of the U.S. and Canada after
holding mean sea level observed at 26 long term tide stations as fixed.
Numerous local and wide-spread adjustments have been made since establishment in
1929. Bench mark elevations relative to NGVD29 are available from the National
Geodetic Survey (NGS) data base via the World Wide Web at
National Geodetic Survey.
NAVD88 and NGVD29 are fixed geodetic datums whose elevation relationships to
local MSL and other tidal datums may not be consistent from one location to
another.
The Vertical Mark Number (VM#) and PID# shown on the bench mark sheet are unique
identifiers for bench marks in the tidal and geodetic databases, respectively.
Each bench mark in either database has a single, unique VM# and/or PID# assigned.
Where both VM# and PID# are indicated, both tidal and geodetic elevations are
available for the bench mark listed. The NGS's Integrated Data Base (IDB PID)
provides geodetic datum based on traditionally leveled and bluebooked ties to
the National Spatial Reference System(NSRS) https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/datasheets/.
The NGS Online Positioning User Service (OPUS PID) provides geodetic datum based
on GPS position & tie it to the NSRS https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/OPUS/.
The NAVD88 elevation is shown on the Elevations of Tidal Datums Table Referred
to MLLW only when two or more of the bench marks listed have NAVD88 elevations.
The NAVD88 elevation relationship shown in the table is derived from an average
of several bench mark elevations relative to tide station datum. As a result of
this averaging, NAVD88 bench mark elevations computed indirectly from the tidal
datums elevation table may differ slightly from NAVD88 elevations listed for
each bench mark in the NGS database.