U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Datums Page Page 1 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 07/16/1990
Station ID: 8639208 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: VIRGINIA BEACH, ATLANTIC OCEAN
VIRGINIA
NOAA Chart: 12207 Latitude: 36° 49.9' N
USGS Quad: VIRGINIA BEACH Longitude: 75° 58.1' W
To reach the tidal bench marks from the main post office in Virginia Beach at
24th Street and Atlantic Avenue, proceed south on Atlantic Avenue for about 1.5
miles (2.4 km) to the Virginia Beach Steel Pier just north of Rudee Inlet. The
bench marks are east of Atlantic Avenue between 15th Street and the pier. The
tide gage and staff were at the offshore end and on the south side of the pier.
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
PRIMARY BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 4 1960
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3509
AGENCY: PID:
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Sea Wall
The bench mark is set in a concrete sea wall in the center of a set of steps
leading down to the beach at the end of 8th Street, 99.7 feet (30.4 m) SE of the
SE corner of a red brick motel, and 25.0 feet (7.6 m) east of a lamp pole.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 1 1951
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3507
AGENCY: PID#: FW0110
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Sea Wall
The bench mark is set flush in the top of a concrete cap rail on the sea wall,
111.5 feet (34.0 m) NE of the NE corner of the brick porch of Casino Bath House,
103.2 feet (31.5 m) SE of the SE corner of Casino Dancing Hall, 22 feet (7 m)
south of the centerline of the fishing pier, 6 feet (2 m) north of the north
edge of the concrete steps to the beach, and 0.5 foot (0.2 m) west of the face
of the cap rail.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 2 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 07/16/1990
Station ID: 8639208 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: VIRGINIA BEACH, ATLANTIC OCEAN
VIRGINIA
NOAA Chart: 12207 Latitude: 36° 49.9' N
USGS Quad: VIRGINIA BEACH Longitude: 75° 58.1' W
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
BENCH MARK STAMPING: E 311 1952
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3508
AGENCY: PID#: FW0083
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Curb
The bench mark is set in the top of the west end of a concrete curb at the south
end of the sea wall, 110 feet (34 m) east of the east curb of Atlantic Avenue,
81 feet (25 m) west of the SE corner of the sea wall and in line with the north
curb of 7th Street, 1 foot (0.3 m) east of the west end of the curb, and about
level with Atlantic Avenue.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 5 1960
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3510
AGENCY: PID:
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Walkway
The bench mark is set in the top of a concrete walkway between the office and
east wing of Holiday Sands Motel, on the south side of the building, and 61.4
feet (18.7 m) east of the east edge of the curb of Atlantic Avenue.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 6 1975
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3511
AGENCY: PID:
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Bulkhead
The bench mark is set flush in a concrete bulkhead in the SE corner of the
concrete boardwalk at the bench, 40 feet (12 m) east of the SE corner of
Schooner Motor Inn, 8 feet (2 m) south of the second concrete rail support, 2.2
feet (0.7 m) north of the south edge of the boardwalk, and 2 feet (1 m) west of
the east edge of the boardwalk.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 3 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 07/16/1990
Station ID: 8639208 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: VIRGINIA BEACH, ATLANTIC OCEAN
VIRGINIA
NOAA Chart: 12207 Latitude: 36° 49.9' N
USGS Quad: VIRGINIA BEACH Longitude: 75° 58.1' W
T I D A L D A T U M S
Tidal datums at VIRGINIA BEACH, ATLANTIC OCEAN based on:
LENGTH OF SERIES: 4 MONTHS
TIME PERIOD: APRIL - OCTOBER 1975
TIDAL EPOCH: 1960-1978
CONTROL TIDE STATION: 8638610 HAMPTON ROADS
Elevations of tidal datums referred to Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), in FEET:
HIGHEST OBSERVED WATER LEVEL (11/24/1975) = 5.40
MEAN HIGHER HIGH WATER MHHW = 3.78
MEAN HIGH WATER MHW = 3.46
* NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM NGVD29 = 1.93
MEAN TIDE LEVEL MTL = 1.79
MEAN LOW WATER MLW = 0.12
MEAN LOWER LOW WATER MLLW = 0.00
LOWEST OBSERVED WATER LEVEL (12/20/1975) = -3.20
* NGVD reference based on elevations published in Quad 360754, 1982, and NOS
leveling of 1976.
North American Vertical Datum (NAVD88)
Bench Mark Elevation Information In FEET above:
Stamping or Designation MLLW MHW
NO 4 1960 13.13 9.67
NO 1 1951 13.32 9.86
E 311 1952 13.49 10.03
NO 5 1960 16.51 13.05
NO 6 1975 12.75 9.29
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 4 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 07/16/1990
Station ID: 8639208 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: VIRGINIA BEACH, ATLANTIC OCEAN
VIRGINIA
NOAA Chart: 12207 Latitude: 36° 49.9' N
USGS Quad: VIRGINIA BEACH Longitude: 75° 58.1' W
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 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.