U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Datums Page Page 1 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 08/30/1988
Station ID: 8658579 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: NORTH WHARF MILITARY OCEAN TERMINAL, SUNNY POINT,
NORTH CAROLINA
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 34° 1.4' N
USGS Quad: CAROLINA BEACH Longitude: 77° 56.8' W
To reach the tidal bench marks from the post office in South Port proceed west
one block, turn right and north onto Howe Street for 1.5 miles (2.4 km), right
and north onto State Road 87 for 3.1 miles (5.0 km), right onto Brunswick Road
to the entrance of Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point, proceed 3.3 miles (5.3
km) past the main gate, turn right onto Sunny Point Road for 0.5 mile (0.8 km),
left at Center Wharf Road, and to the north end of Wharf No 3. The bench marks
are locate NW of Fire Station No. 299. The tide gage and staff were on the NE
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
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3598
AGENCY: PID#: EA1281
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Sea Wall
The bench mark is set flush in a concrete sea wall on the NE side of the wharf,
15 feet (5 m) east of the most easterly railroad track, 9 feet (3 m) NE of the
NE corner of Fire Station No 299, 3 feet (1 m) NW of the northernmost steel
cleat on the NE face of the pier, and 1 foot (0.3 m) west of the SW corner of
the concrete railing base north of the fire station.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: 1776 - 1976
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3597
AGENCY: PID#: EA1277
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Abutment
The bench mark is set flush in the top of a concrete abutment on the SW side of
the north entrance to the wharf, 20 feet (6 m) west of the most westerly
railroad track on the north side of the ramp, 13.0 feet (4.0 m) east of the east
side of guard shack NO S-310, 2 feet (1 m) SW of the most southwesterly vertical
railing on the western curve end of the pier ramp, and 1 foot (0.3 m) below the
railing.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 2 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 08/30/1988
Station ID: 8658579 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: NORTH WHARF MILITARY OCEAN TERMINAL, SUNNY POINT,
NORTH CAROLINA
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 34° 1.4' N
USGS Quad: CAROLINA BEACH Longitude: 77° 56.8' W
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 2 1976
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3599
AGENCY: PID#: EA1280
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Abutment
The bench mark is set flush on a concrete abutment on the NW side of the wharf,
16 feet (5 m) west of the western railroad track on the wharf, 6 feet (2 m) NE
of the NE corner of Fire Station No 300, 4 feet (1 m) SE of lightpole #66 with
fire telephone, and 2.0 feet (0.6 m) east of the concrete railing base on the
west side of the pier.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 3 1976
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3600
AGENCY: PID#: EA1279
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Sidewalk
The bench mark is set flush in a concrete sidewalk on the NW curve leading to
the wharf, 14 feet (4 m) west of the west wharf railing, 2.0 feet (0.6 m) ENE of
the concrete railing on the NW side of the ramp and 2 feet (1 m) NNW of a drill
hole survey point in the concrete.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: NO 4 1976
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 3601
AGENCY: PID#: EA1278
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Sidewalk
The bench mark is set flush in a concrete sidewalk on the north side of the ramp
entrance leading to the wharf, 32.5 feet (9.9 m) NE of the NE corner of guard
shack No. S-310, 2.5 feet (0.8 m) north of the northerly railroad track, and 1.0
foot (0.3 m) SW of the concrete curb rail of the NE S curve of the ramp.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 3 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 08/30/1988
Station ID: 8658579 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: NORTH WHARF MILITARY OCEAN TERMINAL, SUNNY POINT,
NORTH CAROLINA
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 34° 1.4' N
USGS Quad: CAROLINA BEACH Longitude: 77° 56.8' W
T I D A L D A T U M S
Tidal datums at NORTH WHARF MILITARY OCEAN TERMINAL, SUNNY POINT, based on:
LENGTH OF SERIES: 3 MONTHS
TIME PERIOD: APRIL - JUNE 1976
TIDAL EPOCH: 1960-1978
CONTROL TIDE STATION: 8658120 WILLMINGTON
Elevations of tidal datums referred to Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), in FEET:
HIGHEST OBSERVED WATER LEVEL (06/12/1976) = 5.61
MEAN HIGHER HIGH WATER MHHW = 4.46
MEAN HIGH WATER MHW = 4.16
MEAN TIDE LEVEL MTL = 2.16
MEAN LOW WATER MLW = 0.16
MEAN LOWER LOW WATER MLLW = 0.00
LOWEST OBSERVED WATER LEVEL (03/17/1976) = -1.29
North American Vertical Datum (NAVD88)
Bench Mark Elevation Information In FEET above:
Stamping or Designation MLLW MHW
NO 1 1976 11.77 7.61
1776 - 1976 12.80 8.64
NO 2 1976 12.75 8.59
NO 3 1976 12.82 8.66
NO 4 1976 12.57 8.41
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 4 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 08/30/1988
Station ID: 8658579 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: NORTH WHARF MILITARY OCEAN TERMINAL, SUNNY POINT,
NORTH CAROLINA
NOAA Chart: 11537 Latitude: 34° 1.4' N
USGS Quad: CAROLINA BEACH Longitude: 77° 56.8' 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.