U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Datums Page Page 1 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 05/07/1984
Station ID: 8729882 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: FORT PICKENS, PENSACOLA BAY
FLORIDA
NOAA Chart: 11383 Latitude: 30° 19.8' N
USGS Quad: FORT BARRANCAS Longitude: 87° 17.5' W
To reach the tidal bench marks from the intersection of Florida Highway C-339
and Ft. Pickens Road in Pensacola Beach, proceed WSW on Ft. Pickens Road for
9.48 miles (15.26 km), to the end of the road at the fishing pier at Fort
Pickens. The tide gage and staff were located on the fishing pier at Fort
Pickens.
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
PRIMARY BENCH MARK STAMPING: 9882 A 1977
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 10293
AGENCY: PID#: BG3613
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Wall
The bench mark is set flush in the concrete wall along the north shore of Fort
Pickens, 293 feet (89 m) NNE of the park headquarters, 25 feet (8 m) north of
the centerline of the paved drive along the seawall, 12 feet (3.7 m) west of the
center of the beginning of the pier, 2.6 feet (0.8 m) NW of a telephone booth on
the pier and 1 foot (0.3 m) west of the break in the seawall at the fishing
pier.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: PAYNE 1942
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 10294
AGENCY: PID#: BG1830
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Seawall
The bench mark is located on the SW corner of the old Fort Pickens seaway, 1700
feet (518 m) SW of Bench Mark 9882 A 1977, and 2.25 feet (0.69 m) east of the SW
corner of the concrete seawall at Battery Payne #7.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 2 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 05/07/1984
Station ID: 8729882 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: FORT PICKENS, PENSACOLA BAY
FLORIDA
NOAA Chart: 11383 Latitude: 30° 19.8' N
USGS Quad: FORT BARRANCAS Longitude: 87° 17.5' W
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
BENCH MARK STAMPING: 1 1919
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 10295
AGENCY: PID#: BG1832
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Seawall
The bench mark is set in top of the north seawall near the Engineers Wharf, 1100
feet (335 m) ESE of Bench Mark 9882 A 1977, 50 feet (15 m) west of a narrow-gage
tramway leading from the Engineers Wharf (the smaller of the two wharves at Fort
Pickens), and 0.7 foot (0.2 m) from the north edge of the wall.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: 2 1919
MONUMENTATION: Survey Disk VM#: 10296
AGENCY: PID#: BG1836
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete Seawall
The bench mark is located directly over a culvert, 1400 feet (427 m) ESE of
Bench Mark 9882 A 1977, 80 feet (24 m) south of the NE corner of the seawall at
Old Fort Pickens, and 0.7 foot (0.2 m) from the east edge of the seawall.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 3 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 05/07/1984
Station ID: 8729882 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: FORT PICKENS, PENSACOLA BAY
FLORIDA
NOAA Chart: 11383 Latitude: 30° 19.8' N
USGS Quad: FORT BARRANCAS Longitude: 87° 17.5' W
T I D A L D A T U M S
Tidal datums at FORT PICKENS, PENSACOLA BAY based on:
LENGTH OF SERIES: 3 MONTHS
TIME PERIOD: March-May 1977
TIDAL EPOCH: 1960-1978
CONTROL TIDE STATION: 8729840 PENSACOLA
Elevations of tidal datums referred to Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), in FEET:
HIGHEST OBSERVED WATER LEVEL (06/04/1977) = 1.90
MEAN HIGHER HIGH WATER MHHW = 1.17
MEAN HIGH WATER MHW = 1.14
MEAN TIDE LEVEL MTL = 0.59
* NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM NGVD29 = 0.17
MEAN LOW WATER MLW = 0.03
MEAN LOWER LOW WATER MLLW = 0.00
LOWEST OBSERVED WATER LEVEL (03/05/1977) = -1.22
* NGVD reference based on elevations published in Quad 300872, 1967, and NOS
leveling of 1977.
North American Vertical Datum (NAVD88)
Bench Mark Elevation Information In FEET above:
Stamping or Designation MLLW MHW
9882 A 1977 11.49 10.35
PAYNE 1942 11.48 10.34
1 1919 11.53 10.39
2 1919 11.68 10.54
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 4 of 4
PUBLICATION DATE: 05/07/1984
Station ID: 8729882 SUPERCEDED DATE: 04/21/2003
Name: FORT PICKENS, PENSACOLA BAY
FLORIDA
NOAA Chart: 11383 Latitude: 30° 19.8' N
USGS Quad: FORT BARRANCAS Longitude: 87° 17.5' 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.