A previous post about Vancouver's utility poles refers to the stamped metal circlets workers for the company Pole-Tec hammered into each utility pole they had inspected for the City of Vancouver. It appears that lots of companies in the business of inspecting, and surveying the urban landscape follow the same custom of nailing markers down to document work done. The result, in Vancouver, is many little metal "breadcrumb" trails throughout the city, on the utility poles, and underfoot, nailed into the asphalt streets.
These metal markers probably quickly outlive their usefulness, becoming unnecessary once a project is completed. After that, they become unintelligible artifacts for people to puzzle over, if they notice them. Over time, the street markers become literally unintelligible -- the weight of car traffic flattens out the stamped-in lettering.
I looked down a few afternoons ago, in an alley somewhere in Fairview (should've noted the location), and saw this marker -- very fresh-looking, with it's stamped lettering still clear, and sharp: "BUTLER SUNDVICK 394" All this tells the uninitiated, armed only with Google, is that a survey company based in Burnaby, B.C. was marking it's progress in this particular alley.
Butler Sundvick does all sorts of survey work; legal, engineering, and, my word for the week, cadastral. Their Web site builds them up as a major go-to surveyor for private developers, and that;s probably true. The company has also been involved in sorting out the legal tangle, survey-wise, for the Canada Line rapid transit system between downtown Vancouver and the airport. So maybe they were doing survey work for the city, but likely as not, they were surveying for a proposed development in Fairview, meaning another 1960s, three-storey apartment building will be replaced by a 12-storey "pedestal" condominium. Oh joy. Click the image to enlarge it.
These metal markers probably quickly outlive their usefulness, becoming unnecessary once a project is completed. After that, they become unintelligible artifacts for people to puzzle over, if they notice them. Over time, the street markers become literally unintelligible -- the weight of car traffic flattens out the stamped-in lettering.
I looked down a few afternoons ago, in an alley somewhere in Fairview (should've noted the location), and saw this marker -- very fresh-looking, with it's stamped lettering still clear, and sharp: "BUTLER SUNDVICK 394" All this tells the uninitiated, armed only with Google, is that a survey company based in Burnaby, B.C. was marking it's progress in this particular alley.
Butler Sundvick does all sorts of survey work; legal, engineering, and, my word for the week, cadastral. Their Web site builds them up as a major go-to surveyor for private developers, and that;s probably true. The company has also been involved in sorting out the legal tangle, survey-wise, for the Canada Line rapid transit system between downtown Vancouver and the airport. So maybe they were doing survey work for the city, but likely as not, they were surveying for a proposed development in Fairview, meaning another 1960s, three-storey apartment building will be replaced by a 12-storey "pedestal" condominium. Oh joy. Click the image to enlarge it.
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