U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Datums Page Page 1 of 5
Station ID: 8723178 PUBLICATION DATE: 07/21/2003
Name: MIAMI BEACH, GOVERNMENT CUT
FL
NOAA Chart: 11468 Latitude: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330)
USGS Quad: MIAMI Longitude: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
To reach the tidal bench marks from the intersection of 5th Street and Collins
Avenue (State Highway A1A) in Miami Beach, proceed south on Collins Avenue for
0.8 km (0.5 mi) to Biscayne Street, then turn left and proceed east on Biscayne
Street for 0.2 km (0.1 mi) to a gate leading onto the beach, then south along
the beach to the concrete fishing pier at the mouth of Government Cut. The bench
marks are located in the vicinity of the pier and the city park, and the tide
station is located at the midpoint of the concrete fishing pier.
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
PRIMARY BENCH MARK STAMPING: 3178 A 1985
DESIGNATION: 872 3178 A
MONUMENTATION: Tidal Station disk VM#: 5788
AGENCY: National Ocean Service (NOS) IDB PID#:
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete pier OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330) LONGITUDE: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
The primary bench mark is a disk set flush in the top of a concrete pile cap at
the west end of the concrete fishing pier on Government Cut, 136 m (447 ft) WNW
of bench mark MH-27 1978, 8.38 m (27.5 ft) NNE of the SW corner of the concrete
pier, 6 m (21 ft) SSW of the center line of the asphalt promenade, 0.3 m (1 ft)
WNW of the west end of the concrete pier, and 0.15 m (0.5 ft) below the level of
the pier.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 2 of 5
Station ID: 8723178 PUBLICATION DATE: 07/21/2003
Name: MIAMI BEACH, GOVERNMENT CUT
FL
NOAA Chart: 11468 Latitude: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330)
USGS Quad: MIAMI Longitude: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
BENCH MARK STAMPING: R 74 1974
DESIGNATION: 872 3178 R 74
MONUMENTATION: Survey disk VM#: 5786
AGENCY: Florida Department of Natural Resources
(FLDNR) IDB PID#:
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete bulkhead OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330) LONGITUDE: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
The bench mark is a disk set flush in the top of the SW corner of a concrete
bulkhead running NE/SW along the beach, SSE of the SE corner of the pilots
building, 0.52 m (1.7 ft) NE of the SW edge of the bulkhead with a chain link
fence adjacent to it, and 0.49 m (1.6 ft) NW of the SE edge of the bulkhead.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 3 of 5
Station ID: 8723178 PUBLICATION DATE: 07/21/2003
Name: MIAMI BEACH, GOVERNMENT CUT
FL
NOAA Chart: 11468 Latitude: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330)
USGS Quad: MIAMI Longitude: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
T I D A L B E N C H M A R K S
BENCH MARK STAMPING: MH-27 1978 JAX FLA
DESIGNATION: MH-27
MONUMENTATION: Survey disk VM#: 5787
AGENCY: US Army Corps of Engineers (USE) IDB PID#:
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Concrete pier OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330) LONGITUDE: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
The bench mark is a disk set flush in the concrete pier deck at the SE end of
the concrete pier along the north shore of Government Cut, 9.51 m (31.2 ft) SW
of the NE edge of the deck, 1.52 m (5.0 ft) NW of the SE edge of the deck, and
1.52 m (5.0 ft) NE of the SW edge of the deck.
BENCH MARK STAMPING: BM NO 6
DESIGNATION: 872 3178 BM 6
MONUMENTATION: Survey disk VM#: 17139
AGENCY: US Army Corps of Engineers (USE) IDB PID#:
SETTING CLASSIFICATION: Pavement OPUS PID:
LATITUDE: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330) LONGITUDE: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
The bench mark is a disk set in the pavement, beneath a rectangular cut, 0.08 km
(0.05 mi) South on Collins Avenue from its intersection with Biscayne Street in
South Miami, 58 m (190 ft) east of the junction of a road to Government Cut, and
22 m (72 ft) ESE of the SE corner of a wood frame building.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 4 of 5
Station ID: 8723178 PUBLICATION DATE: 07/21/2003
Name: MIAMI BEACH, GOVERNMENT CUT
FL
NOAA Chart: 11468 Latitude: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330)
USGS Quad: MIAMI Longitude: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
T I D A L D A T U M S
Tidal datums at MIAMI BEACH, GOVERNMENT CUT based on:
LENGTH OF SERIES: 1 YEAR
TIME PERIOD: February 1985 - January 1986
TIDAL EPOCH: 1983-2001
CONTROL TIDE STATION: 8723080 HAULOVER PIER, N. MIAMI BEACH
Elevations of tidal datums referred to Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), in METERS:
HIGHEST OBSERVED WATER LEVEL (09/16/1985) = 1.136
MEAN HIGHER HIGH WATER MHHW = 0.762
MEAN HIGH WATER MHW = 0.749
MEAN TIDE LEVEL MTL = 0.396
MEAN SEA LEVEL MSL = 0.396
MEAN LOW WATER MLW = 0.043
MEAN LOWER LOW WATER MLLW = 0.000
LOWEST OBSERVED WATER LEVEL (04/07/1985) = -0.409
North American Vertical Datum (NAVD88)
Bench Mark Elevation Information In METERS above:
Stamping or Designation MLLW MHW
3178 A 1985 3.695 2.946
R 74 1974 3.225 2.476
MH-27 1978 JAX FLA 3.894 3.145
BM NO 6 2.111 1.362
Foot Notes:
Bench marks R 74 1974 and BM NO 6 are based on one differential leveling
connection and do not meet the quality control standards of the NOS. Therefore,
caution should be used when deriving elevations for these marks.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service
Page 5 of 5
Station ID: 8723178 PUBLICATION DATE: 07/21/2003
Name: MIAMI BEACH, GOVERNMENT CUT
FL
NOAA Chart: 11468 Latitude: 25° 45.8' N ( 25.76330)
USGS Quad: MIAMI Longitude: 80° 7.8' W ( -80.13000)
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.