What the hell is benchmarking I hear you cry! It’s one of my sad little hobbies I reply. What is a bench mark I hear you cry! I’ll let Wikipedia explain…

“In surveying a bench mark is specifically any permanent marker placed by a surveyor with a precisely known vertical elevation (but not necessarily a precisely known horizontal location). These reference points may be chiselled into a wall, or more typically, marked by small brass or aluminium disks, iron pins or bolts that are permanently attached to a stable foundation, such as concrete posts, bridge abutments, buildings, or a specifically constructed concrete block. These markers are then used as starting (control) points by subsequent surveyors and other users to establish the elevation of nearby points.”

Where is this leading? Well, it leads to my latest little toy, the Google Maps API. As a useful exercise in learning the API I have created a Google Map of my benchmark images, you can find it at the URL below.

http://www.jochta.com/maps/benchmarks.php

It’s a bit basic at the moment style-wise as it was really the API I was interested in, I will embellish as I learn and add some more information.