MONEL-METAL RIVET
1930'S

Jerry Penry

The origin or the monel-metal rivets remain a mystery as to what agency actually placed them. Many are found along railroads, so they could have been placed by railroad surveyors in structures such as signal bases and concrete culvert headwalls. When USC&GS leveled along many of the C&NW Railroad lines across northern Nebraska they utilized many of the rivets and assigned numbers to them. The rivets also appear in areas where the State Surveys of the Great Depression occurred away from railroads, so it is probable that this agency was using them also. The word "monel" refers to an acid-resisting alloy of approximately 65% nickel and 35% copper. Also traces of iron, manganese, carbon, and silicon are used in their manufacture. They are stainless steel in appearance which a shiny surface. The head of the rivet is 5/8" in diameter and rounded on top. The rivet that was assigned as No. 1, "RV 1", was at O'Neill, Nebraska.

The bench mark rivet is located on this concrete culvert under the former C&NW Railroad at Inman, Nebraska.
It is known as "RV 4" by NGS and is in the datasheets as NN0242.

The blue circle marks the location of the rivet.

Closeup view of the rivet.

© Jerry Penry 2009