Stone markers

jrar · 12-07-2018 9:21pm #1

OK, might not be the optimal place to post this but I'm hoping someone can shed some light on the issue
I'm in Majorca and on my daily cycles (and drives), I notice (especially on hilly roads) stone markers by the side of the road with a single numeric value - they're official looking in that they stone is usually cut (a lot of them look like small granite headstones !) but there is neither rhyme nor reason to the values displayed nor the location of the stone i.e. I could see one with a "9" on it, and then 10 metres later, another could read "5" and then I mightn't see one for another kilometre and it could read "2", so very haphazard and no way of discerning any pattern that might explain their primary purpose

......and before anyone says KM markers, no, these are totally separate and I've see them all over

Anyone got any ideas ? I can post some photos if that will help

L1011 · 13-07-2018 8:19am

Bus stops?

jrar · 14-07-2018 8:26pm

No, they're only about 30 cms tall, they're usually planted in the roadside verge (though always visible) and they're more numerous in remote and/or mountainous areas than in urban spaces

G_R · 14-07-2018 8:59pm

Markers to let emergency services know your location should you need to?

ricimaki · 14-07-2018 10:27pm

It's probably a marker for access to some utilities like water, gas, broadband etc.

jrar · 16-07-2018 10:42am

G_R wrote: »

Markers to let emergency services know your location should you need to?

No, these are in addition to the normal road number/kilometre markers on all roads here - the stone markers are always single digit, and are not equally spaced at all. I think I need to post a photo of one to give a better idea of what they are like

Carawaystick · 16-07-2018 11:44pm

jrar wrote: »

No, these are in addition to the normal road number/kilometre markers on all roads here - the stone markers are always single digit, and are not equally spaced at all. I think I need to post a photo of one to give a better idea of what they are like

Is there a streetview link you can post?

Alun · 17-07-2018 9:51am

Carawaystick wrote: »

Is there a streetview link you can post?

That would help, certainly. Out of curiosity I've done a quick scan of a few rural roads there but haven't seen anything that looks like what the OP describes.

RobertFoster · 17-07-2018 11:00am

Here's one: https://goo.gl/maps/B1jsprf6YyE2

If they're on hilly roads then maybe they're gradient markers.

Alun · 17-07-2018 11:08am

RobertFoster wrote: »

Here's one: https://goo.gl/maps/B1jsprf6YyE2

If they're on hilly roads then maybe they're gradient markers.

I had another look and found a few of those too on a different road, but when I looked closer I noticed that as you travelled along the road, there were more, with the number reducing (or increasing depending on what direction you were going!) from 9, to 8,7,6,5 ... etc. until you got to the next kilometre post, and then the next one started again at 9, so I'm assuming these are 100m markers. Sometimes I missed one or two, but I'm not sure if that's just down to Google's photography, my eyesight, or maybe they just miss one or two out now and then for some reason or another.

Alun · 17-07-2018 11:15am

See here ...

post 5 https://www.google.ie/maps/@39.7338302,2.611589,3a,75y,260.63h,72.02t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7EZAmiUjg-yaM67QCwEFvw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

post 6 https://www.google.ie/maps/@39.7333138,2.6104475,3a,75y,337.21h,63.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCpwDRzPXk45YNmCMBTjJpw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

post 7 https://www.google.ie/maps/@39.7327374,2.6095161,3a,75y,305.03h,75.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slgfmhVkLKEhZnc13k7VpWQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

post 8 https://www.google.ie/maps/@39.7318149,2.6093469,3a,75y,292.63h,63.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swWK7QSH6-ZR58roHqRh0eQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

post 9 https://www.google.ie/maps/@39.7310144,2.6087937,3a,75y,302.21h,56.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYFGrD8jmD6rRFexY5D9KpQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

km 69
https://www.google.ie/maps/@39.7305401,2.6082857,3a,75y,255.11h,69.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sBrQQt5PTjqfKPertEaIUtQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

post 1 https://www.google.ie/maps/@39.7298058,2.6075895,3a,75y,265.25h,72.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJdcJRK1pGvT7Dx1FfpqYXA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Carawaystick · 17-07-2018 11:08pm

Good spotting, Alun.

A lot of motorway junctions are numbered by the mileage in Spain, and I rememeber hearing addressing was done similarily, for rural houses, the distance along a road number was used, so marking the distance seems an aid to this.

Stone markers

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