In
many cases original survey marking is limited to the noting
of a Landmark and its relationship to a marked Benchmark from
which the surveyor's drawn map leads the reader to Turning Points
on the suspect area's perimeter. The turning points may be marked
out with stakes or painted stones, have metal posts driven into
the ground, or may be unmarked and rely on the demining group
taking measurements and directions from the map. Mined-area
warning signs may be positioned around the perimeter - and should be
in areas that may be used by the public. The signs may be linked
by wire or plastic tape, or may be hung on posts and trees.
In
many countries NO WARNING SIGNS are erected as part of preliminary survey - and signs are only placed immediately before Technical Survey
and search and clearance.
Various
signs are used - usually with a skull and crossbones on them.
Early ones were made of sheet metal, but corrugated plastic
has been favoured for some years because of its low cost and
weather resistance.
Large
signs are sometimes used - the "hcr" sign is from Croatia, but
they are more vulnerable to wind damage than smaller signs…
…unless
the sign is framed and well supported, so expensive.
Signs
placed when the mines were laid may not have the skull and crossbones
symbol.
One
problem with traditional skull and cross-bone signs is that
they get stolen.
In some areas, the signs are deliberately
cut in half or holes made to make them less attractive.
But
you still see them on the fronts of trucks and in the offices
of Advisers and aid workers.
Apart
from souvenirs, plastic mine signs may be attractive to local
people who have few materials available to them. They have been
used to patch leaking roofs..…
And
used to make toys - such as the sail for this toy boat in Cambodia.
Children
are perhaps the worst culprits - and legislation is unlikely
to stop them.
In
some countries, an attempt to make the mine-signs durable and
less attractive to theft was made by casting them in concrete.
This is in Namibia.
A similar idea was used in Cambodia where the concrete signs were square boxes - and were often taken as building materials.
In
Thailand, the sign and its post is cast in concrete, then painted.
The reinforcing inside the concrete is bamboo, so reducing the
chance of it being stolen for its metal reinforcing. Its irregular
shape makes it unattractive to use as a building block. [Picture "Sakkie"]
Mine
warning signs may also be painted onto walls - as with this
sign in Angola.
Local
people may also have improvised mined area signs. Some are durable,
but others are unlikely to last long.
A
warning sign has been chalked on the front of this train (not
really visible, it reads simply "Mina").
It can be a problem when official or improvised signs
last beyond their time of use or are moved. This can lead to
people ignoring signs that it is vital that they should obey.
Improvised
signs can be confusing and not only when mine awareness groups
advise people to put a cut branch in the path close by. A cut
branch may have many other meanings, of course.
This
warning sign is made using part of an RPG - and is an improvised traffic cone. Large shell cases are frequently
used for this purpose in battle areas.
Technical
survey and clearance signs may also be painted onto available
walls or stones - as this Bench Mark sign in Afghanistan shows.
The problem with painting signs on buildings or large rocks
is that they may need to be expunged at a later date - and this
is not always done.
At
the edge of this village, the Technical Survey Turning Point
posts can be seen in the centre of the picture
.
This
picture shows wooden survey markers - and a painted red band
on a tree (in the shadow behind).
Trees
are frequently used because they have a semi-permanence.
The
trouble with wooden markers used to mark a surveyed area is
that they may not last as long as necessary.
They
rot and are subject to insect attack.
Painted
parts of trees can also fade and become overgrown. And even
the plastic signs are subject to UV exposure and may fade…
And
even when a sign does not fade, rot or get stolen - all warning
signs can be rapidly overgrown and become invisible.
When
a mined-area is fenced, it may not be clear which side to avoid
- and if the fence was placed by those laying the mines, they
may well have put mines on both sides to deter people from cutting
the fence. Fences also fall into disrepair or get overgrown,
of course.
A
heavily overgrown minefield fence.
In
this place,
a single rusting strand of wire is all that
was left of an original fence. And the Type-72 beside it
could have been missed.
In
this picture a single strand of barbed wire curving downward
is just visible amid new growth. This is not a very clear sign
for the general public.
Surveyed
areas may be marked with plastic tape and sticks - but this
can lead to confusion about which side of the marking is the
safe side.
The building is clearly not to be entered
- but which side of the tape around the scrap metal is safe?
Plastic tape is also easily broken and can be moved
around by wind. I have found lengths of mine-warning tape blowing
around on roads many times.
As
well as for survey and permanent markers, painted stones are
also used to mark the extent of mined or cleared areas. In this
picture, the surveyors cut a path through the mined area and
marked it with red stones.
This
shows the Start point and rows of painted stones. The other
painted stones
on the right, apparently randomly placed
may be confusing.
Confusion
may be especially bad when there a lot of other stones around.
There have been accidents when the stones have been accidentally
or deliberately moved. The red metal flag
marks a place
where a mine has been found.
Even
when the stones are in tidy piles, it can be hard to determine
where it is safe to walk. This raises the question of whether
signs marking the divide between searched unsearched areas are exclusively for the deminers, or
also for the general public. If the latter, the potential for
confusion should be addressed.
Some
groups, in this case a technical survey team in Afghanistan,
use stones but prefer to use flags whenever possible.
Rock
marking systems are also used in other countries, presumably
because those in charge were familiar with them.
The
unchecked area around this flail in Eritrea is confusingly marked
with rocks painted red and white. The absence of a "line" marked
by string or tape can make it hard to see exactly which area
is safe.
Marking
the cleared area with painted stones is also common in areas
where the stones have to be brought in. The painted white stones
around this partly cleared pylon in Afghanistan are an example.
There was an accident at the pylon and work stopped, and the
edge of the searched area was marked by a ridge of earth. The
marking is low-cost and convenient, but it is not always clear
where it is safe to go - and may be very unclear to the general
public.
Stones may also be used in combination with sticks and string
or tape, as this picture from Somalia shows.
During
clearance, wooden sticks and tape are frequently used. The stakes
are of varied lengths and painted various colours to serve different
purposes - such as marking where a device was found and has now been cleared.
Some
groups use tape or string to join wooden posts - but they may
do so sparingly.
Sometimes
the tape is taut, others slack.
Sometimes
the support sticks are close together….
Sometimes
far apart. In this example, mine tape has been used to join
poles over long stretches and a breaching lane is marked entirely
with red-topped posts with no tape at all.
In
this mined area, white tape is used to mark both the perimeter
and the clearance lanes. The perimeter posts are longer than
those used in the lanes.
The
same tape may be used to mark out dog "boxes" as in this area
which was previously flailed and the safe-lanes searched and cleared manually.
Often
the string or tape used in a search lane is paid out as the
deminer works and may have no interim supports.
This
means that a lane always LOOKS straight, no matter how much
the deminer may have moved from side to side, and leads
to a higher risk of leaving missed hazards behind.
The
rolls of tape used to mark a clearance lane in this mined area
are made of canvas and are far more robust than plastic tape.
The
working area inside the lane is marked by one or two sticks - in
this case two.
Stones
sticks or painted wooden cubes are used to mark metal
detector indications in some places.
When
a mine has been discovered, markers are often placed to show
the spot prior to the device being destroyed or removed. These are often
collapsible cones. Colours vary - and are usually brighter than
this version from Cambodia.
In this case, also in Cambodia, the marker is cut from a mine
warning sign.
A
painted metal flag and a cloth flag are also used.
A
painted metal flag marking an exposed PMD-6.
Here
marker triangles are cut from sheet metal with red tape on the
end.
Here,
a triangular marker points towards the device,
and a
collapsible red "box"
is visible from farther away.
There
are great many variations, but most are visible from some way
away.
Other
markers are meant to be more permanent.
This
is a concrete survey turning point marker cast into the ground.
After
an area has been searched and cleared, permanent markers are supposed to be placed so that
the extent of the area is always clearly known. This is not
always done, and when it is done by putting metal into the ground
so that the metal can be found with a metal-detector later,
it is sometimes 'lost' or the metal may be stolen. This picture
shows a permanent survey mark. The concrete
contains metal, and written details are also cast into the concrete.
If reinforcing bar or other metal with a resale value is used,
even these durable markers may be dug up by children. When the
area is wanted for agricultural purposes, the farmers may remove
the markers because they get in their way.
These
are permanent survey markers used in Thailand. One shows the
Start Point, the others a Turning Point. In this case a combination
of temporary and permanent survey markers are used.
This
is a Turning Point stencilled onto a corrugated plastic sign
from the same demining group.
Observations
-
There
is no single integrated system using the same method and
materials for survey, mined area marking, marking during search and clearance and
permanent marking.
-
All
marking systems can fail due to failure of their materials,
inadequate placement or misuse by the public.
-
Improvised
systems can be especially misleading.
-
Improvised
systems often provide the ONLY warning signs prior to the arrival of search and clearance deminers.
Bullet
4 is not in compliance with IMAS - but it is true. The failure to place perimeter warning signs in many countries ignores the needs of the civilian population. Exceptions occur in countries such as Croatia
where legislation requires marking, and both perimeter marking
and wire-fencing of areas believed to be hazardous is taken seriously.