Papua New Guinea - Geodetic Monitoring Site
Site ID
SIL4
Station Location
Silur
Station Number
RM4 of SILUR 98
Station Address
Silur Airstrip
Lak District,
New Ireland Province
WGS-84 Station Coordinates
Latitude
S 4°31'42".0
Longitude
E 153°03'11".4
Ellipsoidal Ht
Ht
SITE OWNERSHIP
Owner / Authority
Civil Aviation Dept. c/- New Ireland Provincial Govt.
Site Contact/s
Robin, Sub-District Officer, Silur
Silur Sub-district office, PO Box 22 Namatanai NIP
Paius is the acting kiap August 2000
Peter Semy (Island Nationair rep.) helped in 2000
Tommy Francis (helped in 1998)
Phone
There are no phones or radios (as of August 2000) at Silur
The Local Level Government vehicle makes a few trips to Namatanai every week
The Forestry Depot, near Elvit's residence at Weitin has a radio link
with the Forestry Office in Kavieng.
To obtain the Kavieng number call the Forestry Dept. in Boroko (Port Moresby), 327 7843
Fax
Address
Email
STATION DESCRIPTION
Station marker
1 metre Star Picket in Concrete 40cm deep
SIL4 is RM4 of main mark SILU
Inscription
RM4
Reference marks
3 x 1 metre Star-Pickets set in concrete 40cm deep (RM1, RM2 amd RM3)
SILUR 98 is the main mark
Witness marks
Windsock
Azimuth marks
Station constructed by/date
Herb McQueen, RSES, ANU 11th September 1998
special instructions
Site soil / Geology
Pliocene-recent coral platform overlain with black loam
SITE ACCESS
Airports
Scheduled flights to Silur ceased in July 1999
Charter flights are possible and recommended
due to the extremely difficult and unreliable road conditions
Airlink charter is K1,560 one-way from Tokua.
Boats
boats do very irregular trips from Kokopo, not reliable and subject to
often adverse weather conditions.
Roads
The road from Namatanai was barely passable in August 2000.
Elvit Remas can pickup and return parties with a vehicle from Silur for the
following costs;
Kavieng K500
Namatanai K350
Manga K150
Road to Silur is very difficult past Maritsoan Ptn
though may be repaired by 2001. Currently, only
Land Cruisers / Hilux are able to negotiate the
numerous deep fords and washouts between Manga
and Silur. After heavy rain, road is impassable
and on the spot road repairs may be necessary.
Manga 59km on very bad track (2-2.5 hours)
Namatanai 186km (4.5 hours)
Vehicle rental
Elvit Remas, can provide a Land Cruiser ute for K100 per day
(including driver and fuel) for local use
the Local Government vehicle at Silur is also occasionally available, the
driver is Christian Sipian
his house is just north of the Silur Community Hall
Hertz special offer for RSES, ANU campaigns;
Hertz Kavieng (located next to Malagan Lodge) ph. 984 2374
Toyota Hilux twin-cab 4WD;
1-6 days remote area K220.00 (inc VAT)
7+ days remote area K193.60 (inc VAT)
125km free per day then 99t per km (inc VAT)
The site is on the grass apron of the airstrip (refer diagram)
near the Community Hall and Airlink "office".
SITE FACILITIES
Power
Generator available from Steven Bona (village councillor)
K20 per day to use a generator + fuel
Solar panels recommended
Shelter
Tent required for receiver
Accommodation
The Forestry Lodge at Weitin (nearby) is currently closed (2000),
The Silur "Departure Lounge" at the airport is very rudimentary,
but is adequate shelter
Local folk can provide water, cooking and laundry
services on request (K5 per day is well received)
Security
Contact the school
wage K10 per day per person
The receiver can be left unattended, villagers nearby will
keep an eye on the receiver.
Labour
None required
Communications
Radio or satellite phone required
Adverse conditions
SITE DIAGRAMS
Access map
Site diagram
SILU Location sketch 1998
SILU RM Survey 1998 (Horizontal distances)
SILU RM Survey 1998 (Ground Distances)
SILU RM Survey 2000
site photographs
SILU in 1998 (black/white)
SILU RMs in 1998 (black/white)
RM3 towards SILU in 2000
SILU Looking north in 2000
SILU and Windsock in 2000
Elevation mask
Clear above 12 degrees
Mask in 1998
OCCUPATION SUMMARIES
1998, Herb McQueen, RSES, ANU, and Yawai Bengande, Unitech
1999, Suvenia Hasiata, Unitech
2000 (September), Richard Stanaway, RSES, ANU, and Melchior Karesa
2000 (November), Bob Curley, Unitech
Last updated: 25th October 2000
Richard Stanaway
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University