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the Degree Confluence Project
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Lithuania

2.9 km (1.8 miles) NW of Jaskonys, Alytus, Lithuania
Approx. altitude: 109 m (357 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 54°S 156°W

Accuracy: 3 m (9 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: View East #3: View South #4: View West #5: The confluence point currently lies on a construction site, just in front of this concrete foundation. #6: All GPS zeros! #7: This sign (at the site’s northern gate) shows what the project will look like, when completed.  The confluence point is at the very bottom of the illustration, just above the “v” in the word “Lietuvos” #8: A footbridge over the Ratnyčia creek, about 200 m south of the point

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  54°N 24°E (visit #3)  

#1: View North

(visited by Ross Finlayson)

31-Jul-2016 -- I was intrigued by this point, because satellite imagery - plus the reports from the two previous visitors - showed that it had undergone significant changes in recent years. When Staal and Van der Hulst made the first visit in 2002, the point was in a grassy clearing in a patch of forest. Archived satellite imagery (from Google Earth) showed that it stayed this way until at least June 2008. By October 2010, however - the time of the second visit (by Wojciech Czombik) - some construction was underway just to the north of the point. More recent satellite imagery showed more extensive construction; by April 2015 a large building complex had been built.

What, I wondered, was this building complex? An office park? A warehouse? A school? And what did it look like ‘in person’? Fortunately, I had an afternoon to spare (during my 2-day visit to Vilnius) to make the drive down to the town of Druskininkai (close to the border with Belarus) and back. Being a Sunday afternoon, I figured that no construction would be underway during my visit.

I first tried approaching the site from a road from the north (as satellite imagery showed that this was the main road access to the site), but I was blocked - about 400 m away - by a gate and a fence. However, a large sign on the fence showed an illustration of (what will be) the completed project, along with the words "Sportininkų rengimo centras; Užsakovas: Kūno kultūros ir sporto departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės”. Translation into English (via translation software): "Athletes Training Centre; Customer: Physical Education and Sports under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania”. So there was the answer!

But I still needed to get to the point, so I got back into my car and tried another approach - this time from the south. I parked at 53.99659°N 23.99876°E, about 400 m from the point - where I saw a hiking trail leading northwards. I followed this trail on foot, found a footbridge over the Ratnyčia creek (saving me having to wade across it), and continued up the hill to the construction site. When I got to the fence, I was about 20 m away; however, I was able to crawl under the fence to get ‘all zeros’, which was just south of a concrete foundation for a not-yet-completed building. Comparing my photos to the project illustration sign (that I’d seen earlier on the northern fence), I concluded that - when the site’s construction is completed - the Degree Confluence Point will lie just outside the southern wall of the southernmost building - perhaps on a footpath outside.


 All pictures
#1: View North
#2: View East
#3: View South
#4: View West
#5: The confluence point currently lies on a construction site, just in front of this concrete foundation.
#6: All GPS zeros!
#7: This sign (at the site’s northern gate) shows what the project will look like, when completed. The confluence point is at the very bottom of the illustration, just above the “v” in the word “Lietuvos”
#8: A footbridge over the Ratnyčia creek, about 200 m south of the point
ALL: All pictures on one page