Survey Distance Units: A Better Way
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 120, Issue 3
Abstract
The conventional units of surveying distance, the chain and the link, have been in use for about 200 years. Yet, for an important class of survey operations, halving distances, the units become fractional after very few bisections, so that it is impossible to reckon small distances in whole numbers of units. Furthermore, it is recognized that people are loath to adopt new systems of measurements if their units differ conspicuously from the old, familiar ones. The present paper suggests a new system of two units, the new link and the new chain, that are compatible with the old units' magnitudes and that allow much higher accuracy to be expressed solely in terms of integral numbers of units. An additional feature of the new system is a useful binary representation. With the considerable interest in geographic databases and information systems, the ability to compute rapidly with such units is important. The easy binary representation of distance in the new units satisfies this requirement.
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References
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“ALMRS Alternatives Analysis.” (1985). Rep. 84067‐DOI, Federal Computer Performance Evaluation and Simulation Center, Alexandria, Va.
2.
“BLM ALMRS/Modernization Project.” (1991). Request for Proposal, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Lakewood, Colo.
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Ridley, S., and Woerner, R. (1991). GCDB Reference Guide, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Service Center, Lakewood, Colo.
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Copyright © 1994 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 23, 1993
Published online: Aug 1, 1994
Published in print: Aug 1994
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