leveling rod
Date: 1890-1930
Inventory Number: 1998-1-1608
Classification: Leveling Rod
Subject:
Maker: Keuffel & Esser Company (1867 - 1987)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
208.5 x 7.5 x 3.8 cm (82 1/16 x 2 15/16 x 1 1/2 in.)
Description:
A leveling rod composed of several opposing wooden pieces that can slide past each other presenting two different faces:
face #1
A long wooden rod with a scale in black and red numbers on a white background.
This rod has a scale that increases downwards and is in decimal notation.
face #2
A long wooden rod with a scale in black and red numbers on a white background.
This rod has a scale that increases upwards and is in decimal notation.
The rod has a sliding brass sight and can be separated into several sections. carved on side is the number "38".
face #1
A long wooden rod with a scale in black and red numbers on a white background.
This rod has a scale that increases downwards and is in decimal notation.
face #2
A long wooden rod with a scale in black and red numbers on a white background.
This rod has a scale that increases upwards and is in decimal notation.
The rod has a sliding brass sight and can be separated into several sections. carved on side is the number "38".
Signedon rod: KEUFFEL & ESSER NEW YORK
FunctionA leveling rod is a surveying instrument. A helper would plant it vertically on the ground and an engineer would point at it with a transit. Communicating via hand signals with the helper, he would try to align the target to the level of the transit to determine the horizontal line between them. By using trigonometry, the transit operator could also determine the distance to the leveling rod by measuring the vertical distance between points on the rod's scale.