leveling rod
Date1900-1950
Inventory Number1996-1-0121
ClassificationLeveling Rod
Subject
Maker
American
Cultural Region
Dimensions208.5 cm (82 1/16 in.)
Material
DescriptionA 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. It is marked with the number "20".
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. It is marked with the number "20".
Signedunsigned
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.
Keuffel & Esser Company
Date: 1870-1900
Accessories: red and white target (b)
Object number: 1996-1-0117a,b
American
Date: 1870-1900
Accessories: red and white target (b)
Object number: 1996-1-0116a,b
W. & L. E. Gurley
Date: circa 1935
Accessories: canvas bag
Object number: 2003-1-0183
