Chains
1843 to 1859: First use of the perambulator and Gunter's Chain
From 1839 to 1880, land surveyors in the colony of Queensland used the Gunter's Chain to measure the boundaries of town allotments and country selections (farms). The the perambulator (surveyor's wheel) was used on the boundaries of the runs (Pastoral Holdings) or on road and feature surveys where less accuracy was required.
Reading a Gunter's chain
1861 to 1880: Using Gunter's Chain and the flat steel tape
Some Queensland surveyors often kept the Gunter's chain one link too long by the insertion into the chain of an extra link. Land owners prefer to have excess distance rather than shortage. Surveyor W.E. Mosman, when subdividing a portion of land in the Maryborough area in 1875 notes that:
The original survey of this portion appears to have been affected with a chain one link too long. Survey plan RP31855, 1875, Museum of Lands Mapping and Surveying, Brisbane
When chaining downhill on the incline, the lower chainman would often hold the chain up over his head to get it level and then use a drop plumbob (no string) and let it spear into the ground at his feet.
The first flat steel tape used in Queensland was by staff surveyor A. McDowall who brought one back from Sydney in 1877. In a letter to the president of the Queensland Institute of Surveyors, dated 2 April 1877, he describes its advantages over the old Gunter’s Chain:
I shall be glad if you will exhibit the steel measuring tape I have brought from Sydney ... It is made of one continuous piece of steel tape ... the links are marked by a small brass rivet, and at each ten links the numbers are marked in plain figures on each side from each end on small pieces of copper riveted to the tape ... When not in use the tape may be wound up on a light steel frame, making it a convenient parcel to carry ... It has the advantage of being in one piece (except at the handles) and will bear a tension of about 30 pounds without stretching more than 1/20th of an inch. It can, on account of its lightness, be stretched straight and is easily held in a horizontal position in measuring up or down hills or over uneven ground.
These tapes appear to be coming into general use for surveying in New South Wales, and those surveyors who once use them do not appear in any instance that I could hear of, to care about using a chain again. The price is 35/-. I am now getting a steel tape made in Sydney which I propose keeping as a standard ... I think it would be advisable to recommend the surveyors who are members of the Institute to provide themselves with similar standards.Qld Institute of Surveyors archives
Steel tape
The use of Gunter’s chains on surveys for the Lands Department in Queensland ceased in 1880. A circular to all surveyors (staff, contract and licensed) working for the department was issued in 1880:
On and after the first day of January, 1880, all lineal measurements unless otherwise directed, are to be made with the broad flat band steel tape, maintained to the Brisbane Standard. Circular 1880, Queensland State Archives, Brisbane
1881 to 1900: Disadvantages of Gunter's Chain
Gunter's chain was very prone to inaccuracies as C.W. Adams, Chief Surveyor, Dunedin, New Zealand describes in an article on 'the measurement of distances with long steel tapes', May, 1887.
The old surveying chain, made of iron or steel wire with its hundred links, and two or three hundred small connecting rings, could hardly be called an 'instrument of precision'.
Its weight varied from three to six pounds and upwards, making it very difficult to avoid error through the 'sag' of the chain when measuring over uneven ground. When measuring on an incline, it was often the practice to make the measurement in 'steps', holding a part of the chain horizontal each time, but it was not desirable to take more than 30 links or so at a time in this manner, unless another assistant supported the chain midway.
This chain required frequent correction, as it was always lengthening through the links and rings becoming worn. This correction was generally performed by taking out one or more of the little rings, but the chain was generally kept an inch or so long, to allow for errors caused by sagging, etc. Adams CW 1887
1986 to the Present: Technological advancements
Variations on the 1 chain to 5 chain bands of steel used in distance measurement, were used in Queensland up to recent times.
Temperature corrections are applied to measured field distances to allow for expansion or contraction of the steel tape compared with the calibrated standard tape.
The image shows one type of correction tool, called Littlejohn's temperature correction handle.
Now electronic distance measuring equipment (EDM) using light (laser) beams or radio frequencies are used to measure distances.
Last updated: 17 June 2009