Activity Feed › Discussion Forums › Strictly Surveying › Chains to feet conversion
@lurker opposite side to the west??
@paul-in-pa That history lesson is no doubt great for the location being described. Keep in mind road creation law varies dramatically depending on time and jurisdiction. I’ve retraced widths of 28.35 feet, 41 feet & 10 1/2 inches, and numerous other seemingly random widths. They are fixed by the governing law, documents, and actions creating the road. More often than not at least one surveyor has depicted the road incorrectly at some point.
The time period is well into the era of the 100′ cut chain. Check you state’s statutes relative to the road and permanent surveys. Did the law require the county surveyor in 1917 to report distances in chains? Kansas did. So county surveyors were often converting feet to chains and, being a bunch of humans, they were prone to error. But that’s a little different topic. In that state, there are a number of “three rod roads.” That’s both fun to say and 49.5 feet. Yet a vast majority of the road in Kansas were opened either 40 or 50 feet wide (and some 60 feet too), which is not an even number of links. However most territorial/state roads were 1 chain wide.
In 1875 everyone, and I mean everyone, knew what a rod was and had a pole (or half pole) stick (or ?¬ of a chain) that was used to place hedge fence posts every rod. Did you know that fence builders in 1880 could take a 66′ chain and make four templates for the placement of the hedge posts? Could be why so many 66′ chains didn’t make it into the 20th century. But I digress.
The question is whether 8 links is being used as the nearest link to 5 feet or did the surveyor intended to measure 8 links? So what’s common in the area and other roads, even number of feet or to links/rods/chains? The answer to the first question in the first paragraph above would help guide me.
@steve-brosemer after looking at the map it appears he was retracing GLO corners in chains so you might be correct??8 links is 5 feet.
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