Lenker aka elevation rod. I don’t know why its said to not be as precise as a philly rod.
One complaint I read was that the clamping mechanism wasn't trustworthy, so there was more opportunity for slack or wiggle room.
@chris-bouffard Oh come on man. Not 2 or 3 decades lol. Probably one of those skills that still has its place yet no time to teach it. I have found after coming back to this side how many cannot run and reduce simple level loops. Digital levels have taken iver for most who do any leveling. Some times when i am computing points for crews i want to go to the field with a transit and steel tape and go old school but maybe thats the pain killers talking lol. I think most use level rods for dipping man holes nowadays lol. I say we bring the stinking lenker back. We can start a movement. Hipster surveyors. I was called into work a few years ago when i was still with government. I had been on farm all day and had boots plaid shirt and overhalls. Little did i know about the hipster movement. I got in and some of the young folks said i was the hippest hipster they knew. I had to get educated on that lol. To me it was normal work clothes out feeding cows and such.
@bill93 that could be true. That is why we would shuck it a few times and re check before moving forward. It was somewhat of an art to get them set correctly for sure. You could have that same issue on a philly rod if someone didn’t line it up when tightening it down as well it could be a little high or low on 2nd rod. A little wiggle as well. Why very precise levels always had one piece rods invar . I have ran so many levels from construction sites like subdivisions comercial to geodetic leveling loops. I have used fiberglass philly etc. on a few occasions i used a hand level and wood folding tape and the yellow pocket tapes. Also old transits double reading at 90 in face 1 face 2 because Thats what we had. Wild nak2 was my favorite auto level. What a great build. It was before my time but i ran a mile level loop with a dumpy once. Did some grading with a Y level. We had more crews than equipment so the boss got in his historic case. He bought umbrellas and hired a guy to hold them. I can still smell that guy. Lol. His only job was to shade the dumpy as i set up. The boss took him and paid him in cash and bought him a 1/5th and dropped him back off. He offered him lunch but he refused wanted the bottle.
Perhaps in your neck of the woods. I believe it is poor practice for a construction staking crew to not have an automatic level with them. I won't use a total station or robot to stake any grades running at a half percent or less.
As I read the old text books, it seems that Philadelphia, Chicago,, Detroit, etc. refer to the way the scale is marked, rather than the construction of the rod sections.
There are several ways to indicate the subdivisions of the scale, of which Philly seems to be most common.
I would have to pull it out to be sure, but I think the beat-up Lenker a guy gave me has an upside down Philly scale.
I thought the Philly rod was a two piece construction that slid up with the clamp to hold the upper in place, a San Fran was the same except it had three sections, and a Chicago was the one that was three parts that slide together using a male/female cross section on the ends.
At my previous job, we were still using a Lenker to set hub grades. That was about 5 years ago.
I thought the Philly rod was a two piece construction that slid up with the clamp to hold the upper in place, a San Fran was the same except it had three sections, and a Chicago was the one that was three parts that slide together using a male/female cross section on the ends.
Wow, I would have guessed no one knew that. San Fran = Frisco
@olemanriver the Philly rod is not dead, every one of my crews carries a rod and level and knows how to use them.
@cv My crews all carry a rod and level and they know how to use them, they do not have Lenker rods though. Any well maintained TS run by a decent IM will deliver the same, if not better vertical results unless you are using a digi level.
@chris-bouffard I know some crews know how. it use to be normal for all crews to have a level and level rod and know how. Yes a total station can get good results I agree. Especially with robots now days and the total stations are so much better built for the compensation of settling vs the old days. But curvature and refraction cannot be ignored. Had to prove that to a guy trying to trig 800 ft. yes he could repeat and overall vertical closure was great. But when levels ran through it he soon realized the amount of up and down vertically he really had vs levels . I was just fooling with you hope I didn't come across as a a hole.. I know you do good work.
@olemanriver I never for a second thought you were coming across as an anus. LOL! Trig leveling over 800' and getting good results though is just a lucky chance of compensating errors.
I've been in the game for 40 years now and spent my first few years leveling exclusively with a Philly rod. I switched jobs for better pay and on my first day at the new job my PC rolled up to a factory where we had to take a few shots in a parking lot. I set the level up and went to take my BM reading, focused on the rod, looked again, then looked at my PC and said you're kidding me right? The rod is upside down! I don't think he ever laughed so hard in his life before teaching me how to use and read a Lenker. That was about 35 years ago and I still laugh about it every time I pass that factory.
@chris-bouffard Thats sounds like my first time on a lenker. I liked the philly rods for everyday work but once you go big and have an invar it just was a different world. I am glad you didn’t think i was being an anus. Sometimes you just don’t know how you come across on a forum. Have a good one. I ran levels through the Memphis airport many years ago and used the sprinkler heads as turning points on ceilings. Yep inverted rod through the office guy for a loop and he was mad as a hornet as he didn’t pay attention to my - sign on the BS and FS. So he spent the better part of the day cussing me before he called over the cb to see what i had done when he was checking my work. I kept saying pay attention to the sign. Two negatives equal a positive. He was so mad until he finally realized i had been beating around the bush and he knew i knew he was emotional lol. A good laugh and a beer on me that evening settled him down some. My boss said why do you do that stuff to him. I said well he always sends me to the swamps briars and snakes so I figured i had to get him back.
I think the last time I used a Lenker rod was about 30 years ago when we still had three-man crews, no digital levels, no robotic total stations, and certainly no GPS/GNSS.