When were steel tapes graduated in decimal feet first used for surveying

I think any survey map (or description) would be vary rare, hence I would venture to say... always decimal feet.
(I do remember one guy trying to use a 100' carpenters tape, what a CF!)

http://www.surveyhistory.org/steel_tape1.htm

https://amhistory.si.edu/surveying/type.cfm?typeid=4

http://blogs.toolbarn.com/2014/06/tbt-the-history-of-the-measuring-tape/

Very interesting articles.

I would add that one should check with he US Bureau of Standards for when they first started calibrating steel tapes.

The tapes I used were only calibrated in feet, mark on lead solder, with the tenths of a foot only marked at the zero end. Most were 101' long with the tenths being added below the zero. Only a few were ever marked in tenths from zero to one, had to pause and think when using that one. The hundreths between the tenths of a foot marks was eyeballed (interpolated). The front chainman would hold a foot mark on the destination, call it out,?ÿand the rear chainman called out the hundreths.

When you coiled a tape you held the end foot in the left hand and the right hand would almost naturally stretch back to a five foot lead blob, bring it forward and do over, the grab the loop at either side and twist the right hand and the loop size was halved.

Measuring a long line with chaining pins was good initial training in meaning a measurement to get a truer value.

Paul in PA

I had to do an as built back in the early 80's on a navigation lock wall (long and narrow). We had to locate all of the objects on the wall like railings, mooring pins, ladder recesses, etc. This was in the pre-data collector days, so it was all done with a steel tape. The engineers wanted stationing in feet and decimal feet, and offsets in inches. After struggling to try and use two different tapes we decided to do it all in feet and decimal feet and then convert the offsets manually afterward.?ÿ

I am about 3/4 of the way through a book called "Measuring America"?ÿ

Measuring America

Very interesting, explains how we almost went metric at the beginning, but clashes of personalities got in the way.?ÿ

Posted by: Paul in PA

The tapes I used were only calibrated in feet, mark on lead solder, with the tenths of a foot only marked at the zero end. Most were 101' long with the tenths being added below the zero. Only a few were ever marked in tenths from zero to one, had to pause and think when using that one.

Paul in PA

The former was called an "add" chain, the latter a "cut" chain.

Posted by: Paul in PA

The tapes I used were only calibrated in feet, mark on lead solder, with the tenths of a foot only marked at the zero end. Most were 101' long with the tenths being added below the zero. Only a few were ever marked in tenths from zero to one, had to pause and think when using that one.

Paul in PA

The former was called an "add" chain, the latter a "cut" chain.

Posted by: Paul in PA

The tapes I used were only calibrated in feet, mark on lead solder, with the tenths of a foot only marked at the zero end. Most were 101' long with the tenths being added below the zero. Only a few were ever marked in tenths from zero to one, had to pause and think when using that one.

Paul in PA

The former was called an "add" chain, the latter a "cut" chain.