Introduction :-

Gunter's chain or the surveyor's chain (also known as Gunter’s measurement or surveyor’s
measurement) is a distance measuring device used for land survey.

It was designed and introduced in 1620 by English clergyman and mathematician Edmund
Gunter (1581–1626) long before the development of the theodolite and other more sophisticated
equipment, enabling plots of land to be accurately surveyed and plotted, for legal and commercial
purposes.

Gunter developed an actual measuring chain of 100 links. These, the chain and the link, have
become units of their own.

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Standerd chain:-
The 66-foot (~20.117 m) chain is divided into 100 links, usually marked off into groups of
10 by brass rings or tags which simplify intermediate measurement. Each link is thus 7.92 inches long. A
quarter chain, or 25 links, is known as a rod or pole. Ten chains make up a furlong and 80 chains equal a
statute mile.

Gunter's chain reconciled two seemingly incompatible systems: the traditional English
land measurements, based on the number four, and the newly introduced system of decimals based on
the number 10. Since an acre measured 10 square chains in Gunter's system, the entire process of land
measurement could be computed in decimalised chains and links, and then converted to acres by
dividing the results by 10.

Although Gunter's chain was later superseded by the steel tape (a form of tape
measure), its legacy was a new unit of length called the chain, which measured 66 feet (or 100 links).
This unit still exists as a location identifier on British railways, as well as in some areas of America. In the
United States, for example, Public Lands Survey plats are published in the chain unit to maintain the
consistency of a two-hundred-year-old database.

In the Midwest of the US it is not uncommon to encounter deeds with references to

chains, poles, or rod units, especially in farming country. Minor roads surveyed in Australia and new
Zealand were in the 19th and early 20th centuries customarily one chain wide.

In some places other lengths have been used, for example 8.928 inches (approximately
0.227 m) in Scotland and 10.08 inches (approximately 0.256 m) in Ireld.[citation needed]

The length of a cricket pitch is exactly one chain (22 yards).

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 The Gunter’s chain—so named after its inventor—is generally used by the Land
Surveyor. It is 66 ft. in length, each link measuring 7.92", and is very convenient
when it is required to calculate areas in acres and decimals of an acre, since 10 sq.
chains = 1 acre : also when linear dimensions are required in miles and furlongs,
since 10 chains = 1 furlong and 80 chains =. 1 mile. When the term “chain” or
“link” is used in a general sense, without reference to any particular unit of
measurement, the Gunter's chain is inferred.

The Engineer's chain is 100 ft. long, each link being 1 ft. in length. It is heavier than
the Gunter's chain, but being longer does not need to be laid down so frequently in
the measurement of a definite distance; for this reason there is less liability to error
from the inaccurate marking of the ends of the chain. Again, as the levelling staff is
usually graduated in feet and decimal parts of a foot, this chain is more convenient
than the 66 ft. chain when used in connection with levelling or tacheometric
operations. In municipal work, too, the 100 ft. chain is employed, as, in this case,
dimensions are required to be expressed in yards, feet, and inches.

Metre chains are also in use, the commonest lengths being 10, 20, and 25 metres.
They are subdivided into one-fifth parts of a metre and tallied at every two metres
from each end.

Method:-

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 The method of surveying a field or other parcel of land with Gunter's chain is to first
determine corners and other significant locations, and then to measure the distance between them,
taking two points at a time.

The surveyor is assisted by a chainman. A ranging rod (usually a prominently coloured

wooden pole) is placed in the ground at the destination point. Starting at the originating point the chain
is laid out towards the ranging rod, and the surveyor then directs the chainman to make the chain
perfectly straight and pointing directly at the ranging rod.

A pin is put in the ground at the forward end of the chain, and the chain is moved forward so
that its hind end is at that point, and the chain is extended again towards the destination point. This
process is called ranging, or in the US, chaining; it is repeated until the destination rod is reached, when
the surveyor notes how many full lengths (chains) have been laid, and he can then directly read how
many links (one-hundredth parts of the chain) are in the distance being measured.

The whole process is repeated for all the other pairs of points required, and it is a simple
matter to make a scale diagram of the plot of land. The process is surprisingly accurate and requires only
very low technology.

Surveying with a chain is simple if the land is level and continuous—it is not physically
practicable to range across large depressions or significant waterways, for example. On sloping land, the
chain was to be "leveled" by raising one end as needed, so that undulations did not increase the
apparent length of the side or the area of the tract.

Chain length shorten due to :

Bending of links.

Sticking of mud in the rings

Chain length increases due to :

Opening of small rings.

Wearing of surfaces.

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Chains may be tested with respect to :

Steel tape

Permanent test gauge

Pegs driven in the field at required distances

Permanent test gauge made with dressed stones

If chain is found long, then :

Close the joins of the rings

Reshape the elongated rings

Remove one or two rings

Replace worn out rings

If chain is found short, then :

Straighten the links

Replace the small rings with big one

Insert additional rings

Flattening the circular rings

Errors in chain Surveying :

Errors in chaining may be classified as

 Personal errors
 Compensating errors, and
 Cumulating errors.

Personal Errors

Wrong reading, wrong recording, reading from wrong end of chain

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etc., are personal errors. These errors are serious errors and cannot be detected easily. Care should be
taken to avoid such errors.

Compensating Errors :

These errors may be sometimes positive and sometimes negative. Hence

They are likely to get compensated when large number of readings are taken. The magnitude of such
errors can be estimated by theory of probability. The following are the examples of such

 Incorrect marking of the end of a chain.

 Fractional part of chain may not be correct though total length is corrected.
 Graduations in tape may not be exactly same throughout.
 In the method of stepping while measuring sloping ground, plumbing may be crude.

Cumulative Errors :

The errors that occur always in the same direction are called cumulative errors. In each reading the error
may be small, but when large number of measurements are made they may be considerable, since the
error is always on one side. Examples of such errors are:

1. Bad ranging
2. Bad straightening
3. Erroneous length of chain
4. Temperature variation
5. Variation in applied pull
6. Non-horizontality
7. Sag in the chain, if suspended for measuring horizontal distance on a sloping ground.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Chains in Surveying

Advantages of Chains in Surveying :

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Chain survey is simplest and commonest method used in surveying exercises

The equipment used to conduct chain survey are simple to use,

The equipment used in chain survey can easily be replaced. For example measuring rods can be replaced
with measuring tape.

This method does not involve complicated mathematical calculation. I know this is the relief to those
who are afraid of mathematics

In chain survey few people are needed to conduct the survey. Normally chain survey team has three
people Booker, leader and follower.

Disadvantages of Chains in Surveying :

Simple chain survey cannot be conducted in built up areas and large areas.

Simple chain survey is subject to several chances of errors of accumulation which may cause by problem
of chain. The chain linkage may fail to stretch up properly and result in inaccurate data. Also clogging of
chain may read to error in reading.

It is time consuming

It may not be conducted in areas with steep slopes or water logged areas. Chain survey is usually
conducted in dry areas with gentle slopes. It becomes more complicated when survey is conducted in
areas that are too wet.

College chain :-
The government polytechnic sakoli, there are used contur chain for the measuring the
distance.

These chain are made simply 30m lang. The 30m chain is composed by 150 links. With two
handles at the end of chain.

The length of links is the center to center distance between two consecutive middle rings. The
length of One links 20cm. The length of links in inches is 8 inch with end of two middle of ring. The end

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of two links are 5inch long and end two handle are 3inch long summation of 5inch link ahe 3inch handle
become the one link of 8inch.

The length of chain is 30m with the 150 links per links is 8inch long as well as per links are
20cm long thats means the all over chain is 1200inch long. And also we know 3000 cm long chain.

The end of each link are bent into loop and connected together by means of three oval rings
which afford flexibility to the chain

The end of chain are provided with brass handles for pulling the chain on ground over which
the length of chain is marked.

The joint between the first link and the handdle has a swivel joint which affords turnning the
chain with out any twisting.

To facilitate holding the arrows in position with handdle of chain, a groove is cut on the
outside surface of handdle whose diameter is normally half the diameter of the Arrow. The tallies are
used for measuring the distance in chain with ease.

The letters 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m in case of 30m chain are marked.

As shown in fig :_

M ethod :-

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 In engineering colleges, the lost time of using the contur chain for the survey. First of all we
collect the instrument from the survey station and goto the survey point for the getting the proper
reading of this field

The method of surveying a field or other parcel of land with Gunter's chain is to first
determine corners and other significant locations, and then to measure the distance between them,
taking two points at a time.

The surveyor is assisted by a chainman. A ranging rod (usually a prominently coloured

wooden pole) is placed in the ground at the destination point. Starting at the originating point the chain
is laid out towards the ranging rod, and the surveyor then directs the chainman to make the chain
perfectly straight and pointing directly at the ranging rod.

Errors in chaining :-

The errors in thie chain because the long time ago the college brought the chain for the
survey. The chain has approximately 20 or 30 year old

When we baying a chain that time his length had 30m long but chain is 20 or 30 year old
so chain has streched form the rings, handles, and links. There are junk on all over chain.

The true length of chain is 30m but this chain length is 33m form one end of handle to
another end of handle.

The chain are not properly bend or open.

The letters of 5m, 10m, chain are marked token are parmantly clean.

Reference :-

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^ Linklater, Andro (2003). Measuring America. Penguin. pp.16–17.

^ Holloway, Thomas (1881). The practical surveyor. Horace Cox. London. pp.22–24. Retrieved April 7,
2009.

^ Nesbit, Anthony (1847). A complete treatise on practical land-surveying, Ninth edition. Longman,
Brown, Green and Longmans. London. p. 29. Retrieved April 7, 2009.

^ McKay, Donald F. (ed.) (2009). "Land Title Surveys in New Zealand" Archived 2015-05-23 at the
Wayback Machine.. Chapter 2, Section 8: Public Roads. New Zealand Institute of Surveyors.

^ Craven, Ian; Gray, Martin; Stoneham, Geraldine (1994). Australian Popular Culture. Cambridge
University Press. p. 27. ISBN 0-521-46667-9.

^ Zupko, Ronald Edward. A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles

^ Denny, Milton. "The Colonial Surveyor in Pennsylvania", Surveyors Historical Society, 2013.

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