Tape Definitions for Land Surveyors

tape—A ribbon of steel, Invar, specially made cloth, or other suitable material on which graduations are placed for the measurement of lengths or distances. See also base tape.

tape, Invar—A tape made of Invar metal. See Invar.

tape, normal tension-1 The tension to be applied to a tape to compensate for the shortening effect of the sag of the tape in order to bring the tape to standard length. 2 That pull at which the tension correction and sag correction exactly balance each other. (If this principle were used in practice, a tape might be stretched beyond its elastic limit and its standard length would be destroyed.) See also correction, tension.

tape corrections—Quantities applied to a taped distance to eliminate or reduce errors due to the physical condition of the tape and to the way in which it is used. See also correction, alignment; correction, grade; correction, length; correction, sag; correction, slope (definition 2); correction, temperature; correction, tension.

tape thermometer—A thermometer fitted in a specially designed case to clip on against a metal tape in order to determine temperature corrections for precision base or traverse tape measurements.

taping—The operation of measuring distances on the ground with tape or chain. Formerly, the words “chaining” and “taping” were used synonymously; however, because of historical and legal reasons, the word “chaining” is preferred when referring to the measurement of distances in the public land system. See also chaining.

taping (breaking tape)—A method of taping on slopes whereby all measurements are made with a part of the tape held horizontally.

taping, standard tension—The tension or pull at which a tape was standardized.

taping arrows—See pin (definition 2).

Source: NSPS “Definitions of Surveying and Related Terms“, used with permission.

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