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Just one foot!


foxtrot_xray

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On 8/19/2020 at 9:06 AM, foxtrot_xray said:

I knew this was coming a while back, interesting to see a full background article on it..

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/science/foot-surveying-metrology-dennis.html

 

In short: US has two feet. International Foot and the US Survey Foot. In about three years, we're ditching the US Survey Foot.

Neat and interesting article.  Thank you for sharing it.

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I don't see it as a big deal, but a small step in a good direction.

 

The only places it matters in practice are State Plane Coordinates, and also very long projects like highways and pipelines if they don't use SPC. SPC typically involves millions of feet from the grid origin, so the wrong foot is a serious discrepancy there.

 

For somebody doing a survey in a square mile laid out with a chain in the 1800's and perhaps remeasured with a steel tape in the mid-20th century, it doesn't matter.

 

NGS and the states will define new plane coordinate systems for the 2022 datum in meters, and anybody who wants feet will consistently convert to International feet.  If referring to older work, people will still need to know which foot was used for the coordinates.

Edited by Bill93
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