How to Read an Engineer's Elevation Pole
- 1). Sight the grade rod in with the scope of a builder's level. Rotate the eyepiece to improve the focus.
- 2). Take note of the first red number below the scope's crosshairs. That number represents feet.
- 3). Find the first black number below the scope's crosshairs. The black numbers indicate inches.
- 4). Count the number of short marks between the crosshairs and the inch mark, including the mark where the crosshairs are at. Multiply that by 1/4 to find quarter inches. For example, if there are three short marks above the 5-inch mark, the number of inches would be 5 3/4.
- 5). Sight the grade rod in at another location, and read the number of feet and inches as before.
- 6). Subtract the smaller number from the larger. The difference is the change in elevation from the location where you first sighted the rod. If the first number was greater than the second, the first elevation is the lower of the two.
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