Relays (measurement)
Under scales (also relay measurement scale measurement) is defined as the piecewise horizontal measuring with the measuring band in the inclined terrain . You start at the higher point, so you measure downhill. After a maximum of 10 m horizontally measured distance (longer distances cause the belt to sag too much), a plumbing is performed. If the terrain is steeply sloping, this distance can be shorter so that you can stop the plumb line or the escape pole set vertically with a staff straightener . At the plumbing point, the measuring tape is placed again with the measure of the plumbing point in order to avoid superfluous and error-prone additions. The total distance then results from the number of full measuring tape lengths plus the remaining piece.
Due to modern measurement methods with electronic devices, this measurement method is only of secondary importance today.