link (US survey) [li] Unit Converter

Definition of link (US survey) [li] unit

A link (US survey) is a customary surveying unit of length equal to 0.66 US survey foot, or exactly 7.92 inches (approximately 20.1168 centimeters). One hundred links make a surveyor’s chain, which measures 66 US survey feet.

History of link (US survey) [li] unit

The link originated in British surveying practice, especially through Edmund Gunter’s seventeenth-century chain. Gunter’s chain was 66 feet long and divided into 100 links, a convenient arrangement for calculating areas in acres. The measure crossed the Atlantic with English surveying traditions and became standardized in United States land surveys. After adoption of the US survey foot and related customary standards, the link remained defined as 0.66 survey foot. Although electronic instruments have largely replaced chains, historical land descriptions and survey records still preserve the unit.

Applications of link (US survey) [li] unit

Today, the US survey link appears mainly in cadastral records, boundary descriptions, historical plats, and surveying references based on Gunter’s chain. It may also be encountered when interpreting legal land documents or converting older measurements into modern metric or SI values. Contemporary surveyors generally use meters, feet, or total-station software rather than physically measuring in links.

Complete list of link (US survey) [li] unit conversion