Jack slep Sep 19, 2013:

Ilya, good luck on your building project! Looks like everything in lower Manhattan is being renovated. Take care, Jack

Ilya Prishchepov Sep 18, 2013:

Yes Jack !! When in Manhattan, I get lumber from Brooklyn!!! Just an hour away or so. But they deliver, as you have to have special permit to stop for unloading in Manhattan. )) Yeah, that the Russian way of counting - штук as opposed to dozens of.., tens of.. or a bunch of... ))

Jack slep Sep 18, 2013:

Ilya, como esta, amigo mio! Just got back Monday from my old stomping grounds, NYC, was at 57th St, Hilton, good time, good fair at San Gennaro festival in Little Italy, etc. Russian "штук" has for me been meaningless for the most part, , e.g., (translated), in Table 1, "Number of panda bears, "штук"--why bother with "штук" when you already have "Number of" ? Also, linear meter is the distance between point x to point Y irrespective of the elevation and bumps between them; running meter is the length between X AND Y considering all the elevations, etc., tho' I really don't think there is a difference in practice unless measuring bra sizes. But we'll stick to limber timbers. In NYC, are lumber yards as rare as gas stations? Just asking....

Ilya Prishchepov Sep 18, 2013:

Hi Jack, I've spent bunch of time in construction. Running meter for me is a working (running) electric meter or some similar metering device. In USA we use linear feet mostly. When I need 300 linear feet and the standard size is 16 linear feet, I divide 300 by 16 and get 19 pieces of dimensional material from a lumber yard. Pieces mean in Russian "штук". So, what exactly is so "gross" to you, amigo?

Jack slep Sep 18, 2013:

Linear Meter?
Answer
In engineering, linear metre is a metre in which the deflection of the pointer is proportional to the quantity measured. Linear describes measurement of a one-dimensional line and not an area in square metres or a volume in cubic metres.
(Written by Einstein while smoking the good stuff)

Here, the ? is in "meter" and the answer is in "metre," which is understandable between continental spellings. This has always been stupid to me, who is stupid to begin with, but "linear," lineal," "running" meter/metre is a meter. If I want "square" or "cubic" meter I say so; I don't want somebody running through, e.g., the lumber yard with a tape measure counting off those 6-7 штук--that sounds gross, yuk!

Ilya Prishchepov Sep 16, 2013:

Займёмся математикой. 1 метр делим на 15 см, получаем 6-7 штучек. Судя по масштабу, перекрытие в районе 4 метра по длине. Умножаем 6-7 штук на 4 метра и получаем 24-28 погонных метров. Linear meters (or metres in Br Eng)

sparta1978 (asker) Sep 15, 2013:

i saw the answers Guys, I dont think 25 meters are needed for 1 meter of this trench.