Development of the new line-scale facility at VSL

Extremely accurate calibration of (line) scales requires dedicated equipment and measurement conditions that are usually only implemented at the national metrology institutes. The Dutch metrology institute VSL has several facilities to calibrate scales from small micrometer scales up to leveling rods and tape measures with lengths over tens of meters to high accuracy. In order to ensure that VSL can continue to provide services for the ever increasing demand for higher accuracies, these facilities are continuously improved. This paper describes the efforts that have been undertaken recently to improve VSL’s capabilities for the calibration of high-precision line scales as well as the motivation for the choices that have been made during this process.