Cultellation on the Danube

Unfortunately, today's word cultellation is now obsolete. However, with a bit of lateral thinking, I have found a picture that is close! Cultellation means 'The solution of a problem by dealing with it piecemeal; spec. (Surveying) the measuring of altitude or horizontal distance over a sloping or uneven surface by dividing it into sections and measuring each section using a chain or tape held up horizontally with a weighted pointer or ‘arrow’ dropped vertically from its end.' (OED). Dotted along the Danube canal are signs with arrows indicating how long the stretch is - at least, I think that's what they mean - and I reckon that's close enough for jazz!