Uniaxial and 3-D (triaxial) mechanical crackmeters are available to monitor joints and cracks. The movements between the two anchors are obtained with mechanical dial gauge. Simple and cheap, the TT-1 tell-tale crack-monitor installed across a fissure allows the crack survey in two directions.

The tell-tale crackmeter is a simple, plastic device that is be installed across fissures to provide measurements in one or two directions.