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Introduction to Survey
Introduction

Surveying may be defined as the science of determining the position, in two or three
dimensions, of natural and man-made features on or beneath the surface of the Earth. These
features may be represented in analogue form as a contoured map, plan or chart, or in digital
form such as a digital ground model (DGM).
To obtain such information, some field measurements should be acquired from the field using
specialized instrumentation. Slope and horizontal distances, vertical and horizontal angles, height
differences, directions and bearings are the different types of observations that are collected in
surveying. The collection of such measurements is commonly known as field work phase. These
data should be analyzed, reduced to useful form by mathematical calculations, adjusted, and may
be converted to a graphical form such as maps. This step is commonly known as the office work
phase. In engineering surveying, either or both above formats may be used for planning, design
and construction of works, both on the surface and underground. At a later stage, surveying
techniques are used for dimensional control or setting out of designed constructional elements and
for monitoring deformation movements.

Role of surveying in the Engineering projects

Surveying is very important and essential branch of engineering as:

Before construction stage start, surveying has the following effective roles
➢ Preparing the layout maps to be provided to the designer engineer.
➢ Complete survey of all normal or man-made features and utilities.
➢ Topographic survey for the whole area to get height information.

During construction stage, surveying is necessary to

➢ Setting out the designed features with high accuracy.
➢ Monitoring the structure body during execution.
➢ Controlling the levels of the whole project.

After construction stage, the role of surveying is to

➢ Perform as built surveying to assure the construction dimensions and location.
➢ Monitor the deformation, if any, especially in case of tall buildings.
➢ Compute the area of the final executed project.

Classification of Surveying

a- According to the earth’s surface (Land Surveying).

1- Plane surveying:
If the area in which the engineering project is executed is relatively small, the adopted
computational surface is taken as a plane. In other words, all computations in any surveying
process, in this type of surveying, are based on the plane as a computational surface. In this
case, up to 15 km length and/or 50 km sq. area, the effect of both the earth’s curvature and
the refraction, will be ignored.
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2. Geodetic surveying
This type takes place in case of large areas (> 50 sq. km) and long distances (> 15 km).
Both effects of refraction and earth curvature should be considered. The computational
surface of the earth is either sphere, or ellipsoid.

b- According to its uses

1- Land Surveying
This branch is oriented towards the determination of the land boundaries and land
boundary corners. Also, the preparation of maps showing the shapes and areas of land are
included.

2- Cadastral surveying
It is the branch of surveying that works in surveying all types of features and/or utilities such
as buildings, roads, green areas, manholes, waterlines, trees, water routes, etc. It is used to
produce the cadastral maps of relatively large scale.

3- Route surveying
This branch is used to survey and prepare the maps required to design the route projects such
as roads, canals, drains and railways. The work in these projects is controlled within all
construction stages using such a type of surveying.

4- Topographic surveying
Where, full details to vertically control any project are obtained using the topographic
surveying. Spot and grid leveling are performed using the topographic surveying to generate
the topographic and the contour maps.

5- Hydrographic surveying
In hydrographic surveying, all projects in and off the shore line are controlled. In addition, the
preparation of the surveying maps needed for these kinds of projects are produced.

c- Photogrammetry.
Photogrammetry is a three-dimensional measurement technique which uses central
projection imaging as its fundamental mathematical model.

(3-D) Coordinate Systems

a- Geodetic curvilinear coordinates system

Geodetic latitude : is the angle measured form the equator to the point on the meridian plane of
that point.  varies from zero to 90o north or south.
Geodetic longitude : is the angle measured from Greenwich meridian to the point on the geodetic
equator anti-clockwise direction.  varies from 0 to 360 o or form 0º to 180º east and form 0º to
180º west.
Geodetic height h: Is the distance between the point and the sphere measured on the ellipsoid
normal direction.
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b- Geodetic Cartesian coordinates: (X, Y, Z)

Where any point may be defined within the geodetic system

by three Cartesian coordinates
X: The ordinates measured on the X axis direction
Y: The ordinates measured on the Y axis direction
Z: The ordinates measured on the Z axis direction

It should be mentioned here; that any of the above two sets

of coordinates can be mathematically transformed to the
other set and vice versa.
(X, Y, Z) <===========> (, , h)
Both sets of coordinates define any point with respect to the
geodetic system

(2-D) Plane coordinates system:

This system consists of two axes; the north axis and the east axis. Any point can be defined by two
coordinates in this system. Calculations, in such a system, are called as two dimensional (2-D)
computations. It is supposed that the area under consideration is relatively small and the used
computational surface is the plane.

Types of north direction:

The north direction at a point is the tangent to the meridian passes through the point. In this
case, the north direction lines at different points are not parallel and there is a convergence of all
north directions towards to the North Pole. In small area, as the case of plane surveying, such a
convergence does not exist, and it is assumed that all north line directions are parallel.
The north direction is essential to be plotted in a surveying map and may be considered as the
reference direction to which all surveyed features are related. This means that it is one of the
main components of a map. North direction may be measured or calculated at a certain site. The
measurements of the north direction may be done using a compass, astronomic instruments, or
satellites observations. On the other hand, north direction can be extracted from previous known
information, such as the coordinates of some points on the earth's surface.

The following are the types of the north direction:

1. True north direction:

It is the line tangent to the astronomic meridian at any point. It is measured by astronomic
observations.
2. Geographic (Geodetic true) north direction:
It is the tangent of the geodetic meridian at any point. It is some time called as the theoretical north
direction at any point. Geodetic true north also differs very slightly from astronomical true north
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(typically by a few arc-seconds) because the local gravity may not point at the exact rotational axis
of the earth.
3. Magnetic north direction:

It is the extension of the direction of the compass needle at a certain point when it is located free
on the point, faraway from any magnetic effects except the earth's gravity. It is not constant and
varies from point to point according to the internal metallic content of the earth at such a point.
4. Local north direction:
In some small projects, it is possible to choose an arbitrary direction. This direction can be
temporally considered as the north direction of such a project
5. Grid north:
Grid north is a navigational term referring to the direction northwards along the grid lines of a map
projection. It is contrasted with true north (the direction of the North Pole) and magnetic north (the
direction in which a compass needle points).

Angles between the 3 north directions:

1- Grivation is the angle between grid north and magnetic north. It is changing and has a
different value at each place.
2- Grid Convergence, this angle describes the angle between true north and grid north.
The value is not changing for a position.
3- Declination this angle lays between true north and magnetic north and is likewise the
gravitation changing with different values at each position.

A bearing of a line in surveying:

A bearing is an angle made by the survey line with reference to some fixed meridian. Or we
can say that the bearing of any line in surveying is an angle measured from a reference direction,
(the north direction) to the line.
Bearings are classified into three types:
1- True bearing
The angle made by a survey line with reference to the astronomic meridian is known as true
bearing. It always remains constant.
2- Magnetic bearing
The angle made by a survey line with respect to magnetic meridian is known as magnetic
bearing. It changes from place to place.
3- Arbitrary Bearing
The angle made by the survey line with reference to arbitrary meridian is known as Arbitrary
Bearing.
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Designation of Bearings:
1- Whole Circle bearing(WCB)
A bearing measured from north in a clockwise direction is termed as whole circle bearing. The
value varies from 0 degrees to 360 degrees.

2- Reduced bearing(RB)/Quadrantal bearing(QB)

The reduced bearing of any line is defined as the angle measured between the north-south line to
that line under the condition. Its values vary from 0 degrees to 90 degrees for a quadrant. It is also
known as quadrantal bearing (QB).

3- Fore (forward) Bearing (FB)

The bearings measured in the progress of surveying i.e. in the forward direction of survey lines is
known as fore-bearing or forward bearing.
4- Back (backward) Bearing (BB)
The bearing measured in opposite to the progress of surveying i.e. in backward direction of survey
line is known as Backward Bearing.
We can describe the relationship between both forward and backward bearing as:
αab =αba ± 180o , Where;
the +ve sign takes place when αab˂180o & the –ve sign takes place if αab˃180o
5- Observed Bearing(OB)
The bearings taken in a field with an instrument is known as Observed Bearing.
6- Calculated Bearing
The bearing calculated from the field observation is known as calculated bearing.
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Transformation between WCB and RB

WCB is preferred to be used in all surveying calculation, where the algebraic sign is considered
according to the location of the side. In this case, we need usually to transform the RB to WCB,
especially in case of using a computed bearing, which is the RB.
The following is the different cases that represent the relation between the WCB and the RB:

Relation between angles and bearings

In the shown figure, it is clear that the angle enclosed by the two lines ab and ac at point a equals
the difference between the bearings of the two lines ac and ab. On the other hand, if the angle is
known, and it is required to calculate the bearing of one of the two lines, we have to have the
bearing of the other one.
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Scales in Surveying
Usually the word scale is used for an instrument used for drawing straight lines. But actually in
Engineer’s language scale means the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding
distance on the ground. We can say that the scale of a chart is the ratio of a given distance on the
chart to the actual distance which it represents on the earth.The scale of a map may be expressed
in various ways. The most common are:

Types of Survey Scales Used in Surveying Drawings:

Since the area that is surveyed is large, it is never possible to make the drawings to full size, and,
therefore, drawings of an area made to a smaller scale. The operation is generally known as
drawing to scale. The type of survey scales can be represented by the following two methods:
1. Numerical Scales:
Numerical survey scales are subdived into:
a) Engineer's scale
One cm in the plan represents some whole number of meters the ground, such as 1cm= 10m, 1cm
=100m, …etc. This type of scale is known as Engineer's scale.
b) Fraction scales.
One unit of length on the plan represents some number of the same unit length on the ground, such
as 1:500, 1:10000 or 1/100000, etc. This type of scale is known as the fraction scale. The ratio of
map (or drawing or plan) distance to the corresponding ground distance is known as the
representative fraction (R.F.).
2. Graphical Scales:
A graphical scale is a line subdivided into plan distance corresponding to some convienent length
on the ground. It is a means of visually showing the scale of a map, , engineering drawing, or
architectural drawing.
a) Plain Scale:
It is used to read in two dimensions only. It reads or measures up to two units or a unit and its sub-
division. The scale consists of two lines about 3 mm apart, the bottom one being thicker than the
top one. The whole length is divided into a suitable number of equal parts or units, the first of
which is further sub-divided into smaller parts or sub-units of the main unit. The primary and
secondary divisions are drawn perpendicular to the two lines and are made about 1.5 mm projecting
above the top line. For convenience in reading, it should not involve any arithmetic calculation in
measuring distance on the map. The main division should, therefore, represent one or hundred
units, etc.

b) Diagonal Scale
It is used when it is required to read in three different dimensions, such as units, tenths, and
hundredths; meters, decimeters, and centimeters, etc. The deficiency of reading only in two
dimensions in the plain scale is overcome by this scale, that means the Diagonal scale can measure
more accurately than the plain scale. Through diagonal scale, measurements can be up to the
second decimal. The principle of construction of a diagonal scale is based on the fact of similarity
of the triangles.
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Units of Linear Measurement

The linear measurement is the distance between the two given points, measurements in one
direction.
a) English Systems:
Miles = mile , mile = 1761 yard
Foot = ft , ft = 12 inch
Yards = yd , yd= 3 foot
Inches = in
b) Metric Systems
Kilometers = Km , m = 10-3 Km
Meters = m
Centimeters = cm , m = 102 cm
Millimeters = mm , m = 103 mm
To convert between both systems of linear measurements, several mathematical relationships
include:
1 m ≈ 1.09 yd ≈ 3.28 ft ≈ 39.36 in
1 km ≈ 0.621 mile
1 ft = 30.48 cm
1 in 2.54 cm

Measuring Distances over Obstacles.

There are three obstacles in linear measurements:
a) Obstruction to Measuring Only.
▪ Obstruction Can’t be Measured Around.
a) In these cases, you must take indirect measurements of a segment of the line.
b) From point A on the line AB running through the obstacle (e.g., lake) set out another
straight-line AC, avoiding the obstacle.
c) On this new line, layout a perpendicular line CB joining the original line at point B behind
the obstacle.
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d) Measure the two new line sections AC and CB and calculate the unknown distance AB
from a mathematical formula as follows:
AB = √(AC)2 +(CB)2 or AB = √(CB)2 - (AC)2 or
AB = CD

▪ Obstruction Can’t be Measured Around.

CE = AF , ED = FD – FE , FE = AC
AC* AF
AB = FD – AC

b) Obstacles to Ranging only.

This type of obstacle, Ranging, is an obstacle caused by high-rise ground, so the ends are not
intervisible. These obstacles can be classified into the following categories:
▪ Both ends of the line are visible from some intermediate points on the line.
This case can be solved by reciprocal ranging . It needs two assistants, one at point C and another
at point D, where from those points both stations A and station B are visible.

▪ Both ends of the line may not be visible from intermediate points on the line.
In this case both ends of the line may not be visible from intermediate points on the line but may
be visible from a point slightly away from the line, such as in the case of a jungle, intervening
trees, and bushes. The obstacle of this kind may be crossed over by Random Line method. the
unknown distance, (true line) AB can be calculated from a mathematical formula as follows:
2 2
AB = √(AB\ ) +(BB\ )

c) Obstacles to Both Measuring and Ranging.

When there exists a high building between the two stations (A&B), then taping and ranging both
are obstructed. For this obstacle, the following method can be used;
1. Choose two points A and G to one side and erect perpendicular AF and GE of equal length.
2. Join CD and prolong it past the obstacle.
3. Choose two points D and C on FE and then erect them perpendicular to DH and CB.
4. DH and CB must be equal to AF.
5. Join HB and prolong it.
6. Measure FC.
Then; AB = FC