Birzeit University

Civil Engineering Department

Surveying for Civil Engineering
CE327/CE337

Lecture 1-Introduction

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• Textbook:

– Surveying Principles and Application- 7th

ed.

– Or any book listed in the References

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 SURVEYING
• Fieldwork

• Computations (office work)

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 SURVEYING
• Webster:
The practice of measuring angles and distances on the ground so that they
can be accurately plotted on a map. (very old).

• That branch of applied mathematics which teaches the art of determining

the area of any portion of the earth's surface, the length and directions of
the bounding lines, the contour of the surface, etc., with an accurate
delineation of the whole on paper; the act or occupation of making surveys.
(better but also old).
• {Topographical surveying}, that branch of surveying which involves the
process of ascertaining and representing upon a plane surface the contour,
physical features, etc., of any portion of the surface of the earth.

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 Branches of Surveying
• Geometric Geodesy (Geodetic + Plane Surveying).
– The surface of the earth is consider to be a plane for all X,Y
dimensions.
– Z dim. Are referenced to the MSL

• Physical Geodesy (Determination of gravity).

– Surface of the earth is considered to be spherical of
revolutions for X,Y dim.
– Z dim. Are referenced to the MSL

• Hydrographic surveying.
– Preliminary surveys are used to tie in underwater features to
a surface control line.

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 Main Tasks
• Mapping
- Satellite photos.
- Aerial Photogrametry.
- terrestrial (Land).

• Setting out
- terrestrial (Land)

• Navigation
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 Types of Surveying
• Geodetic Surveying
- Large Areas (Area > 50 km2)
- Consider curvature of the earth
- complex mathematics

• Plane Surveying
- Small Areas (Area <= 50 km2)
- Neglect curvature of the earth
- simple mathematics

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 Plane Surveying
• Detailed Surveying (Z)
- horizontal coordinates (X, Y) 1
Draw detailed (Hz.) maps

Z1
• Topographic Surveying
(Y)
- Heights (z)
Draw topographic maps. X1
(X) Y1

In surveying the focus is on determination and

using point coordinates in space.

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Distance Measurements

• Measurements in surveying includes both distances and

angles (H.A & V.A).

• The distance between the projections of 2 points on a

reference horizontal plane known as H.D.

• H. plane at a point is defined as a plane perpendicular to

the direction of gravity at that point.

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Methods for measuring distances

1. Pacing
2. Taping
3. Tachometry ( theodolite and staff)
4. EDM.
• Distance up to 100m long can be easily measured
with a tape to an accuracy (at 1 ) of 1/3000.
• Mapping for a small area can be carried out using a
tape with an accuracy that is adequate for many
engineering projects.
Equipments used in chain surveying

• Equipments falls under 3 broad categories which are:

1. Equipments used for linear measurements.
1. Tapes:
– Made of synthetic material, fiber glass or coated steel.
– Lengths ranging from 1 to 50 m are available (20,30,50m are the most
commonly used).
– It is more accurate than chains but lack of robustness and difficulty in doing
field repairs.
2. Invar tapes
– Most accurate ( least affected by temp.)
– Mixture of steel (65%) and nickel (35%)
– Low coff. Of thermal expansion = 1/30th of steel
– Very expensive (used for measuring lines that require a very high degree of
accuracy)
 Equipments used in chain surveying
• Equipments used for making right angles:

1. Optical square:
• Simple and compact instruments
• Most available kind having a cylindrical shape of 35mm
dim. And 40mm thick.
• More accurate than cross- staff.
• 2 types:
– 2 mirrors- rays of light reflected from 2 mirrors is turned
through twice the angle between the mirrors
– Prism- employs a pentagonal-shape prism, so cut these
2 faces contain an angle equal to 45 degree.
 Equipments used in chain surveying
• Other equipments:
1. Ranging rods:
1. Poles of circular cross-section(1” diam. And 1-2m long)
2. Painted with alternate bands of red and white that are
usually 50cm long.
2. Arrows :
1. Steel skewers (40cm long and 3-4mm diam.)
2. Used to mark intermediate points when measuring long
line.
3. Pegs:
1. Points require to be more permanently marked.
2. Can have 4*4 square cross-section, circular cross-
section(3-5cm) dim. Both about 40 cm long.
3. Steel angle is used in very hard or frozen ground.
4. In asphalt road –small 5 or 6 mm square brads are used.
4. Plumb bob:
1. Metallic object (shape of cone).
2. Hung it freely by a strong string from the center of
its base.
3. The tip of the cone points towards the direction of
gravity
4. Used to project a point on the ground up to a tape.
5. Clinometers
1. Small device to measure the angle of inclination (slope) of a
uniformly sloping ground.
6. Abney level
1. Alternative to measure the inclination angle of uniformly
sloping line.
Ranging and measurements of lines
 Measuring distance is carried out by 2 persons (leader and
follower).
 If the required measured distance is shorter than one tape length,
it is directly measured by extending the tape.
 Intermediate points (equal or random) are required if the distance
is longer than one tape length.
• Measurements should be in a straight line.
• Tape should be pulled to a reasonable point, in order to
minimize sagging and to avoid over-stretching the tape
material at the same time.
• A Systematic way should be followed to count the no. of times
the tape is used between the ends points of the line
• The topography of the ground where the line to be
measured is located controls the followed
procedure

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Ranging and measurements of lines
A. Level ground:
1. Position 2 ranging rods (RR) on both ends of the line. Rod should be
vertical.
2. The leader holding a RR and the end of the tape and several arrows,
extends the tape horizontally in the direction of point B.
3. The follower, holding the zero of the tape and standing behind the rod
at A, looks in the direction of B and begins giving R& L signals to the
leader until the rods at A,A1,B lie in a straight line
4. The follower moves the zero of the tape and a RR to A, then pulls out
the arrow and drives the RR in its place. Process will be repeated until
A2.
5. step.4 is repeated to locate the next point A3.
6. The previous steps are repeated until reaching a point, therefore the
distance between this point and point B will be small than a tape
length.

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Ranging and measurements of lines
B. Uniformly sloping ground:
– When the ground between points A&B has a uniformly slope
– The slope distance is measured by the tape
– The slope angle is measured by clinometer or abney level
– H.D and elevation difference between the two points (A&B) will
be:
D  S  cos 
h  S  sin 
– If between A&B is known, then there is no need to measure
the slope angle…

H .D.  S 2  h 2
Ranging and measurements of lines
C. Uneven ground (non-uniformly sloping ground)
– The process of measuring known as stepping
– Measurements is done in short H. increments of 10-15m long
with the help of plump bob.
– Total length = summation of all short increments.
Mapping using chain surveying

• In chain surveying, the topographical and man-made

features are located and mapped. Which could be done
by measuring with the tape the lengths of a series of
selected reference straight lines (chain lines).
• locating the points on the ground relative to these lines
by two methods:
• Method of ties: a point is located by measuring 2
reasonable distances between this point and 2 selected
points on the C.L.
• Offsets method: a point is projected on the C.L. and the
distance between the point and its projection and the
distance from the beginning point of line to the projected
point are measured.

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 Cont. Introduction:
• The surveyor should visit the area to be mapped
(shape of area, existing details, draws a
reasonable sketch of the area).
• All the details such as roads, buildings, fences,
electric poles, etc. should be included in the
sketch.
• Approximate north direction should be included
in the sketch.
Booking the measurement

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 Accuracy of measurements
• It depends on the plotting scale.
• Suggested to be made to the nearest 10mm.
• Example:
1. If the draughtsman can plot a length to within
0.2mm.
A. If the plotting scale is 1/500---10 cm on the
ground
B. If the plotting scale is 1/100---2 cm on the ground

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Units of Measurements
1. Measuring the length
• English system (inch, foot, yard, and mile)
 1foot= 12inches
 1mile=5280ft
• Metric system
 1m=100cm
 1km=1000m
2. Area Measurement
 Metric
 1 hectare= 10,000m2
 1Km2=100ha
3. Volume
• Metric
• 1m3=1000,000cm3
• 1m3=1000liters
• Converting
– 1inch = 2.54 cm
Angle measurement

1. Sexagesimal System
• Circle=360, degree=60mintues, minute= 60
seconds
2. Radian
• 2=360=400g
Lecture Two- Theory of Errors
Sources of errors

• Instrument imperfections

• Human operator errors

• Environmental nature

 No surveying measurement are exact (unless by

chance), so it is very important to understand the sources of
the error and the methodology to achieve acceptable accuracy
(Control, Avoid, and minimize it).
– True error (e)= Measured value- true value …hard to
know so..
– Residual error (v) =measured –mean
Types of Errors

• Blunders:
– Main Causes: human carelessness, fatigue
– Could be +ve or –ve, large or small
– Sighting wrong target when measuring an angle or errors in
recording are examples of it,
• Systematic Errors
– Maladjustment of the instruments and nature of the
environment
– It can calculated and eliminated such as the error in chain
surveying due to length of tape…
– Arising from known sources
1. Examples of Systematic errors and their correction are
1. Temp. correction

C t  0.0000116 (T1  T ) L
0.0000116 
T1 
T 
L
2.Sag correction
1. Related to tape weight and the amount of pull
2. Caused recorded distance to be greater than actual length
being measured
3. Supported tape at its midpoint, effect sag in the 2 spans less
than when it is supported at the ends only
4. Total sag correction for a tape resting on multiple supports=
summations of the sag correction for separate interval

W *L 2 W L2i * Li
Cs   2

24 P 24 P 2
or
w 2 * L3
Cs  
24 P 2
 3.0Tension correction
• Tape material is elastic to small extent
• Then it changed by vibration in tension applied
• Not related to sag but elastic deformation of the tape

( P1  P0 ) * L
CP 
AE
4.0Length correction

• Checking tape frequently is necessary since tape length

changes due to wear and tear.
• Diff. between actual length and nominal length of tape is
known as length correction
L
C l  (l a  l 0 )*
l0
• When the length correction is the only correction to be
considered
• Correct line length=measured length *actual length of
tape/nominal length of the tape
• Correct area=measured area *(actual length of
tape/nominal length of the tape)2
Example

• A 50-m tape was calibrated under a tension of 7 kg and a

temperature of 20C while fully supported. When carefully
checked, the tape was found to be 50.005 m long. In the
field it was used under a tension of 7 kg, a temperature of
35 c and supported at 2 ends only. A line was measured in
4 sections with the following results: 50, 50, 50 and 48.631
(all measurements were in meter). Determine the correct
length of the line. The tape weighted 0.50 kg.
•Random error

– Causes: imperfection of the measuring

instruments, environment and imperfection of
the surveyor.
– Minimized using: repeated measurements,
better instruments and suitable field
procedures
– Have many characteristics
1. +ve and-ve of the same magnitude occur with same frequency.
2. Small errors occur more than large
3. Very large are rarely occur
4. The true value is the mean of infinite no. of observations
Mean, standard deviation and standard
error of the mean:


Max. and probable Error

• Probable error of a measurement =0.6745 
• 50% probability that the actual error exceeds the
probable error and 50% prob. that it is less than
probable error.
• Max Error = 3 
• 99.7% probability that the actual error falls within
3 
• Example
• Example 1:

A distance was repeatedly 12 times and the following results

(in meters) were recorded:

68.78, 68.83, 68.80,68.85, 68.77, 68.18, 68.79, 68.80, 68.81,

68.82,68.79, 68.82

Check these measurements of the existence of any blunders

then compute mean, standard deviation and estimate
standard error of the mean?
 Precision and Accuracy
• Precision
– Small standard deviation means high
precision
– Graph:
• Accuracy:
– Near the true value- higher accuracy
– High accuracy doesn't mean high
precision
How to obtain high accuracy and precision:

• Detect and eliminate all blunders

• Eliminate and remove systematic errors by

frequent calibration and adjustments of the
instruments.

• Minimize random errors by making

repeated measurements, good
instruments and field procedures
 Relative precision
• It is usually used to describe the precision of
distance measurements.

Repeated Measurements:
• There is inverse relation between standard
deviation and square root of n.
• The no. of repetitions required In order to
achieve a certain value standard error of the
mean…
• Example…
Propagation and random errors:
• Previously errors of directly measured
value were discussed
• But in this section the standard error of
quantity calculated from measured values
will be discussed..
• Using law of propagation …
• Example