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UNIT 1 CONCEPTS OF SURVEYING

Structure
1.1 1.2 1.3 Introduction
Objectives

Concepts of Surveying

Purpose of Surveying Principles of Surveying


1.3.1 1.3.2 Whole to Part Fixing a Point in Relation to Two Already Fixed Points

1.4

Definitions, Classifications and Phases


1.4.1 1.4.2 1.4.3 1.4.4 1.4.5 Measurement and Plotting Accuracies Classification Based on Types Classification Based on Purpose Classification Based on the Instruments Used Classification Based on Methods and Phases

1.5 1.6 1.7

Importance of Surveying Summary Answers to SAQs

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Surveying literally represents the art of studying the general features of any subject sought to be studied. In the context of Civil Engineering, it is concerned with the determination of relative positions of distinctive features of the earths surface, particularly in the region of interest under investigation. It is achieved by accurately making the linear and angular measurements. These measurements, such as distances, directions and elevations are measured using different instruments and techniques. The purpose of making these measurements is to obtain information about the particular portion of a land or a plot or general features in a locality. Linear measurements include the measurements of distances in a horizontal plane or vertical distances (levels) in a vertical plane. Angular measurements are measurement of angles in horizontal plane with reference to a fixed line or with reference to magnetic direction (bearing). It also includes measurements of angles in vertical plane (inclination or dip). In general, the operations primarily concerned with studying and recording the features in plane (horizontal plane) is termed surveying, while the study of measuring the relative heights of the salient ground features is termed levelling.

Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to describe the meaning of surveying and its purpose, explain the principles of surveying, and classify surveying based on its type, purpose, instruments used and methods employed. 5

Elements of Survey

1.2 PURPOSE OF SURVEYING


The main aim of the surveying is to measure and record the characteristic features (natural or man-made) of the area under consideration. The features may lie upon the earth surface or under it. Recording of these features is done on a paper to some suitable scale. The details of recorded measurements on the horizontal projection of the area surveyed is termed plan or map, while the record of details of measurements in vertical plane is shown on section either longitudinal or cross sectional. It can, thus, be seen that surveying helps in preparing the plans, while levelling helps to prepare the sections of ground features of area under investigation. The difference between a plan or a map is that of chosen scale. If the scale selected is small (say 1 m = 100 km), the horizontal projection is called a map while if the scale is large (say 1 cm = 1 m), it is called a plan, e.g. map of India or plan of a building. It can, thus, be concluded that the purpose of a surveying exercise is to (a) (b) determine the relative position of the characteristic natural features such as hills, lakes, ponds, rivers, trees etc., determine the relative positions of the characteristic man-made created features, such as buildings, roads, railway tracks, fences, electric and telephone poles etc., determine the relative heights/depths of characteristic natural or created features, measured vertically with reference to a pre-selected horizontal plane called datum. These relative heights/depths are termed levels or elevations, and plot the above measurements on a plan or section to represent the important characteristics of natural and created features for further reference and use in future for engineering purpose, e.g. construction of a building, road or tunnel etc.

(c)

(d)

1.3 PRINCIPLES OF SURVEYING


Whatever may be the purpose, technique used, or operations involved, the surveying exercise is based on following two basic principles. (a) (b) Working from whole to part Fixing a point in relation to two already fixed points

1.3.1 Whole to Part


For any particular surveying exercise of an extensive area, the surveyor should first establish a sufficient number of points with high degree of precision in and around the area to be surveyed. Such points are known as control points. These control points define the boundary lines of the area under investigation, which are obtained by joining these points by imaginary lines. The control points are established using accurate techniques with high degree of precision like triangulation, geodetic surveying or by running a precision traverse surrounding the area under study. These techniques are highly elaborate, precise and expensive. This forms the main skeleton of surveying (Figure 1.1). 6

The skeleton area marked by boundary control points A, B, C, D and E (Figure 1.1) is then broken into smaller triangles (ABP, BCP, AQE, EDR, DRC), which are further subdivided into still smaller triangles (1-2-3, 4-5-C, 6-9-Q etc.) reducing the grid size increasingly. These divisions, subdivisions and further divisions are carried out using less laborious methods. This process of surveying control point areas by higher precision and using less laborious techniques in measuring finer grids is called the principle of working from whole to part.
B 1 A 2 11 S 5 P 6 Q E 10 9 D 8 R 7 C 3 4

Concepts of Surveying

Figure 1.1 : Whole to Part

The main advantage of working from whole to part is to localise and thus confine the error, if any, in measurements to smaller areas, and make the whole survey exercise to be less tedious and economical. The use of costly, laborious and tedious techniques to establish only control points on large triangles and then using simpler, easier and cheaper methods to fill up the details on a finer grid will reduce the survey cost substantially while localising the measurement errors in smaller portions only. On the other hand, if it is decided to work from part to whole, any error in measurements on small grids will go on accumulating as the grid is gradually expanded and will soon become uncontrollable, adversely affecting the precision of survey. If high precision and costly techniques are used even on finer grid measurements, the survey cost will become prohibitively high without getting any substantial advantage. Thus, working on the principle of whole to part, high precision is achieved at great economy and localising measurement errors in smaller areas only, while the alternative of working from part to whole makes the survey prohibitively costly without any substantial increase in precision or result in high inaccuracies due to magnification of accumulated errors.

1.3.2 Fixing a Point in Relation to Two Already Fixed Points


The new station points (e.g. P, Q, R, S in division of area and 1, 2, 3 etc. in area subdivision in Figure 1.1), can be established with the help of two points whose positions have already been fixed. Let two reference stations A and B are fixed as shown in Figure 1.2 and a new station C is sought to be established. This can be done in following alternative ways. (a) (b) (c) Measure distance d (CC1) on perpendicular to AB from C. Measure lengths l1 (AC) and l2 (BC). Measure length l1 (AC) and angle o (BAC) at A, or 7

Elements of Survey

Measure length l2 (BC) and angle o (ABC) at B, or Measure length l1 (AC) and angle o (ABC) at B, or Measure length l2 (BC) and angle o (BAC) at A. (d)
A

Measure angles o (BAC) at A and o (ABC) at B.


A l1 A C l2 B l2 B l1 C A C

C1

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 1.2 : Fixing of New Station (Alternatives)

Thus, station C can be fixed by seven different alternative measurement processes. Method (a) is used for defining details. Method (b) is very much used in chain surveying. Options available in method (c) could be used in traversing. The next method (d) is used in triangulation and it is used for very extensive work.

SAQ 1
(a) Discuss the basic principle of surveying. (b) What are the basic objective and purpose of surveying?

1.4 DEFINITIONS, CLASSIFICATIONS AND PHASES


1.4.1 Measurement and Plotting Accuracies
The accuracy and precision of measurements in surveying depends on several factors. Some of the important ones can be (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) scale of plan/map, purpose of survey, types and precisions of the instruments used, extent of the area and nature of the land to be surveyed, time and finance allotted for survey work, and operators error in taking, recording and plotting the readings.

Scale of a map/plan is the ratio of the distance between any two points on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground. It could be plain scale also known as normal scale or engineers scale or it could be represented as representative fraction (RF). For example, a plain scale of 1 cm = 10 m (i.e. 1 cm on map representing 10 m or 1000 cm on the ground) will have RF of 1/1000. The larger the denominator of RF, the smaller is the scale of map and vice-versa. 8

Different scales can be used to plot a given survey depending on the purpose and technique of survey. The same survey data from the measurements can be plotted with different scales to obtain maps/plots of different sizes depending on requirements. It may be noted that the contents in a map are dependent on the fineness and accuracy with which a good draftsman can draw the details. For an average draftsman the accuracy can be taken as 0.25 mm. This constraint can be used to impose limits on what details can be represented in the map. For example, for a scale of 1/100000, the smallest plottable distance on ground is 0.25 100000 or 25 metres. Hence, any feature of land, e.g. road, building or railway line with width smaller than 25 m cannot be plotted on map, except perhaps by a line or dot. Recommended scales for some of the types of map could be (a) (b) (c) Geographical Maps : 1/25000 to 1/100000 and even smaller. Atlas maps and wall maps could even have smaller scales. Topographical Maps : 1/25000 to 1/250000 showing natural and man-made features and contours. Cadastral or Land Revenue Maps : 1/500 to 1/5000, relatively larger scales showing holdings of individuals. Used for tax/revenue collection and for planning and management. Building Sites, Town Planning Schemes etc. : 1/5000 to 1/10000, for building sites larger scale, e.g. 1/1000 can be used. Roads, Railway Lines or Canal Maps : Longitudinal sections can be drawn to a horizontal scale of 1/1000 to 1/20000 while for vertical plots the scales are 1/100 to 1/200. For plotting cross sections, both horizontal and vertical scales are 1/100 to 1/200.

Concepts of Surveying

(d) (e)

It can be noted that on many maps with smaller scales, many important land features cannot be plotted to scale. However, these, being important details, cannot be ignored. Hence, these are represented on map sheet by suitable conventional symbols. Some of the conventional symbols approved by Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) are as shown in Figure 1.3.
Pond or Lake Barbed Wire Temple, Church and Gurudwara Fort Well

Pipe Railing Electric Line with Pole Building Swamp or Marsh with Cultivation Single Line Culvert North Water Pipe Line Double Line Railway Track Cutting River Tunnel Benchmark

EP

EP

Embankment

BM 250.00

Figure 1.3 : Important Symbols

Elements of Survey

1.4.2 Classification Based on Types


Primarily, surveying can be classified into two types : Plane Surveying and Geodetic Surveying. In plane surveying, the curvature of earth is neglected and the earth surface is considered as plane surface. Plane survey extends only over comparatively small areas. Hence, the two points on the ground can be considered to be connected by a straight line and the angle between any two lines is a plane angle. Most of the engineering surveys carried out on construction projects and similar other purposes can be conducted as the plane survey. For surveys of larger areas, the effect of curvature of earth cannot be ignored and has to be taken into consideration. Such surveys are termed as Geodetic Surveys. If the curvature of earths surface is significant because of size of area, the line connecting any two points of interest on earth surface cannot be approximated as a straight line. In fact, it would be an arc on the earths sphere. Angle between two lines will also be not a plane angle but a spherical angle. Since the spherical arc and spherical angles are considered, the distance calculations can only be made through the application of spherical trigonometry. The measurements in geodetic survey are required to be made with the use of sophisticated and costly equipments by highly trained professional surveyors. The data so generated is highly accurate with high degree of precision. In India, geodetic surveys are carried out by Department of Survey of India. For most of civil engineering projects like construction of roads, railway tracks, irrigation canals, dams, bridges, buildings etc., plane surveying is considered adequately accurate.

1.4.3 Classification Based on Purpose


Based on the purpose for which surveying is to be carried out, it can be classified into the following categories : Preliminary Surveys For collection of data, i.e. distances, angles and levels of the required points on land. Control Surveys For establishment of horizontal and vertical control points and benchmarks. Location or Construction Surveys For locating and laying out of engineering works on ground. Engineering Surveys For determination of quantities useful in designing of engineering works, e.g. earth work, foundation bed level etc. Hydrographic Surveys To obtain information and data about under water features of ground, e.g. showing shorelines, water depths, shape of river bed, and other marine features. Topographic Surveys For preparation of plans and maps delineating natural and man-made surface features and ground undulations. 10

Route Surveys For collecting data over a narrow belt of land for projects like highways, railways, canals, and transmission lines etc. to plot the longitudinal sections and cross-sections along the route at suitable intervals. Geological Surveys To ascertain the composition of earths crust. Mine Surveys For exploring the mineral wealth below the earths surface. Archaeological Surveys Executed to obtain details of the remains of ancient civilisations at site. Military or Defence Surveys Carried out to locate information about strategic features on ground for the preparation of maps of defence/military use and significance. Cadastral Surveys These involve determination and plotting boundary locations of individual land holding and/or laying out new property boundaries.

Concepts of Surveying

1.4.4 Classification Based on the Instruments Used


An alternate classification may be based upon the instruments or method used. The main types are as follows : (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) Chain surveying, Compass surveying, Levelling, Plane Table surveying, Theodolite surveying, Tacheometric surveying, Aerial surveying, Photographic surveying, Electronic Distance Meter (EDM) and Digital Theodolite, Electronic total station, and Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys.

First five type of the surveys conducted with the use of above equipment are discussed in detail in subsequent units of this course. Rest of the types of survey are covered in other course on survey, entitled Advanced Survey.

1.4.5 Classification Based on the Methods and Phases


In order to ensure preparation of up-to-date and accurate maps of data pertaining to terrain surface, associated features and other collateral data is required for planning and designing of various civil engineering projects, e.g. highways, pipelines, bridges, reservoirs, dams, buildings etc. It is necessary to adopt a systematic approach. Various stages of conducting field surveys for any engineering project requires different methods such as (a) (b) Reconnaissance survey, Preliminary survey, 11

Elements of Survey

(c) (d)

Control survey, and Construction survey.

Reconnaissance Survey First of all reconnaissance of the area is conducted for getting the first hand information of the area under investigation. A visit is made to the site to collect all the relevant information pertaining to the project. The existing maps, if any, of the area are referred and the desired portion under investigation is traced to obtain the base map for reconnaissance. The base map is taken to the site and rough surveys are carried out using minor instruments, e.g. compass, sextant etc. This helps in deciding about the possible location of survey stations which are thereby determined and transferred on this map. Preliminary Survey After the reconnaissance surveys, pre engineering surveys also called preliminary surveys, location surveys or data gathering surveys are conducted. These involve collection of vital information and data for the design and construction. The map scale and contour intervals are decided upon. The various steps for conducting the preliminary survey are : (a) (b) (c) Control Survey The establishment of a base for horizontal and vertical measurements is known as control survey. The first essential step of control is to produce an accurate map and cover the whole area with a number of carefully selected points forming a framework on which to base the subsequent detail construction surveys. This leads to establishment of control points both horizontal control points and vertical control points. The main objective of providing the control points is to prevent accumulation of errors in the subsequent detail surveys and to connect the project survey to the state and national survey systems. The horizontal control is generally established by either triangulation/trilateration or traversing. Triangulation is the process of measuring the angles of a chain or a network of triangles formed by stations marked permanently on the ground earth surface. The basic principle of triangulation is that if the angles of a triangle and length of one side are known precisely, the length of all other sides can be computed. Trilateration is similar to triangulation except that instead of measuring angles to the desired precision, the distances of the sides of the triangles are measured precisely. Due to the advent of electronic distance measurements equipment, the distances can be measured with very high accuracy and precision. Hence trilateration is gaining preference over triangulation. For project covering areas of smaller extent, traversing is ideal and fast. Traversing is also preferred when the terrain is flat. Traversing may not provide as accurate control as triangulation or trilateration but is good enough for control fixation for an engineering project survey. A traverse is a chain of finite straight lines fixed in a direction between pair of provision of horizontal and vertical control, construction of gratecule and plotting of control points, and detailed plotting and contouring.

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consecutive inter visible stations. The length and bearing of these lines are measured from which the coordinates of the points can be computed. Traverses are generally of two types : (a) (b) Open traverse for route surveys, and Close traverse for buildings, reservoirs and dams etc.

Concepts of Surveying

The triangulation, trilateration or traversing are essentially for establishing the horizontal position of control stations (e.g. x and y coordinates). In addition to this, vertical control is also required to be determined with accuracy. This may be achieved by levelling. Construction Survey Construction surveys are detailed surveys conducted during construction of the project, to fill up the details of ground features both horizontal and vertical by simple and less accurate methods, in between the accurately established control points by more precise equipment. These methods are discussed in detail in subsequent units and consist of measuring distances, angles and heights of specified natural or man-made features on ground.

SAQ 2
(a) (b) (c) (d) What are the different types of maps and their representative seales? Describe various stages of conducting project surveys. Describe briefly the significance of reconnaissance survey and preliminary surveys. What are various methods of establishment of horizontal control stations? Which methods shall be used and where?

1.5 IMPORTANCE OF SURVEYING


For the successful execution of any engineering project, it is essential that the necessary ground data regarding location, distances and levels of all the critical features either natural or man-made be known accurately. This is necessary for designing, planning and subsequently in execution of these projects. Engineering projects generally require maps with different scales. Large scale maps are used for control points and gradually smaller scale maps for planning and construction purposes. Field surveys are conducted to prepare these maps on desired scales and accuracies. These are of great importance for variety of engineering functions, e.g. location of bridges and dams, fixing the road or railway alignment, computation of earthwork in highway and canal construction, hydraulic design of reservoirs and dams, setting out bridges and buildings and variety of such similar applications. It can be concluded that planning, designing, execution and operation of any civil engineering project cannot even be visualised in the absence of data pertaining to topography of the site. All this data is generated only by various methods and processes of field surveying. The data to be supplied by survey for some of the civil projects could be as below. Data for Alignment Survey 13

Elements of Survey

(a) (b) (c) (d) (a) (b) (c) Tunnels (a) (b) (c) Bridges (a) (b) (c)

General topography of terrain. Geological characteristics. Width of waterway and maximum flood levels for each river and other drainages. Total length of the route. Establishing centre line and offset lines. Determination of cuts and fills. Layout of line and grade and grade transfers/grade separation. Surface surveys for alignment of the tunnel. Underground surveys and their connection with surface surveys. Levelling. Topographical map for staking out of abutments and length of the bridge and to decide approaches to the bridge. Contour plan of bridge site. Other data such as river width, hydraulic and soil/subsoil details for location of abutments centre of piers, distance between piers, types of foundations and their depths etc.

Roads and Highways

1.6 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt about the purpose and general principles of surveying, plotting accuracy and scales of maps used for different purposes. You have also learnt about various types of classification of surveying based upon consideration of earth surface as plane or curved; also the purpose for which maps are made; instruments used in carrying out survey and phases and importance of surveying. Now you will be able to conceptualise the importance of surveying for successful execution of any engineering project and the data requirements for different types of civil engineering projects.

1.7 ANSWERS TO SAQs


Refer the relevant preceding text in the unit or other useful books on the topic listed in the section Further Reading given at the end to get the answers of the SAQs.

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