SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLANE TABLE
SURVEYING

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed

Rasheed Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLANE TABLE SURVEYING

Plane Tabling is a graphical method of surveying in
which the field work and plotting are done simultaneously.
Useful to fill in details between stations fixed by
triangulation or theodolite traversing.
Particularly adapted for small scale or medium scale
mapping in which great accuracy in detail is not required.
The plane table consists essentially of:
1. A drawing board mounted on a tripod and
2. A straight edge called an alidade.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

THE DRAWING BOARD

Made of well-seasoned wood such as teak or pine.
Size varies from 40cm x 30cm x 75cm x 60cm or
50cm to 60 m square.
It is mounted on a tripod in such a manner that it
can be leveled, and revolved about a vertical axis
and clamped in any position.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLAIN ALIDADE
Consists of a metal (brass or gunmetal) or boxwood
straight edge or ruler about 50 cm long.
The beveled (ruling or working) edge of the alidade is
called the fiducial edge.
It consists of two vanes at the ends, the vanes are
hinged and can be folded when the alidade is not in use.
One of the sight vanes is provided with a narrow slit
and the other with a central vertical wire or hair.
One of the vanes known as sight vane is provided with
a narrow slit with three holes, one at the top, one at the
bottom and one in the middle.
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLAIN ALIDADE
The other vane which is known as object vane, is open
and carried a hair or a fine thread or a thin wire stretched
between the top and bottom of the slit.
With the help of the slit, a definite line of sight may be
established parallel to the ruling edge of the alidade.
The length of the ruling edge should be equal to the smaller
side of the plane table.
A plane alidade can be used only when the elevations
of the of the objects are low.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLAIN ALIDADE
Sight Vane
Object Vane

Fiducial Edge

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLAIN ALIDADE

NUST Institute of Civil

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Engineering/Engr
Muhammad Ammar
Ahmed Rasheed
Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

TELESCOPIC ALIDADE
The alidade which is fitted with a telescope is known as
a telescopic alidade.
It is used to take inclined sights.
It increases the range and accuracy of the sights.
It consists of a small telescope with a level tube.
A graduated scale is mounted on the horizontal axis.
One side of the metal ruler is used as the working edge
along which lines are drawn.
The angles of elevation or depression can be read on
the vertical circle.
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

TELESCOPIC ALIDADE

NUST Institute of Civil

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Engineering/Engr
Muhammad Ammar
Ahmed Rasheed
Mirza

10

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

SPIRIT LEVEL
It consists of a small metal tube which contains
a small bubble.
The spirit level may also be circular but its base
must be flat so that it can be laid on the table.
The table is truly level when the bubble
remains central all over the table.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

SPIRIT LEVEL

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

THE MAGNETIC COMPASS

A box compass consists of a magnetic needle
pivoted at its centre freely.
It is used for orienting the plane table to
magnetic north.
The edges of the box compass are straight and
the bottom is perfectly flat.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

THE MAGNETIC COMPASS

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLUMBING FORK
The plumbing fork consists of a hair pin-shaped
brass frame, having two equal arms.
One end has a pointer while a plumb bob is
attached the other end.
It is used in large scale survey for accurate
centering of the station location on the table over
its ground position.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLUMBING FORK
It is also used for transferring the
location of the instrument station on
the sheet on to the ground.
The fork is placed with its upper
arm lying on the top of the table and
the lower arm below it. The table is
said to be centered when the plumb
bob hangs freely over ground mark.
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

PLUMBING FORK
Plumbing Fork

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

ADVANTAGES OF PLANE
TABLING

i) It is most suitable for preparing small-scale maps.

ii) It is most rapid.
iii) The field book is not necessary as plotting is done in
the field concurrently with the field work, and hence
the mistakes in booking the field notes are avoided.
iv) The surveyor can compare the plotted work with the
actual features of the area surveyed and thus can
ascertain if it represents them properly.
v) It is particularly advantageous in magnetic areas
where compass survey is not reliable.
vi) It is less costly than a theodolite survey.
vii)No great skill is required to prepare a satisfactory map.
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

18

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

DISADVANTAGES OF PLANE
TABLING
i) It is not suitable for work in a wet climate.
ii) It is heavy, cumbersome and awkward to carry.
iii) There are several accessories to be carried, and,
therefore, they are likely to be lost.
iv) It is not intended for accurate work.
v) If the survey is to be re-plotted to a different scale or
quantities are to be computed, it is a great
inconvenience in absence of the field notes.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

SETTING UP THE PLANE

TABLE

The table should be set up at a convenient

height. (say about 1m). The legs of the tripod
should be spread well apart, and firmly fixed into
the ground.
The table should be so placed over the station
on the ground that the point plotted on the sheet
corresponding to the station occupied should be
exactly over the station on the ground. This
operation is known as the centering of the table.
This may be done using a plumbing fork or U
frame.
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza
20

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

SETTING UP THE PLANE

TABLE

In this operation, the table top is made truly

horizontal. For rough and small scale work,
leveling can be done by eye estimation whereas
for accurate and large scale work, leveling
achieved with an ordinary spirit level. The
leveling is specially important in hilly terrain
where some of the control points are situated at
higher level and some other at lower level. The
disleveling of the plane table, throws the location
of the point considerably out of its true location.
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

21

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

ORIENTING THE PLANE TABLE

The operation of keeping the table at each of
the successive stations parallel to the position
which it occupied at the first station is known as
orientation. It is necessary when the instrument
has to be set up at more than one station.
There are two methods of orienting the table:
1.Orientation by the Magnetic Needle
2.Orientation by Backsighting

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

ORIENTING BY MAGNETIC
NEEDLE
This method is used when it is not possible to
bisect the previous station from the new station.
This method is not much reliable and prone to
errors due to variations of magnetic field.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

ORIENTING BY
BACKSIGHTING
In this method the table is orientated by back
sighting through the ray which is drawn from the
previous station. This is the most accurate and
reliable method of orientation of plane table.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

METHODS OF PLANE TABLING

There are four methods of surveying with the
plane table:
1. Radiation Method
2. Intersection Method
3. Traversing Method
4. Resection Method

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

25

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

RADIATION METHOD
In this method the objects are located by
radiating lines from the point, and measuring the
distance with chain or tape with suitable scale. It
is chiefly used for locating the details from the
station, which have been established previously
by other methods triangulation, or traversing.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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RADIATION METHOD
B
C

c
d

P
a
e
f

E
F

NUST Institute of Civil

Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed
Mirza

27

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

INTERSECTION METHOD
In this method the point is fixed on the plane
by the intersection of the rays drawn from the
two instrument stations. The line joining the
stations is called Base line. The method requires
only the linear measurements of this line.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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INTERSECTION METHOD
A

a
BASE LINE

q
f

D
E

NUST Institute of Civil

Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed
Mirza

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

TRAVERSING METHOD
This is similar to that of Compass Survey or
Transit Traversing. It is used for running survey
lines between stations, which have been
previously fixed by other methods of survey, to
locate the topographic details. It is also suitable
for the survey of roads, rivers, etc.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

30

TRAVERSING METHOD
A
a

e
d

a
b

a
d

b
c

a
b
c

D
NUST Institute of Civil
Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed
Mirza

C
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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

RESECTION METHOD
This method is used for establishing the
instrument stations only. After fixing the stations,
details are located either by radiation or
intersection.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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RESECTION METHOD
B
b

a
A
NUST Institute of Civil
Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed
Mirza

c
C

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SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

ERRORS IN PLANE TABLING

Following precautionary measures should be
taken while performing field work:
o The table must be accurately oriented once
the table is shifted.
o The alidade should be correctly centred on
the station point on paper.
o The expansion and contraction of paper
should be taken care off.
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

34

SURVEYING I (CE- 128)

ERRORS IN PLANE TABLING

o The table should accurately centred.
o The rays should be accurately drawn through
the station points.
o Table should be sufficiently clamped.
o The board should be horizontal.
o The objects should be accurately sighted.

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering/Engr Ahmed Rasheed Mirza

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