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Contours and Contouring: Unit Iii Maps and Surveying

Contour lines connect points of equal elevation and show the shape and slope of land. A contour interval is the difference in elevation between contour lines. Contour lines never touch except at vertical cliffs. Contour maps show features like hills, valleys, saddles and the slope of the land. They are useful for determining cutting and filling quantities, site selection and understanding topography.

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56 views17 pages

Contours and Contouring: Unit Iii Maps and Surveying

Contour lines connect points of equal elevation and show the shape and slope of land. A contour interval is the difference in elevation between contour lines. Contour lines never touch except at vertical cliffs. Contour maps show features like hills, valleys, saddles and the slope of the land. They are useful for determining cutting and filling quantities, site selection and understanding topography.

Uploaded by

prashant_1236
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UNIT III Maps and Surveying

Contours and Contouring

What are contour lines?


Contour lines are lines that connect points that are of the same elevation. They show the exact elevation, the shape of the land, and the steepness of the lands slope. Contour lines never touch or cross.

Understanding Contour Lines

Potato Mountains
SIDE VIEWS TOP VIEWS

POTATO 1

POTATO 2

Understanding Contour Lines


Contour Interval

What is a contour interval?


A contour interval is the difference in elevation between two contour lines that are side by side. Remember that a contour interval is not the distance between the two lines to get the distance you need to use the map scale

Horizontal Equivalent
Horizontal distance between any two contours

Contouring
Procedure followed for obtaining contours

Characteristics of Contours
All the points on a contour represent a particular R.L. Contours never touch or cross other except in case of vertical cliff and overhanging cliff Contour lines never starts or ends abruptly, but always forms closed loops.

Equispaced contours represent uniform slope, closed spaced contours represent steep slope

Characteristics of Contours
Contour map having closed loops with R.L. values lower towards inner loops represents pond or depression. Contour map having closed loops with R.L. values increasing towards inner loops represent hill/hillock/ mountain Small depression between two adjacent summits is known as saddle.

Ridge lines and valley lines cross the contours at right angles. Same R.L. values appear on both sides of the ridge and valley lines

Ridge line and Valley Line

Examples

Uses of Contour maps

1. Nature of ground ( Topographical Features) in the given area can be understood, such as flat terrain, hilly area, uniformly slopping ground. 2. Slope of the gradient of a given survey line can be obtained 3. Intervisiblity of stations or given points can be obtained. 4. Quantities of earth ( cutting and filling ) can be computed

5. Most economical and suitable site selection for dams, roads,canal, railways,
6. Section of the ground can be plotted

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