Definitions and Concepts

Qassim University
Unaizah College of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department

Survey Basics (CE 112)

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Definitions
Leveling is the process used to determine a
difference in elevation between two points.
A Level is an instrument with a telescope that
can be leveled with a spirit bubble.
An Elevation is a vertical distance above or
below a reference datum.
Datum is an assumed or a fixed reference plane.
Mean Sea Level (M.S.L.) is a reference datum
for levelling.
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Definitions
A vertical Line is a line from the surface of the
earth to the earths center. Plumb line, line of
gravity.
A level Line is a line in a level surface.
A Level Surface is a curved surface parallel to
the mean surface of the earth.
A Horizontal Line is a straight line
perpendicular to a vertical line.
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Definitions
Benchmarks (B .M) Are fixed points information
site and attributed placed in different places until
you start racing
them when conducting
settlement.
Back sight (B.S.) Is the first reading taken after
placing the device in any position so that we see
the greatest possible number of points required
to find the elevation.
Fore sight (F.S) Is the last reading taken before
transfer the device.
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Definitions
Benchmark (B .M )

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Definitions
Intermediate sight (I.S.) Is reading taken
between the back sight and fore sight reading.
Elevation of line of sight (H.I) Is the imaginary
vertical level determined by the line of sight to
the amount of increase or decrease for sea
level.

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment

Level
Instrument

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment
A level is an instrument giving horizontal line
of sight and magnifying the reading at a far
away distance.
It consists of the following parts:
(i) A telescope to provide a line of sight
(ii) A level tube to make the line of sight
horizontal and
(iii) A leveling head to level the instrument
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment

The level parts

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment
Automated Levels
- Easy to use (not power!)
- Needs experience
- Robust even in hostile environment

Digital Levels
- Push-button technique
- No reading errors, special staff
- Readings are stored and analyzed digitally
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment
Tripod is a portable three-legged frame, used as
a platform for supporting the weight and
maintaining the stability of some other object
Tripod
plumb bob

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment
Staff Is a wooden or metal ruler one side
runway to meters and centimeters. And is a
ruler of solid wood 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 meters in length
and usually 4 meters.
INVAR type for high
precision leveling

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment
Staff

Barcode
for Digital Levels

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Conventional (E-type)

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment
Pole staff bubble (bull eye)
Keep the pole upright
Any tilt will disturb your readings

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment
Survey Markers
Gives you a fixed point
Should be of good quality
Should be long-term
Preferable in bedrock, settled buildings, or bridges
Do not use fences or walls

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Equipment
Survey Markers

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

why?
Why do we perform leveling surveys?
To determine the topography of sites for
design projects
Set grades and elevations for construction
projects
Compute volumes of earthwork

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Method of measuring
A Level is an instrument with a telescope that
can be leveled with a spirit bubble. The optical
line of sight forms a horizontal plane, which is at
the same elevation as the telescope crosshair.
By reading a graduated rod held vertically on a
point of known elevation (Bench Mark) a
difference in elevation can be measured and a
height of instrument (H.I.) calculated by adding
the rod reading to the elevation of the bench
mark.
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Method of measuring
Once the height of instrument is established,
rod readings can be taken on subsequent
points and their elevations calculated by
simply subtracting the readings from the
height of instrument.

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

leveling
Leveling of the instrument is done to make the
vertical axis of the instrument truly vertical. It is
achieved by carrying out the following steps:
Step 1: The level tube is brought parallel to any
two of the foot screws, by rotating the upper part
of the instrument.
Step 2: The bubble is brought to the center of the
level tube by rotating both the foot screws either
inward or outward. (The bubble moves in the
same direction as the left thumb.)
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

leveling
Step 3: The level tube is then brought over the third
foot screw again by rotating the upper part of the
instrument.
Step 4: The bubble is then again brought to the
center of the level tube by rotating the third foot
screw either inward or outward.
Step 5: By rotating the upper part of the instrument
through 180, the level tube is brought parallel to
first two foot screws in reverse order. The bubble will
remain in the center if the instrument is in
permanent adjustment.
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

leveling

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Principle
Basic Principle of Leveling

Measures height differences between points

Along a line
Several points from one occupation
Leveling rods
Line of sight
Back sight

Fore sight

fs
bs
Dh = bs - fs

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Gravity Gradient

Definitions and Concepts

Taking readings
Method of taking readings on a ruler settlement
direct leveling a back sight is taken on the rod held at the
bench mark ( A ) .
H..I = E.L.V of B.M. ( A ) + B.S.
Turning the telescope to bring
1422
into view the rod held on point B
afore sight is taken .
elev. Point B = H .I F .S
check the work by the following equation:
B.S. - F.S. = Last R.L. First R.L.
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Basic Rules for Leveling

Always start and finish a leveling run on a
Benchmark (B.M.) and close the loops.
Keep fore sight and back sight distances as equal
as possible.

Keep lines of sight short (normally < 50m)

Never read below 0.5m on a staff (refraction)
Use stable, well defined change points

Beware of shadowing effects and crossing waters

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Curvature & Refraction
Curvature Error is the divergence between a level
line and a horizontal line over a specified distance.
Horizontal
d
Vertical

Level

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Curvature & Refraction

Refraction Error is the caused by earths

atmosphere. It is about 1/7 of the curvature
error.

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Effects of Curvature & Refraction Errors
Horizontal

Line of Sight
r

Level

Vertical

d
R

A
B

c+r

AB = r

AE = c
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BE = c + r

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Curvature & Refraction
Computation of Curvature Error

KA 2
KA 2
c

2R c 2R
R 6370 km
KA 2
c
0.0000785 KA 2 km 0.0785 KA 2 m
2 6370

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Combined Curvature & Refraction Error
r = 1/7 c = 0.14 c
(c + r) m = 0.0675 K2
K = KA, the length of sight in km
Refraction is affected by:
Atmospheric Pressure, Temperature and Geographic
Location
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Combined Curvature & Refraction Error
Selected Values for (c + r) and Distance

Distance (m)

(c + r)m

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

30

60

100

0.0001 0.0002 0.0007

120

150

300

1000

0.001

0.002

0.006

0.068

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Example
Compute the error due to curvature and refraction for the
following distances:
a) 400 m
b) 3,000 m
c) 4 kilometers
Solution:
c + r = 0.0675 K2
- Where, K, is the length of sight in kilometers and (c + r) in
meters.
a) (c + r) = 0.0675 (0.4)2 = 0.0108 m
b) (c + r) = 0.0675 (3)2 = 0.6075 m
c) (c + r) = 0.0675 (4)2 = 1.080 m
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Parallax Error:

is an error in sighting that occurs when

the objective and/or the cross hairs are improperly
focused.

When the surveyor observes apparent movement of the

cross hairs on the rod (parallax), he should carefully
check the cross-hair focus adjustment and the objective
focus adjustment for consistent results.

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Level Loop Adjustments
level surveys have to be closed within acceptable
tolerances or the survey would have to be repeated. The
tolerances for various orders of surveys were shown in
Table
If a level survey were performed to establish new BMs, it
would be desirable to proportion any acceptable error
throughout the length of the survey. Because the error
tolerances shown in table are based on the distances
surveyed, adjustments to the level loop are based on the
relevant distances, or on the number of instrument setups,
which is a factor directly related to the distance surveyed.

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Precision (Vertical Control Networks)
Order of Precision

Maximum Closures (mm)

First - Order

3 K

Second - Order

5 K

Third - Order

12 K

Fourth - Order

25 K

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Problem
A closed loop of differential levelling was run to establish
the elevations of points P2, P3, P4 and P5. P1 has a known
elevation 643.44 m above M.S. L. If, the elevations of
points P1, P2, P3, P4 and P5 are computed from the
observed measurements and shown in the Table below
along with their distances from P1. Compute the adjusted
elevations of points P2, P3, P4 and P5.

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Solution
P2
P1

P3
P5

5 km

P4

Total error (correction) e = HP1 (fixed) HP1 (computed)

e = 643.44 643.93 = - 0.49 m

Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Solution
The allowable error for a second-order, class II survey is 5
; thus, 0.005 24.5 = 0.025 m is the permissible error.

Point Distance from

P1 (km)
s
P1
0
P2
7
P3
13
P4
16.5
P5
21.5
P1
24.5
Dr. Waleed Tahawy

Com.
Adjusted Elev.
Elev. (m) Correction (m)
(m)
643.44
643.44
657.34
- 0.14
657.20
645.68
- 0.26
645.42
630.06
- 0.33
629.73
641.11
- 0.43
640.68
643.93
- 0.49
643.44

Definitions and Concepts

Leveling Errors & Mistakes

Solution
Correction for each elevation = e cumulative distance/ total
distance
Correction for HP2 = - 0.49 7/24.5 = - 0.14 m
Correction for HP5 = - 0.49 21.5/24.5 = - 0.43 m
Correction for HP1 = - 0.49 24.5/24.5 = - 0.49 m
Compute the adjusted elevations of points P2, P3, P4, P5 and
P1 as follows:
HP2 = 657.34 + (- 0.14) = 657.20 m
HP3 =
HP4 =
HP5 = 641.11 + (- 0.43) = 640.68 m
HP1 = 643.44 + (- 0.49) = 643.44 m

Dr. Waleed Tahawy