LEVELING SURVEY

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Table of Contents
1-INTRODUCTION:..........................................................................................................................3
2-PRE-LAB PREPARATION:..............................................................................................................3
3-PROCUDURE DOCUMENTION:.....................................................................................................5
4-SKILLFULL OPERATION:................................................................................................................6
5-LAB SAFETY PRACTICE:.................................................................................................................6
6-RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:.........................................................................................................7
7-CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:....................................................................................7
APPENDIX:......................................................................................................................................9

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1-INTRODUCTION:
Levelling is the determination of the relative altitudes of several points in the area under survey, it is
this information which, when coupled with that of the pan, enables a section through the land and/or
artefacts to be drawn.
A horizontal line of sight is established with a telescope and can be turned to a vertical axis. The
difference in readings between points is taken with a vertical staff gives the level difference between
two points as we can see in the figure below.

Figure 1: Leveling
Station: A point, whose elevation is to be determined is called station
Back sight (B.S.): The first reading from a new instrument position.
Intermediate Sight (I.S.): Readings between the back sight (B.S.) and foresight (F.S.)
Foresight (F.S.): The last reading from an instrument position.
The objectives of this experiment are:
 To enhance the knowledge about levelling procedure.
 Get hands-on experience in setting up and working with the auto level.
 To determine the errors in order to determine whether the levelling is acceptable or not.
 Apply the theories taught in the classes such as making adjustments for each reduced level of
every single staff stationing order to obtain the most accurate reduced levels.
 To identify the reduced level of each staff station.

2-PRE-LAB PREPARATION:
 Understand very well the levelling experiment before starting.
 Wear the right kind of clothing and gear and read the safety manual.
 Be aware of safety equipment and where it’s located.
 Before we do the levelling, the site should be visited.

The tools that we used in the experiments:

- Automatic Level: An Auto-Level is a Professional Leveling Tool for an accurate leveling every
time
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 Figure 2: Automatic level
Adjustable Log-Tripod: Adjustable-leg tripods are the more common of the two in the construction
world. The adjustable tripod is easier to set up on uneven ground because each leg can be adjusted to
exactly the height needed to find level.

Figure 3: Adjustable Log-Tripod

Optical Plummet: A device used in place of a plumb bob to center transits and theodolites over a
given point.

Figure 4: Optical Plummet

Horizontal Bubble Level: Tool to determine whether a surface is horizontal.

Figure 5: Horizontal Bubble Level

Bar (Coded Level Rod): To determine the relative heights of the different points in the area

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 Figure 6: Coded Level Rod

3-PROCUDURE DOCUMENTION:
1. The level is set up in a convenient location, I1. A reading is obtained while the staff is kept on the
BM. This will be a back sight (BS). Both foresight and back sight should be the same length.
2. The staff is relocated to point A and reading is taken. This will be a foresight (FS). In addition, the
first point will be a turning point (CP).
3. The leveling instrument is then moved to position I2, with the staff remaining at points A and B on
the changing point (CP). A reading is taken by turning the staff so that it faces the level.
This will be a back sight for point A and foresight for point B.
4. The leveling instrument is then shifted to position I3 while the staff remains at point B and point C
on the change point (CP). A reading is taken after turning the staff so that it faces the level. As a result,
point B should be a back sight, and point C should be a front sight.
5. The level instrument is set up, and the reading for position I4 is taken. Points C and D are both
staffed.
6. The instrument level is moved to I5 while the staff stays at D. A reading taken from new position to
the staff at D. This is a BS.
7. The staff is moved to TBM and E in turn and reading taken while the level at I5. Point E will be the
FS and TBM will be an intermediate sight (IS)
8. Take both readings after moving the level to position I6 and the staff to points E and F.
The BS is at point E, while the FS is at point F.
9. Repeat for position I7, but this time move the staff to points F and G and collect the readings.
Finally, the level is changed to I8, with a BS representing point G and an FS representing the BM. The
final staff position is located at a known RL location. This is most important as all levelling fieldwork
must start and finish at points of known reduced level, otherwise it is not possible to detect misclosures
in the levelling.

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 Figure 7: Procedure of levelling

4-SKILLFULL OPERATION:
To achieve accurate and precise measurements, leveling must be done with extreme caution. Any error
in the readings could possibly harm all the calculation and subsequent surveying processes. The
following are the primary factors that a surveyor should be aware of before beginning with field
leveling.
a. To avoid reading mistakes:
 For precise reading, the staff should be held upright. There is another option, which is to wave
the staff and take the lowest reading. Both ways work equally well.
 To get an appropriate line of sight, the bubble in the dumpy level should be in the middle.
 Use the foot screws in the dumpy level with caution.
 Read the staff in an increasing direction of readings to avoid errors.
 Read the section of the staff between the two vertical crosshairs
 Adjust foresight and back sight distances to be equal.
 The tripod should be installed carefully in the desired location and should not be disturbed at
any cost
 As a turning point/changing point, use a firm and fixed point.
 Before taking readings, eliminate all minor and large errors, especially parallax.
 Avoid reading errors (make sure that the meter and decimeter are correctly noted).

b. To protect the equipment:

 Avoid working in extremely hot weather because it could damage the instrument. So the
instrument should be protected from heat.
 Use the carrying case for storage and transport of the level instrument.

5-LAB SAFETY PRACTICE:

 When handling any of the equipment, make sure to wear protective clothes (a LAB coat) and
gloves.
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  No shorts or skirts are permitted in the lab.
 Open-toed shoes, sandals, and high heels are not permitted.
 Some of the equipment are heavy and pointy with sharp ends, do not handle equipment alone;
always refer to the lab. For assistance and direction, consult the instructor, and always double-
check the lab.

6-RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

a. Results:
We obtained these data at site. We should use the height of instrument method to find the reduced level
Statio BS IS FS HI RL Remarks
n
A 0.745 5.995 5.25 BM
1.27 5.995 4.725
1.48 5.995 4.515
1.439 5.995 4.556
1.455 5.995 4.54 CPI
B 1.223 1.908 5.31 4.087
2.005 5.31 3.305
2.69 5.31 2.62
2.827 5.31 2.483
Table 1: Results of reduced levels by Height of Instrument method

∑BS-∑FS=Last Reduced level-First Reduced Level Reading

(0.745+1.223)-(1.908+2.827)=2.483-5.25
-2.767=-2.767
So this levelling is acceptable
b. Discussion:
In table 1, the difference between the adjusted RL of the first BM and adjusted RL of the final BM is
5.25-4.087=1.163. The result show that we have a little bit slope between the BM and may be a cause
of an error. Although, we tried to decrease the error by putting the same distance between the point
and triple check on the reading, and we tried to decrease the error due putting down the instruments and
moving it from point to point but we cannot control all the errors that may be happened due to natural
causes.
We take several intermediate points to decrease the error as much we can and to consider the ground
flat.
The difficult part was to make the instrument vertical and pointed at the specific point, and also to
detect the level to read the data, because we can’t make our hands perfectly stable to take the reading,
so we tried as we can to make the level perfectly vertical.

7-CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:

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Leveling is a method or element of land surveying to determining points on land surface above sea
level. It has been used to help surveyor or cartographer to make contour maps of the land sea surface. It
help also pipe transport engineers to ensure appropriate slope of the land to allow smooth movement of
the water inside the pipes, and help contractors to lay a level ground to elect the building.
Finally, we can’t forget the importance of this method to construct the routes of transport like roads and
railways.
Using this method was easy and fast so it is recommended, and for the best results and accurate data,
automatic level measure should be used.

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APPENDIX:
Full calculation
Height of Instrument Method (HOC):

Statio Interval BS IS FS HI RL Remarks

n (distance)
A 0 0.745 5.25+0.745= 5.25
5.995
1.27 5.995 5.995-
1.27=4.725
1.48 5.995 5.995-
1.48=4.515
1.439 5.995 5.995-
1.439=4.55
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1.455 5.995 5.995-
1.455=4.54
B 1.223 1.908 4.087+1.223= 5.995- CPI
5.31 1.908=4.08
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2.005 5.31 5.31-
2.005=3.30
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2.69 5.31 5.31-
2.69=2.62
2.827 5.31 5.31-
2.827=2.48
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Table 2: Detailed calculation of reduced levels by Height of Instrument method