Traversing

By
Haile Akelok
(MSc in Geomatics, BSc in Surveying Engineering)
[email protected]
 Introduction
• The survey procedure known as traversing is fundamental to much survey measurement.

• A traverse is a series of consecutive lines whose ends have been marked in the field and whose
lengths and directions have been determined from observations.

• In traditional surveying by ground methods,

• Traversing, the act of marking the lines, that is, establishing traverse stations and making
the necessary observations,

• It is one of the most basic and widely practiced means of determining the relative
locations of points.

• A series of lines whose lengths and angular relationships have been measured
• A traverse consists of a series of straight lines connecting successive points.

• The points defining the ends of the traverse lines are called traverse stations or traverse
points

The equipment used generally consists of something

• Distance between successive stations can be measured directly with a tape or

indirectly with Stadia or EDM.

• Angular measurements or change in direction of lines are observed by a transit

or theodolite

• To determine direction like a compass or theodolite, total station and something

 Traverses are used for two general purposes

1. For surveying details: -the traverse work provides a system of control points which
can be plotted accurately on the map.
Positions of natural and artificial features are located on the ground relative to
the network and these details are plotted on the map by referencing to the
traverse lines and stations.

2. For setting out: - positions of roads, buildings, property lines, and other new
constructions can be established by referencing to a network of traverse lines.

• The surveyor can then set out in order to locate the actual position on the
ground
 Purpose of traversing
1. Property surveys to locate or establish boundaries.

2. Supplementary horizontal control for topographic mapping surveys.

3. Location and construction layout surveys for highways, railways and other private and
public works.

4. Ground control surveys for photogrammetric surveys.

Traverse surveys are made for many purposes to include:
• To determine the positions of exiting boundary markers.

• To establish the positions of boundary lines.

• To determine the area encompassed within a boundary.

• To determine the positions of arbitrary points from which data may be obtained for
preparing various types of maps (i.e., establish control for map making).

• To establish ground control for photographic mapping.

• To establish control for gathering data regarding earthwork quantities in railroad

highway, utility, and other construction work.

• To establish control for locating railroads, highways, and other construction work
 Type of travers
• There are two kinds of traverses: 1
B 1
D B
• Closed Traverse
A C C
• Open Travers A
Open Traverse
• Two categories of closed traverses exist: 1
D
B
• Closed loop polygon C Closed Traverse
A
• Closed link
D
Link Traverse
2
1. Open Traverse: Starts at known and ends at unknown point

• Originates at a point of known position and closes at

another point whose location is not known.

• Computational check is not possible to detect error or

blunder in distance and directions.

• To minimize errors distances are observed twice, angles

are observed by repetition, magnetic bearings are
observed for all lines and astronomic observations are
made periodically.

• This type of traverse is applied in mine surveys.

2. A closed traverse originates on a point of known position and closes on the same point
(closed loop traverse) or on another point of known position (closed link traverse)

• Emanates from station and close the same station or Runs between two stations co-
ordinates are known in term of common system of co- ordinate, as a closed traverse.

• Computational checks can be applied to a closed traverse to check the quality of the
survey

• Closed travers have two class

✓ Closed link

✓ Closed loop
Closed-loop Traverse: Closed Traverse
creates a closed geometrical shape
(polygon).

• A closed traverse is one that either begins

and ends at the same point.

• Therefore, the angles can be closed

geometrically and the position closure can
be determined mathematically.
• Closed-link Traverse: A link traverse is connected to at least two points,
at the beginning and at the end of traverses ,whose coordinates have
been previously determined. Calculations can be made to check for
errors.
Traverse Field Work Traverse Office Work
• Reconnaissance • Computation of traverse and control of

• Selection of Station Sites computations

• Plotting map or plan
• Marking of Stations

• Field Measurement

• Linear Measurement

• Angular Measurement

• Computations
 Traverse field work consists of the following steps:
1. Select station positions as close as possible to the objects to be located.

2. Mark the stations with stakes with tacks or with stone or concrete
monuments set flush with

3. The ground with a precise point marked on the top by a chiseled cross,
drilled hole, or bronze tablet.

4. Make angle and distance measurements.

5. Place signals at each station such as a range pole to be used for taping and
angle measurement
 Method of traverse

• Deflection angle traverse:- running traverses is widely employed than the

other especially on open traverses. It is mostly common in location of routes,
canals, roads, highways, pipe lines,

• Interior Angle Traverse:- employed for closed loop traverse. Successive

stations occupied and back sight is taken to the preceding station.

• Compass traverse:- When compasses are used to run traverses, forward and
back bearings are observed from each traverse station and distances are
taped
• Angle to the right traverse

• Azimuth traverse:- used extensively on topographic and other surveys

where a large number of details are located by angular and linear
measurements from the traverse stations. Successive stations are occupied,
beginning with the line of known or assumed azimuth.

• Stadia traverse:- is sufficiently accurate and considerably more rapid and

economical than corresponding surveys made with theodolite and tape.
 Traversing Calculations
The usual steps followed in making elementary traverse computations are:

1. Adjusting angles or directions to fixed geometric conditions.

2. Determining preliminary azimuths of the traverse lines.

3. Calculating departures and latitudes and adjusting them for misclosure.

4. Computing rectangular coordinates of the traverse stations.

5. If required, calculating the lengths and azimuths of the traverse lines after
adjustment
 Angles (or 4 directions) Adjustment/ balancing angle

• The observed angles of a polygon traverse can be either the internal or external angles,
and angular misclosures are found by comparing the sum of the observed angles with
one of the following theoretical values.
Sum of Internal Angles = (n-2) x 180o
Sum of External Angles = (n+2) x 180o
where n is the number of angles (or lines).

• In a link traverse, angular misclosures are found by computing final azimuth from
measured angles compared to known azimuth.
 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑠.
= 𝐸𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ (𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑠) − 𝐸𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ ( 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑠).

• The allowable misclosure E in the measured angles is given

E=±K 𝑛

Where n is the number of angles measured and K is the angle probable error.

• If the misclosure is acceptable (less than the allowable) it is divided equally

between the observed angles
• Example: For the following angles and distances were measured in
the closed loop traverse ( ABCDEFA) of above table. Calculate the
corrected azimuth for all traverse lines
Station angle Line and Distance (m)
A <FAB = 115011’20” AB = 429.37
B <ABC = 95000’20” BC = 656.54
C <BCD = 129049’20” CD = 301.83
D <CDE = 130036’20” DE = 287.40
E <DEF = 110030’00” EF = 526.72
F <EFA = 138054’40” FA = 372.47
Azimuth of AB = 191011’00 Coordinate X=500 and Y=1000
Therefore the adjusted angles are subtract the error from each
measured angle

<FAB = 115011’20 -20” = 115011’00”

<ABC = 95000’20” -20” = 95000’00”

<BCD = 129049’20” - 20“ = 129049’00”

<CDE = 130036’20 - 20“ = 130036’00

<DEF = 110030’00” - 20“ = 110029’40”

<EFA = 138054’40 - 20“ = 138054’20“

∑ 7200 00’00”
 Balance travers angle
Angular misclosures=720˚00ˊ00ʺ - (6-2)x180 = + 00˚01ˊ00ʺ
Correction per Angle = -00˚01ˊ00ʺ/6 = - 10ʺ
 Computation of Preliminary Azimuths
• After balancing the angles, the next step in traverse computation is calculation preliminary azimuths.
• This requires the direction of at least one line within the traverse to be either known or assumed.

Computation of azimuths

• Az AB = 191011’00“
• Az BC = Az AB + ßB - 1800 = 106011’00’’
• Az CD = Az BC + ßC-1800 = 56000’00’’
• Az DE = AzCD + ßD - 1800 = 6036’00’’
• Az EF = AzDE + ßE - 1800 = 297005’40’’
• Az FA = AzEF + ßF -1800 = 256000’00’’
 Departures and Latitudes
Compute departure

• The departure of a side is its orthographic

projection on the east–west axis of the survey and is
equal to the length of the side multiplied by the sine
of its azimuth.

𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 ∗

sin(𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ)
𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐴𝐵 ∗ sin 𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝐵
 Compute latitude

• The latitude of a side is its orthographic projection on the north–south axis of the
survey, and is equal to the side length multiplied by the cosine of its azimuth.
𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ ∗ cos 𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ

Or
𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝐴𝐵 = 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐴𝐵 ∗ cos 𝐴𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ𝐴𝐵
 Compute latitude and departure

Side Azimuth Distance(m) Departure length Latitude = length

*sine (azimuth) *(cos(azimuth)
AB 191011’00“ 429.37 -83.276 -421.217
BC 106011’00“ 656.54 630.524 -182.985
CD 56000’00“ 301.83 250.228 168.781
DE 6036’00“ 287.40 33.033 285.495
EF 297005’40“ 526.72 -468.916 239.899
FA 256000’00“ 372.47 -361.406 -90.109
∑ 2574.33 +0.187 -0.136
 Departure and latitude adjustment
• The observations are not perfect and errors exist in the angles and distances, the conditions
just stated rarely occur.
• The amounts by which they fail to be met are termed departure misclosure and latitude
misclosure.
• Their values are computed by algebraically summing the departures and latitudes and
comparing the totals to required conditions.
• The sum of all departures should equal zero. ∑ Departures = 0
• The sum of all latitudes should equal zero. ∑ latitude = 0
Because starting and ending control points are the same point for closed-polygon traverse.
• The linear misclosure of the traverse is calculated from the following formula:
𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 = (departure 𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒)2 + (𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒)2
𝑅 = ± 𝑅𝐸 2 + 𝑅𝑁 2
Where RE departure misclosure and RN latitude misclosure
𝑅 = ± 0.1872 + 0.1362 = 0.231
• The relative precision of a traverse is expressed by a fraction that has the linear
misclosure as its numerator and the traverse total length as its denominator.
1
𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 = OR
𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑳𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒

=0.231/2574.33 = 1: 11,144
Acceptable allowable error in latitude and departure
 Method of departure and latitude adjustment
Crandall Rule.
• The Crandall rule is used when the angular measurements (directions) are believed to have
greater precision than the linear measurements (distances).
• This method allows for the weighting of measurements and has properties similar to the
method of least squares adjustment.
• Although the technique provides adequate results, it is seldom utilized because of its
complexity.
• In addition, modern distance measuring equipment and electronic total stations provide
distance and angular measurements with roughly equal precision
• Also, a standard Least Squares adjustment can be performed with the same amount of effort.
Least Squares

• The method of least squares is the procedure of adjusting a set of observations that
constitute an over-determined model (redundancy > 0).

• A least squares adjustment relates the mathematical (functional model) and

stochastic (stochastic model) processes that influence or affect the observations.

• Stochastic refers to the statistical nature of observations or measurements

• The least squares principle relies on the condition that the sum of the squares of the
residuals approaches a minimum.
Compass Rule (Bowditch Method)

• The Compass Rule adjustment is used when the angular and linear measurements are of equal
precision.

• This is the most widely used traverse adjustment method. Since the angular and linear precision are
considered equivalent, the angular error is distributed equally throughout the traverse.

• For example, the sum of the interior angles of a five-sided traverse should equal 540º 00' 00".0, but if
the sum of the measured angles equals 540° 01' 00".0, a value of 12".0 must be subtracted from each
observed angle to balance the angles within traverse.

• After balancing the angular error, the linear error is computed by determining the sums of the north-
south latitudes and east-west departures.

• The misclosure in latitude and departure is applied proportional to the distance of each line in the
traverse.
• The Compass Rule is a simple method and is most commonly employed for
engineering, construction, and boundary surveys.

• Calculate latitudes (dY or dN) and departures (dX or dE) correction of the traverse
misclosure:

• Distribute the misclosure latitudes and departures over the traverse

• Compute adjusted coordinates of the traverse stations
• Calculate final adjusted lengths and azimuths between traverse points
 Correct the above example using Compass Rule (Bowditch Method)
Let
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒
𝐴 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒

0.136
= − =-0.0000528293
2574.33

𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒

𝐵 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒

0.187
= + = +0.0000726403
2574.33
 The adjustment of departure and latitude should consider
• If summation of latitude is negative, the correction should be positive.
• If the summation of departure is positive, the correction should be negative.

Line Adjusted departure Adjusted latitude

AB -83.276– [*429.37] = -83.307 -421.217 – [A*427.37] = -421.194

BC 630.524 –[B*656.54] = 630.476 -182.985 –[A*656.54] = -182.950
CD 250.228 – [B* 301.83] = 250.206 168.781 – [A* 301.83] = 168.797
DE 33.033 – [B*287.40] = 33.012 285.495 –[A*287.40] = 285.510
EF -468.916 – [B*526.72] = -468.954 239.899 – [A*526.72] = 239.927

FA -361.406– [B* 372.47] = -361.433 -90.109 – [A* 372.47] = -90.090

 Calculation of Coordinates
• For both types of traverse, the coordinates of each station are obtained by adding or subtracting the
adjusted departures and latitudes, as follows:
𝑋𝐵 = 𝑋𝐴 + 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑌𝐵 = 𝑌𝐴 + 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒
XB = XA + depAB = 500 + -83.307 YB = YA + lat AB =1000 + - 421.194
= 416.693 = 578. 806
XC = XB+ depBC = 416.693 + 630.476 YC = YB + lat BC =578.806 + - 182.950
= 1047. 169 = 395.856
XD= XC + depCD = 1047.169 + 250.206 = YD = YC + lat CD=395.856 + 168 .797
1297.375 = 564.653
XE = XD + depDE = 1297.375 + 33.012 YE= YD + lat DE = 564.653 + 285.510
= 1330. 387 = 650. 165
XF = XE + dep EF = 1330.387 + - 468.954 YF= YE + lat EF = 650.165 + 239.927
= 861.433 = 1090.09
 Thank you give me your attention

Good Luck to success /achieve

your goal in surveying