CV 201 ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING

CHAIN SURVEYING
INSTRUMENTS USED IN CHAIN SURVEY

• CHAIN AND TAPE

• ARROWS AND PEGS
• RANGING RODS
• OFF SET RODS
• PLUMB BOB
• CROSS STAFF
• PLASTERER’S LATHS AND WHITES

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 2
ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 3
CHAINS
Chains are formed of straight links of galvanized mild steel wires,

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 4
CHAINS \….
Metric chains:
• Available in lengths of 5, 10, 20 and 30 m
• Tallies are fixed at every 2 m intervals
• Circular tally is placed at the center of the chain
• Grooves are provided at the ends to facilitate the placement of arrows
• Length of the chain is engraved on the brass handle of the chain
Gunter’s or surveyor's chain:
• Before independence India used to follows FPS (foot, pound and second)
system
]’[/
\
/\`\ |ength of the cbq6t5rc
• 10 Gunter’s square chain in 1 acre (4047 sqm)

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 5
CHAINS CONTD….
Engineer’s chain:
• Length is 100 feet (30 m) with 100 links with 1 foot each (30 cm)
• Brass tag is provide at every 10 links
Revenue chain:
• Length of chain is 33 feet (10 m) with 16 links with 2.06 feet (62 cm)
each
• Used in cadastral survey
Steel band or Band chain:
• It consists of long narrow strip of steel on uniform dimensions (12-46mm
width and 0.3-0.6 mm thick)
• They are available in 20 m and 30 m lengths
• Brass studs are provided at every 20 cm and it is numbered at every 1 m
• First and last links are subdivided into cm and mm.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 6
ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 7
TESTING AND ADJUSTING CHAINS CONTD…..
• As we use the chain continuously, the length of it may be shortened
[bending of the links, wearing out of the links ] or elongated
[stretching of the links, opening of the rings etc. ], So, it becomes
essential to check the chain length often before using it.

• Temporary gauge station is established by driving two pegs at requisite

distance apart, and inserting nails into their tops to mark exact points.
• Overall length of a chain, when measured at 8 kg pull and checked
against a steel tape @20 0C shall be within the following limits: 20 m
Chain = ± 5 mm 30 m Chain = ± 8 mm.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 8
TESTING AND ADJUSTING CHAINS

Adjusting the chain:

If the Chain is found to be long:
• Closing the joints of the rings
• Reshaping the elongated rings
• Removing one or more small circular rings
• Replacing worn out rings
• Adjusting the links at the ends.
If the Chain is found to be short:
• Straightening the links
• Flattening the circular rings
• Replacing one or more small circular rings by bigger ones
• Inserting additional circular rings
• Adjusting the links at the end.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 9
TAPES
Cloth or Linen Tape:
• Closely woven linen, 12 to 15 mm wide varnished to resist moisture.
• Commonly available in 10, 20, 25 and 30 m; 33’, 50’, 66’ and 100’.
• End of tape is provided with small brass ring whose length is included in
the total length of the tape.
Why are they not good for accurate measurements?
• It is easily affected by moisture
• Its length gets altered by stretching
• It is likely to sag
• Further, its life is short.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 10
TAPES
Metallic tapes:
• Metallic tape is nothing but a cloth tape that is reinforced with brass or
copper wires.
• Commonly available in 10, 15, 20, 30 and 50m.
• End of tape is provided with small brass ring whose length is included in the
total length of the tape and they are supplied in a leather case.
Steel tape:
• They are made of steel strips having width of 6 – 10 mm.
• Available in lengths of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 m.
• These tapes are more durable and accurate than the metallic tape.
• End of tape is provided with small brass ring whose length is included in the
total length of the tape.
• They are supplied in a leather case or a corrosion resistant metal case.
• They are used for accurate measurement of distance.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 11
TAPES
Invar Tape:
• Invar tapes are made of alloy which contains 64% of steel and 36% of
nickel
• Its coefficient of thermal expansion is very less ≈ 0.000000122/1 0C
• It is 6 mm in width and available in lengths of 10, 20, 30, 50 and 100m.
• Invar is soft in nature and so, should be carefully handled to avoid
damage.
• They are used for accurate survey. They can also be used in places where
the temperature varies drastically

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 12
ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 13
ARROWS;
• They are used to mark the position of the ends of the chain on the
ground.
• They are made of steel wires of diameter 4 mm.
• The length of the arrow ranges from 25 to 50 cm.
• One end of the arrow is bent in the form of a loop / circle and the other
end pointed.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 14
RANGING RODS:
• Ranging rods are used to fix up intermediate points on
an or establish the position of a station.
• They are made with well seasoned timber with an
iron shoe at the bottom or of light steel tubes.
• They are circular in C/S with 3 cm Dia. Their
lengths vary from 2 to 3 m.
• They are painted alternately with white ‐red
(or) white‐black bands. Each band being 20 cm in length.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 15
PLUMB BOB:
• It consists of a string attached at the top of the metal bob.
• As the bob always points towards the gravity, it represents the vertical
line.
• They are used to transfer the points on the ground while chaining along a
sloping ground.
• It is further used in the primary adjustments of all the surveying
instruments.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 16
PEGS:
• They are used to mark the positions of the survey stations or the end
points of a survey line.
• They are made of stout timber. They are generally square in section
and tapered at the end.
• They are 22 mm X 25 mm in C/S and 150 mm long.
• These pegs are driven by hammer.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 17
CROSS STAFF:
The cross staff is used for
• Finding out foot of the perpendicular from a given point to a line
• Setting right angle at a given point on a line

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 18
PLASTERER’S LATHS AND WHITES:
Lathes:
• In open ground, intermediate points on a line may also be lined out with
straight laths, to 1 metre long, made of soft wood.
• They are light in both colour and weight, and can be easily carried.
• They are also useful for ranging out a line when crossing a depression
from which forward rod is invisible or when it is hidden by obstacles
such as hedges.
Whites:
• These are pieces of sharpened thin sticks cut from the nearest edge, and
are used for the same purpose as lathes.
• They are sharpened at one end and split with the knife at the top.
• A piece of white paper are inserted in the clefts in order to make them
more visible when stuck up in the grass.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 19
 whites

lathes

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 20
TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN CHAIN SURVEY
Survey Stations
Chain Line or survey lines
• Main Survey Line
• Base line
• Tie Lines
• Check Lines
Offsets
• Perpendicular offsets
• Oblique offsets
• long offsets
• short offsets

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 21
SURVEY STATIONS:
• Main Stations
• Subsidiary or tie
Main Stations:
• Main stations are the end of the lines, which command the
boundaries of the survey
Subsidiary or tie stations:
• Subsidiary or the tie stations are the point selected on the main
survey lines, where it is necessary to locate the interior detail such as
fences, hedges, building etc.
Survey stations are marked by driving pegs, in case of road and sheets
they are marked using two or preferably three tie measurements with
respect to some permanent reference objects near the station.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 22
CHAIN OR SURVEY LINES:
Main Survey Line:
• The lines joining the main stations are called the main survey line or
the chain lines.
Base Lines:
• It is main and longest line, which usually passes approximately through
the center of the field. All the other measurements to show the details
of the work are taken with respect of this line.
Tie or subsidiary lines:
• A tie line joins two fixed points on the main survey lines. It helps to
check the accuracy of survey and to locate the interior details. The
position of each tie line should be close to some features, such as paths,
building etc.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 23
Check Line:
• A check line also termed as a proof line is a line joining the apex of a
triangle to some fixed points on any two sides of a triangle. A check line
is measured to check the accuracy of the framework. The length of a
check line, as measured on the ground should agree with its length on the
plan.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 24
OFFSETS:
These are the lateral measurements from the base line to fix the positions
of the different objects of the work with respect to base line. These are
generally set at right angle offsets. It can also be drawn with the help of a
tape.
• Perpendicular offset: The measurements are taken at right angle to the
survey line are called perpendicular offsets or
right angled offsets.
• Oblique offsets: The measurements which are not made at right
angles to the survey line are called oblique offsets
or tie line offsets.
• Long offset: Length of the offset ≥15 m.
• Short offset: Length of the offset < 15 m

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 25
SELECTION OF SURVEY STATIONS:
• Survey stations must be mutually visible.
• Survey lines must be few as practically possible so that the frame
work can be plotted conveniently.
• The frame work must have one or two base lines. If one base line is
used, it must run along the length and through the middle of the field.
If two base lines are there, it should cross in the form of letter ‘X’.
• The lines should run on a level ground as far as possible.
• The main lines should form well conditioned triangles.
• Each triangle or portion of frame work must be provided with
sufficient check lines.
• All the lines from which the offsets are taken should be placed close
to the corresponding surface features so as to get short offset.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 26
PROCEDURE FOR CARRYING OUT CHAIN SURVEY:
There are four steps in chain survey:
• Reconnaissance Survey
• Marking stations
• Running Survey Lines
• Taking offsets
Reconnaissance Survey:
The preliminary inspection of the area to be surveyed is called
reconnaissance. The surveyor inspects the area to be surveyed, survey or
prepares index sketch or key plan.
Marking Stations:
Surveyor fixes up the required no. of stations at places from where
maximum possible stations are visible.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 27
Running Survey Lines:
Then he selects the way for passing the main line, which should be
horizontal and clean as possible and should pass approximately through
the center of work.
• Then ranging rods are fixed on the stations.
• After fixing the stations, chaining could be started.
• Make ranging wherever necessary.
• Measure the chainage and offset.
• Enter it in the field book.
Taking offsets:
After plotting the survey lines, the offsets are taken wherever required to
note down some data regarding the objects inside the survey field.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 28
RANGING:
If the length of the survey line exceeds the length of the survey chain or
survey tape, some intermediate points will have to be established in the
line within the two terminal points before chaining is started. The
process of fixing of establishing such intermediate points is known as
ranging. There are two types of ranging i.e.
• Direct ranging
• Indirect ranging
Direct ranging
It is done when the two ends of survey lines are intervisible. In such
cases, ranging can be done by either eye or some optical instruments.
Indirect ranging or reciprocal ranging
This type of ranging is adopted when both the ends of the survey line is
not intervisible, either due to some obstructions or due to very long
distance.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 29
FEILD BOOK :
The book in which the chain or tape measurements are entered is called
the field book.
Book in which chainage, offsets and sketches of features are entered is
called a field book.
It is a rectangular book of about 20 cm X 12 cm in size.
It is of two types:
• Single line
• Double line

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 30
ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 31
Instructions for booking field notes:
• All the measurements should be recorded as soon as they are taken
• Each chain line, tie line, name of the survey line should be clearly
written
• The chainage of the starting station is zero and increases as we
proceed forward.
• The notes should be complete, accurate and neat
• Suitable scale is chosen
• Writing should always be from the bottom
• The figure should not be crowded together
• In case of a long survey lines, there should be an entry at the end of
every 10 chains.

ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 32