TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Ayala Blvd, Ermita, Manila, 1000 Metro Manila, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Department of Civil Engineering

BES1 -M
Computer Aided Drafting

Assignment # 1
STANDARD LINE WEIGHTS FOR ENGINEERING DRAWING AND
ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING SCALES

Submitted by:
GUTIERREZ, John Paul B.
BSCE-2C

Submitted to:
Engr. Jhon Louie Cuerdo

Date Submitted:
August 13, 2019
STANDARD LINE WEIGHTS

According to Autodesk (2018), line weight is a property assigned to graphical objects,

hatches, leader lines, and dimension geometry that results in thicker, darker lines. In simpler
words, it is the varying line thicknesses used in engineering drawing, are also essential in
creating a drawing that communicates efficiently.

Engineering drawings only require two line weights; Construction drawings can have up
to four Line weights (Munford, 2010). The Line weights should be in the ratio 4:2:1. The extra
line weight for construction drawings is used to represent graphical symbols and is situated
somewhere between the ‘Narrow’ Line and ‘Wide’ line.

The acceptable line weights (in mm) that can be used in a drawing and their representation are
as follows:

0.18 | 0.25 | 0.35 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.0

ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING SCALES

Having architects and civil engineers are both crucial aspects in planning and designing
structures. An architect’s primary objective is to design and develop structures with an
emphasis on spatial functionality and aesthetics. On the other hand, civil engineers evaluate the
structural integrity and identify suitable materials and modifications that are required to
support the architecture (Martin, 2018). Even though the professions stated are quite similar,
their job functions are unique and the tools they use to evaluate their design proposal are
unique as well.
ARCHITECT SCALE

Architect scales use standard proportional ratios with 0.25 in. (1/48 size)
or 0.125 in. (1/96 size) being most common. These ratios are most appropriate
for representing interior and exterior dimensions of rooms, walls, doors, windows
and fire protection system.

Architect scales are enumerated incrementally, both from left to right and
from right to left, typically with a different dimensional relationship in each
direction. Graduations on an architect scale are enumerated with whole numbers
that represent the true size of the artifact in the drawing in feet. A quarter-inch
dimension on a 1/48 architect scale represents one foot, or 48 quarter inches.
The inch graduation for this scale would be enumerated by the whole number 4.

ENGINEER SCALE

Engineer scales are also prism-shaped tools. The scale is divided into
decimalized fractions of an inch. The six faces of the prism have the following
dimensional ratios 1:10, 1:20, 1:30, 1:40, 1:50 and 1:60 unless otherwise stated.

The first graduation on an engineer scale is the zero mark. Values or whole
numbers on the scale must be multiplied by 10 in order to obtain the true size of
the artifact in feet. The dimensional ratio is also listed adjacent to the first
graduation and is dually identified by color-coded furrows. The tool is typically
only enumerated incrementally from left to right.

In civil engineering applications, each scale serves a unique application.

The 1:10 (1 in. =10 ft.) scale is used exclusively for detail drawings. 1:20 and 1:40
scales are used for working plans and 1:60 is used to draft large areas of a
project.
References:

Autodesk (2018). About Lineweight. Retrieved from https://knowledge.autodesk.com

/support/autocad/getting-started/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2018/ENU/Auto
AD -Core/files/ 4CB5-8C55-D6D0D7130905-htm.html

Martin(2018). Architect scale vs. Engineer scale. Retrieved from https://insights.globals

pec.com/art icle/7846/architect-scale-vs-engineer-scale

Munford(2010). Technical Drawing Standards: Line Weights. Retrieved from https://c

adse tterout.c om/drawing-standards/line-weights/