LAB EXERCISE NO.

8:
PROFILE READING

I. OBJECTIVES
a.) To determine the elevations of ground points along the center line of a
proposed roadway.
b.) To plot the profile along the center line of a proposed roadway.

II. INSTRUMENTS AND ACCESSORIES

Engineer’s Level or Automatic Level, Hubs or Pegs, Range Poles, Leveling

Rod, Chalk, Paint or Marking Crayons, Steel Tape, Chaining Pins, Profile Paper,
Triangles.

III. PROCEDURE

1. Profile Level
a.) Establish stakes at every full station along the center line of a 500-m long
proposed roadway at intervals of 100 meters.
b.) Set up and level the instrument in some convenient location on one side of
the proposed roadway.
c.) Take and record a backsight on a rod held on a nearby bench mark to
determine the height of instrument.
d.) Take and record intermediate foresights from as many center line points up
to within practical limits of sighting.
e.) When the rod has been advanced to a point beyond which further readings
to ground points cannot be observed, establish a turning point, and take a
foresight on it to take the elevation.
 f.) Transfer and set up the instrument in another farther position and take a
backsight on the turning point just established. Then continue taking rod
readings on ground points as before until the end of the roadway is reached.
g.) Tabulate observed and computed value accordingly. Refer to the
accompanying sample format for the tabulation of field data.
2. Plotting the Profile
a.) Plot the observed and computed data (stationings and elevations of full and
plus stations) on a special paper having horizontal and vertical lines printed
on it to represent distances both horizontally and vertically.
b.) Use a scale of 1:1000 for plotting the horizontal distances and 1:100 for the
vertical distances.
c.) Connect the plotted elevations for the profile by a smooth curve line drawn
freehand.