Fieldwork No.

01
MEASURING OBSTRUCTED DISTANCES

Name :Cole, James Michael D Weather :Sunny

Group No. :2 Place :Soccerfield, USC
Designation :Head Tapeman Time, Start : 1:30 pm
Instructor :Engr. Oliver Dave L. Mag-uyon End : 3:00 pm
Class Schedule :MW, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

I. Objectives

a. To determine obstructed distances with tape.

II. Materials

1 pc - 50-meter tape 5 pcs - marking pins

3 pcs - range poles

III. Procedure

A. Swing Offset Method

The length of the line AB in the figure could not be measured directly because of
an obstruction.

a. Drive poles at the end of the line to be measured. Set a third pole at some distant
point D such that the line AD will clear the obstacle.

b. A perpendicular from point B to the line AD is established by chord bisection

method. Distances AC and BC are then measured and the length AB is computed by
Pythagorean Theorem.

AB = AC 2  BC 2 D
C

Building B
A
B. Similar Triangle Method

In the figure shown, direct measurement of line AB is not possible due to an

obstruction.
a. A point C is established at a certain distance away from the obstructed line.
The distance AC and BC are then measured.
b. Distances CD and CE which are usually ½ or 1/3 of the distances AC and BC
respectively are laid out.
c. The length DE is then measured and the unknown length AB is found by
ration and proportion.

AB AC AB BC
= or =
DE CD DE CE
C

D E

Building
A B

1. Set two range poles or pins at least 50 paces apart. Designate these end points as
A and B.
2. Assuming an obstacle is found somewhere along this line, determine the distance
AB using the two methods of determining obstructed distances as described.
Record all measurements with an accompanying sketch.
3. Make a direct measurement of the line AB and compare the results obtained using
the indirect methods.

Remarks:
1. In an obstructed distance the end points of the line are not intervisible from each
other and direct measurement could not be made due to the obstruction.
2. The methods described in measuring obstructed distances can be used to measure
inaccessible distances.
3. The acceptable precision should be at least 1/1000. If this precision is not
attained, the measurement should be repeated.
IV. Findings and Computations

Swing Offset Method Similar Triangle Method

Given: Given:
𝑨𝑪 = 𝟏𝟖. 𝟐 𝒎 𝑫𝑬 = 𝟔. 𝟕 𝒎
𝑩𝑪 = 𝟖. 𝟒 𝒎 𝑨𝑪 = 𝟏𝟓 𝒎
𝑨𝑩 = ? 𝑪𝑫 = 𝟓 𝒎
𝑨𝑩 = ?
Solution:
𝑨𝑩 = √(𝑨𝑪)𝟐 + (𝑩𝑪)𝟐 Solution:
𝑨𝑩 𝑨𝑪
𝑨𝑩 = √(𝟏𝟖. 𝟐)𝟐 + (𝟖. 𝟒)𝟐 =
𝑫𝑬 𝑪𝑫
𝑨𝑩 = √𝟑𝟑𝟏. 𝟐𝟒 + 𝟕𝟎. 𝟓𝟔
𝑨𝑩 = √𝟒𝟎𝟏. 𝟖 𝑨𝑩 𝟏𝟓
=
𝑨𝑩 = 𝟐𝟎 𝒎 𝟔. 𝟕 𝟓
𝟏𝟓
𝑨𝑩 = (𝟔. 𝟕)
The distance of line AB is 20 m 𝟓
𝑨𝑩 = 𝟐𝟎 𝒎

The distance of line AB is 20 m

V. Conclusion
In this fieldwork, we measured obstructed distances. We used swing offset method
and similar triangle method when measuring obstructed distances. Swing offset method
is method where the perpendicular distance from a point to a survey line found by
swinging a tape about the point as a center and measuring the minimum distance from
the point to the line. On the other hand, similar triangle method or also known as
triangulation is the tracing and measurement of a series or network of triangles to
determine distances and relative positions of points spread over an area, by measuring
the length of one side of each triangle and deducing its angles and length of other two
sides by observation from this baseline.

In our data in swing offset method, the measurement of line AB must be computed
using the Pythagorean theorem since the distance of line AB was obstructed thus it
can’t be measured directly. We measured line AC and line BC in order to get the
measurement of line AB. Line AC was measured 18.2 m while line BC was measured 8.4 m.
We made line AB as our hypotenuse, line AC as the adjacent and line BC as the opposite
there we computed our line AB and got the measurement of 20 m. In similar triangle
method, also we must find the measurement of line AB but first we made an isosceles
triangle with a measurement of 15 m, so line AC and line CB are 15 m. Next we measured
the distance between CD and CE which is 5 m. Line CD and line CE must be equal in
distance. After that, we measured line DE which is 6.7 m. In similar triangle method,
ratio and proportion is used. So, the computed measurement of line AB is 20 m.

Errors are inevitable on all fieldworks, but it can be mitigated or eliminated when
addressed. The errors in this fieldwork are: due to the weather because it is sunny
when this fieldwork was conducted; due to high temperature because it was a sunny day;
since it was a sunny day and the temperature is high there could be an error in the tape
which is due to pull. The elasticity of tape will increase if the temperature of the
environment is very high which it could make the tape “stretchier” which could lead into
an error in reading the measurement. There are computations in mitigating and
eliminating these errors. One is by using the formula in tape correction due to pull and
another one is the tape correction due to temperature. By using these formulas, you can
get the true length (L’).
VI. Sketch (Show your drawing using straight edges)