Republic of the Philippines

Surigao del Sur State University

Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

Surveying – is the art of determining the positions of points on or near the earth’s surface by means of
measurements in the three elements of space; namely, distance, direction, and elevation.
Plane and Geodetic Surveying
1. Plane Surveying – is that type of surveying in which the earth is considered a flat surface, and
where distance and areas involved are of limited extent that the exact shape of the earth is
disregarded.
2. Geodetic Surveying – are surveys of wide extent which take into the account the spheroidal
shape of the earth.
Types of Surveys
1. Cadastral Surveys – are usually closed surveys which are undertaken in urban and rural locations
for the purpose of determining property lines and boundaries corners, and areas.
2. City Surveys – are surveys of the areas in and near a city for the purpose of planning expansions
or improvements, locating property lines, fixing reference monuments, lands, and preparing
maps.
3. Construction Surveys – these are surveys which are undertaken at a construction site to provide
data regarding grades, reference lines, dimension, ground configurations and the location and
elevations of structures which are of concern to engineers, architects and builders.
4. Forestry Surveys – a type of survey executed in the connection with forest management and
mensuration, and the productions and conservations of forest land.
5. Hydrographic Surveys – refer to surveying streams, lakes, reservoirs, harbors, oceans and other
bodies of water.
6. Industrial Surveys – sometime known as optical tooling, it refers to the use of surveying
techniques in ship building, construction and assembly of aircraft, layout and installation of
heavy and complex machinery, and in other industries where very accurate dimensional layouts
are required.
7. Mine Surveys – are surveys which are performed to determine the position of all underground
excavations and surface mine structures, to surface boundaries of mining claims, determine
geological formations, to calculate excavated volumes, and establish lines and grades for other
related mining work.
8. Photogrammetric surveys – a type of survey which make use of photographs taken with
specially designed cameras either from airplanes or ground stations.
9. Route Surveys – involves the determination of alignment, grades, earthworks quantities,
location of natural and artificial objects in connection with the planning, design, and

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 1

 construction of highways, railroads, pipelines, canals, transmission lines, and other linear
projects.
10. Topographic Surveys – are those surveys made for determining the shape of the ground, and the
location and elevation of natural and artificial features upon it.

Surveying Measurements
1. Direct Measurements.
2. Indirect Measurements.

Units of Measurements
1. Linear, Area, and Volume Measurements.

1 kilometer (km) = 1,000 meters

1 meter (m) = 1,000 milimeters
1 millimeter (mm) = 1,000 micrometers
1 micrometer (um) = 1,000 millimicrometers
1 meter (m) = 10 decimeters
1 decimeter = 10 centimeters
1 centimeter (cm) = 10 millimeters

2. Angular Measurements

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 2

Astronomical approximations

Astronomers measure angular separation of objects in degrees from their point of observation.

• 0.5° is approximately the width of the sun or moon.

• 1° is approximately the width of a little finger at arm's length.
• 10° is approximately the width of a closed fist at arm's length.
• 20° is approximately the width of a hand span at arm's length.
These measurements clearly depend on the individual subject, and the above should be treated as
rough rule of thumb approximations only.

Significant Figures

Rule 1 – Zeroes between other significant figures are significant.

Rule 2 – For values less than one, zeroes immediately to the right of the decimal are not significant.
Rule 3 – Zeroes placed at the end of decimal numbers are significant.

Rounding of Numbers
1. Digit is less than 5. When the digit to be dropped is less than 5, the number is written without
the digit.
2. Digit is equal to 5. When the digit to be dropped exactly 5, the nearest even number is used for
the preceding digit.
3. Digit is greater than 5. When the digit to be dropped is greater than 5, the number is written
with the preceding digit increased by one.

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 3

 MEASUREMENT OF HORIZONTAL DISTANCES

The accurate determination of the distance between points on any surface is one of the basic operations
on plane surveying. Such linear measurements are understood to mean the horizontal distance. If the
points are at different elevations, the distance is the horizontal length between plumb lines at the
points. In many instances measurements are taken along inclined line. These distances, however are
subsequently reduced to their equivalent on the horizontal projection for use.
There are several methods of determining distance. The choice is depends on the purpose for which the
measurement is intended, the required precision, the cost, and other conditions. In surveying, the
commonly employed methods of linear measurement include pacing, taping, tachymetric, graphical,
mathematical, mechanical, photogrammetric, and electronic distance measurement in some instances,
surveyor may find occasion to employ a combination of methods.

I. Distance by Pacing
A pacing is defined as the length of step in walking. It may be measured from heel to heel or
toe to toe.

p.f. (pace factor) = Taped distance/Average number of paces

RP = (TD-PD)/TD (relative precision)

S.P. 1.

A 45m course, AB, on level ground was paced by a surveyor for the purpose of determining his pace
factor. The numbers of paces for each trial taken are shown in the accompanying tabulation.

a) Determine his pace factor.

b) If the surveyor then took 771, 770, 768, 770, 772, and 769 paces in walking an unknown
distance CD, what is the length of the line?

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 4

 c) Assuming that the tape length CD is 667.0m, determine the relative precision of the
measurement performed.

TRIAL LINE TAPED NO. OF MEAN

DISTANCE PACES

1 AB 50

2 BA 53

3 AB 51
45.0 52
4 BA 53

5 AB 52

6 BA 53

II. Distance by Taping

Errors in Measurement of Distance:

1. Tape not standard length
2. Imperfect alignment of tape
3. Tape not horizontal
4. Tape not stretch straight
5. Imperfection of observation
6. Variations in temperature
7. Variations intension
8. Effect of sag
Mistakes in measurement of Distances:
1. Adding or dropping a full tape length
2. Adding a cm, usually in measuring the fractional part of tape length at the end of the
line
3. Reading numbers incorrectly
4. Reading wrong meter mark.

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 5

Corrections Applied for Measurement of Distances:

1. Temperature Correction: (To be added or subtracted)

Ct = K (T2 – T1)L1
K = 0.00000645 ft. per degree F.
K = 0.0000116 m per degree C.
T1 = temp. when the length of tape is L1
T2 = temp. during measurement

2. Pull Correction: (To be added or subtracted)

(𝑃𝑃2−𝑝𝑝1)(𝑙𝑙1)
Cp =
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴
P2 = actual pull during measurement
P1 = applied pull when the length of tape L1
A = Cross- sectional area of tape
E = Modulus of elasticity of tape

3. Sag Correction (To be subtracted only)

𝑤𝑤 2 𝐿𝐿3
𝐶𝐶𝑠𝑠 =
24𝑇𝑇 2

W= weight of tape in plf. or kg/m

L = Unsupported length of tape
P = actual pull or tension applied

4. Slope Correction: (To be subtracted only)

ℎ2
𝐶𝐶𝑠𝑠 =
2𝑠𝑠

H = S - Cs
H = horizontal distances or corrected distances
S = inclined distance
h = difference in elevation at the end of the tape

5. Reduction to seal level

ℎ ℎ2
𝐶𝐶𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = 𝐵𝐵′ (− + )
𝑟𝑟 𝑅𝑅2

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 6

 Conditions!
Tape too long:
a. Add correction when measuring distance.
b. Subtract correction when laying out distances.
Tape too short:
a. Subtract correction when measuring distance.
b. Add correction when laying out distance.

SP.1 A steel tape with a coefficient of linear expansion of 0.0000116/oC is know to be 50m long at 20oC.
The tape was used to measure a line which was found to be 532.28 meters long when the temperature
was 35oC. Determine the following:
a) Temperature correction per tape length.
b) Temperature correction for the measured line.
c) Correct length of the line.

SP.2 A steel tape known to be a standard length at 20oC, is used in laying out a runaway 2,500 m long. If
its coefficient of linear expansion is 0.0000116/oC, determine the temperature correction and the
correct length to be laid out when the temperature is 42oC.

SP 3. A heavy 50m tape having a cross-sectional area of 0.05sq.cm. has been standardized at a tension of
5.5 kg. If E = 2.1x106 kg/cm2 . Determine the elongation of the tape if a pull of 12kg is applied

SP.4 A 30m steel tape weighing 1.45 kg is of standard length under a pull of 5kg, supported for full
length. The tape was used in measuring a line 938.55m long on smooth level ground under a steady pull
of 10kg. Assuming E = 2.1x106 kg/cm2 and the unit weight of steel to be 7.9x10-3 kg/cm2 .Determine the
following:
a) cross-sectional area of the tape
b) Correction for increase in tension
c) Correct length of the line measured.

SP5. A 50m steel tape weighing 0.035kg/m is constantly supported at mid – length and at its end points,
and is used to measure a line AB with a steady pull of 6.5kg. If the measured length of AB is 1268.256 m,
Determine the following.
a) Correction due to sag between supports and for the whole tape length.
b) Total sag correction for the whole length measured.
c) Correct length of line AB

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 7

 III. Distance by Tachymetry

1. Stadia Method – A rapid and efficient method of measuring distances. Not accurate for high
order surveys, but is accurate enough for trigonometric leveling, locating topographic details,
and some traverses. Stadia readings can be taken with theodolites, transits, and levels..

D= Ks + C; K = stadia interval factor (100)

C = stadia constant (f+c)
s = stadia interval factor (f/i)
F = principal focus
f = focal length
o = optical center
i = distance between stadia hairs
c = dist. From optical center to center of the instrument

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 8

 Horizontal Distance:
𝒇𝒇
𝑯𝑯 = �� � (𝒔𝒔)(𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄) + (𝒇𝒇 + 𝒄𝒄)� (𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄)
𝒊𝒊
Vertical Distance:
𝒇𝒇
𝑽𝑽 = �� � (𝒔𝒔)(𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄) + (𝒇𝒇 + 𝒄𝒄)� (𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔)
𝒊𝒊

2. Subtense Bar Method – the substense bar method is a convenient and practical device used for
quick and accurate measurement of horizontal distances. The bar which is precisely 2 meters
long, consists of a rounded steel tube through which runs a thin invar rod. At each end of the
frame the target marks are housed. It is mounted horizontally on a tripod and placed
perpendicular to the line of sight by means of a sighting device on top of the bar.

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 9

 𝟏𝟏
𝑫𝑫 = 𝜶𝜶
𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻 � �
𝟐𝟐

SP1. A stadia rod held at a distant point B is sighted by an instrument set up A. The upper and lower
stadia hair readings were observed as 1.3m and 0.9m, respectively. If the stadia interval factor (k) is 100,
and the instrument constant (C) is zero, determine the length of line AB.

SP2. A transit is set at point “P” with elevation = 96m, H.I. = 1.2m, f/I = 100, (f+c) = 0.3. Find the
elevation of points 1 and 2 and the distance to the points observed as per data below.

Points Rod Intercept True Azimuth Vertical Angle

Observed

1 1.056 352.2 degree + 2 degree

on 1.2m

2 1.260 56.2667 degre - 4 degree on

1.65m

SP3. A substense bar 2m long is set up near the middle of a traverse line PQ. Using a theodolite set up at
P, the angle subtended reads 0o20’14’’. When the theodolite was transferred and set up at Q, the
corresponding subtended angle was observed as 0o23’47’’. Determine the horizontal length of line PQ.

GE – 41 FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING Page 10