TR112

Engineering Surveying II

2019/2020

Areas & Volumes

 Introduction
• On sites, calculations have to be made of a wide variety of areas and
volumes, e.g. the area of the site itself, the volume of earthworks,
cuttings, embankments, etc.

• Many of the figures encountered can be calculated by the direct

application of the accepted mensuration formulae, but very often the
figures are irregular in shape

• We are going to concentrate much on irregular shaped figures. The

following are the methods to be worked on;
1. Trapezoidal rule
2. Simpson’s rule
3. By coordinates
Areas
1. Trapezoidal rule
- Is derived from the area of a trapezium formula.

A
a  b  h  h a  b 
2 2
- So, if a given irregular figure is divided into several trapeziums having
equal base lengths, x, and each having its heights, y;

AT   y0  y1 x0   y1  y2 x1  ..............  yn  2  yn 1 xn  2   yn 1  yn xn 1 

1
2

AT 
1
 y0  y n 2 y1  2 y 2  2 y3 ......................  2 y n1 x 
2

AT 
 y0  yn 
y  y 2  y3 ......................  y n 1 x
Therefore, 1
2
2. Simpson’s rule
- With this method, the area can be found slightly more accurately.
- A knowledge of integral calculus is required to prove the rule.
- It is shown to be;

AT   y0  yn 2 y1  y3  y5  ..... yodd   4 y2  y4  y6  ....... yeven x 

1
3
Example;
3. By Coordinates
- This method also can be deduced from the principle of area of a
trapezium.
- Consider the following figure;

From,

A
a  b
h  a  b 
h
2 2

2 A  ha  b 
3. By Coordinates
- From the figure, we can see several trapeziums

AREAABCD  AREAAN A N D D   A1  A2  A3 

E A  EB
A1  N B  N A 
A3 2
E B  EC
A2  N C  N B 
2
EC  E D
N D  N C 
A2
A3 
2
E A  ED
AAN A N D D  N D  N A 
2
A1
3. By Coordinates
- Therefore,

AT 
E A  ED
N D  N A    E A  EB N B  N A   EB  EC NC  N B   EC  ED N D  NC 
2  2 2 2 

2 AT  E A  ED N D  N A   E A  EB N B  N A   EB  EC N C  N B   EC  ED N D  N C 

- After opening the brackets and rearrange,

we get the general formula;
n
2 A   Ei ( N i 1  N i 1 )
A3

i 1
A2
1 n 
A    Ei ( N i 1  N i 1 ) 
2  i 1 

A1
3. By Coordinates
- To remember the final result of the general formula;
n
2 A   Ei ( N i 1  N i 1 )  N1 E1
i 1
N2 E2
3. By Coordinates N3 E3
- To remember the final result of N4 E4
the general formula; N1 E1
A3

2 A      
A2

A1
3. By Coordinates
- Example;
The coordinates listed below refer to a closed traverse PQRS

Calculate the area in hectares enclosed by the stations.

n
2 A   Ei ( N i 1  N i 1 )  N1 E1
i 1
N2 E2
N3 E3
N4 E4
N1 E1

2 A       , 2A = -43614.11
A = 21807.06 m2
Volumes
 Calculation of volumes
- On almost every construction site, some form of cutting or embankment is
necessary to accommodate different structures(roads, buildings, reservoirs etc.)
- In general the earthwork fall into one of the two categories;
(i) long narrow earthworks of varying depths (roadway cutting and embankments),
(ii) wide flat earthworks (reservoirs, sports pitches, car parks, etc).
- For cuttings, the volume is normally calculated from; side areas or cross-
sections.
- Cross-sections are used especially where cutting sides are not vertical
(sloping sides).
- The areas of the cross-sections are then used by simpson’s rule with
prismoidal formula to calculate volumes.
 Calculation of volume
1. By Simpson’s rule
- Once the various cross-sections have been calculated, the volume of
material contained in the embankment is calculated by Simpson’s
volume rule.
- It is more accurate than the End-Area (Trapezoidal) method.
- The rule applies only when there is an odd number of cross-sections.
- Simpson’s rule;

V   first  last   2odds   4(evens)

d
3
- Should there be an even number, Simpson’s rule is used to calculate the
maximum odd number of sections and the prismoidal rule applied to the
remainder of the earthworks.
 Calculation of volume
2. By prismoidal rule
- A prismoid is defined as any solid having two plane-parallel faces, regular
or irregular in shape, which can be joined by surfaces either plane or
curved on which a straight line may be drawn from one of the parallel ends
to the other.
- Prismoidal rule is a modification of the simpson’s rule, where by a solid
with two faces is split at the middle to have three faces, calling the mid-
section M.
- Hence the volume, v;
1 d 
V   A1  A2  4M 
3 2 

V
d
A1  A2  4M  ,Provided the area M of the central section is determined.
6
Calculation of volume
2. By prismoidal rule
Example;
The figure below shows a proposed cutting
where the following information is known.
 Calculation of volume
2. By prismoidal rule
Example;
The following figure shows a mound of Excavated
material stored on site in the form of a truncated
pyramid (prismoid). Top area A1 is of 4.00m sides,
base area A2 is of 10.00m sides, while height d is
4.50 metres.
Calculate the volume of material contained in the Answer:
pyramid using the prismoidal rule.
 Calculation of volume
3. From spot heights & contours
(i) From spot heights (Levels)
 Calculation of volume
3. From spot heights & contours
(ii) From contours
 Calculation of volume
3. From spot heights & contours
(ii) From contours

V
1
315.0  0.0  2125.0  4294.5  30.0
3
V  621.0m3
 Calculation of volume
4. From Earthworks
Example;
The following figure illustrates
a section of road construction
to a level road width of 20m,
which includes a change from
fill to cut. From the data
supplied in the following field
book extract, calculate the
volumes of cut and fill using
the end-area method and
correcting for prismoidal
excess.
Calculation of volume
Calculation of volume
 Calculation of volume

A: Volume of fill;
(i) Volume (Chn. 7500 – Chn. 7600) :
Area Chn. 7500 =
Area Chn. 7600 = Total area
 Calculation of volume

Prismoidal excess:
[Varies with the shape of the cross-section]

Volume (Chn. 7500 – Chn. 7600) : =

 Calculation of volume

(ii) Volume (Chn. 7600 – Chn. 7650) :

The volume of fill in this section forms a pyramid, with the cross-section 7600
as its base and 50m high. Hence we use the equation for a pyramid.
Vol = AL = 173.8x50 = 2897m3
3 3
Thus, total volume of fill = (39660 + 2897) = 42557m3
 Calculation of volume

B: Volume of cut;
(i) Volume (Chn. 7600 – Chn. 7650) :
The volume of cut in this section forms a pyramid, with the cross-section 7650
as its base and 50m high. Hence we use the equation for a pyramid.

Vol = AL = 144x50 = 2400m3

3 3
 Calculation of volume

B: Volume of cut;
(ii) Volume (Chn. 7650 – Chn. 7750) :
Area Chn. 7650 = Total area = 144m2
Area Chn. 7750 = Total area = 660.5m2
2 2
Vol. by End-Area = 144m + 660.5m x 100 = 40225 m2
2
 Calculation of volume

Prismoidal excess:
[Varies with the shape of the cross-section]

100 (22-4)(50-32) = 2700 m2

12
Volume (Chn. 7650 – Chn. 7750) : = corrected volume = 37525 m2
Thus, total volume of cut = (2400 + 37525) = 39925 m3