COMPASS SURVEYING

Surveyor’s compass – an instrument for determining the horizontal direction of a line with reference to the
. direction of the magnetic needle.

Essential features of compass: 1) compass box – with a circle graduated from 0 0 to 900 in both directions
. from the N and S points and usually having the E and W points interchanged.
. 2) sight vanes – which defines the line of sight in the direction of the SN points
. of the compass box.
. 3) magnetic needle – has the property of pointing a fixed direction namely, the
. magnetic meridian.

Kinds of compass: 1) pocket compass – which is generally held in the hand when bearings are observed; used
In reconnaissance or other rough surveys.
. 2) surveyor’s compass – which is mounted usually on a light tripod, or sometimes on a
Jacob’s staff ( a point stick about 1.5 m. long )
3) transit compass – a compass box similar to the surveyor’s compass, mounted on the
. upper or Vernier plate of the engineer’s transit.

Sources of errors in compass work: 1) needle bent – if the needle is not perfectly straight, a constant error is
. introduced in all observed bearings. The needle can be corrected by
. using pliers.
2) pivot bent – if the point of the pivot supporting the needle is not at the
. center of the graduated circle, then a variable systematic error will
. occur, the magnitude of which depends on the direction in which the
Compass is sighted. By bending the pivot until the end readings of the
Needle are 180 0 apart for any direction of pointing.
3) plane of sight not vertical or graduated circle not horizontal.
4) sluggish 5) reading the needle 6) magnetic variations

Advantages of a compass: 1) compass is light and portable and it requires less time in setting up, sighting
And reading.
2) an error in the direction of one line does not necessarily affect other lines of
The survey.
3) it is adopted specially to running straight lines through woods and other places
Where obstacles are likely to interfere with the line of sight.

Disadvantages of a compass: 1) the compass reading is not very accurate.

2) the needle is unreliable with the presence of local attractions such as electric
Wires, metals, magnets that may render it practically useless.

Adjustment of a closed compass traverse: When the compass traverse forms a closed figure, the interior
angle at each station is computed from the observed bearings at that particular point, the computed value which is free from
local attraction. The sum of the interior angles of a closed polygon must be equal to ( n – 2 ) 1800 in which n Is the number of
sides of the polygon. Since the error of observing a bearing is accidental, it is assumed to be distributed equally at each
interior angle. The bearings are then adjusted from a line whose observed bearing is to be correct using the adjusted values
of each interior angle.

Why is the East and West points of a compass interchanged? From the figure observed on a compass having
a NS and EW calibration. In using a compass, always sight the object with the north end of the compass and the compass
needle when pivoted and brought to rest gives the magnetic bearing. Let us say an object on the right side is observed, sight
this object with the north end of the compass, The needle at this instant will point steadily on the magnetic north, so a
reading could now be obtained as NE.