 Open Traverse - a series of measured

straight lines and angles that do not

geometrically close.

 Closed Traverse - is one that either begins

and ends at the same points or one that
begins and ends at points whose positions
have been previously determined.

 The latitude of a line is its projection on

the north-south meridian.
TRAVERSE CORRECTION  The departure of a line is its projection
on the east-west line.
& AREA CALCULATION  A northeasterly bearing has:
o + latitude and
TRAVERSE o + departure
 Almost all surveying requires some
calculations to reduce measurements into a
more useful form for determining distance,
earthwork volumes, land areas, etc.
 Traverse are a series of established stations
that are tied together by angle and distance.
 A traverse is developed by measuring the
distance and angles between points that are
found on the boundary of a site.

𝑳𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆 = 𝑫𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽
𝑫𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 = 𝑫𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽
 BEARING (acute-less than 90) 𝑳𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆 = +𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉
𝑫𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 = +𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒕
o Always treat numbers as positive
TRAVERSE
Consider the following statement:
 "If start at one corner of a closed traverse and
walk its lines until you return to your starting
point, you will have walked as far north as
you walked south and as for east as you have
walked west"
 Therefore Σ latitudes = 0 and Σ departures =
0.

AZIMUTH (can be greater than 90)

ERROR OF CLOSURE

 When latitudes are added together, the

resulting error is called the error in
latitudes (EL)
 The error resulting from adding departures
together is called the error in departures
(ED)
 If the measured bearings and distances are
plotted on a sheet of paper, the figure will
not close because of EL and ED
TRAVERSE EXAMPLE:

BALANCING LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

COMPASS RULE

TRANSIT RULE

! USE CALC A = _ /B
 CORRECTION (COMPASS) CALCULATING TRAVERSE AREA

NOTE: ALWAYS INVERSE THE ERROR!

TRANSIT RULE
 𝟏 𝟏
𝑴𝑫 = 𝑴𝑫𝑬𝑨 + 𝑫𝑬𝑷𝑬𝑨 + 𝑫𝑬𝑷𝑨𝑩
𝟐 𝟐
𝑫𝑴𝑫 = 𝑴𝑫𝑫𝑬𝑨 + 𝑫𝑬𝑷𝑬𝑨 + 𝑫𝑬𝑷𝑨𝑩
o Departure – x-axis

DOUBLE AREA
DMD x LAT
3880.9812
-6919.4421
-1897.0338
-40249.3348
-27445.8577

∑ 𝑫𝑨 = −𝟕𝟐𝟔𝟒𝟎. 𝟔𝟖𝟕𝟐

𝑫𝑨
𝑨𝑹𝑬𝑨 =
𝟐
𝑨𝑹𝑬𝑨 = 𝟑𝟔𝟑𝟐𝟎. 𝟑𝟒𝟑𝟔 𝒇𝒕𝟐

! USE CALC TABLE