College of Civil Engineering

Department of Engineering
Ormoc City

CE 225
Fundamental of Surveying

Name: Perales, Althea S. Date Conducted: February 16, 2023

BS Civil Engineering 2C Date Submitted: February 23, 2023
Submitted to: Engr. Antonio E. Naboya, Jr.

TAPING OVER SMOOTH AND LEVEL GROUND

Laboratory Exercise No. 2

I. Introduction
The accurate determination of distance between two points on any
surface is one of the basic operations of plane surveying. (La Putt, 2009) This
operation is the start of every construction or land development there is. From
the basic house repairs to buildings, roads and dams, horizontal measurement is
the initial step in starting the project. All of these are regulated by government
because they are the ones who started it after all.
Due to demand and rise of taxation, there is also a need for accurate
measurement such as ropes, lines, or cords that were treated with wax and
calibrated in cubits or other ancient units. This has gone on for centuries and the
way of measurement for surveyors. For the first two-thirds of the twentieth
century the 100-ft steel ribbon tape, which was invented by English
mathematician Edward Gunter (1581–1626), was the common device used for
measuring distances. Such measuring is often called chaining, a carryover name
from the time when Gunter’s chain was introduced. This chain, which was a
great improvement over the ropes and rods used up until that time, was
available in several lengths, including 33 ft, 66 ft, and 100 ft. (McCormac, et.al.,
2013)
 In this laboratory exercise, the taping over level ground will be explained.
Taping is the process of measuring the length of the line or course with a tape. A
video clip explaining the procedures will be watched at YouTube. Based on this
video, a comprehensive report regarding the mistakes and proper procedures in
taping regarding the video in Laboratory Exercise 1 will also be done by the
students.
II. Objective
To determine the horizontal length of a line over smooth and level
ground with the tape supported throughout its length.

III. Instruments and Materials

 Synthetic Tape
 Stones (as markers)
IV. Procedures

a) Using available tool for marking, mark both ends to be measured.

Place a stone on each point to designate these end points as A and B.
b) Breaking tape procedure will be applied where holding only short
lengths of tape, 10 meters each measurement and marking the end
points of the length by placing stones beneath them in the ground.
Apply this from point A to B.
c) The rear tapeman with one pin stations himself at the point of
beginning and the head tapeman takes the zero end of the tape and
advances toward the other end of the line to be measured.
d) When the head tapeman has gone nearly a full tape length, the rear
tapeman calls “tape” to stop the head tapeman. The rear tapeman the
holds the 10-meter mark at the starting point and aligns the other end
of the tape held by the head tapeman behind the endpoint or any of
the intermediate points earlier established along the line.
e) The head tapeman pulls the tape forward, rear tapeman will put
another marking stone at the end of 10-meter tape and the process is
repeated until point B is reached.
f) When the end of the line is almost reached and the last full tape
length has been measured, the remaining partial length is then
measured. The rear tapeman holds the tape until he has a full meter
mark while the head tapeman pulls the tape taut and takes note of the
fractional measurement read from the tape end.
 g) After the measurement of the whole line is completed, a second
measurement should be made along the opposite direction (BA). The
mean of the two measurements is taken as the most probable value of
the length of the line.
h) Tabulate observed and computed values accordingly.

V. Data Gathered

LINE AB
Marks Length Total (length)
1 10 m
2 10 m
3 10 m
4 10 m 80.18 m
5 10 m
6 10 m
7 10 m
8 10 m
9 0.18 m

LINE BA
Marks Length Total (length)
1 10 m
2 10 m
3 10 m
4 10 m 80.11 m
5 10 m
6 10 m
7 10 m
8 10 m
9 0.11 m

LINE LENGTH DIFFERENCE MEAN RELATIVE

 PRECISION
AB 80.18 m
0.07 80.14 m 1/1100
BA 80.11 m

VI. Computations
Discrepancy:
80.18 – 80.11 = 0.07

Mean:
(80.18 + 80.11)/2 = 80.14 m

Relative Precision:
= 0.07/0.07
80.14/0.07

= 1/1144.86
= 1/1100
VII. Results and Discussion

The result yields a difference of 0.07, a mean of 80.14 m, and a relative

precision of 1/1100. The data are tabulated before the discrepancy, mean, and
relative precision analyses are performed. By adding the two measurements and
dividing the result by two, the mean length of the measured line is calculated.
The difference between the first and second measurements is the measurement
discrepancy. The measurement's relative accuracy is calculated by dividing the
difference by the mean length, with the numerator set to unity or one. The
denominator of a relative precision expression is represented by a fraction, which
is rounded to the nearest hundredth.

VIII. Conclusion

When the ground is fairly level and smooth and the ground cover
vegetation is light and low, the effort required to measure the distance between
two points or to set a point ahead of some required distance is very minimal. The
outcome of the relative precision from the data analysis above is acceptable
since it is relatively close to the standard precision of 1/1100. Taping on smooth
and level ground is fairly quick, easy and cheap. Therefore, it is the most
common form of distance measurement. Based on the data acquired, it is prone
to errors and mistakes. Any misalignment of the tape, either horizontally or
vertically, will result to an error in the overall measurement. Misalignment always
results in a recorded distance that is too long, or a laid offline that is too short.
This is visible, since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

IX. Reference

1. La Putt, J. (2009). Elementary and Higher Surveying, Baguio city: Baguio

Research and
publication center.
2. McCormac, Jack C., Sarasua, Wayne, Davis, William (2013) Surveying, 6th
ed. John Wiley &
Sons, USA
3. Distance Measurement (n.d) Available at:
https://www.in.gov/indot/files/proced1chapter4.pd