B.A./B.Sc.

IV Semester
Thematic Cartography
Dumpy Level Survey

Surveying is the technique of locating relative position of different object on the surface of the
earth, above the surface of the earth, inside the surface of the earth and plotting these objects on
any plane surface on some reduced scale. Surveying is of various type for example:
Topographical Surveying, Cadastral Surveying and Geodetic Surveying.

Levelling

Levelling is a technique of ascertaining and representing the differences in the elevation of points
on the surface of the earth, directly and indirectly for the purpose of tracing contour lines,
plotting vertical sections to represent configuration of a particular portion of the surface of the
earth. In this way points at a given elevation can be established. Levelling is done by instruments
called level.

F
E
A B C D

e f
d

c
a b

In the above figure the height of A, B,C,D,E and F relative to each other are known when the
vertical distances Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee and Ff have been determined. Af is called Datum Surface
and every point on it is Datum Point. Datum is also defined as an imaginary surface with
reference to which the elevation of other points is determined.

For measuring minute differences in height of different points, different types of levels are used.
they are for eg:-

1) Y-level

2) Dumpy Level

3) Cushing Level

4) Cooke’s Level

5) Zeiss Level
Dumpy level is commonly used leveling instrument to locate the points in same horizontal plane.
It is also called as automatic level or builder’s level. Elevations of different points and distance
between the points of same elevation can be determined by dumpy level. Earlier also known as
Gravatt’s Level, the dumpy level got its present name due to the compactness it has. The
telescope is fixed to its supports in dumpy level and hence it cannot be rotated in vertical axis. It
is invented by William Gravatt in 1832.

Components of Dumpy Level

Dumpy level consists the following parts or components

 Telescope
 Bubble tubes
 Compass
 Vertical spindle
 Tribrach screws
 Foot screws
 Leveling head
 Tripod

Fig: Components of a Dumpy Level

Telescope
Telescope is used to observe the distant object through line of sight provided by its arrangement.
In general, the telescope is fixed to the vertical spindle of dumpy level so that it can be rotated
along with vertical spindle.
Parts of Telescope in Dumpy Level
The important parts of telescope are as follows
  Eye piece
 Objective lens
 Diaphragm
 Focusing screw
 Ray shade

Level Tube: Level tube which houses the spirit level.

Capstan Screws: To correct the permanent adjustment of the spirit level.

Tripod: which is firmly built type od stand with three legs over which the dumpy level is firmly
fixed

Levelling Screws: It is also known as foot screws which are three or four in numbers, they help
in putting the instrument in a perfect horizontal plane.

Sprit Level: which are two – a bigger one parallel to the telescope and a smaller one at right
angles to that.

Eye Piece: to sight the levelling staff

Object Glass: through which the ray enters the telescope.

Focussing Screws: to focuse the levelling staff. In some levels this screw is on the right side of
the telescope whereas in some of them it is along with the eyepiece.

Crosswire Focussing Screw: is attached to the eye piece when focusing the crosswire, the
levelling staff gets out of focus. Focus the staff again. In two or three attempts the levelling staff
and the crosswire both of them are sharply focused and the parallax error disappears.

Line of Collimation: an imaginary line that passes through the optical centre of the object glass,
centre of eyepiece and enters the eye.

Two very important parts of the dumpy level which are not visible are:

Clamp Screw for the Telescope: when this screw is tightened, the telescope does not move
sideways or up and down.

Tangent Screw for the Telescope: when this screw is moved, then also the clamp screw has
been tightened, the telescope moves very slowly, this tangent screw has also sometimes been
called Finer Adjustment Screws.

Station: the points where the levelling staff reading have been taken.

Back sight: it is the first reading taken by the Dumpy Level.

Intermediated Sight: All the reading between the first and the last reading is called intermediate
sight.

Fore sight: It is reading of the last Station

Rise: In the two consecutive reading, if the later reading of the levelling staff is lesser than the
preceding reading. The difference is in the amount of ‘Rise’ between the two station points.

Fall: In the same way, it the later reading is greater than preceding or previous reading, the
difference is the amount of ‘Fall’ between the two station point.

Reduced Level: Reduced level is connected with datum through bench marks which may be
official or local. It may be some assumed plane also. If there is rise, it is added to reduced level
whereas if there is fall, it is subtracted from the reduced level of the last station.

Procedure of Dumpy Level Surveying

The procedure of dumpy level surveying starts with some temporary adjustments which are:

 Setting up of instrument

 Leveling up

 Focusing

Setting up of Dumpy Level

The instrument is fixed to the tripod stand using clamp screws. Spread the tripod legs and
position the instrument at convenient height. Firstly fix the two legs in the ground at a point and
centering of bubble in the bubble tubes is done by adjusting third leg.

Leveling up

The leveling up of an instrument is done using foot screws or leveling screws. In this case, the
telescope is arranged parallel to the any two leveling screws and the bubble in the tube is
centered by turning both the screws either inwards or outwards.

When it is centered, then the telescope is turned 90o and the third screw is turned until the bubble
come to center. Repeat the process until the bubble in the tube always stays at the middle in any
position of telescope.

Focusing

Focusing is done by adjusting eye piece and focusing screw. Eye piece is adjusted until the cross
hairs of diaphragm are clearly visible. To eliminate the parallax error, a white paper is used to
obtain sharp vision of cross hairs.
Focusing screw is adjusted to view the clear image of the objective or staff. Focusing is said to
be done when the cross hairs bisect the objective or staff with clear vision.

After completion the above temporary adjustments, now it’s time to take levels of required
positions or points. The telescope is rotated towards the line of objective or staff and bisect it.
The levels are noted at different points which values are decided from a known bench mark point
in that area.

Use of Dumpy Levels

The dumpy level is mainly used in surveying for the following purposes:

 To determine relative height and distance among different locations of a Surveying land.
 To determine relative distance among different locations of a surveying land.

Advantages of Dumpy Level Survey

 Dumpy level is easy to use.
 Adjustments can be made as per the requirement on any type of ground.
 Level readings are very accurate in case of dumpy level.
 Optical power is high for dumpy level.
 Price of dumpy level is cheap when compared to other instruments.

Disadvantages of Dumpy Level Survey

 It is limited to only horizontal angle measurement.

 The angles obtained by dumpy are not that accurate.