Name : John S.

Sumastre
Block and Year : BSGE 1 C
Date : August 19, 2021

Definition, History, Uses of survey, types of survey, instruments used in

surveying.

According to Rayner and Schmidt, “ Surveying is the art of

determining the positions on or near the earth’s surface by means of
measurements in the three elements of space; namely, distance, direction,
and evaluation.” It is indeed true that surveying determines the position of
the earth. In fact, surveying is needed part in every aspects of life.

The History of Surveying brings us back to the Ancient Times. Our

ancestor are already using the techniques in surveying. Techniques such as
putting marks on discovered parts of the forest and adding landmark.
Roaming around the forest looking for foods and materials in building is
already part of surveying. It was then in 3000 B.C. that land registry was
record in Egypt. After this, came the records or re-establishments of farm
boundaries and the construction of The Great Pyramid of Gaza. It was not
until 300 A.D. that surveying was orthodox as a profession and land
surveyors established the basic quantification under the Roman Empire.
Triangulation was a known surveying method which was used in order to
build hierarchy of networks to allow point positioning within a country in
Eighteenth Century Europe. As you can see, surveying has been used even
in the Ancient Times!

There are numerous functions of surveying. Here are the uses of

surveying according to the website Uses of Surveying. Civil Engineering.
(n.d.). https://civiltoday.com/surveying/88-uses-of-surveying.

 Topographical maps showing hills, rivers, towns, villages, forests etc.

are prepared by surveying.
 For planning and estimating new engineering projects like water
supply and irrigation schemes, mines, railroads, bridges, transmission
lines, buildings etc. surveying is required.
 Cadastral Map showing the boundaries a field houses and other
properties are prepared by surveying.
  Engineering map showing the position of engineering works like
roads, railways, buildings, dams, canals etc. are prepared through
surveying.
 To set out a work and transfer details from map to ground knowledge
of surveying is used.
 For planning navigation routes and harbors, marine and hydro-graphic
surveying are used.
 To help military strategic planning, military maps are prepared by
surveying.
 For exploring mineral wealth, mine survey is necessary
 To determining different strata in the earth crust, geological surveys
are required
 Archaeological surveys are used to unearth relics of antiquity.

Surveying is divided into two general classifications: Plane and

Geodetic Surveying. In Plane Surveying, the earth is considered to be a flat
surface, where distances and areas involved are of a limited extent that the
exact shape or the earth is disregarded, while Geodetic Surveying takes into
account the spheroidal shape of the earth as stated by Junny Pilapil La Putt.
The following types of survey are the most commonly executed.

1. Cadastal Surveys - Undertaken in urban and rural locations ; made

to fix boundaries.
2. City Surveys - Planning Expansions
3. Construction Surveys - Undertaken at Construction Sites.
4. Forestry Surveys- Executed in connection to forest lands.
5. Hydrographic Survey - General importance in connection with
bodies of water
6. Industrial Surveys - Where accurate dimensional layouts are
required.
7. Mine Surveys - determine the position of all underground
excavation.
8. Photogrammetric Survey- Makes use of photographs taken with
with specially designed cameras.
9. Route Surveys - Linear Projects like road, pipelines , etc.
10. Topographic Surveys - Determining the shape of ground , and
the location and elevation of natural and artificial features upon it.
 You probably won’t believe this but in the past, there are already
surveying instruments being used. As time goes by each instruments were
developed gradually. Many believed that the use of surveying instruments
were prominent in the early days of the Roman Empire. Up until the modern
era, the astounding engineering ability of the Romans is clearly exhibited by
their substantial construction of structures and buildings which continue to
exist today. The following instruments were the early predecessors of our
twenty-first century surveying instruments.

1. Astrolabe - It was developed sometime in 140 B.C. and was further

improved by Ptolemy.
2. Telescope - Was developed in 1607; accredited to Lippershey.
3. Transit - Credited to Young an Drapper and was made sometime in
1830.
4. Semicircumferentor - Early surveying instrument.
5. Plane Table - One of the oldest type of surveying instrument used
in field mapping.
6. Dioptra - Perfected by Heron of Alexandria ; Used in leveling and
for measuring horizontal and vertical lines.
7. Roman Groma - Used by Roman Surveyors as an instrument for
aligning.
8. Libella - Assyrians and Egyptians are believed to be the first users
of Libelle ; The Great Pyramids of Egypt was defined by this device.
9. Vernier - Invented in 1631 by Frenchman name Pierre Vernier.
10. Diopter - Developed by the Greeks sometime in 130 B.C.
11. Compass - Widely used during the 13th Century ; First introduced
for navigation.
12. Gunter’s Chain - Invented by Sir Edmund Gunter in 1620.
13. Chorobates - Design for leveling work.
14. Merchet - First used by the Chaldeans in about 4,000 B.C.

As claimed by the webiste Modern surveying instruments and their

uses in civil engineering survey. The Constructor. (2021, June 15).
https://theconstructor.org/surveying/modern-surveying-instruments-uses/16/.
Below are the modern instruments used in surveying. They provide a much
more precise and accurate measurements than conventional instruments.
 1. Electronic Distance Measurement (EDM) Instruments - Using
electric instruments, the direct distance and their directions can be
obtained.This instrument rely on propagation, reflection and reception of
either light waves or radio waves. It is categorized into three types:

A) Infrared wave instruments - Measures distances by using amplitude

modulated infrared waves.
B) Light wave instruments - Measures distances based on propagation
of modulated light waves.
C) Microwave instruments - Makes use of high frequency radio waves.

2. Total Station - A lightweight, compact and fully integrated

electronic instrument combining the capability of an EDM and an angular
measuring instrument such as wild theodolite.

3. Global Positioning System (GPS) - Locates the position of any

point on the ground.

4. Automatic Level - Maintains line of sight or line of collimation.

REFERENCES :
1. Uses of Surveying. Civil Engineering. (n.d.).
https://civiltoday.com/surveying/88-uses-of-surveying.

2. Evolutionof surveying and surveying technology. Evolution of surveying

and surveying technology | Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and
Mapping. (n.d.). https://www.icsm.gov.au/education/fundamentals-land-
ownership-land-boundaries-and-surveying/surveyors-and-surveying-0.

3. Modern surveying instruments and their uses in civil engineering survey.

The Constructor. (2021, June 15).
https://theconstructor.org/surveying/modern-surveying-instruments-uses/16/.

4. Elementary Surveying 3rd Edition by Juny Pilapil La Putt