Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

 Chapter No. 1
Introduction
Course Title: Engineering Surveying-1 (CE-109)
Course Instructor: Eng. Shahzad Ahmed

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Course Outline
1. Introduction: Introduction to land surveying, Definitions of basic
surveying terms branches and their application, Instruments used.
2. Survey Techniques: Distance measurement techniques, Compass
survey, Traversing and triangulation, Plane table surveying,
Computation of areas and volumes by various methods,
Tacheometry, Theodolite survey
3. Modern Methods in Surveying: Principles of EDM operation, EDM
characteristics, Total stations, field procedures for total stations in
topographic surveys, Construction layouts using total station.
4. Levelling and Contouring: Methods and types of levels, precise
levelling, Methods and applications of contouring.
Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed
Books
1. Surveying Principles and Applications by Barry F. Kavanagh
2. Engineering Surveying by W. Schofield
3. Elementary Surveying by Wolf & Ghillani
4. Surveying, Bannister, S. Raymond & R. Baker

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Introduction
➢ Definition of Surveying:
“The science, art, and technology of determining the relative positions
of points above, on, or beneath the Earth’s surface, or of establishing
such point”
✓These features may be represented in analogue form as a contoured
map, plan or chart, or in digital form such as a digital ground model
(DGM).
✓In engineering surveying, either or both above formats may be used
for planning, design and construction of works, both on the surface
and underground.
Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed
Introduction
➢ What is Engineering Surveying ?

✓ Engineering surveying is defined as those activities involved in the

planning and execution of surveys for the location, design,
construction, maintenance, and operation of civil and other engineered
projects.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Introduction
➢ Steps Involved in Surveying:
✓ In the first instance, surveying requires management and decision
making in deciding the appropriate methods and instrumentation
required to complete the task satisfactorily to the specified accuracy
and within the time limits available.

✓ This initial process can only be properly executed after very careful
and detailed investigation of the area to be surveyed.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Steps Involved in Surveying:
✓ When the logistics are completed, the field work – involving the
capture and storage of field data – is carried out using instruments and
techniques appropriate to the task in hand.

✓ Processing the data is the next step in the operation.

✓ The methods adopted will depend upon the size and precision of the
survey and the manner of its recording.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Geomatics
➢ What is Geomatics?
✓ Geomatics is a relatively new term that is now commonly being
applied to encompass the areas of practice formerly identified as
surveying.
✓ In the United States, the Surveying Engineering Division of The
American Society of Civil Engineers changed its name to the
Geomatics Division. Many college and university programs in the
United States that were formerly identified as “Surveying” or
“Surveying Engineering” are now called “Geomatics” or “Geomatics
Engineering.”
Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed
Calculating the Circumference of Earth
➢ Calculating circumference of Earth 2200 Years Ago ?
✓ History records that a Greek named Eratosthenes was among the first
to compute the earth’s dimensions.
✓ His procedure, which occurred about 2200 years ago, concluded that
the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Syene were located
approximately on the same meridian.
✓ He had also observed that at noon on the summer solstice, the sun
was directly overhead at Syene.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Calculating the Circumference of Earth
✓ Eratosthenes reasoned that at that moment, the sun, Syene, and
Alexandria were in a common meridian plane, and if he could measure
the arc length between the two cities, and the angle it subtended at the
Earth’s center, he could compute the Earth’s circumference.
✓ He determined the angle by measuring the length of the shadow cast
at Alexandria from a vertical staff(stick) of known length.
✓ Furthermore, he calculated the distance between Alexandria and
Syene and by simple proportions he was able to calculate the
circumference of earth about 2200 years ago.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Calculating the Circumference of Earth

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

General Classification
➢ Two general classifications of surveys are
1. Geodetic Survey:
✓ It is the type of surveying in which the curvature of the earth is
considered, and a very high standard of accuracy is maintained.
✓ Geodetic Surveying is a type of surveying which deals with large
areas where it is essential to consider the earth’s actual shape and
dimensions.
✓ Area more than 196 Sq. Km. is treated as geodetic surveying.
✓ The Z dimensions (orthometric heights) in geodetic surveys are
referenced to a datum—usually mean sea level.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

General Classification
2. Plane Survey:
✓ Surveying, in which the surface of the earth is assumed as a plane,
and the curvature of the earth is ignored, is known as plane surveying.
✓ The most usually followed type of surveying considers the earth’s
surface as a flat or “plane” surface.
✓ It is suitable for a survey of small areas ( up to 196 Sq. Km) where
the earth’s curvature does not affect the results.
✓ The third dimension (height) are referred to as datum, usually mean
sea level.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Special Types of Surveys
1. Preliminary Surveys:
✓ Preliminary surveys (also known as pre-engineering surveys, location
surveys, or data gathering surveys) are used to collect measurements that
locate the position of natural features, such as trees, rivers, hills, valleys,
and the like, and the position of built features, such as roads, structures,
pipelines etc.

2. Control Surveys:
✓ Control surveys are established reference points and reference lines for
preliminary and construction surveys. It is performed to establish a network
of horizontal and vertical monuments that serve as a reference framework
for initiating other surveys.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Special Types of Surveys
3. Topographic Surveys:
✓ It is performed to determine locations of natural and artificial features and
elevations used in map making. Eg: Trees, mountains and roads etc.
4. Land, Boundary, & Cadastral Surveys:
✓ It is performed to establish property lines and property corner markers. The
term cadastral is now generally applied to surveys of the public lands
systems.
5. Hydrographic Surveys:
✓ It defines shorelines and depths of lakes, streams, oceans, reservoirs, and
other bodies of water.
Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed
Special Types of Surveys
6. Alignment Survey:
✓ It is performed to plan, design, and construct highways, railroads,
pipelines, and other linear projects. They normally begin at one control
point and progress to another in the most direct manner permitted by
field conditions.
7. Construction Surveys:
✓ It provides line, grade, control elevations, horizontal positions,
dimensions, and configurations for construction operations. They also
secure essential data for computing construction pay quantities.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Special Types of Surveys
8. As-Built Survey:
✓ It documents the precise final locations and layouts of engineering
works and record any design changes that may have been incorporated
into the construction.
9. Mine Survey:
✓It is performed above and below ground to guide tunneling and
other operations associated with mining.
10. Photogrammetric Survey
✓It is run to acquire aerial photographs for measurement and
interpretation.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Definitions of Basic Terms in Surveying
1. Horizontal line
✓ A horizontal line or surface is one that is normal to the direction of the force
of gravity at a particular point.

2. Level line or surface

✓ A level line or level surface is one which at all points is normal to the
direction of the force of gravity as defined by a freely suspended plumb-bob.

3. Plumb Line
✓ The direction of a plumb line is parallel to the direction of earths gravity
field.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Horizontal and Level Line

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Definitions of Basic Terms in Surveying
4. Datum
✓ A datum is any reference surface to which the elevations of points are
referred. The most used datum is that of mean sea level (MSL).
✓ MSL is the average of sea tides , per hourly readings of sea tides calculated
for 19 years.
5. Benchmark (BM)
✓ A survey mark made on a monument having a known location and elevation,
serving as a reference point for surveying.
6. Reduced Level (RL)
✓ The RL of a point is its height above or below a reference datum.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Basic Measurements and Instruments
Surveying consists of four basic measurements:

1. Horizontal distance (tapes, chains, tachometer, EDMI, pacing,

odometer etc.)
2. Vertical distance (level, tachometer etc.)
3. Horizontal angle (theodolites, compasses)
4. Vertical angle (theodolites, clinometers)

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Units of Measurements
➢ Magnitudes of measurements (or of values derived from
observations) must be given in terms of specific units.
➢ In surveying, the most commonly employed units are for length,
area, volume, and angle.
➢ Two different systems are in use for specifying units of observed
quantities, the English and Metric Systems.
➢ The metric system is called the International System of Units, and
abbreviated SI. (Meter, Kilogram, Second)
➢ The English system is called FPS System. (Foot, Pound, Second)

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Units of Measurements
➢ The unit of angle used in surveying is Degree or Radian .
✓ One degree (1°) = 60 min
✓ 1 min = 60 sec
✓ Written as e.g. 35° 45’ 40” ( Read as: Thirty Five Degrees , Forty Five Minutes,
Forty Seconds)

➢ Note: See Chapter No. 02 (Part 1) “Units and Significant Figures”, Book
“Elementary Surveying by Wolf & Ghillani 13th Edition”

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Errors in Measurements
➢ What is an Error?
“An error is the difference between an observed value for a quantity and
its true value”

E = X – X’
Where,
X = Observed Value
X’ = True Value

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Some Basic Conversions
▪ 1 foot = 12 inches
▪ 1 yard = 3 feet
▪ 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters (basis of international foot)
▪ 1 meter = 39.37 inches (basis of U.S. survey foot)
▪ 1 rod = 1 pole = 1 perch = 16.5 feet
▪ 1 Gunter’s chain (ch) = 66 feet = 100 links (lk) = 4 rods
▪ 1 mile = 5280 feet = 80 Gunter’s chains
▪ 1 nautical mile = 6076.10 feet
▪ 1 fathom = 6 feet.
▪ 1 acre = 43,560 sq-ft (Area)

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Errors in Measurements
➢ What is a Mistake ?
➢It is observer’s blunder and is usually caused by misunderstanding the
problem, carelessness, fatigue, missed communication, or poor
judgment.
➢ Examples:
✓ Recording 73.96 instead of the correct value of 79.36.
✓ Reading an angle counterclockwise, but indicating it as a clockwise
angle in the field notes.
✓ Sighting the wrong target.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Sources of Errors
➢ Errors in observations stem from three sources and are classified accordingly.
1. Natural Errors
✓ They are caused by variations in wind, temperature, humidity, atmospheric
pressure, atmospheric refraction, gravity, and magnetic declination.
✓An example is a steel tape whose length varies with changes in temperature.

2. Instrumental Errors
✓ They result from any imperfection in the construction or adjustment of
instruments and from the movement of individual parts.
✓ For example, the graduations on a scale may not be perfectly spaced, or the
scale may be warped.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Sources of Errors
3. Personal Errors
✓ They arise principally from limitations of the human senses of
sight and touch.
✓ For example: a small error occurs in the observed value of a
horizontal angle if the vertical crosshair in a total station instrument
is not aligned perfectly on the target, or if the target is the top of a
rod that is being held slightly out of plumb.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Types of Errors in Observation
➢ Errors in observations are of two types: systematic and random.
1. Systematic Error
✓ Systematic errors, also known as biases, result from factors that
comprise the “measuring system” and include the environment,
instrument, and observer. So long as system conditions remain
constant, the systematic errors will likewise remain constant. If
conditions change, the magnitudes of systematic errors also change.
Because systematic errors tend to accumulate, they are sometimes
called cumulative errors.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Types of Errors
✓ An example of a constant systematic error is the use of a 100-ft steel
tape that has been calibrated and found to be 0.02 ft too long. It
introduces a 0.02-ft error each time it is used, but applying a correction
readily eliminates the error.
✓ An example of variable systematic error is the change in length of a
steel tape resulting from temperature differentials that occur during the
period of the tape’s use.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Types of Errors
2. Random Errors
✓ Random errors are those that remain in measured values after
mistakes and systematic errors have been eliminated. They are caused
by factors beyond the control of the observer, obey the laws of
probability, and are sometimes called accidental errors. They are
present in all surveying observations.
✓ The magnitudes and algebraic signs of random errors are matters of
chance. There is no absolute way to compute or eliminate them, but
they can be estimated using adjustment procedures known as least
squares.
Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed
Types of Errors
✓ Random errors are also known as compensating errors, since they
tend to partially cancel themselves in a series of observations. For
example, a person interpolating to hundredths of a foot on a tape
graduated only to tenths, or reading a level rod marked in hundredths,
will presumably estimate too high on some values and too low on
others.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Precision and Accuracy
➢ Precision
✓ Precision refers to the degree of refinement or consistency of a group
of observations and is evaluated on the basis of discrepancy size. If
multiple observations are made of the same quantity and small
discrepancies result, this indicates high precision.
➢ Accuracy
✓ Accuracy denotes the absolute nearness of observed quantities to their
true values.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed

Precision and Accuracy
(a) Results are precise but not
accurate.
(b) Results are neither precise
nor accurate.
(c) Results are both precise and
accurate.

Course Instructor: Shahzad Ahmed