Lecture 1 1

Linear Surveying

Chapter 3
Linear Surveying
It is a method of surveying carried out by measuring only lengths of lines using a tape and a few
ancillary pieces of equipment. No angular measurement are made at all.

Objective of Linear Surveying:

To produce a scale drawing of a parcel of ground.

Field Measurement Plotting

Principle of Linear Surveying:

 A survey makes use of the principle of geometry

Triangle is the simplest geometric figure

 It joins 3 points.
 Distance between 2 points of triangle is measured.
 Fixing the third point in relation to the 2 known
points of the triangle is the problem.

Imagine that 2 points in a field named A and B, are forming a straight line. Point C is forming a
triangle with these 2 points.

Field

. C

10m B

To transfer the above into a plot Draw a triangle

There are 4 techniques to draw a triangle:

1. Tri‐Lateration using lines:

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Linear Surveying

a. Measure AB and transfer it to the plot scale.

b. Measure AC and BC and transfer it to the plot scale.
c. The intersection of the arcs of lines AC and BC forms point C.

10 B
2. Tri‐Angulation using angles:
a. Measure AB and transfer it to the plot scale
b. Measure Angles CBA and CAB.
c. The intersection of such angles’ lines forms point C.

10 m B

3. Polar using angle/line:

a. Measure AB and transfer it to a plot scale.
b. Measure line AC and angle CAB or measure line CB and angle CBA.

10 B
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Linear Surveying

4. Off‐Setting lines at right angle:

a. Measure AB and transfer to the plot scale
b. Measure AD and CD or measure DB and DC.

A D 90⁰

10 m B

 Methods of Linear Surveying are:

o Tri‐Lateration.
o Off‐Setting.

 Linear Surveying Characteristics:

o Carried out by measuring lines only.
o No angular measurements.
o Use straight and horizontal lines.

Measurement Techniques:

Conducting linear measurement requires equipment and procedures.

a. Equipment of Linear Measurement:

1. Tape (The most used equipment)
i. Steel Tape :
 More Durable.
 Affected by temperature.
ii. Woven (Fiber) Tape:
 Light weight
 Cheaper.
 Not affected by temperature.
 Less durable.
2. Steel Rod / Land Chain 1 ft
 Consists of a group of chains, each chain is 1 ft long.
 Consists of 100 chains.
 Equals to 30 m as total length.
 Heavy equipment ( 5 – 6 kg).
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Linear Surveying

3. EMD – Electromagnetic Distance Measurement

 Electronic device depends on the pulse.

b. Procedure of Linear Measurement:

 Measuring conditions:

Three conditions should be satisfied:

1. 2 points should be on straight line.

2. 2 points should be visible.
3. 2 points should be on a horizontal line.

 Measuring Procedure:

The tape is held by 2 persons one is known as the header and the other is known
as the follower. We start with assigning points A and B .Then the follower is
placed at point A in order to ensure the line alignment by instructing the header
to find the correct position of the next point C. Therefore we notice that the roll
of the follower is much more important than that of the header. The process is
repeated through assigning several points in between A and B. These points are
marked by rod and the distance between these points equals to the tape length.

Total length = # of Rods X Tape Length

C"

C' x

A C D E F G B

C'

C"

In case where the last part ( x ) is shorter than the tape length

Total Length = ( # of rods X Tape Length ) + x

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Linear Surveying

c. Errors in Measurement:

All measurements made with tapes are subject to some form of error. Errors are divided into 3
classes:

1. Gross Errors:

This class of errors arises from any kind of mistakes in measurements which result in
repeating the measurement. Therefore these are the most critical type of errors. They
arises from inexperience, careless or lack of concentration on the part of the observer.

Causes of gross errors:

a. Miss‐reading the tape.

b. Miss‐counting the number of tape length.
c. Booking error.
d. Miss‐alignment (Not on a straight line).

Consequences of gross error:

 Waste of time.
 Waste of money.

Detecting such error by:

 Measure each line twice ( Double Check).

 Measure extra line (Control Check).

2. Constant Errors:

This class of error arises from any kind of mistake that results from the measuring
equipment or the location of measurements. Errors occur no matter how often a line is
measured and checked.

Causes of constant errors:

a. Slope Slope lengths are longer than plan lengths. Therefore, all distances
measured in slope must be converted into plan lengths by the following:
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Linear Surveying

L (corrected) = L (measured) X cos θ B

AB' = AB X cos θ

Θ is very small angle A θ B'

i. Θ in degree i.e. 3⁰, 7⁰.

ii. Θ in gradient i.e. 8 % tan θ = 8/100 θ = tan⁽⁻¹⁾(gradient)

Example:

L (measured) = 300 m, θ = 2.5˚, find the corrected length.

Solution: L(corrected) = 300 X cos 2.5⁰ = 299.7 m

Some survey lines will have several changes of gradient a long their lengths. In such
case each inclined section is treated separately and its plan length is calculated. Then
all planed length are added to produce the total horizontal length of the line.

b. Miss‐alignment of the tape (deviation) In cases where an obstruction is found

between two points (such as a tree), the distance is simply measured around it
producing deviation e. The distance measured, must be corrected by the following
formula: Bʹ

L (corrected) = L (measured) – e² / L (measured) e

Example: A B

L (measured) = 300 m, e =0.6 m, find the corrected length.

Solution: L(corrected) = 300 – (0.6)²/300 = 299.9 m

c. Miss‐standardization This occurs when we measure with a tape of non‐standard

length. The measured length is corrected by the following formula:

L (corrected) = L (measured) X (L (actual) / L (nominal))

L (actual): tape actual length.

L(nominal): tape nominal length.

Example:

L (measured) = 360 m, L (nominal) = 30 m and L (actual) = 30.05 m, find the

corrected length.
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Linear Surveying

Solution: L(corrected) = 360 X (30.05/30) = 360.6 m

Note:

 All of these errors are cumulative and have a great effect on the accuracy of any
length.
 Some survey lines may have several types of constant errors, in such cases, the
miss‐standardization error should be corrected first followed by either the slope
error or the deviation error.

Example:

L (measured) = 360 m, L (nominal) = 30 m, L (actual) = 30.05 m and slope = 5% find the

corrected length.

Solution: θ = tan⁽⁻¹⁾ (5/100) = 2.86⁰

L₁ (corrected) = 360 X (30.05/30) = 360.6 m

L₂ (corrected) = 360.6 X cos 2.86⁰ = 360.15 m

3. Human Error:

This class of errors arises from defects of human sights and touch. During the measuring
process, not much attention is paid to human errors.

Causes of human errors:

a. Differences in estimation a reading.

b. In‐correct placement of the tape.