Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND FOOD SCIENCE

ESCI 105
Close Compass Traverse

Fieldwork No. 6

NAME:
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I. Objective
a. To determine the magnetic bearing of each line of a closed compass traverse.
b. To learn how to adjust a closed compass traverse.
II. Instruments
1. Compass
2. Steel tape
3. Range pole
4. Chaining pins/chalk
III. Procedures
1. Establish at least five traverse stations at designated points on the field
assigned to be surveyed. Call these stations (or corners) A, B, C, and so forth.
2. Set up and level the compass at A and release the needle of the compass so
that it will swing freely on its pivot.

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 3. Sight the compass on the last traverse station and read the magnetic bearing.
Record this as the back bearing of the last line in the traverse.
4. Sight B and read the compass box. Record this as the forward bearing of line
AB.
5. Transfer the compass to B and sight on A. read the compass box and record
this as the back bearing of line AB.
6. Turn towards the direction of C, then read and record the forward bearing of
line BC.
7. Transfer to C and sight on B. Read and record the back bearing of the line BC,
then sight on D and also read and record the forward bearing of line CD.
8. Proceed to the next station and repeat the above procedure of determining
back and forward bearings for each line. Continue until the last traverse station
is occupied and the forward bearing of the last line has been read and
accordingly recorded.
9. With steel tape, measure the length of each line in the traverse twice and
record the mean as the actual length of the line.
10. Tabulate observed and adjusted values accordingly. Refer to the
accompanying sample format for the tabulation of field data.
Computed Adjusted
Line Length Observed Bearings STA Interior Corr. Interior
Angle Angle
AB A
BC B
CD C
DE D
EA E

IV. Computations
1. The interior angle at each station of the traverse can be computed easily from
the observed forward and back bearings taken from the station regardless of
whether or not the needle is affected locally. A carefully prepared sketch is
important since from it the required calculations will be obvious.
2. The angular error of closure is determined by subtracting the sum of the
computed interior angles of the traverse from (n-2) x 180 degree, where n is
the number of sides in the traverse. Note that the computed value may be a
positive or negative quantity, and the resulting sign should be considered in all
succeeding computations.
3. The correction for each computed interior angle is determined by dividing the
angular error of closure by the number of traverse stations. The computed
value is then added algebraically to each computed interior angle to determine
the corresponding adjusted interior angle.
4. Go over the observed bearings and determine which line in the chosen as the
best line. The adjustment of traverse lines affected by local attraction is then
by starting from the unaffected or best line.

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 5. The forward and back bearings of all other lines in the traverse affected by
local attraction ca e easily computed and adjusted by again drawing a sketch
thus making all calculations obvious.
6. Finally, tabulate the adjusted bearings of the traverse. Refer to the
accompanying sample format shown below.
DJUSTED BEARINGS
LINE LENGTH
FORWARD BACK
AB
BC
DE
EA

V. Results

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 VI. Sketch/Layout

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