Level Traversing - Rise and Fall Method

4.1 Principle of Spirit Levelling

Spirit levelling is a procedure that enables the difference in height between
two or more points to be established, and as a consequence, if the Reduced
Level of one of the points is known, then the Reduced Level of all other
points can be calculated.
Level Traverse
A level traverse is the process by which height is transferred from one point
to another, using the following procedure:
• The staff is set up on a point of known height.
• The level instrument is set up and levelled away from the staff, usually no
more than 40m.
• A reading is taken to the staff. This is the initial Backsight.
• The staff is then moved to approximately the same distance from the
instrument as it was for the Backsight reading, in the direction that the
traverse is moving. The change plate is set into the ground at this point. This
point is known as a Change Point.

• A reading is taken to the staff. This reading is a foresight.

• The difference between the two readings will give the difference in height
between the two points. By adding this difference to the known Reduced
Level of the first point, the Reduced Level of the second point (the change
point) can be obtained.

• The instrument is moved to station 2 on the other side of the staff in the
direction of the traverse.

• Without changing the position of the change plate, the staff is rotated so
that it faces towards the instrument.
• The procedure of reading a Backsight, moving the staff and reading a
Foresight is then repeated, throughout the traverse, until the required point
is reached.

• Good survey practice requires the traverse to close back onto a

Benchmark, so that any error in the readings can be eliminated

This procedure is shown diagrammatically in Figure 4.1.

Remember, all levelling commences on a backsight and finishes on a

foresight.
There may also be a need to determine the height of points along a traverse
that do not fall at Change Points. At these points only one reading is taken to
the staff, before it is moved. These points are called Intermediate Points.
There can be as many Intermediate Points as are needed at any one position
for the instrument, but there can only be one Backsight and one Foresight for
any one instrument position.
Reduction of Levels
There are two methods used to convert the Backsight, Foresight and
Intermediate Sight readings into Reduced Levels:
• Rise and Fall Method
• Height of Collimation Method.
Rise and Fall Method
The following outline is the Rise and Fall method of calculating Reduced
Levels from the observations made during a level traverse.
 The Rise and Fall Method is best used for traverses, where there is a large
number of Backsights and Foresights.
There are 7 columns to the form and as many rows as are necessary for the
traverse.

Each row is used only for those observations made at a particular staff point,
regardless of where the instrument is.

The Backsights, Intermediate Sights and Foresights are booked into the
appropriate column in the order in which they were observed. Using the
readings from the following example

From the above information:

1. The initial Backsight (1.125) and Reduced Level (100.000) for the first staff
position are written on the first row.

2. The Intermediate Sight (3.260) for the next staff position is written on the
second row.

3. The Intermediate Sight (2.755) is written on the third row.

4. On the fourth row is written the foresight at the Change Point (1.765) as
well as the Backsight at the same point (1.660) in the following way.

The above extract of booking is largely self-explanatory. Note:

Each reading is booked on a separate line except for the backsight and
foresight at change points. The backsight is booked on the same line as the
foresight because it refers to the same point at which the STAFF is located.
As each line refers to a specific point where the staff is placed, it should be
noted in the comments column.
Reducing the Observations to obtain the difference in Heights
After the observations have been correctly booked in the table, as above,
the differences in height are calculated. These are calculated by subtracting
each reading from the reading before it. If the difference is positive it is
booked as a rise, if it is negative it is booked as a fall. The difference is
booked on the same line as the second reading.
In the above example initially 2A is subtracted from 1A. The difference is -
2.135 and because it is negative, it is therefore booked in the fall column on
the same line as 2A.
Next 3A is subtracted from 2A, with the difference of +0.505, and because it
is positive, it is booked in the rise column on the same line as 3A.
Similarly, 4A is subtracted from 3A and the difference being +0.990 is
booked in the Rise column, because it is positive, on the same line as 4A.
That concludes the observations made at instrument station A.
The procedure re-commences for the next instrument station, 2B from 1B,
3B from 2B, 4B from 3B and 5B from 4B, with the differences booked in the
same manner.
Similarly, the procedure re-commences for the next instrument station with
2C from 1C, 3C from 2C and 4C from 3C, with the differences booked in the
same manner
Determination of Heights
The next step is to determine the height of each point along the traverse.

Starting with the initial Reduced Level of 100.000m, indicated by (1), the first
difference in height is added to it ALGEBRAICALLY. This means that a rise is
added to the Reduced Level, while a fall is subtracted from the Reduced
Level.
From this (2) is added to (1), 100.000 + (- 2.135), to produce the height
(Reduced Level) of the next point, as indicated by (3).
The next Rise/Fall (4) is then added to this Reduced Level (3) to give the
height (Reduced Level) of the next point, as indicated by (5). Similarly, (6) is
added to (5) to give (7), (8) is added to (7) to give (9) and so on down the
Rises and Falls.

This would produce a final height (Reduced Level) of 96.035m.

This gives us a general formula of:

RLnew = RLold + Rise - Fall

This can be shown diagrammatically below.

Checks
There are three very important checks that must be applied to the above
reductions to ensure that there have not been any mathematical errors. It is
important to remember that these checks will NOT determine errors in
observations or the accuracy of the observations, but only errors in the
mathematics. These checks are:

Σ backsights - Σ foresights = Σ rises - Σ falls = last reduced level - first

reduced level

Intermediate Sights do NOT form part of these checks. The checks are shown
in the table below.
As can be seen from the table above, if the three numbers at the bottom are
the same, then the mathematics are correct.
Inverted Sights
It is sometimes necessary to obtain the Reduced Level of an overhead
object, such as the underside of a bridge. In all such exercises, it is the
Height of Collimation that is important. In the diagram below, the Bench
Mark has a height of 50.000m and the reading on the staff at the Bench Mark
is 2.240. Hence, the height of the Line of Collimation - that is, the Line of
Sight - is 50.000 + 2.240 = 52.240m

Once this Height of Collimation is obtained, the staff is inverted and a

reading taken. In this example, the reading is 4.270. This is added to the
Height of Collimation, 52.240 + 4.270 = 56.510m. This is the Reduced Level
of the underside of the girder.
Since the base of the staff is up on the underside of the girder, the reading
taken from the inverted staff is called an Inverted Reading. In order to fit this
reading into the normal Rise/Fall method of calculating heights, it is booked
as a negative value and treated in exactly the same way as a normal
reading. This is shown below.

From the method outlined above (1) - (2) = 2.240 - (-4.270) = 2.240 + 4.270
= 6.510 This value then represents a rise of 6.510m and is booked in the rise
column to give the height of the girder at 56.510m.

When an Inverted Staff Reading is in a traverse, it will appear as follows, and

is treated normally

Using the normal method:

(1) − (2) = 2.240 − (-4.270) = 2.240 + 4.270 = 6.510

Height of girder = 50.000 + 6.510 = 56.510 m
(2) − (3) = - 4.270 − 0.897 = -5.167
Height of Pt a = 56.510 − 5.167 = 51.343 m
(3) − (4) = 0.897 − 3.879 = -2.982
Height of BM2 = 51.343 -2.982 = 48.361 m

The normal checks are carried out. When an inverted staff reading is
recorded as a foresight or a backsight, it is added algebraically when
summing the backsights or the foresights.
Most times when an Inverted staff reading is taken in a traverse, it will be an
intermediate sight.

Level Traversing - Height of Collimation Method

Introduction

As mentioned in chapter 4, there are two methods used to convert the

Backsight, Foresight and Intermediate Sight readings into Reduced Levels:

• Rise and Fall Method

• Height of Collimation Method.

The Rise and Fall method has been outlined in chapter 4. In this chapter we
will examine the Height of Collimation Method.

The Height of Collimation Method is not particularly suited to Level

Traverses, but rather is suited where there is a large number of Intermediate
Sights such as the centre line and cross sections of a road.
Height of Collimation Method

The Height of Collimation Method works by calculating the height of the

instrument, and then subtracting each of the Intermediate Sights from that
height.

From Figure 5.1 for the first instrument station the line of sight is 1.125
metres above the bench mark, that is, RL of line of sight = 100.000 + 1.125
metres; therefore, the RL of instrument = 101.125 metres.
Then RL of intermediate points for this set up of the instrument will be the
height of the instrument less the staff reading.

The levels recorded are set out diagrammatically in Figure 5.1 The position
of the instrument is now changed and so the height of the instrument is
changed.

and so on to the end of line

Note: As with the Rise and Fall method, there are checks that can be applied
for the Height of Collimation method. Several versions of checking exist, and
the following is perhaps the most straightforward. • Treat BS and FS
observations as one entity, and IS observations as another. • Σ(BS) - Σ(FS)
should equal LAST RL - FIRST RL. • For each instrument station: The sum of
IS observations plus the sum of their corresponding RLs, divided by n (the
number of IS readings), should equal the collimation height.

Referring to the example above and applying this check:

This agrees with the height of

collimation, shown as 101.125 for the first instrument station. This is
repeated for each instrument station.

The complete check is a little tedious and it is doubtful if it is used at all in

low accuracy work. Important work is always reduced by the Rise and Fall
method.
The Height of Collimation method is often used where the number of
intermediate sights is large.
Comparison: Rise and Fall Method with Height of Collimation Method

The Rise and Fall method of reducing levels is primarily suited to traversing
over long distances, but it is also used for cross section levels, `as-
constructed' levels and many other applications. The three built-in self-
checks are its chief advantage over the Height of Collimation method, even
though the calculations take a little longer. It is used when there are a large
number of change points.
The Height of Collimation method is ideal for setting out heights on a
building site or for setting out batters for cross sections. It is suited for any
setting out of levels (heights). It is also suited for the recording of a large
number of spot heights in a small area for contour interpolation. The
arithmetic involved is less than that in the Rise and Fall method, but the
checking procedure is lengthier. It is used when there are a large number of
intermediate sights.