Chapter Three 3:Instruments Used In Construction Survey 2015 EC

CHAPTER THREE

3. Instruments Used in Construction Survey

Surveying is done with the help of various equipment that are used in various tasks related
to geometry, physics, trigonometry, engineering, metrology, programming, etc. And we
thought construction was an easy job. All these technical details compiled together are
given to the architect and engineers. It is these who further design the buildings or
landscape of the area. With every advancing year, the construction process is honed over by
the use and introduction of new and complex construction equipment. The same is the case
when it comes to land surveys. To maintain the accuracy of the results, the surveying
equipment that needs to be used should be the latest and best suited for the area. The latest
equipment aids in an accurate and faster delivery of results. It has become essential for the
construction industry.

 For construction purposes, there are different surveying instruments some of them are
Tape

 Level

 Staff rod
 Ranging pole

 Profile board,
 Theodolite

 Total station
 Prizm

 Compass

 Layout station
3.1. Measuring tape

A tape measure or measuring tape is a flexible ruler used to measure distance. It consists of a
ribbon of cloth, plastic, fiberglass, or metal strip with linear-measurement markings. It is a

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common measuring tool. Its design allows for a measure of great length to be easily carried
in a pocket or taken and permits one to measure around curves or corners. Tapes are used in
surveying for measuring Horizontal, vertical, or slope distances. Tapes are issued in
various lengths and widths and graduated in a variety of ways. The measuring tapes used for
surveying purposes are classified into five types according to the material from which they are
manufactured:

1. Linen or Cloth Tape. It is made of linen cloth with a brass handle at zero end whose
length is included in the tape length. It is very light and handy, but cannot withstand
much wear and tear. So, it cannot be used for accurate work. It is little used in surveying
except for taking subsidiary measurements like offsets.

2. Glass–fiber tape: These tapes are similar to linen and plastic-coated tapes but they are
made of glass fiber. The tapes are quite flexible, strong, and non-conductive.

3. Metallic Tape. The tape is reinforced with copper wires to prevent stretching or twisting of fibers
and is then called metallic tape. They are available in many lengths but tapes of 20 m and 30 m
are more commonly used.

4. Steel Tape: The steel tapes are the most commonly used in surveying. They are more
accurate than metallic tapes. The steel tapes are made of steel or stainless-steel strips.

5. Invar Tape. It is made of an alloy of steel (64%) and nickel (36%) which has a very
low coefficient of thermal expansion. It is 6 mm wide and is available in lengths of 30
m, 50 m, and 100 m. used for linear measurements of very high precision.

3.2. Taping accessories

Various accessory equipment is usually used with tapes. Some of the most common items will
be briefly described, and a few are depicted in the following figure. In addition to a tape,
the following small instruments and accessories are required for the determination of the
length of a line.

 Arrows (Chain pins): used to mark the position of the ends of the tape on the ground.

 Pegs: Wooden pegs are used to mark the position of the survey stations.

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 Chapter Three 3:Instruments Used In Construction Survey 2015 EC

 Ranging rods: The process of locating several points on a long survey line is called
ranging. Ranging rods are used to locate intermediate points such that these points lie
on the straight line joining the end stations.

 Plumb bobs: As a freely suspended plumb bob always points towards gravity, it
indicates the direction of a vertical line. In linear measurements, plumb bobs are used for
measuring distances on sloping ground.

3.3. Measuring wheel

Surveyors use measuring wheels for quicker and lower accuracy surveys of long distances by
rolling them from the start to the endpoint. Each revolution of the wheel measures a specific
distance, such as a yard or meter. Counting revolutions with a mechanical device attached
to the wheel measures the distance directly

3.4. Level (instrument)

A level is an optical instrument used to establish or verify points in the same horizontal plane in a
process known as leveling and is used in conjunction with a leveling staff to establish the relative
height levels of objects or marks. It is widely used in surveying and construction to measure height
differences and to transfer, measure, and set heights of known objects or marks.

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It operates on the principle of establishing a visual level relationship between two or more points,
for which an inbuilt telescope and a highly accurate bubble level are used to achieve the necessary
accuracy.

A typical procedure for a linear track of levels from a known datum is as follows.

1. Set up the instrument within 100 meters of a point of known or assumed

elevation.

2. A rod or staff is held vertical on that point

3. Use the instrument manually or automatically to read the rod scale. This gives
the height of the instrument above the starting (back sight) point and allows
the height of the instrument (H.I.) above the datum to be computed.

4. the rod is then held on an unknown point and a reading is taken in the same
manner, allowing the elevation of the new (foresight) point to be
computed. The procedure is repeated until the destination point is
reached.

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Leveling results are used for

1. design highways, railroads, canals, sewers, water supply systems, and other
facilities having grade lines that best conform to existing topography;

2. layout construction projects according to planned elevations;

3. calculate volumes of earthwork and other materials;

4. investigate drainage characteristics of an area;

5. Develop maps showing general ground configurations; and

6. Study earth subsidence and crustal motion.

Levels are categorized into three groups.

Dumpy levels

Tilting levels and

Automatic levels

i. Dumpy levels

In the dumpy level, the line of sight is perpendicular to the vertical axis. Once the instrument is
leveled the line of sight becomes horizontal and the vertical axis becomes truly vertical
provided the instrument is adjacent.

ii. Tilting levels

It has a telescope that can be tilted about a horizontal axis. This design enables the operator
to quickly and accurately center the bubble and brings the line of sight into a horizontal
plane. In tilting level, the line of sight is or should be parallel to the axis of the telescope. It
is only horizontal when the bubble of the spirit level is central.

iii. Automatic levels

One of the most significant improvements in leveling instrumentation has been automatic
level or self-leveling levels. It has an internal compensatory that automatically makes
horizontal the maintains the position through the application of the force of gravity. As
soon as the instrument is utilizing a circular bubble, the movable component of the

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compensatory swings free to an apposition that makes the line of sight horizontal. The
compensatory can operate within the range of 10 minutes of arc from the horizontal.

3.5. level staff

A level staff, also called a leveling rod, is a graduated wooden or aluminum rod, used with a
leveling instrument to determine the difference in height between points or heights of
points above a datum surface. It cannot be used without a leveling instrument. Leveling
rods can be one piece, but many are sectional and can be shortened for storage and
transport or lengthened for use.

Aluminum rods may be shortened by telescoping sections inside each other, while wooden
rod sections can be attached with sliding connections or slip joints, or hinged to fold when
not in use.

There are many types of rods, with names that identify the form of the graduations and
other characteristics. Markings can be in imperial or metric units. Some rods are graduated
on one side only while others are marked on both sides. If marked on both sides, the
markings can be identical or can have imperial units on one side and metric on the other.

3.6. Theodolite

A theodolite is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated

visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land
surveying, but they are also used extensively for building and infrastructure construction,
and some specialized applications such as meteorology and rocket launching. It consists of
an adjustable telescope mounted so it can rotate around horizontal and vertical axes and
provide angular readouts. These indicate the orientation of the telescope and are used to
relate the first point sighted through the telescope to subsequent sightings of other points
from the same theodolite position. These angles can be measured with great accuracy,
typically to milliradian or seconds of arc.

From these readings a plan can be drawn, or objects can be positioned by an existing plan. The
modern theodolite has evolved into what is known as a total station where angles and distances
are measured electronically, and are read directly to computer memory.

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3.6.1. Principles of operation

Temporary adjustments are a set of operations necessary to make a theodolite ready for

taking observations at a station. These include its setting up, centering, leveling up, and
elimination of parallax, and are achieved in four steps:

i. Setting up
fixing the theodolite onto a tripod along with approximate leveling and centering over the
station mark.

ii. Centering
bringing the vertical axis of theodolite immediately over the station mark using a centering
plate.

iii. Leveling
leveling of the base of the instrument to make the vertical axis vertical usually with an in-
built bubble level.

iv. Focusing
removing parallax errors by properly focusing on objective and eye-piece. The eye-piece
only requires adjustment once at a station. The objective will be re-focused for each
subsequent sighting from this station because of the different distances to the target.

v. Sightings
Sightings are taken by the surveyor, who adjusts the telescope's vertical and horizontal
angular orientation so the cross-hairs align with the desired sighting point. Both angles are
read either from exposed or internal scales and recorded. The next object is then sighted and
recorded without moving the position of the instrument and tripod.

Theodolite may be classified as

 Optical theodolite
 Digital theodolite

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3.7. Ranging road

A ranging rod is a surveying instrument used for marking the position of stations and for
sightings of those stations as well as for ranging straight lines. Initially, these were made of
light, thin, and straight bamboo or well-seasoned wood such as teak, pine, or deodar. They
were shod with iron at the bottom and surmounted with a flag about 25 cm square in size.
Nowadays they are made of metallic materials only.

The rods are usually 3 cm in diameter and 2 m or 3 m long, painted alternatively either red
and white or black and white in lengths of 20 cm (i.e. one link length of metric chain). These
colors are used so that the rod can be properly sighted in case of long-distance or bad weather.
Ranging rods of greater length, i.e., 4 m to 6 m, are called ranging poles and are used in the
case of very long survey lines.

3.8. Total station

A total station is an electronic instrument used for surveying and building construction. It is
an electronic transit theodolite integrated with electronic distance measurement (EDM) to
measure both vertical and horizontal angles and the slope distance from the instrument to a
particular point, and an onboard computer to collect data and perform triangulation
calculations.

3.8.1. The function of the total station

 Angle measurement
Most total station instruments measure angles utilizing electro-optical scanning of extremely
precise digital bar codes etched on rotating glass cylinders or discs within the instrument.
The best quality total stations are capable of measuring angles to 0.5 arc-second. Inexpensive
"construction grade" total stations can generally measure angles to 5 or 10 arc-seconds.

 Distance measurement
Distance measurement is accomplished with a modulated infrared carrier signal, generated by
a small solid-state emitter within the instrument's optical path, and reflected by a prism
reflector or the object under survey. The modulation pattern in the returning signal is read
and interpreted by the computer in the total station. The distance is determined by emitting
and receiving multiple frequencies and determining the integer number of wavelengths to

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the target for each frequency. Most total stations use purpose-built glass prism (surveying)
reflectors for the EDM signal. A typical total station can measure distances with an accuracy
of about 1.5 millimeters.

 Coordinate measurement
The coordinates of an unknown point relative to a known coordinate can be determined
using the total station as long as a direct line of sight can be established between the two
points. Angles and distances are measured from the total station to points under survey,
and the coordinates (X, Y, and Z or easting, northing, and elevation) of surveyed points
relative to the total station position are calculated using trigonometry and triangulation. To
determine an absolute location a Total Station requires line-of-sight observations and can be
set up over a known point.

For this reason, some total stations also have a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver and
do not require a direct line of sight to determine coordinates. However, GNSS measurements
may require longer occupation periods and offer relatively poor accuracy on the vertical
axis.

 Data processing
Some models include internal electronic data storage to record distance, horizontal angle,
and vertical angle measured, while other models are equipped to write these measurements
to an external data collector, such as a hand-held computer. When data is downloaded from a
total station onto a computer, application software can be used to compute results and
generate a map of the surveyed area. The newest generation of total stations can also show
the map on the touch-screen of the instrument immediately after measuring the points.

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 Robotic Total Stations

A Robotic Total Station is an electronic device that reads the slope distances from the
device to a certain point. It can be controlled with the help of a remote control. There is no
need for an assistant as the operator can control the instrument from a distance. Like many
of the other surveying equipment, this one promises the accuracy of data. A Robotic Total
Station is used mainly during the planning and construction of roads and bridges.

3.8.2. Benefits Total Stations

 Can be operated by a single person
 It can be operated for long hours
 It suffers no harm from temperature and weather

 Accuracy of data

 Faster in comparison to TST (Total Station Theodolite)

 Prism
In surveying, a prism is a corner cube or retroreflector, normally attached to a surveying pole,
used as a target for distance measurement using, a total station.

 Tripod
A surveyor's tripod is a device used to support any one of several surveying instruments,

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such as theodolites, total stations, levels, or transits

 Compass
A surveyor uses a compass to determine the direction of a line. The compass needle points
to the MAGNETIC NORTH POLE and by turning the compass in the direction of the line
being surveyed, the direction of the line can be observed. Although there are many varieties
of compasses, they all fall into two main categories: either a "plain" compass or a "Vernier"
compass. A plain compass has no adjustment and always reads magnetic north. A Vernier
compass has an adjustable scale that allows for the "setting off" of the magnetic declination
and the compass can then directly read true north.

 Profile board
 Is similar to sights but used to define the corner of the building.
 It is used to hold layout lines (construction twine) to indicate the limits
(edges and corners) of the foundation.

 It isalso used to establish foundation width, by the ground worker and

Bricklayers when they come to start laying the masonry.

 Boning road (traveler)

Is a T-shaped rod made in sets of three, any may consist of three T-shaped rods, each of equal
size and shape, or two rods identical to each other and the third one consists of a longer rod
with a movable road placed at a right angle to the longer road.

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 Sight rail
 Consists of horizontal cross-piece nailed to single or pair uprights driven
into the ground.

 The upper edge of the cross-piece is set to a convenient height above the
required plane of structure to enable man to conveniently align his eyes with
the upper edge.

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 Slope rail
 These are used for controlling the side slopes in embankments and in cuttings.

 These consist of two vertical poles with a sloping board nailed near their top.

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