CIE-362 Surveying Lab

Lebanese American University Instructor Rabih Dagher, M.S.

Handout 3: Level – Horizontal Distances and Angles

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2. Setting up the Level

 Unbuckle the band around the tripod legs and loosen the extension clamp screws
 With the tripod closed, extend its legs until the tripod head is roughly at eye level, and
re-tighten the clamp screws
 Spread the legs of the tripod so that the leg tips form a triangle on the ground
 Make sure that the tripod head is approximately level
 Use the plumb bob to setup the tripod exactly above the surveying point
 Fix the tripod shoes firmly in the ground
 Hold the level on the tripod head and tighten the centering screw
 Calibrate the level on the tripod using the motion screws until the bubble becomes
centered in the center circle

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 3. Stadia or Level Rod

A stadia must be held plumb on the correct point to obtain an accurate reading using the level. The
duties of a stadia person are relatively simple, however a careless stadia person can nullify the
efforts of the survey by failing to follow a few basic rules.

Waving the stadia is one procedure used to ensure that the stadia is plumb when a reading is taken.
The process consists of slightly tilting the top of the stadia towards the level, and then tilting it
slightly away. The observer watches the readings increase and decrease, and then selects the
minimum value, which is considered as the correct reading.

Procedure

 Locate four points on a horizontal ground using chalk to form a closed traverse
 Name the four points of the traverse as ABCD
 Using the tape, find the distances AB, BC, CD, DA, AC, and DB. Distances are
measured by two trials (forward and backward). Fix the tip of the tape on the first point
and stretch it out until the second point, and record the reading. Keep the tape horizontal
and straight to obtain exact readings.
 Mount the level on a tripod at a point using a plumb bob and calibrate the equipment as
explained above. Setup the stadia on the remaining points.
 Using the level and stadia, find the distances, AB, BC, CD, DA, AC, and DB by
subtracting the first stadia reading from the second one. Distances are measured by two
trials (forward and backward).
 Also, find the measures of all interior angles of the traverse by sighting a point of the
angle, setting the horizontal circle to 0° using the horizontal circle positioning ring,
turning the level to sight the second point of the angle, and recording the angle
measurement.
Note: The value zero is reset at the left most point because the level measures angles clockwise.

Remark: set up the tripod and level at the first point, find all distances from that point to all the
remaining points, find the measure of interior angles at that point, and then move on to the next
point, repeating the same procedure.
Distance = (s1 – s2) x 10
Note: data collected must be presented as field notes

Calculations
1. Calculate all the distances by averaging the values of the forward and backward readings
for each of the two methods separately.
2. Assume the values of the level method to be the theoretical values, and that of the tape
method to be the experimental ones, calculate the percent error for each distance.

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 3. Calculate the perimeter of your traverse for both methods.
4. Determine the area of your traverse (level method) using three methods:

Divide your traverse into two triangles ABC and ADC, calculate the area of each, and add them
up to find the area of the traverse.
Method 1

Let a, b, and c be the lengths of the side of a triangle,

A = √𝑠 (𝑠 − 𝑎)(𝑠 − 𝑏)(𝑠 − 𝑐)
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Where s = (𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐)
2

Method 2
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A = 2 𝑥 𝑎 𝑥 𝑏 𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝐴

Method 3
Using AutoCAD

5. Assume the area obtained by AutoCAD to be the theoretical one, calculate the percent
error of the area for each of method 1 and method 2
6. Tabulate all your work under “Results”

Discussion
1. Choose the best method to measure horizontal distances and explain your choice.
2. Interpret the results of your experiment.
3. For each method used, discuss the different sources of error that might be encountered
during the field work.