FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

BENHA UNIVERSITY
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

GPS
APPLICATION
IN CIVIL
ENGINEERING
AUTHOR NAME
HAMDY MOHAMMED HAMDY
PROPOSED TO

DR : ESSAM GHANEM
1
 INDEX
TITLE PAGE

INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 2

GPS GENERATION....................................................... 7

GPS DEVELOPMENT… ................................................ 9

GPS WORK METHOD ............................................... 13

GPS APPLICATIONS… ............................................... 17

REFERENCES…...........................................................25

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INTRODUCTION:

Geodesy is the science of precisely measuring and

mapping the Earth’s surface and locations of objects on it, the
figure of the Earth and her gravity field, and changes in all these
over time. Geodesy is an old science, going back to the days
when land was taken into agricultural use and needed to be
mapped. It is also a modern science, serving vital infrastructure
needs of our developing global technological society.

This text aims to describe the foundations of both

traditional geodesy, mapping the Earth within the constraints of
the human living space, and modern geodesy, exploiting space
technology for mapping and monitoring our planet as a whole,
in a unified three dimensional fashion. The approach is
throughout at conveying an understanding of the concepts, of
both the science and mathematics of measuring and mapping
the Earth and the technologies used for doing so. The history of
the science is not neglected, and the perspective of the
presentation is unapologetically Finnish.

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 The SURVEY has appeared since man built the first
buildings, and pre-Christian surveyors planned the Stonehenge
monument (2500 BC) using peg-and-rope engineering.
In the year 1551 AD, the scientist Abel Folon invented the so-
called Plane table, which contributed greatly to the development
of space, but it is believed that this invention is nothing but a
development on an invention that previously existed.
In 1620 AD, the Gunter series was introduced by the English
mathematician Edmund Gunter, and this series enabled the
accurate surveying of plots of land as well as drawing them for
legal and commercial purposes. Leonard Digges described the
theodolite, which measures horizontal angles, in his book (A
geometric practice named Pantometria) in 1571 AD.

In the eighteenth century, newer surveying techniques

and tools began to be used. In 1787, Jesse Ramsden presented
the first accurate Theodolite. At that time, the theodolite was
used to measure angles in the horizontal and vertical levels.
Ramsden also invented the so-called Great Theodolite, in which
he placed an engine of his own design.
As the end of the eighteenth century approached, networks of
points were established for most countries using triangulation.
In 1784 AD, a team of surveyors led by General William Roy in

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 In the twentieth century Surveyors developed ancient
chains and ropes at the beginning of the 20th century, but were
still faced with the problem of accurately measuring long
distances. In the 1950s, Dr. Trevor Lloyd Wadley invented the
telemeter, a device that measures long distances using a
microwave transmitter and two receivers. In the late fifties, the
Electronic Distance Mesaurment device was invented, which uses
light wave frequencies to measure distances [8]. These tools
provided a period of measurement that was days and even
weeks by measuring the distance between points that are
kilometers away from each other in a round just one.

The great progress that took place in the field of

electronics led to the production of smaller units than the
electronic distance measuring device EDM, and in the seventies
appeared the first tools that combine the angle and the
measured distance and became known as the so-called total
station devices, and manufacturers gradually developed these
devices This led to improvements in their measurement accuracy
and speed, and these developments include loggers of measured
data and distance and angle calculation programs on aircraft.

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 The use of large equipment and scattered satellites had
many drawbacks, including that they were stressful and
inaccurate. In 1978, the US Air Force launched the first model
satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS uses a
larger constellation of satellites and improved transmission
signals to give greater accuracy.

Obtaining accurate information using GPS (Global

Positioning System) required many hours of observation by a
fixed receiver. Several improvements were made to both
satellites and receivers, and a new scanning method known as
Real Time Kinematic Scanning (RTK) allowed obtaining high-
precision measurements using a fixed base station and a second
mobile antenna whose location can be tracked in less time.

Theodolite, Total Station, and RTK (Global Positioning

System) continued to be used, as well as continued development
and modernization.
Satellite imagery continued to improve and become cheaper,
allowing it to be used more and on larger scales. Notable new
technologies in this century included 3D scanning and the use of
lidar for topographical surveys. Drone technology has also
emerged along with photogrammetric image processing.

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7
GPS GENERATION:

Civil engineering works are often done in a complex

and unfriendly environment, making it difficult for personnel to
operate efficiently. Being able to provide a high accuracy
positioning in a cost effective manner, GPS has found its way
into the civil engineering industry, replacing the conventional
methods in most of the cases. With GPS, machineries are being
automatically guided and controlled. This is especially useful in
hazardous areas, where human lives are being endangered. For
those situations where the GPS signal is obstructed, such as in
open pit mines, GPS has been successfully integrated with
conventional equipment. A number of integrated systems have
been successfully developed, including GPS/Total Stations,
GPS/Lasers, and GPS/Inertial Navigation Systems (INS). INS is a
relatively environment independent system consisting mainly of
accelerometers and gyroscopes, which can be used for
autonomous positioning and attitude determination. This article
shows how GPS can be used in the various civil engineering
applications.

GPS (Global Positioning System)A satellite navigation

system that provides all-weather location and time information
at any location on or near the Earth where there is an
unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. The
system provides critical capabilities to military, civilian, and
commercial users around the world. The system was created and
maintained by the United States government and made free to
access by anyone with a GPS receiver.
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 The US government began the GPS project in 1973 to
overcome the limitations of the earlier navigation system,
incorporating earlier ideas including secret engineering studies
from the 1960s. The US Department of Defense developed the
system, which originally used 24 satellites. The system became
fully operational in 1995. Advances in technology and new
demands on the existing system led to the modernization of the
GPS system and the implementation of the next generation, the
GPS III.

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GPS DEVELOPMENT:

The GPS design is based in part on similar ground-based

radio navigation systems such as LORAN and the Decca
Navigation system, which was invented in the early 1940s and
used in World War II. In 1956 Friedvardt Winterbuck proposed a
test of the general theory of relativity using accurate atomic
clocks to be put into orbit by implanting them on satellites. For
accuracy purposes, GPS technology uses the principles of general
relativity to correct and adjust the atomic clocks of satellites.
Further GPS inspiration came when the Soviet Union launched its
first handmade satellite: Sputnik in 1957.

A team of American scientists led by Dr. Richard B.

Kirchner monitored the radio waves that Sputnik was sending,
and they discovered that the frequency of the signal sent from it
- and because of the Doppler effect - was rising as the satellite
approached them, and decreasing as it moved away from them.
When they knew their exact position on the globe, they realized
that they could determine the satellite's position in its orbit by
measuring the Doppler distortion. The first satellite navigation
system "Transit" - used by the United States Navy - was
successfully tested for the first time in 1960.

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0
 At that time, it used a group of five satellites and was
able to give a position report approximately once every hour. In
1967, the US Navy created the "Time Satellite", which proved its
ability to set accurate clocks in space. It is one of the
technologies on which GPS relies. In the seventies, the "Omega
Navigation System" - a terrestrial system based on the idea of
comparing the phases of signals transmitted between pairs of
stations - became the first global radio navigation system, but
despite that; The limits that these systems could not cross
showed the need for a new, more accurate solution to cosmic
navigation. While there were severe needs for accurate
navigation in the military and civilian sectors; None of them is
sufficient justification for spending billions of dollars on research,
development, launch, and operation of a complex array of
navigation satellites. But it happened that the need to justify all
this in the eyes of the US Congress came during the arms race in
the Cold War period, and because of the nuclear threat to the
existence of the United States itself, For this deterrent reason
alone, GPS was funded. The "nuclear triad" consisted of the US
Navy's "Submarine Ballistic Missiles" and the US Air Force's
"Strategic Bombers", as well as the "ICBMs".

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 Considered vital to a nuclear deterrent; Accurate
positioning of the SLBM launch was a force multiplier; Where
accurate navigation was from It would enable US submarines to
pinpoint their exact positions before firing their SLBMs. The US
Air Force alone possessed two-thirds (2/3) of the nuclear trinity;
Hence, it needed a more reliable and accurate navigation
system. The US Navy and US Air Force worked together to
develop their own technologies in parallel to solve their common
core problem. For reasons of increasing the survivability of
ICBMs; There was a proposal to use mobile launchers, and thus
there was a similarity between this position and the position of
the SLBMs. In 1960 the Air Force submitted a proposal for a radio
navigation system called "MOSAIC" (Mobile System for Precision
Control of ICBM), which was basically "LORAN" Three-
dimensional.

Later, in 1963, a study called "Project 57" was prepared,

and this was the study in which the concept of GPS was born. In
the same year work on this concept was pursued as "Project
621B", which had many of the advantages you see in GPS today
and promised greater accuracy for Air Force bombers and ICBMs.
The updates coming from the Navy's transit system were too
slow for the speeds handled by the Air Force.

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 The Naval Research Laboratory continued its
achievements by producing its own timing satellites that were
launched for the first time in 1967, and the third type that
carried the first atomic clock that was put into orbit in 1974.
With these simultaneous developments in the 1960s it was
realized that superior systems could be achieved by blending the
best technologies from 621b, transit, time satellite and SECOR
into a multi-service program. On Labor Day 1973, during a
meeting of twelve military officers at the Pentagon Later in the
same year, DNSS was renamed by another name It is Navstar.
And since the name Navstar is associated with individual
satellites (such as the previous "transit satellite" and "time
satellite"); A more comprehensive name was used to refer to the
group of Navstar satellites.. This more complete name is
"Navstar-GPS", which was then shortened to "GPS". After the
flight "No. 007" of Korean Air was shot down in 1983, when it
lost its way, penetrating the area forbidden to aircraft from the
airspace of the Soviet Union; US President "Ronald Reagan"
issued an order to make GPS available and free for civilian use,
especially as it was developed to be of public interest. The first
satellite was launched in 1989, and the twenty-fourth and last
satellite was launched in 1994.

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GPS WORK METHOD :
• The GPS receiver calculates its position by calculating the
timing of the signals that are sent from the GPS satellites located
at altitudes of about 36,000 km above the Earth's surface. Each
moon sends successive messages that include the next.
• The time the message was sent.
• Precise ephemeris orbital information.
• The general safety of the system and the upper orbits of all
GPS satellites almanac.

The receiver uses the messages it receives to determine

when each message goes from the satellite to the receiver on the
ground. It calculates the distances between it and each satellite.
These distances are used, together with the positions of the
satellites, and with the use of trigonometry to calculate the
location of the transmitter: the receiver. The location is shown
on the receiver - perhaps with a moving map, or longitude and
latitude are indicated, and altitude information can be included.
GPS units show many information, derived information such as:
direction, speed - calculated through changes in position.

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 In theory, three satellites might seem sufficient to locate
any location on Earth, because space is three-dimensional. But
any error, even a very simple one, occurs in estimating time
distances, when the three times are multiplied by the great
speed of light - which is the speed at which the electromagnetic
signals of satellites propagate - causes a major error in
determining the location. This is why receivers use four or more
satellites to pinpoint the exact location of the receiver.

The very precisely calculated time is hidden by GPS

applications - which only determine the location. However, there
are some specialized GPS applications that are used to set the
time accurately, such as: "time shifting", adjusting the timing of
traffic lights, and synchronizing mobile phone base stations.

Despite the need for four satellites to do the work normally; A

smaller number can be used in special cases - if a variable is
already known, the receiver can determine its location using only
three satellites (eg a ship or plane may have determined its
altitude above sea level). Some GPS receivers use additional clues
or assumptions (eg reuse of last obtained altitude, in ordeto give
an inaccurate calculation of position when it is The number of
visible satellites is less than four.

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 In order for the GPS device to work accurately, a number
of variables must be available such as the number of available
satellites, the ionosphere, and the environment. GPS works more
accurately in open areas that do not contain many tall buildings,
why? Because many places are like an urban canyon (a place
surrounded by buildings on both sides like a canyon) and when
the GPS device is surrounded by large buildings, the satellite
signal is blocked at first and then bounces off a building until the
device finally reads it and this can It leads to wrong calculations
of the satellite distance. Therefore, there are some factors that
can prevent the GPS system from working accurately, as follows:
1. Physical Obstacles: A signal can be deflected or
delayed due to physical obstructions or masses
that stand in its way such as mountains, buildings,
and trees.
2. Atmospheric Effects: Delays of the ionosphere and
regular or solar storms can affect GPS devices.
3. Ephemeris: The orbital model within the satellite
may be incorrect or outdated.
4. Numerical miscalculations: This happens when the
operating system or even the hardware is not up to
specifications.
5. Artificial interference: includes GPS jammers.

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 The positioning system consists of 24 satellites orbiting
the Earth at an altitude of 20,200 km. A satellite broadcasts a
signal bearing its location, i.e. the location of the satellite, as
well as the time or moment of broadcasting the signal with high
accuracy, referring to a very accurate atomic clock. The receiver
receives the signals coming from the satellite, and by comparing
the timing of the signal’s arrival and the timing of its
transmission, the device can know the transmission time of the
signal and thus calculate the distance between the satellite and
the receiver, and by receiving three signals from three different
satellites, the point of their intersection determines the location
of the receiver. By increasing the number of observed satellites,
the receiver can correct some errors associated with the
calculation method, and thus increase its accuracy.

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GPS APPLICATIONS:

GPS for Construction Industry:

The ability of GPS to provide real-time sub-metre and
centimetre level accuracy has significantly changed the
construction industry. Construction firms are using GPS in many
applications such as road construction and earth moving, fleet
management and other civil engineering applications .

In road construction and earth moving, GPS, combined

with wireless communication and computer systems, is installed
on board the earth-moving machine. Designed surface
information, in a digital format, is uploaded into the system.

With the help of the computer display and the real-time

GPS position information, the operator can view whether the
correct grade has been reached. In situations when millimetre-
evel elevation is needed, GPS can be integrated with rotated
beam lasers.

The same technology (combined GPS, wireless

communications and computers) is also used for foundation
works (pile positioning) and precise structural placement
(prefabricated bridge sections and coastal structures). In these
applications, the operators will be guided through an on-board
computerdisplay, eliminating the need for the old conventional
methods.

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 GPS is also used to track the location and usage of the
equipment at different sites. By sending this information to a
central location, the contractors would be able to deploy their
equipment more efficiently.

Moreover, vehicle operators can be guided to their

destinations. In fact, some products are on the market today to
specifically serve the asset tracking needs of fleet management
operators, for example the Magellan Asset VisionTM system .
Asset Vision is a mobile communication and tracking unit
featuring GPS and cellular technology in a black box that offers a
complete solution with its own data and unit management
software. It can track and monitor engine diagnostics, front and
rear attachment hours, equipment location, and several other
user defined parameters.

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GPS for Mining and Tunnelling Surveys :

Until recently, conventional surveying was the only

method available for staking drill patterns and other mining
surveying. As a result of the harsh mining environment,
however, stakes were often buried or displaced. In addition, drill
operators had no precise way of determining the actual bit
depth. Likewise, there was no way of monitoring the drill
performance in the various geological layers or monitoring the
haul trucks in an efficient way. More recently, however, the
development of the modern positioning systems and techniques,
particularly the real-time kinematic GPS, has dramatically
improved the various mining operations. In open-pit mines, for
example, the use of real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS has
significantly improved several mining operations such as drilling,
shoveling, vehicle tracking and surveying. RTK
GPS provides centimeter-level positioning accuracy, and requires
only one base receiver to support any number of rovers. As the
pit deepens, however, part of the GPS signal may be blocked by
the steep walls of the mine causing a positioning problem. This
problem, however, has been successfully overcome by
integrating GPS with other positioning systems, mainly the
pseudolite system.

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 The mining cycle includes several phases, with the
ore excavation being one of the most important phases.
Excavating the ore is made by drilling a pre-defined pattern of
blast holes, which are then loaded with explosive charges. The
pattern of blast holes is designed in such a way that it optimizes
the size of the rock fragmentation. As such, it is important that
the drills be precisely positioned over the blast holes, or
otherwise re-drilling may be required. An efficient way of
guiding the drills is through integrating GPS with dril navigation
and a monitoring system consisting of an on-board computer
and drilling software. Some systems utilize two GPS receivers,
mounted on the top of the drill mast, for precise real-time
position and orientation of the drill. The designed drill pattern is
sent to the onboard computer via radio link, which is then used
by the integrated system to guide the drill operator to precisely
position the drill over blast holes. This is done automatically
without staking out. In addition, the on-board computer displays
other information such as the location and depth of each drill
hole. This is very important for the operator to view whether or
not the target depth has been reached. As well, the system
accumulates information on the rock hardness and the drill
productivity, which can be sent to the engineering office in near
real-time via radio link. Such information can be used not only in
monitoring the drill productivity from the engineering office, but
also in understanding the rock properties, which could be used
for better future planning.

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 GPS is also used for centimeter-level accuracy guidance of
shoveling operations . Shovels are used in loading the ore into
the haul trucks, which then transport it and unload it in
stockpiles. With an integrated GPS and shovel guidance and
monitoring system, elevation control can be automated. With
the help of the system display, shovel operators will be able to
keep the correct grade. This is done automatically without the
need for grade control by conventional surveying methods.
Similar to the drilling, shoveling productivity can be sent to the
engineering office in near real-time via radio link for monitoring
and analysis.
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 In transporting the ore, haul trucks use continuously
changing mining roads and ramps. Unless efficiently routed,
safety and traffic problems would be expected, which causes an
increase in the truck cycle time. The use of GPS, wireless
communication and a computer system on-board the haul trucks
solve this problem efficiently. With the help of a computerized
dispatch system, haul trucks can be guided to their destination
using the best routes. In addition, the dispatch center can collect
information on the status of each haul truck as well as the traffic
conditions. Analyzing the traffic conditions is particularly
important in making more appropriate road design.

GPS is also used in other phases of the mining cycle, for

example, checking the coordinates of the individual points and in
volume surveying. Either the real-time or the non real-time
kinematic GPS could be used for these functions.

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GPS for Monitoring Structural and Ground Deformations:

Monitoring of structural deformations requires the highest

possible accuracy of measurements. Here, one should distinguish
between the slow motion deformations such as dam
deformations, and cyclic structural deformations produced by
effects of fast changing loads, such as bridge vibrations due to
changeable traffic loads or TV towers vibrations due to wind
gusts. GPS has found many applications in both cases. Here,
however, one should give a word of warning to those who
overemphasize the use of GPS as a stand-alone tool. Generally,
structural deformations, for instance deformation of concrete
dams, require millimetre and, sometimes, even sub-millimetre
accuracy of displacement monitoring. This is still not achievable
with GPS in an economical way. Besides, GPS requires good
visibility to the satellites and is susceptible to errors arising from
the signals reflected from the structural surfaces (so-called
multipath effect). Nevertheless, when combined with other high
precision monitoring techniques, GPS becomes a valuable tool in
implementing
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 for example, the recently developed (University of New
Brunswick) concept of integrated monitoring schemes. Accordingto
the concept, the structural monitoring scheme is divided into three
components: (l) local structural monitoring using
geotechnical/structural instrumentation (e.g. extensometers,
plumb-lines, strainmeters); (2) global structural monitoring using
terrestrial geodetic techniques (e.g. electronic total stations and
digital levels) for connecting together the structural
instrumentation and (3) area monitoring network in which GPS ties
together the main points of the global monitoring network and
connects them to control points in the stable ground. The concept
of the integrated monitoring has recently been implemented at the
Eastside reservoir project of the Metropolitan Water District of
South California. Three large earthen dams (up to 3.2 km long and
80 m high) are monitored using a number of geotechnical
instruments as a local monitoring scheme, several robotic total
stations with automatic target recognition creating the global
monitoring network, and several continuously working GPS
receivers connected to the South California GPS reference system
creating the area monitoring network. The picture shows one of
the GPS receivers that is used to monitor the integrity of Pacoima
dam.

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Another application of the high accuracy static GPS surveys is in
ground deformation measurements in mining areas. In these
applications, GPS is usually combined with terrestrial geodetic
surveys providing a connection between the local terrestrial
monitoring network and control points established outside the
area affected by mining. A research group from the(Courtesy of
Magellan Corporation) University of New Brunswick introduced
a pioneering use of GPS in ground subsidence studies in oil fields
in Venezuela already in 1986. Since then, GPS has become a
routine tool in ground deformation measurements. A typical
example is monitoring of ground subsidence in potash mines in
New Brunswick where GPS has routinely been used since 1991.

GPS may be also applied for the monitoring of cyclic

structural deformations. Under this category are, for example,
bridges and TV towers. Cyclic deformations, in the case of bridge
vibration, are provoked by vehicle loading. Winds and variations
in temperature are also a source in deformation with seasonal
and periodic signature. The amount of deformation may vary
with the types of materials used in the construction of the bridge
and with its length but it may reach tens of centimetres for a I
km-long suspended bridge, in its centre. In the case of TV towers
the major source is wind gusts. Bridges and towers may be seen
as kinematic deforming bodies. Generally, when monitoring
structural vibrations, GPS receivers should be located at several
points along the monitored structure, particularly at the
locations where maximum amplitude of cyclic deformation is
expected.

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 For example, in monitoring the world's longest suspension
bridge (Akashi bridge, Japan), a GPS receiver is installed at the
mid-point of the bridge while two others are installed at the
main towers. Figure 4 shows another example in which the
Ashtech Z12TM dualfrequency receiver is used for monitoring the
bridge deformation. As GPS data collection rate is currently
limited to 10 Hz, an INS system may supplement the GPS system,
in some cases, to monitor the high frequency portion of the
structure vibration.

REFERENCES:

https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85_ 
%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B6%D8%B9_%
D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A
https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/arabic.php 
https://arabhardware.net/articles/%D9%85%D8%A7- 
%D9%87%D9%88-%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%89-%D8%A8%D9%89-
%D8%A7%D8%B3-gps-%D8%9F

Ahmed El-Rabbany—Ryerson Polytechnic University 

Adam Chrzanowski and Marcel Santos—University of New
Brunswick
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