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CE-226 SURVEYING – I

Prof. DR. KHAN SHAHZADA

Department of Civil Engineering UET Peshawar

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 COMPASS SURVEYING

INTRODUCTION
• Compass surveying is one of the method of surveying in which a magnetic compass is
employed to determine the directions of survey lines.

• In chain surveying, the area to be surveyed is divided into a number of triangles. The
method is suitable for fairly level ground covering small areas but when the area is
large, undulating and crowded with many details, triangulation (which is principle of
chain surveying) is not possible. In such area, the method of Traversing is adopted.

A Traversing is a circuit of survey lines. It may be open or closed. When the linear measurements are done with a
chain and a tape and the directions or horizontal angles are measured with a compass or a theodolite respectively
the survey is called traversing.

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 INSTRUMENTS USED

Instruments used for compass surveying are:

i. Prismatic Compass
ii. Tape
iii. Ranging rods
iv. Tripod
v. Arrows

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 COMPASS SURVEYING
Principle of COMPASS SURVEYING: Traversing
Traverse:
A framework of connected lines whose lengths and directions are known.
• In traversing, the framework consist of a number of connected lines. The
lengths are measured by tape or chain and the directions are identified by
angle measuring instruments.

In one of the methods, the angle measuring instrument used is COMPASS.

Hence the process is known as compass traversing.

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 COMPASS SURVEYING Contd..
Compass Surveying is recommended when;
• Area to be surveyed is very large
• The course of a river or coast line is to be surveyed
• The area is crowded with many details and triangulation is not possible.

Compass surveying is not recommended for the areas where local attraction is
suspected due to presence of magnetic substances like steel structures, iron ore
deposit's, electric cable conveying current and so on.

https://youtu.be/x9ZPMxrlS3U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieW7Hzrr8pw

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 TYPES OF TRAVERSING

1. OPEN TRAVERSE
Example is road, river.

2. CLOSED TRAVERSE

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 METHOD OF TRAVERSING
Traverse Survey may be conducted by following methods:

1. Chain Traversing
2. Compass Traversing
3. Theodolite Traversing
4. Plane Table Traversing

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 MAGNETIC COMPASS

DEFINITION
A device that is used to find direction by means of needle that always
points Towards North is known as Magnetic Compass.

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 TYPES OF MAGNETIC COMPASS
Several types of magnetic compass are used;
1. Prismatic Compass
Measures the bearing of a line in WCB (Whole Circle Bearing System).
2. Surveyor’s Compass
Measures the bearing of a line in reduced system.
3. Trough Compass
Used to show the magnetic North. Trough compass is used in plane
table survey.
4. Tubular Compass
Used to show the magnetic North. Tubular compass is used in
theodolite traversing.

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 TYPES OF MAGNETIC COMPASS Cont…
Prismatic Compass

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 TYPES OF MAGNETIC COMPASS
Surveyor’s Compass

Surveying compass is designed to measure

the quadrantal bearing.

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 TYPES OF MAGNETIC COMPASS
Trough Compass

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TYPES OF MAGNETIC COMPASS Cont…

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 Meridian

Meridian is a line Joining North Pole and South

Pole.
There are two types of Meridian
1. True Meridian
The plane that passes through true North Poles and
True South Poles at the time of Observation is called
True Meridian or Geographical Meridian.

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 Meridian

2. Magnetic Meridian
The direction indicated by a magnetic compass is
called as magnetic meridian.
The angle which a line makes with the magnetic
meridian is called a magnetic bearing of the line or
simply bearing of a line.

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 MERIDIAN
A meridian is the half of an imaginary great circle on the Earth's surface, terminated by the
North Pole and the South Pole, connecting points of equal longitude. The position of a point
along the meridian is given by its latitude indicating how many degrees north or south of
the Equator the point is:

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"‫"آسمانی‬
 MERIDIAN

Longitude: the angular distance of a place east or west of the Greenwich

meridian, or west of the standard meridian of a celestial object, usually
expressed in degrees and minutes.

Latitude: the angular distance of a place north or south of the earth's

equator, or of the equator of a celestial object, usually expressed in degrees
and minutes.

Greenwich meridian, also called prime meridian, an imaginary line, last established in
1851, that was used to indicate 0° longitude. It passes through Greenwich, an area
of London, and terminates at the North and South poles. Because it indicated 0° longitude, it
was also known as the prime meridian. It served as the internationally recognized prime
meridian from 1884 to 1984, when it was superseded by the International Reference
Meridian (IRM), which differs from it only slightly.

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 TYPES OF MERIDIANS
1. True Meridian 2. Magnetic Meridian 3. Arbitrary Meridian

1. True Meridian: The line or plane passing through the geographical North Pole,
geographical South pole and any point on the surface of the earth, is known as true
meridian or geographical meridian.
The angle between the true meridian and a line is known as "True Bearing” of the
line. It is also known as “Azimuth”.

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 TYPES OF MERIDIANS
2. Magnetic Meridian
The direction indicated by a magnetic needle when suspended freely and balanced
properly, unaffected by magnetic substances. The direction is known as “Magnetic
Meridian”.
The angle between magnetic meridian and a line is known as “Magnetic Bearing”.

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 TYPES OF MERIDIANS
3. Arbitrary Meridian: For the survey of small area, a convenient direction is
assumed as the “Arbitrary Meridian”.
The angle between the arbitrary meridian and a line is known as “Arbitrary Bearing”
of the line
Or
Any convenient direction from a survey station to some well defined permanent object
is known as arbitrary meridian. This is used for small area survey or to determine the
relative directions of small traverse.

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 DESIGNATION OF MAGNETIC BEARING

Magnetic bearing are designated by two systems:

i. Whole Circle Bearing (WCB)
ii. Quadrantal Bearing (QB)

i. Whole Circle Bearing

The magnetic bearing of a line measured clockwise
from the North Pole towards the line is known as
“Whole Circle Bearing”.
It varies from 0-360 degree.

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 DESIGNATION OF MAGNETIC BEARING
ii. Quadrantal Bearing/Reduced bearing: The magnetic bearing of a line measured
clockwise or counter clockwise from the north pole or south pole (whichever is near
the line) towards the East or West is known as the quadrantal or reduced bearing.
Surveying compass is designed to measure the quadrantal bearing.
a. Fore Bearing (FB)
b. Back Bearing (BB)
a) Fore Bearing: The bearing of a line measured in the direction of the progress of
survey is called the “Fore Bearing (FB)” of the line.
b) Back Bearing: The bearing of a line measured in the direction opposite to the survey
is known as “Back Bearing(BB)”.

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 Contd. …
FB and BB:

NOTE: Numerically, for a line to be free from external influences, the fore
bearing and back bearing should have difference of 180°.

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 CHECK ON TRAVERSE: CLOSED TRAVERSE
• Checks on closed traverse:
• Sum of the measured interior angles (2n-4) x 90°
• Sum of the measured exterior angles (2n+4) x 90 °
• The algebric sum of the deflection angles should be equal to 360°. Right hand
deflection is considered +ve, left hand deflection –ve
Where “n” being the number of sides of a traverse
• Checks on linear measurement
• The lines should be measured once each on two different days (along opposite
directions). Both measurement should tally.
• Linear measurement should also be taken by the stadia method. The measurement by
chaining and stadia method should tally.

The Stadia is a method of measuring distances rapidly with a telescope (usually on an

engineer's transit or an alidade) and a graduated rod. ... If the line of sight is inclined, the
vertical angle is also measured and can be used to reduce the results to horizontal and
vertical distances. 26
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 Examples on Bearings
Example 1: Convert the following whole circle bearing to quadrantal bearings.
(i) 68°32’ (ii) 132°12’ (iii) 236°37’ (iv) 334° 52’

Using the rule of reduced bearing(RB) we have:

(i) W.C.B = 68°32’
So,
Quadrantal bearing = N 68°32’ E
(ii) W.C.B = 132°12’
So,
Quadrantal bearing = 180° - W.C.B
= 180° - 132°12’ = 47° 48’ SE
= S 47° 48’ E
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 Examples on Bearing
Example 1 Contd. ..
(iii) W.C.B = 236° 37’
So,
Quadrantal Bearing = W.C.B - 180°
= 236° 37’ - 180°
= 56°37’ SW = S 56°37’ W
(iv) W.C.B = 334° 52’
SO,
Quadrantal Bearing = 360° - W.C.B
= 360° - 334° 52’
= 25° 8’ NW = N 25° 8’ W

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 Examples on Bearings
Example 2: Convert the following reduced bearings to whole circle bearings.
(i) N 36°16’ E (ii) S 28°14’ E (iii) S 47°26’ W (iv) N 58°24’ W

(i) R.B = N 36°16’ E

Therefore,
W.C.B = R.B = 36°16’
(ii) R.B = S 28°14’ E
Therefore,
W.C.B = 180° - 28°14’
= 151°46’

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 Examples on Bearings
Example 2 Contd. ..
(iii) R.B = S 47°26’W
Therefore,
W.C.B = 180°+ R.B
= 180°+ 47°26’
= 227°26’
(iv) R.B = N 58°24’W
Therefore,
W.C.B = 360° - R.B
= 360° - 58°24’
= 301°36’

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 Problem 1

A closed traverse is conducted with five stations A, B ,C , D and E taken in anti

clockwise order , in the form of regular pentagon. If the fore bearing of AB is 30°0’ ,
find fore bearing of other sides.

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 Problem 2
The following are the bearings observed in traversing, with compass, an area
where local attraction was suspected. Calculate interior angles of a traverse and
correct them if necessary.

LINE FB BB
AB 150°0’ 330°0’
BC 230°30’ 48°0’
CD 306°15’ 127°45’
DE 298°00’ 120°00’
EA 49°30’ 229°30’

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 Contd. ..
Solution:
Make a rough sketch

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 Contd. ..
Solution Contd. . :

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 Problem 3
Following are bearings taken in closed compass traverse

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 Problem 3
Solution Contd. ..

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 LOCAL ATTRACTION
The deviation of the magnetic needle from the magnetic meridian arising from local
source such as object of iron, steel, bunch of keys, iron ores and currents of electricity, is
called “Local Attraction” or “Local Disturbance”.
To detect the presence of local attraction, the fore bearing and back bearing of a line
should be taken.
If the difference of the fore and back bearing of the line is exactly 180°, then there is no
local attraction.
If the FB and BB of a line do not differ by 180°, then the needle is said to be affected by
local attraction, provided there is no instrumental error.
To compensate for the effect of local attraction, the amount of error is found out and is
equally distributed between the fore and back bearing of the line.

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 FOR EXAMPLE

Consider the Case:

Observed FB of AB = 60° 30’
Observed BB of AB = 240° 0’
Calculated BB of AB = 60° 30’ + 180° = 240° 30’
Now
Corrected BB of AB = ½ (240° 0’ + 240° 30’) = 240° 15’
Hence:
Corrected FB of AB = 240° 15’ - 180° = 60° 15’

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 METHOD OF APPLICATION OF CORRECTION

a. First Method: The interior angles of a traverse are calculated from the observed
bearings. Then an angular check is applied. The sum of the interior angles should be
equal to (2n-4)x 90° ( “n” being the number of sides of a traverse). If it is not so, the
total error is equally distributed among all the angles of the traverse. Then starting
from the unaffected line, the bearings of all the lines may be corrected by using the
corrected interior angles. This method is very laboring and is not generally
employed.

b. Second Method: In this method, the interior angles are not calculated. From the
given table, the unaffected line is first detected. Then commencing from unaffected
line, the bearings of the other affected lines are corrected by finding the amount of
correction at each station.
This is an easy method, and one of which is generally employed.

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 METHOD OF APPLICATION OF CORRECTION
Contd. …
NOTE: if all the lines of a traverse are found to be affected by local attractions, the
line with minimum error is identified. The Fore Bearing (FB) and Back Bearing
(BB) of this line are adjusted by distributing the error equally. Then starting from
this adjusted line, the FB and BB of other lines are corrected.

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 METHOD OF APPLICATION OF CORRECTION
Contd. …
(C) Graphical Method
Temporary adjustment of prismatic compass (Field procedure of observing
bearing): The following steps are followed while measuring the bearing by
Prismatic Compass:
(i) Fixing the compass with tripod stand
(ii) Centering
(iii) Leveling
(iv) Adjustment of prism
(v) Observation of bearing

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 Magnetic Declination
The horizontal angle between the magnetic meridian and true meridian is known
as “Magnetic Declination”.
• When the North end of the magnetic needle is pointed towards the West side of
true meridian, the position is termed as Declination West (θ°W).
• When the North end of the magnetic needle is pointed towards the East side of
the true meridian, the position is termed as declination East (θ°E).

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 Variation of Magnetic Declination

The magnetic declination at a place is not constant. It varies due to following

reasons.
(a) Secular Variation
(b) Annual variation
(c) Daily variation
(d) Irregular Variation

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 Variation of Magnetic Declination

a. Secular Variation
The magnetic meridian behaves like a pendulum with respect to the True
Meridian. After 100 to 150 years or so, it swings from one direction to the opposite
direction and hence the declination varies. This variation is known as “Secular
Variation”.
b. Annual Variation
The magnetic declination varies due to the rotation of the earth in an elliptical
path around the sun during a year. This variation is known as annual variation.
The amount of variation is about 1-2 minutes.

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 Variation of Magnetic Declination

c. Daily Variation: the magnetic declination varies due to the rotation of the earth
on its own axis in 24 hours.

d. Irregular Variation: the magnetic declination is found vary suddenly due to some
natural causes such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and so on. This variation is
known as irregular variation.

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 ISOGONIC AND AGONIC LINES

Isogonic Lines:
Lines passing through points of equal declination are known as “Isogonic lines”.
Agonic Lines:
Line passing through points of zero declination are known as “Agonic lines”.

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 Dip of Magnetic Needle

If the magnetic needle is perfectly balanced before magnetization, it does not remain in
balanced position after it is magnetized. This is due to magnetic influence of the earth. The
needle is found to be inclined towards the Pole. This inclination of the needle with
horizontal is known as the “dip of the Magnetic Needle”.

It is found that the north end of the needle is deflected downwards in the northern
hemisphere and its south end is deflected downwards in the southern hemisphere. The
needle is just horizontal at the EQUATOR.

To balance the dip of the needle, a rider (brass or silver coil) is provided along with it. The
rider is placed over the needle at a suitable position to make it horizontal.

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 ERRORS IN COMPASS SURVEY

There are three types of errors in compass survey

(i) Instrumental error
(ii) Personal error
(iii) Errors due to natural causes

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To Remember

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