Elementary

Surveying
Muhammad Mohsan
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Management and Technology, Lahore

Acknowledgment:
Engr Shakir,Engr. Muhammad Usman
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Management and Technology, Lahore 1
Plane Table Survey
 Plane Table Surveying
 Plane Table Surveying is a graphical method of survey
in which the field observations and plotting are done
simultaneously.
 It
is simple and cheaper than theodolite survey. It is
most suitable for small scale maps.
 The plan is drawn by the surveyor in the field, while
the area to be surveyed is before his eyes. Therefore,
there is no possibility of omitting the necessary
measurements.
Equipments and Accessories for Plane Tabling

The following instruments are used in plane table

surveying.
Equipments
 Plane Table
 Tripod
 Alidade
 Equipments and Accessories for Plane
Tabling
Accessories
 Trough Compass
 Circular box compass
 Spirit level
 U-Fork with Plumb bob
 Water proof cover
 Drawing paper
 Pins
 Drawing accessories
 Equipments
 Plane Table: The drawing board for plane tabling is
made from well-seasoned wood with its upper surface
exactly plane. The bottom surface consists of a
threaded circular plate for fixing the table on the tripod
stand by wing nut.
 Itis normally rectangular in shape with size 750 mm x
600 mm
 It is mounted on a tripod and clamps are provided to fix
it in any direction. The table can be revolved about its
vertical axis and can be clamped in any position, when
necessary.
Plane Table
 Tripod
 The plane table is mounted on a tripod
 The tripod is generally of open frame type, combined
rigidity with lightness. The tripod may be made to fold
for convenience of transportation.
 Tripod is provided with three foot screws at its top for
leveling of the plane table.
 Alidade
 The alidade is useful for establishing a line of sight.
 Two types of alidade are used.
 Plain or Simple alidade
 Telescopic alidade
 Plain or Simple Alidade
 It is used for ordinary work.
 It is generally consists of a gun metal or wooden rule of 50 cm length with two
vertical vanes at the ends.
 One edge of alidade is bevelled and is known as Fiducial Edge. The fiducial
edge is graduated to facilitate the plotting of distances to a scale.
 The eye-vane is provided with a narrow slit while the object vane is open and
carries a horse hair. Both the slits, thus provide a definite line of sight which
can be made to pass through the object to be sighted.
 Telescopic Alidade
 The telescopic alidade is used when it is required to take inclined
sights or sighting distance clearly.
 It essentially consists of a small telescope with a level tube and
graduated arc mounted on horizontal axis.
 It is also provided with fiducial edge.
 It gives higher accuracy and more range of sights.
 Accessories
Compass
There are two kinds of compasses
(a) Trough Compass (b) Circular Box Compass
Trough Compass
 The trough compass is required for drawing the line showing
magnetic meridian on the paper. It is used to orient the table to
the magnetic meridian.
 When the freely suspended needle shows 00 at each end, a line is
drawn on the drawing paper which represents the magnetic
north.
Trough Compass
 Accessories
Circular Box Compass
 It carries a pivoted magnetic needle at the center. The circular
box is fitted on a square base plate.
 The compass is meant for marking the north direction on the
map.
 U-Fork With Plumb bob
 U-fork with plumb bob is used for centering the table
over the point or station.
 Itconsists of a metal strip bent in the shape of a U
(hair pin) having equal arm length.
U-Fork With Plumb Bob
 Spirit Level
A Spirit Level is used for ascertaining if the table is
properly level.
 TheTable is leveled by placing the level on the board in
two positions at right angles and getting the bubble central
in both positions.
 Water Proof Cover
 An umbrella is used to protect the drawing paper from rain.

Drawing Paper
 Drawing paper is used for plotting the ground details.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Plane
Table Surveying
Advantages
 The plan is drawn by the surveyor himself while the area to be
surveyed is before his eyes. Therefore, there is no possibility of
omitting the necessary measurements.
 The surveyor can compare the plotted work with the actual
features of the area.
Advantages
 It is simple and cheaper than the theodolite survey.
 It is most suitable for small scale maps.
 No great skill is required to produce a satisfactory map and work
may be entrusted to a subordinate.
 It is useful in magnetic areas where compass may not be used.
 The mistakes in writing field books are eliminated.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Plane Table
Surveying
Disadvantages (Limitations)
 It is not intended for very accurate work.
 It is not suitable in monsoon.
 It is essentially a tropical instrument.
 Due to heaviness, it is inconvenient to transport.
 Since there are so many accessories, there is likelihood of them
being lost.
 Principle Of Plane Table Survey
 Principle of plane table survey is Parallelism,
meaning that rays of sight drawn from stations to objects on paper
are parallel to the lines from stations to the objects on the ground.
 The Position of plane table at each station must be identical, i.e. at
each survey station the table must be oriented in the direction of
magnetic north.
 Method Of Setting Up The Plane Table
 Three processes are involved in setting up the plane table over the
station.
1. Leveling and Centering
2. Orientation
 1. Leveling and Centering
 The Table should be set up at convenient height for working on
the board, say about 1 m. The legs of Tripod should be spread
well apart and firmly into the ground.
 The table should be so placed over the station on the ground that
the point plotted on the sheet corresponding to the station
occupied should be exactly over the station on the ground. The
operation is known as centering the plane table. It is done by U-
fork and plumb bob.
 For leveling the table ordinary spirit level may be used. The table
is leveled by placing the level on the board in two positions at
right angles and getting the bubble central in both directions.
Leveling and Centering
 2. Orientation
 The Process by which the positions occupied by the board at
various survey stations are kept parallel is known as the
orientation. Thus, when a plane table is properly oriented, the
lines on the board are parallel to the lines on ground which they
represent.
 There are two methods of orientation:
 By magnetic needle
 By back sighting
Orientation by Magnetic Needle
 In this method, the magnetic north
is drawn on paper at a particular
station. At the next station, the
trough compass is placed along
the line of magnetic north and the
table is turned in such a way that
the ends of magnetic needle are
opposite to zeros of the scale. The
board is then fixed in position by
clamps. This method is inaccurate
in the since that the results are
likely to be affected by the local
attraction.
 Orientation by Back Sighting
 Firstly table is set up over station
A. Table is centered and leveled.
With alidade touching a, the
ranging rod at B is bisected and
line ab is drawn, representing
line AB on ground
 Now the table is placed on
station point B. The table is
turned till the line of sight
bisects the ranging rod at A. The
board is then clamped in this
position.
 This method is better than the
previous one and it gives perfect
orientation.
 Methods Of Plane Tabling
 There are four distinct methods of plane tabling:
 Method of Radiation
 Method of Intersection
 Method of Traversing
 Method of Resection
 Radiation Method
 This method is suitable for locating the objects from a single
station.
 In the radiation method of plane table surveying, the direction of
the objects or points to be located are obtained by drawing radial
lines along fiducially edge of alidade after getting the objects or
points bisected along the line of sight of the alidade.
 The horizontal distances are then measured and scaled off on the
corresponding radial lines to mark their positions on the drawing.
 Radiation Method: Procedure
 Suppose P is a station on the ground from
where the object A, B, C and D are visible.
 The plane table is set up over the station P. A
drawing sheet is fixed on the table, which is
then leveled and centered. A point p is
selected on the sheet to represent the station
P.
 The north line is marked on the right-hand
top corner of the sheet with trough compass
or circular box compass.
 With the alidade touching p, the ranging rod
at A,B, C and D are bisected and the rays are
drawn.
 The distances PA, PB, PC and PD are
measured and plotted to any suitable scale to
obtain the points a, b, c and d representing
A,B,C,D on paper.
Radiation Method
 Method Of Intersection
 This method is suitable for locating inaccessible points
by the intersection of the rays drawn from two
instrument stations.
 The intersection method is suitable when distances of
objects are large or cannot be measured properly. Thus,
this method is preferred for survey in mountainous
regions.
 Method Of Intersection
Procedure
 Suppose A and B are two station and P is the object on the far bank of a river. Now
it is required to fix the position of P on the sheet by the intersection of rays, drawn
from A and B.
 The table is set up at A. It is leveled and centered so that a point a on the sheet is
just over the station A. The north line is marked on the right-hand top corner, the
Table is then clamped.
 With the alidade touching a, the object P and the ranging rod at B are bisected,
and rays are drawn through the fiducial edge on alidade,
 The distance AB is measured and plotted to any suitable scale to obtain point b.
 The table is shifted and centered over B and leveled properly. Now the alidade is
placed along the line ba and orientation is done by back sighting
 With the alidade touching b, the object P is bisected and a ray is drawn, suppose
this ray intersects the previous rays at point p. the point p is the required plotted
position of P
Method Of Intersection
Method Of Intersection
 Method Of Traversing
 This method is suitable for connecting the traverse
station. This is similar to compass traversing or
theodolite traversing. But here, fielding and plotting
are done simultaneously with the help of the radiation
and intersection method.
 Method Of Traversing
 Procedure:
 Suppose A,B,C,D are the traverse stations,
 The table is set up at the station A, a suitable point a is
selected on the sheet in such a way that the whole area
may be plotted in the sheet. The table is centered,
leveled and clamped. The north line is marked on the
right-hand top corner of the sheet.
 With the alidade touching point a the ranging rod at B
is bisected and a ray is drawn. The distance AB is
measured and plotted to any suitable scale.
 Method Of Traversing
 The table is shifted and centered over B. It is then leveled,
oriented by back sighting and clamped.
 With the alidade touching point b, the ranging rod at C is
bisected and ray is drawn. The distance BC is measured and
plotted to the same scale.
 The table is shifted and set up at C and the same procedure is
repeated.
 In this manner, all stations of the traverse are connected.
Method Of Traversing
Method Of Traversing
 Method of Resection
 This method is suitable for establishing new station at a place in
order to locate missing details.
 Procedure:
 Suppose It is required to establish a station at position P. Let us
select two points A and B on the ground. The distance AB is
measured and plotted to any suitable scale. The line AB is
known as the “base line”
 The table is set up at A. It is leveled, centered and oriented by
bisecting the ranging rod at B. The table is then clamped.
 With the alidade touching point a, the ranging rod at P is
bisected and a ray is drawn. Then a point P1 is marked on this
ray by estimating with the eye.
 Method of Resection
 The table is shifted and centered in such a way that P1 is just
over P. It is then oriented by back-sighting the ranging rod at A.
 With the alidade touching point b, the ranging rod at B is
bisected and a ray is drawn. Suppose this ray intersects the
previous ray at a point P. This point represents the position of
the station P on the sheet. Then the actual position of the station
is marked on the ground by U-fork and plumb-bob
Method of Resection
 Error In Plane Tabling
 The various sources of error may be classified as:
 Instrumental errors
 Personal Error / Errors in manipulation and sighting
 Errors in plotting
Instrumental Errors
 The surface of drawing board is not plane
 The edge of alidade is not straight.
 The object vane and sight vane are not perpendicular to the
alidade.
 The edge of alidade is not parallel to the line of sight.
 The fixing clamp is not proper.
Personal Error / Errors In Manipulation And
Sighting
 Defective Leveling
 Defective Sighting
 Defective Orientation
 Defective Centering
 Movement of Board between sights

Errors in Plotting
 Defective scale of map
 Wrongly intersecting the rays drawn from two different
stations.