Mapúa Institute of Technology

School of Civil Engineering and Environmental and Sanitary Engineering

ELEMENTARY SURVEYING
FIELD MANUAL

FIELD WORK NO. 8

DETERMINATION OF THE HEIGHT OF
A CE120-0
REMOTE / A1 POINT

CE120-0F/A1

Submitted By:

35. TAMBIS, Mikaella Patrice C.

2015121127

Group No. 7

Chief of Party: TAMBIS, Mikaella Patrice C.

Date of Field Work: May 22, 2018

Date of Submission: May 29, 2018

SUBMITTED TO:
Professor: Engr. Angelique Mijares

GRADE
PROCEDURE:

1. Set up the transit at a convenient location and call it point A where

one can see clearly the leveling rod the topmost part of the flagpole.
2. Using the normal form of the telescope, sight the topmost part of the
flagpole. Record the reading on the vertical circle, call it angle a.
3. For the second trial, use inverted telescope to view the remote point.
This is done to determine the index error of the instrument.
4. Get the mean of the two readings and record it as the mean of angle a
or the angle of elevation of the remote point from the first station.
5. Set the leveling rod vertically near the flagpole and level the telescope
of the transit. Sight the reading to get the height of the instrument on
its initial location.
6. Move the transit towards the flagpole and call it station B, the
measure its distance from its initial location. Record this as distance
AB.
7. After leveling the transit, sight the top of the flagpole twice, again
using the normal and inverted position of the telescope for the two
trials. Record the two vertical angle readings. Determine the mean of
the two readings and call it mean angle b.
8. Level the telescope, and get the height of the instrument by sighting
the leveling rod at the base of the flagpole. This will represent the
height of the instrument on station b.
9. Analyze the two right triangles formed to determine the height of the
remote point.
 FINAL DATA SHEET

FIELD WORK 8 DETERMINATION OF THE HEIGHT OF A

REMOTE POINT

DATE: May 22,2018 GROUP NO.7

TIME: 12:00-4:30 LOCATION: Mapua
WEATHER: Sunny PROFESSOR: Engr. Mijares

MEAN HEIGHT
MEAN HEIGHT OF
STATION ANGLE INSTRUMENT
OF
ANGLE INSTRUMENT
A
(Telescope 25°21’ 1.35 m
Normal)
25°53’ 1.35
A
(Telescope 25°85’ 1.35 m
Inverted)
MEAN HEIGHT
MEAN HEIGHT OF
STATION ANGLE INSTRUMENT
OF
ANGLE INSTRUMENT
B
(Telescope 33°26’ 1.39 m
Normal)
33°22.6’ 1.42
B
(Telescope 33°19’ 1.45 m
Inverted)

DISTANCE AB = 10.8 𝑚 COMPUTED HEIGHT OF

REMOTE POINT: 21.522 𝑚
COMPUTATIONS

Angle of Elevation (α)

Station A: 𝛼 = 90° − 64°39’
= 25°21’
𝛼 = 90° − 63°35’
= 25°85’
25°21’+25°85’
Mean Angle: = 𝟐𝟓°𝟓𝟑’
2

Station B: 𝛼 = 90° − 56°34’

= 33°60’
𝛼 = 90° − 56°41’
= 33°19’
33°60’+33°19’
Mean Angle: = 𝟑𝟑°𝟐𝟐. 𝟔’
2

Height of the Flagpole (𝑯𝒇 )

Difference in HI = 𝐻2 − 𝐻1

= 1.42 – 1.35
Difference in HI = 0.07
 𝐻2 − 𝐻1
tan 𝛽 =
𝑥
0.07
𝑥=
tan(33°22.6’)

𝑥 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟎𝟔

Distance AF = AB + x

= 10.8 + 0.106

Distance AF = 10.906 m

𝐹𝐷 𝐴𝐵 + 𝑥
=
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼 (sinβ − α)

10.906sin(25°53’)
𝑭𝑫 =
sin(7°29’6’’)

𝑭𝑫 = 𝟑𝟔. 𝟓𝟒𝟕

𝐻 − 𝐻2
sin 𝛽 =
𝐹𝐷

𝐻 = 𝐹𝐷 sin 𝛽 + 𝐻2

𝐻 = 36.547 sin(33°22.6’) + 1.42

H = 21.522 m
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the

breaking the tape method in measuring the horizontal distance of a
sloping terrain?

- The advantages in using the breaking the tape method in

measuring the horizontal distance of a sloping terrain is to
determine the accurate distance so that we could obtain and
compute the data. The disadvantage of doing this is that there
could be objects that could interfere and could be a source of error
and it is very difficult to measure the height of a mountain or the
depth of a canyon directly and it is much easier to measure how far
away it is and to measure the angle of depression and elevation.

2. Give other methods of determining the horizontal distance

between two points.

- In this field work activity, the concept of the right triangle in

trigonometry is very well used. Measure it with a measuring tape
or solve it by getting the angle then use the Pythagorean Theorem.
We used the sine law and cosine law to complete the data needed
until we get the final height of the flag pole.
CONCLUSION

In this fieldwork, the instrument we used which is the

theodolite is similar to the instrument we have used in the previous
experiments with the precise level, however, theodolite has a
rotating telescope for measuring horizontal and vertical angles. We
must know how to use the instrument properly because it measures
the angle of the building from the ground until to the flagpole on
its top portion.

It is imporant to master the reading of the vertical angle using

the theodolite because it is an important factor in computation for
the the distance of a certain inaccessible point which is this case,
the flagpole sitting at the top of the Mapua Admin Building. With
the acquired vertical angle given on the theodolite, the height of
the building to the flagpole can be obtained using the skills of the
students in trigonometry. We acknowledge that the height of the
instrument should also be noted in computing the height of the
remote point by following the instruction correctly to have a better
result.

We also made us of our knowledge learned in the analysis of

right triangles in determining the height of a remote point. Our
professor had assigned the location of the first station of each
group this way we can prove that we can still compute the distance
of the distance of a certain inaccessible point no matter where we
are as long as we are around the vicinity of the point. However,
between changing stations, we experienced an obstacle because
there was a car parked on the path of changing stations. This was a
hindrance in properly changing our station and moving the
instruments. Despite of this hindrance, we made a way to proplerly
execute the experiment and change station. We laid out our
measuring tape under the parked car making sure that it is laid
properly and that there are no sag of the tape to lessen the error of
our measurement.

The key to perform the field work; to determine and compute

the distance of a certain inaccessible point is to have confidence of
working with one’s party or group and to be fully responsible in
the performance of the assigned task. This field work challenged
our group to think of an alternative way to complete the task
regardless of the obstacles we face. Our patience was slightly
tested because of the heat and our situation where the car parked
was blocking our way made it very hard to settle our instruments
and finish the experiment. Our group was the last one to finish but
what is imporant is that we finished our field report. I recommend
to be patient because if the task is rushed, inaccurate measuring
will be done, thus leading to wrong computations and large percent
error. Our professor informed us that the actual measurement of
the remote point is around 19 meters. Based on our computations,
we obtained 21.5 meters which is not that bad considering when
we used the break the tape method in determining the horizontal
distance. We also took note that incorrect way of using the
instrument could also be a factor of our error. Also, we’ve realised
that Trigonometry doesn’t end in passing the Trigonometry subject
and we will use it always in our engineering careers.