[BASIC CIVIL ENGINEERING] C 106

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BASIC CIVIL ENGINEERIG

Civil Engineering is the oldest branch of Engineering. It deals with planning

design and construction of engineering structures such as buildings, bridges, tunnels
dams, costal protection works, water supply and sewage system etc. This branch aims to
provide a comfortable and safe living for the people. “Shelter” one of the primary needs
of mankind is provided by Civil Engineers.

Specializations of Civil Engineering.

1. Structural Engineering
This branch is concerned with the analysis and design of
buildings,bridges,dams and other large structures. The structural engineer estimates all
possible loads to which the structure is likely to be subjected.

2. Geotechnical Engineering.
This branch involves the study of soil, its behavior and application as
an engineering material. It also includes the design, construction, maintenance and
renovation of footings.

3. Fluid Mechanics.
Fluid mechanics deals with the properties and behavior of fluids at rest
or in motion.

4. Transportation Engineering.
This branch deals with the design construction and execution of the
communication routes. The different branches of transportation engineering are
a. High way engineering. :- Deals with planning and designing of roads.
b. Railway engineering. :- Deals with Railway track.
c. Harbor engineering. :- Deals with harbors
d. Airport engineering. :- Deals with Airports.
e.
5. Water supply, Sanitary and Environmental Engineering.

Water supply engineering deals with the location, collection of water,

its treatment methods, test for standard limits and efficient supply of water
Sanitary engineering deals with the collection of used water, their
treatment methods and effective disposal which safeguard the whole world.
Environmental engineering deals with the methods of protecting the
environment to improve the quality of environment for the well being of mankind.

7. Surveying, Levelling, and Remote Sensing.

Surveying is the art of determining the relative positions of points on
the surface of earth, above the surface of earth, or below the surface of earth.

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Leveling is the art of determining the relative heights or elevations of

points on the surface of earth, below or above the surface of earth
Remote sensing uses the techniques of obtaining the data about an area
by taking aerial photographs.

SURVEYING

Surveying is defined as the art of determining the relative positions of

points on, above or below the surface of earth by taking necessary measurements of
horizontal and vertical distances, angles and directions.

OBJECTIVES / PURPOSES

1. To prepare plan or map of an area.

2. To determine the heights of objects in a vertical plane.
3. To establish the boundaries.
4. For proper location of buildings, railway, dams, bridges, tunnels etc.
5. To prepare navigational charts.
6. To prepare astronomical charts.
7. To setout engineering projects.

CLASSIFICATION OF SURVEY
a. Primary Classification.

The primary classification of survey is 1. Plane Survey.

2. Geodetic Survey.
1. Plane Survey.
The survey in which earth surface is assumed as a plane and the curvature
of the earth is ignored is known as plane surveying. Plane survey is done when only a
small area is to be surveyed. In this survey the line connecting two points on the earth is
considered as a straight line and the angle between any two lines is considered as plane
angle. Survey covering an area up to 260 sq. km. may be treated as plane survey. Plane
surveys are used for the layout of highways, railways, canals, construction of bridges,
dams, buildings etc.
2. Geodetic Survey.
The surface of the earth is not plane but spherical. Therefore the line
connecting any two points on the earth’s surface is not a straight line but curve.
The surveying in which the curvature of the earth is taken in to account for
all measurements is known as geodetic survey. Geodetic survey is conducted with a high
degree of accuracy for works of larger magnitude. In this survey the line connecting two
points on the earth’s surface is considered as an “arc”. The angle between any two such
arcs is treated as a spherical angle.

b. Based on nature of survey

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1. Land survey a. City survey. : - This is for laying out plots for |
Buildings, roads, sewer lines etc

b. Public land survey/ cadastral survey:- This is

referred to extensive urban and rural
survey made to plot the details such as
boundaries, houses and property lines.
.
c. Topographical survey.
. This survey is conducted to determine the
natural features of regions such as
rivers, lakes, pools and artificial or man maid
features such as towns, villages, buildings, roads
etc.

2.Hydrographical survey.
This is the survey of large water bodies such as streams,
rivers, sea etc. The purpose of this survey is to study the depth of water at different
locations, nature of the bed etc.

3. Astronomical survey.
This survey is for the determination of absolute location
of the place on the surface of the earth or the absolute direction of any lines on the
surface of the earth, with the help of observations on heavenly bodies like sun stars.

4. Remote sensing.
It is the survey based on the photographs from the
satellite.

C.Based on frame work used.

1. Triangulation Survey
2. Traverse survey.

1. Triangulation survey.
Triangulation is a system of surveying in which the field to
be surveyed is divided in to a network of triangles. A single line called base line is
measured accurately and the lengths of other lines are computed from the measured
angles. Dividing up of the field area in to a network of well connected triangles is
called triangulation.

2. Traverse survey.
In traverse survey directions of survey lines are fixed by
angular measurements and not by forming a network of triangles. A traverse survey
is one in which the frame work consist of a series of connected lines, the length of

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which are measured with a chain or tape and the directions are measured with an
angle measuring instrument.

a. Closed traverse. b. Open traverse.

A traverse may be a closed traverse or an open traverse. A

closed traverse is one when it returns to the starting point forming a closed polygon.
A traverse is said to be open when it does not form a closed polygon.

D.Based on instruments used.

1. Chain survey
2. Compass survey
3. Plane table survey
4. Leveling.
5. Theodolite survey
6. Tachometric survey
7. Photogrammetric survey

1. Chain Survey.
In this survey only linear measurements are made in the field. This is
suitable when the area to be surveyed is small. The area to be surveyed is divided in to
a network of triangles and trapezoids and the sides of triangles and trapezoids are
measured directly in the field with chain or tape and no angular measurements are
taken. The instruments used for chain survey are a.) Chain, b.)Ranging rods, c.)
Offset rods, d.) Arrows, e.) Pegs, f.) Mallet, g.) Tape, h.)Cross staff.

2. Compass Survey.
In compass surveying direction of survey lines are determined with a
compass. A chain or tape is used for linear measurements.

3.Plane table survey.

It is a graphical method of survey in which field observations and
plotting are done at the same time. The instruments used for plane table survey are
a.) Drawing board b.) Tripod c.) Alidade d.) Trough compass e.) Spirit level f.) U
frame and plumb bob. g.) Peg, h.) Mallet.

3. leveling .

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This is a method of survey in which the relative vertical heights of

points are determined by employing a level and a graduated staff.

4. Theodolite survey.
In this survey theodolite is the main instrument used. It is used for
measuring both horizontal and vertical angles.

5. Tacheometric Survey.
This is a rapid and economical survey by which the horizontal
distances and the difference in elevation are determined indirectly using a theodolite
and a graduated rod.

6. Photogram metric survey.

In this, features on the surface of earth are located by measurements
from photographs.

E. Based on purpose of survey.

a. Engineering survey.
b. Military Survey.
c. Mine Survey
d. Archaeological survey.
e. Geological survey

a. Engineering Survey.
Surveys which are done to provide sufficient data for the design of
engineering projects such as highways, railways, water supply, sewage disposal,
reservoirs, bridges etc. are known as engineering survey.
b. Military Survey.
Aerial and topographical maps of enemy areas indicating important roads,
air port ordnance factories, missile sites, early warning and other type of radars, anti-
aircraft positions and other topographical features can be prepared by this survey.
C .Mine Survey
Mine surveys are directed towards the exploration of mineral deposits and
to guide tunneling and other operations associated with mining.
d. Archaeological Survey.
These are done to unearth the relics of antiquity, civilizations, kingdoms,
towns, villages, forts, temples etc. buried due to earthquakes land slides, or
Other calamities and are located marked and identified.
e. Geological Survey.
These are done to determine different strata of the earth’s crust and other
geological objectives. They are also used for geographical exploration.

Principles of Surveying.

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The fundamental principles up on which the various methods of surveying

depends on the following two aspects.
1. Working from whole to part.
It is essential to establish a system of control points first and to fix them
with high accuracy. The line joining these points will form the boundary lines of the area.
Then minor control points can be established by less precise method and the details can
be locates using these minor control points, running minor traverses. The idea of working
in this way is to prevent the accumulation of errors and to control and localise minor
errors.
2. Location of a point by measurements from two reference points
A new point is located by taking measurements from two points of
reference, the position of which have already been fixed.

Let ‘A’ and ‘B’ be the reference point

s on the ground. The distance AB can be measured accurately and the relative
position of A and B can be plotted on the sheet to some scale. The points A and B will
serve as reference points for fixing the relative positions of points. Any other points such
as point ‘C’ can be located by taking two linear measurements from two reference points
or one linear and one angular measurements or two angular measurements.

Activities of a Surveyor.
The work of a surveyor including,
(i) Field work
(ii) Office work
(iii) Setting out on the ground.
(i) Field Work:- The surveyor should collect his men and instruments and should check
the functioning and adjustments of the instruments before starting the field work.
(a) Reconnaissance:- The surveyor should move through the area to be
surveyed for developing a suitable framework and based on that the details
are located by establishing station points. Intervisibility of stations,
shortest routes for locating details etc., are to be considered during
reconnaissance.
(b) Field Observations:- Field work including; taking measurements both
linear and angular for the frame work as well as the details and recording
them in a systematic, sequential manner. It should be possible for any
other surveyor or engineer to interpret these field notes and measurements,
if necessary.

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(ii) Office Work: - Office work including necessary computations (calculations),

preparing plans and maps to suitable scale, computing geodetic coordinate’s areas and
volumes to facilitate further design of the engineering structure.
(iii) Setting out on the ground: - It means the pegging out of structure on the ground. It is
the final phase if surveying before the construction engineer can begin work.
Chain Survey
In chain survey only linear measurements are made in the field. ie. The horizontal
distance between points and the length of the lines are measured. The main equipment
used in the survey is measuring chain. This method is well suited for relatively small
areas with simple details.
Land Surveys are conducted,
(i) To collect the data for detailed plans if a given area including its boundaries.
(ii) To determine the area if a piece of land.
(iii) To re-establish the boundaries of a piece of previously surveyed land.
(iv) To divide a land property into several small units.

Principles of Chain Surveying

The principles followed in chain survey are:-
(i) The whole of the area to be surveyed is divided into a skeleton of frame work
consisting of number of well connected network of well conditioned triangles.
(ii) The details are located with respect to the sides of a triangle or any other
subsidiary lines running between the sides by taking lateral measurements
called offsets.

Well conditioned Triangle

An equilateral triangle having none of its angles less than 30 0 or greater
than 1200 is called well conditioned triangle.
Equipments Used
The various instruments used for the determination of the length of a line
by chaining are
(i) Chain (2) Tape (3) Arrows (4) Pegs (5) Ranging rods (6) Offset rods (7) mallet
(8) Cross Staff.
Ranging out survey line
When the distance to be measured with the chain is less than a chain
length and the ends are visible the chain can be laid in true alignment.
But when the distance is too long and the ends are not intervisibility due to obstruction; a
number of intermediate points with ranging rods are to be marked.
Ranging is the process of establishing a number of intermediate points on
a survey line joining two stations in the field, so that the length between the stations can
be measured accurately.
Ranging is of two kinds (i) Direct ranging (ii) Indirect ranging
Direct Ranging
Direct ranging is done when two ends of the survey line are intervisible.
This can be done either by eye judgment or by using an optical instrument.
Suppose it is necessary to establish an intermediate point C between two
points A and B (ie. in line AB)

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First of all one ranging rod is erected behind point A and another one
behind point B. A surveyor is standing behind the ranging rod at the end station A or B.
The assistant hold a third ranging rod vertically at arms length from the point where
intermediate point is to be established. This point should be with in one chain length from
A. The surveyor then signals the assistant to move the rod towards right or left until the
three ranging rods appeared exactly in a straight line. Then the surveyor signals the
assistant to fix the rod.

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