Surveying

For landscape construction

The tools
Level or transit Tripod Rod, decimal or inches and feet Steel tape Clip board Pins Marker paint

Surveying
Level the level
Focus knob scope Adjusting knobs for scope Base plate Moveable Plate/degrees Leveling bubble

legs

Surveying
Attach legs to scope assembly Extend legs Set legs in ground, roughly level Align scope over adjusting knobs Turn knobs until bubble is centered All feet must touch base plate Rotate scope 90 degrees of other knobs

Surveying
Adjust knobs until bubble is centered Repeat as needed, until bubble stays centered If it doesnt work, the bubble screws have been tampered with.

Surveying tampered screws

If this has happened, set up the same way Align scope over one set of knobs Alternatively adjust screws half way and knobs half way Rotate scope 180 degrees and repeat until bubble stays centered

Surveying decimal rod

View through scope Each b/w bar is 1/100 of a foot
4
.09 .08 .07 .06

3.94 4
9

9 tenths of a foot

Numbers not printed on stick Red four is four foot mark, black numbers are 10ths of foot
.05

Surveying inches and feet rod

View through scope Each b/w bar is 1/8 inch
4
7/8 3/4 5/8 1/2

4
11

311

Red four is four foot mark, black numbers are inches

Surveying 90 degree angles

Rod, plumbed over pin

Top view

Set adjustable plate to zero, rotate 90 degrees

Surveying 90 degree angles

Scope plumbed over pin

Top view

Set adjustable plate to zero, rotate 90 degrees Sighted on one plane

Swing 90 degrees

New sighting

Surveying height
Height of instrument 4.43

Surveying height
Height of step 3.54 4.43-3.54=.89 feet x 12=10.68 inches =10 5/8

Surveying height with feet & inches rod

Door sill reading =3 3 + Decking 1 + Joist 9 + Beam 9 + New reading Height of post At 4 11
Cut off

Surveying height, decimal feet

Height of instrument= 4.56

Surveying height, decimal feet

Rod reading .75 4.56-.75=3.81 height of hill

Surveying height, feet & inches

Height of instrument= 4 3-1/2

Surveying height, decimal feet

Rod reading 7 1/2 43 -7 = height of hill Height of hill is 3 8

Surveying height
fore sight
1.24 8.86 8.86-1.24=7.62 difference

Read, then move rod to new location, read

Surveying height
fs 1.23
tp1

bs 6.75 Fs 2.21 Bs 5.42 Hi 4.41 Fs 3.45

Tp 2

Read, then move rod to new location,rotate scope and read

Surveying notes
Tp Fs Bs Dif 1 1.23 6.75 5.52 2 2.21 5.42 3.21 3 3.42 4.41 .99 Totals 6.86 16.589.72 16.58-6.86=9.72 same Add Fs, add Bs, find difference= Total difference in elevation

Surveying notes
Tp = turning point Fs= fore sight Bs= back sight You must set up transit at each tp Take reading, rotate 180 degrees Take new reading Add fs, add bs, find difference

Surveying notes
To double check yourself Find difference between each fs & bs Add up all differences Compare with other method If they are not the same There is a math error

Topography
Lay out a grid using baselines at 900 Mark base lines at 20 intervals Mark intersecting points Take readings at each intersection

Topography
Locating topo lines
7.72 7.87 Once you have located all The topo points, connect The like points, I.e. all 7s All 8s, all 9s etc.

5.32

5.66

Topography
Locating topo lines
6.72 4.8 ft mark= 7.00 point 7.87

Find the difference between two adjacent points 7.87-6.72=1.15 feet We want to locate the even foot mark(7.00) 7.00-6.72=.28.28/1.15=.24% from the 6.62 .24% of 20 feet (grid distance)=4.8 feet from The 6.62 reading point

Topography
Is X a hole or hill?

Topography
Its a hill. The #s are elevations

topography
The grids and elevations can change If the area is large as in square miles The elevations may be 50 or 100 The grids may be in square miles In small areas the scale might be 1 elevations and 10 grids.

topography
There are computer programs that will plot for you but you must still measure and enter values

Surveying
A dumpy level or transit can be used to; Level construction projects Check plumb Square up projects Determine deck post cut off Check drain grade Many other uses

Surveying