Direct and Indirect Contouring

Contouring consists of the surveying and plotting of contour lines on a map or plan, which
may be done in one of two ways:
(a) By direct contouring. This consists of two processes:
(i) Vertical control, which is the actual location of the contours positions on the
ground.
(ii) !ori"ontal control, which is the surveying of their positions to enable them to be
plotted.
(b) By indirect contouring. !ere the contours are not located on the ground, their positions
being established from the plotted plan.
General Principles: The following principles apply e#ually to both the direct and indirect
methods of contouring:
(a) The degree of accuracy in locating the contours depends on the scale and use of the plan
to be produced. The contour interval depends on the following:
(i) Cost. The smaller the interval the greater is the amount of wor$ involved, which
produces higher costs.
(ii) Type of country. %teep, rough country can be clearly shown by a fairly large
interval, which would be inade#uate for flat ground.
(iii) &urpose of the survey: ' small interval is needed for detailed design and the
measurement of earthwor$s. (or topographical mapping a large interval of )* or
+* m is often ade#uate.
&ractical contour intervals often adopted are for the following:
Building sites *., or ) m
-eservoirs, landscapes ) or + m
.ocation surveys + or , m
/eneral topo wor$ , m upwards
(b) The points surveyed should be chosen so that the contours run nearly straight between
them. 0ore points should be surveyed where sharp curve e1ist and salient points on
ridge and valley lives are always important.
The Direct Method
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2irect vertical control
The process in the field may be summari"ed as follows:
(a) Complete a chec$ed circuit of level from a natural benchmar$ to establish a TB0
ad3acent to the site but clear of any eventual construction wor$ so that the mar$ will not
be destroyed.
(b) %et the level to command as much ground as possible, observe a bac$sight to the TB0,
deduce the height of instrument and calculate the readings to be observed for each
contour.
(c) Ta$ing one contour at a time, direct the staffman uphill or downhill at the edge of the
site until the re#uired reading is obtained.
(d) 4hen he is signalled to mar$, the staffman places a peg mar$ed with the contour height.
(e) The staffman then proceeds forward along the same level and holds the staff where he
assumes the contour to have changed direction and the previous process is repeated.
(f) !aving pegged one complete contour visible from the instrument the ne1t one is dealt
with and pegged in the same way.
(g) 4hen the whole area visible from the instrument has been covered a foresight is
observed. The instrument is moved to another position to cover more of the site and
the same process is repeated5 the process continues until the whole site has been pegged
and a final foresight can be ta$en bac$ on the TB0, thus completing the level circuit.
Direct Horizontal Control
4ith the contours now pegged on the ground, the peg positions must be surveyed to enable
them to be plotted. This can be done in one of three ways:
(a) 4ith a chain survey. This is suitable for small areas.
(b) 4ith a control traverse.
(c) 4ith polars: The bearing and distance from traverse stations or triangulated control
points can be observed to the various peg positions.
Plotting:
The peg positions are plotted from the data obtained from the hori"ontal control survey and
the heights of each are needed. The contour lines are drawn as curves running through the
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peg positions denoting each contour.
The Indirect Method:
6n the indirect contouring the points located do not necessarily fall on the actual contours.
The points surveyed are plotted and their heights recorded. These points then serve as a
basic for the interpolation of the contour positions. There are two basic systems in this
method:
(a) the points to be surveyed are located along series of straight lines set out over the site to
be contoured.
(b) spot height, the points to be surveyed are scattered over the area, being chosen to fall at
salient positions of change of slope $nown as representative points.
Interpolation of Contour Lines
6nterpolation is the process of locating in plan any re#uired levels along a line 3oining two
$nown levels.
This can be achieved by:
(a) %$etching (interpolation by eye)
(b) Calculation
(c) /raphical method.
Comparison of Methods
2irect contouring is the most accurate method, but because of the e1cessive amount of field
wor$ it is seldom adopted e1cept on small sites where accurate contours are re#uired.
6ndirect contouring is most commonly used because it is the #uic$er method and provides
contours with sufficient accuracy for most practical purposes.
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