ELEMENTARY SURVEYING

FIELD MANUAL
 2006

FIELD WORK NO. 1

PACING ON LEVEL GROUND
COURSE AND SECTION: ____________

SUBMITTED BY:

SN. ___NAME: __________________ STUDENT NO.:_________________

GROUP NO. _______ CHIEF OF PARTY: ______________

DATE OF FIELD WORK: ________ DATE OF SUBMISSION: _________

SUBMITTED TO:

PROFESSOR: ______________________
GRADE

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GROUP NO. ______ CHIEF OF PARTY: _____________________

MEMBERS:

1. 4.
2. 5.
3. 6.

FIELD WORK NO. 1

PACING ON LEVEL GROUND

OBJECTIVES:

1. To obtain individual pace factor.

2. To determine an unknown distance by individual pacing.

Instruments:

1. 2 range poles or equivalent

2. chalk (for pavements)/ 2 marking pins (for soft ground) or any marker
3. Meter tape or any measuring tool

PROCEDURE:

A) Determination of Individual Pace Factor (P.F.)

1. The student measures and designates10m to 20m or whichever is applicable inside

the house or in own backyard but the longest straight path on a level. (Remember to
remove the tape while the students will be pacing on the course to prevent them from
using the tape as a basis for a straight course.)
2. The ends of the assigned course are marked with either hubs or marking pins or, by
chalk marks if on pavements or any marker. Designate the points as A and B.
3. Set or hold range poles or equivalent behind points A and B or outside the course AB.
These poles will aid the students to travel in a straight path.
4. Each student should take pacing the course from A to B starting with heel or toe over
A, keeping their eyes focus on the range pole or equivalent behind point B to keep
themselves on a straight path. One has to walk in their natural unaffected manner and
has to keep counting their number of paces for the entire course being covered. A
partial pace at the end of the course should be figured out to the nearest one fourth of
a pace. Record this as the number of paces for Trial No.1
5. For Trial No.2, the student should walk from B to A in the same manner as in the first
trial.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the subsequent trials to comply with the number of trials
required by the professor.
7. Data should be entered in the preliminary data sheet.

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B) Determination of an unknown distance of the assigned course by pacing.

1. The student marks the ends of a level course to be paced (e.g. from main door to exit
door of the house or from sofa to dining table, among others while making sure that it
is in a straight course).
2. Range poles or equivalent are to be set up outside the level course to straighten the
path of the student.
3. Each student paces the course with the minimum number of trials as required,
recording the number of paces for each trial.
4. The professor, after all field notes shall have been submitted, will instruct the students
to make an actual taping of the course to determine its actual taped distance.

COMPUTATIONS:

The computation of sample field notes is done in accordance with the steps listed
hereunder:

A) Computation of P.F.

1. Get the sum of the five trials and divide this sum by number of trials to get the mean.
sum  of  the  number  of  paces
N  mean  number  of  paces 
number  of  trials
2. Divide the length of the course by the mean no of paces to get the individual Pace
Factor P.F.
length  of  course
P.F.   m/pace
mean  number  of  paces

B) Computation of an unknown distance and percent error.

1. Get the sum of the number of paces in each trial and divide this sum by the number of
trials performed to get the mean.
sum  of  the  number  of  paces
N  mean  number  of  paces 
number  of  trials
2. Multiply the mean number of paces of the unknown distance by the pace factor (P.F.)
to obtain the paced distance.
P.D.  N * P.F.
3. Divide the difference between the taped distance and the paced distance by the taped
distance and multiply the quotient by 100 to get the percentage of error.
Taped  Dis tan ce  Paced  Dis tan ce
Percentage  of  error  x100%
Taped  Dis tan ce

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THE PRINCIPLE:

A pace maybe measured from heel to heel or from toe to toe. While half a pace is from the
toe of one foot to the heel of the other foot. To keep one on the line while pacing, it is good
practice to fix his eyes on a distant object at the range behind the pole on the farther end of
the line being paced. Since the accepted precision of measuring distance by pacing is 1/300,
it should be used only for estimating distances such as those used for sketching and making
reconnaissance surveys.

ONE PACE ONE PACE

Heel to Heel Toe to Toe

1/2 PACE

1/2 PACE

Heel to Toe Individual’s Foot Length

PRECISION OF PACING A DISTANCE:

The precision of measuring a distance by pacing is only 1/300.

1
Pr ecision  of  pacing  a  dis tan ce 
300

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QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS:

1. Why is it important to know the individual’s pace factor?

2. Name three most important pointers that an individual must remember to follow in order
to make his/her approximation of the distance of an unknown course to be as accurate
as possible.

3. A student tries to measure the perimeter of a small park of his community by pacing
around the area for three consecutive times. The no of paces was tallied at 535,543
and 539 respectively, for each trial. If the student’s pace factor is 0.74m/pace,
determine the actual perimeter of the land.

4. Every morning Joy walks to school from her boarding house and takes only a single
route. For five consecutive days, she tries to count the number of paces she makes.
Monday morning’s number of paces made by Joy is listed as 345 paces. On Tuesday,
353 paces; Wednesday, 358 paces; Thursday, 348 paces and, lastly, on Friday 355
paces. That Friday afternoon, a surveyor from City Engineer’s Office who is tasked to
lay out a new drainage piping system, measured the exact route she took and found out
that the taped distance is 275m. What is Joy’s pace factor?

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5. The table shown below was taken from Jack’s notes when he tried to determine the
perimeter of his newly acquired agricultural piece of land. Knowing that his pace factor
is 0.81, determine the perimeter of his lot. Complete the table:

NO. OF PACED PACED

TRIAL LINE PERIMETER
PACES FACTOR DISTANCE
1 AB 125.25
2 BC 85
3 CD 79.5 0.81
4 DE 133
4 EF 185
6 FA 112

6. The length of the basketball court from MIT’s Gym was paced by a CE student whose
pace factor is 0.78. How many paces accurate to ¼ of a pace do you think did the student
make?

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 PRELIMINARY DATA SHEET

FIELD WORK 1 PACING ON LEVEL GROUND

DATE: GROUP NO.

TIME: LOCATION:
WEATHER: PROFESSOR:

A. PACE FACTOR (P.F.) DETERMINATION

TAPED
NO. OF PACE
TRIAL LINE DISTANCE MEAN
PACES FACTOR
(M)
1 AB
2 BA
3 AB
4 BA
5 AB

B. COMPUTATIONS:

C. MEASURING DISTANCE BY PACING

NO. OF PACE PACED TAPED

TRIAL LINE MEAN ERROR
PACES FACTOR DISTANCE DISTANCE
1 CD
2 DC
3 CD
4 DC
5 CD

D. COMPUTATIONS:

E. SKETCH:

SIGNATURE OF STUDENT

SIGNATURE OF PROFESSOR

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 FINAL DATA SHEET

FIELD WORK 1 PACING ON LEVEL GROUND

DATE: GROUP NO.

TIME: LOCATION:
WEATHER: PROFESSOR:

A. PACE FACTOR (P.F.) DETERMINATION

TAPED
NO. OF PACE
TRIAL LINE DISTANCE MEAN
PACES FACTOR
(M)
1 AB
2 BA
3 AB
4 BA
5 AB

B. COMPUTATIONS:

C. MEASURING DISTANCE BY PACING

NO. OF PACE PACED TAPED

TRIAL LINE MEAN ERROR
PACES FACTOR DISTANCE DISTANCE
1 CD
2 DC
3 CD
4 DC
5 CD

D. COMPUTATIONS:

E. SKETCH:

SIGNATURE OF STUDENT

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