451-102

Introduction to Surveying

LINEAR MEASUREMENT

Dr Philip Collier
Department of Geomatics
The University of Melbourne
p.collier@unimelb.edu.au
Room 316
 Linear Measurement
• In these lectures we will cover :
– The role of linear measurement
– Equipment
– Procedures and rules
– Errors
– Applications of linear measurement
 What is linear
measurement?
• Simply the measurement of
distance : 50.5 metres

27.9 metres
27.9 metres

New building site -

how big is it?

50.5 metres
 Distance measuring
equipment and typical
accuracies
• Pacing (1:100)
• Optical range finder (1:300)
• Trundle wheel (1:500)
• Stadia tacheometry (1:1000)
• Taping or chaining (1:10,000)
• Electronic distance measurement (1:50,000)
• More details on plane surveying web site
 Some things to note…
• Equipment is fairly cheap (except EDM)
• Equipment is easy to maintain and adjust (″ )
• Distances are easy to measure
• Very accurate results can be achieved
• Measurement line needs to be unobstructed
• Errors occur and need to be managed or minimised
 Taping procedures
• Tape must always be straight
• Tape must not be twisted
• Use chaining arrows for intermediate points
• Tape horizontally if possible
• Tape on the ground if possible
• Slope taping needs to be reduced
• Catenary taping requires correction
• Step taping suits some applications
Tape must be straight…

n ce
ta
dis c e
obstruction a n
i st
d

i r ed
u
req u r ed
s
mea
measured distance ≠ required
distance
Use chaining arrows…

n c e
i s ta
d c e
a n
s t
di
red
a su ed
e r
m requi

measured distance ≠ required

distance
 Slope correction…
= s
a nce For example :
Or….
di st
op e) s =s 30.589
= 30.589mm
( sl ∆H θ = 2.5o
r ed ∆ H = 1.334 m
as u ∆ H = 1.334 m
me
then
θ then
h = (30.5892 - 1.3342)1/2
horizontal distance = h
h =h 30.560
= 30.589
m cos(2.5)
h = 30.560 m
To calculate the horizontal distance :

h = s cosθ or h = (s2 - ∆ H2)1/2

Step taping…

required (horizontal) distance

Catenary taping…

mea
sure nce
d dis t a

required distance

measured distance ≠ required

distance
 Types of errors
• Blunders
– mistakes and gross errorsThese error types
apply to any
• Systematic errors measurement
– repeated size and sign technique used in
– affect accuracy surveying…

• Random errors
– small and usually undetectable (noise)
– affect precision
Accuracy and precision
 Sources of error in
taping
• Temperature correction

L′ = L +L.c.∆ T
where :
L′ is the corrected distance
L is the measured distance
c = 1.15 x 10-5 m/oC (for a steel band)
∆T= Tactual - Tstandard
 Sources of error in
taping
• Standardisation
– The tape is not of “true” length
measured length
L′ = L x
assumed length
 Sources of error in
taping
• Catenary (sag)
– A suspended tape will measure too long

2 3
(Mg ) L 2
L′ = L − cos β
where : 2
24T
M is the mass per unit length (0.011 kg/metre)
g is gravity (9.8 metre/sec2)
T is the tension (50 Newton)
β is the slope angle
 Sources of error in
taping
• Tension
– Tape length will depend on applied
tension
• Slope
– Distances must always be reduced to
horizontal
 Applications
• Dimensions of building features
• Block dimensions
• Location and size of site features
• Setting out for construction
• Clearances and tolerances
 An example
side boundary clearances
road width

block dimensions

building setbacks building dimensions

underground services
 451-102
Introduction to Surveying

LINEAR MEASUREMENT

Dr Philip Collier
Department of Geomatics
The University of Melbourne
p.collier@unimelb.edu.au
Room D316