FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

GEO 2104: ENGINEERING SURVEYING I

LECTURE 2 : DISTANCE MEASUREMENT

ANTHONY OSINDE
MSC. REN. ENERGY(MAK), MSC. ENERGY POLICY(PAUWES, ALG), BSC. CIVIL (NDU)
Outline
 Pacing, Taping and Chaining.
 Odometers.
 Electronic Distance Measurement.
 Optical Distance Measurement;
 Tacheometry and Subtence bar.
 Total stations and their usage.
 Levelling and different types of levelling equipment and
their adjustments.
In engineering surveying three types of distances are used:
 Slope distance,
 Horizontal distance
 Vertical distance.

Horizontal and vertical distances are used in mapping,

control surveys and engineering design work.

Slope distances and vertical distances are used when setting

out on construction sites.
There are 3 methods of measuring distance
 Distance measurement by Tape.
 Electromagnetic distance measurement (EDM).
 Optical distance measurement (ODM).
 1. Pacing
Pacing consists of counting the number of steps, or paces, in a
required distance.
The length of an individual’s pace must be determined first.
This is best done by walking with natural step.
Pacing is used when approximate result is required
It is used for reconnaissance survey, preparation of military
plans and approximate checking distances.
Although pacing is imprecise, it can be useful when checking the
positions of property and construction layout markers
Varies with uphill, downhill, and your age
Low accuracy
No equipment needed
 2.Odometer
An odometer coverts the number
of revolutions of wheel of known
circumference to a distance.
Lengths measured by an
odometer on a vehicle are
suitable for some preliminary
surveys in route-location work.
They also serve as rough checks
on observations made by other
methods
1. Taping
 taping is the linear measurement of the horizontal
distance between two points using a surveyor’s tape.
 tapes come in a variety of lengths and materials. For
engineering work the lengths are generally 10 m, 30 m, 50
m, 100 m.
It is fairly quick, easy and cheap, and hence is the most
common form of distance measurement.
Accessories

Synthetic tapes are lighter and more flexible But they are less accurate since
they can stretch easily.

Steel tapes are more accurate but they require extra care since they can
break easily
Arrows are made of tempered steel wire of diameter 4mm
One end of the arrow is bent into a ring of diameter 50mm and the other
end is pointed
Its overall length is 400mm
An arrow is inserted into the ground after every chain measured on the
ground
Ranging poles

Ranging rods are 2 to 3 m in length

Used for ranging some intermediate points on the survey
line.
Painted with alternate bands of black and white or red and
white colours, with length of each equalizing 20 cm
These colours are used so that the rod can be properly
sighted in case of long distance or bad weather.
Made of timber or steel.
Used to mark the position of
stations
Pegs are in length of 15 cm
Used to transfer points on ground.
Used for fixing instrument exactly over the stations
DISTANCE MEASUREMENT BY TAPE
 Slope distance is measured with the tape positioned
along the ground- this is then converted to its horizontal
distance

Slope distance = AB = L
 Horizontal distance = AB’ = A’B = D
 Vertical distance = AA’ = BB’ = V= ΔH
Slope distances are usually measured by laying the tape on the surface
of the ground or structure as shown in Figure (a)
 Over steep surfaces or undulating ground, the tape may be held
horizontally as in Figure (b), this technique is known as stepping.
 A tape may also be suspended between two points-catenary taping

Tape measurement methods

Taping
Case 1: when the length to be measured is less than that of the tape,
measurements are carried out by laying the tape along the straight line
between the points.
Taping cont’

Case 2: when the length of the line between two points exceeds that of the
tape, some form of alignment is necessary to ensure that the tape is
positioned along the straight line required.
This is known as ranging and is achieved using ranging rods and marking
arrows.
Taping cont’

Case 3: Plumbing
Measuring a distance
 The procedure for measuring line AB
If starting at A, a ranging pole is pushed in the ground as
vertical as possible at point B
 The leader, carrying another ranging pole, unwinds the
tape and walks towards point B, stopping just short of a
tape length, at which point the ranging pole is held
vertically.
 The follower steps a few paces behind point A and
lines up the ranging pole held by the leader with point
A and with the pole at B. This is known as ranging by
eye and should be done by the follower sighting as low
as possible on the poles.
 Cont,

 The tape is now straightened. The zero point is set against A

by the follower and it is laid against the pole at B by the
leader. With the tape in this position it is pulled taut and the
tape length marked by placing an arrow in the ground next
to the full length of the tape or some convenient graduation.

 For the tape length the leader and follower move ahead
simultaneously with tape unwound, the procedure being
repeated but with the follower now at the first survey arrow or
mark. Before leaving point A, the follower erects a ranging
pole at A, as this will be sighted on the return measurement
from B to A, which should always be taken as a check for
gross errors.
 Cont,

As measurement proceeds the follower picks up

each arrow and on completion the number of arrows
held by the follower indicates the number of whole
tape lengths measured. This number of tape lengths
plus the section at the end less than a tape length
gives the total length of the line.
Sources of Error in Taping
No measurements can be perfectly performed thus, all measurements
(except counting) must contain some errors.
There are three fundamental sources of error in taping:
1. Instrumental errors, defects in the equipment used. A tape may differ in
actual length from its nominal graduated length because of a defect in
manufacture or repair.
2. Natural errors, natural errors due to weather conditions. The horizontal
distance between end graduations of a tape varies because of the effects of
temperature, wind, and weight of the tape itself.
3. Personal errors, human errors resulting in tape-reading errors.
Common mistakes when taping
 Misreading the tape
 Using a false zero and then forgetting its value
 Kinks or breaks especially in steel tapes lead to
misreading the tape

Systematic errors in taping

 Standardization
 Slope correction
 Tension
 Temperature variations
 Sag (catenary)
Standardization
 Although tapes are precisely manufactured to a nominal length,
they become worn, kinked, stretched or improperly spliced after
breaks. They should therefore be checked periodically against a
standard. This can be done in two ways:
 Having a special tape to be used only for checking and
standardizing other tapes.
 Maintaining precisely measured permanent marks to check
working tapes.
 The effect of incorrect nominal length can produce errors in
length measurements. For instance, after some time a tape of
nominal length 30m may be reading either 30.020m or 29.977m.
From standardization measurements a correction is computed as
follows
𝐿(𝑙 ′ −𝑙) 𝑙′ 𝑙′
 Standardization correction = 𝐿( − 1)= 𝐿 −𝐿
𝑙
𝑙 𝑙
 Corrected length = L(l’/l)
 Correct area = Measured area x (l’/l)2
 Where L = measured length of the line
l = nominal length of field tape
l’ = standardized length of field tape
 The sign of the correction depends on the values of l and l‟.
However since l‟ is usually greater than l, this correction is
usually positive and shows that when a tape is stretched and is too
long it reads too short.
Slope correction
 Figure below shows a sloping line AB. To determine the
horizontal distance D between A and B, the slope angle of
the ground θ can be measured (Figure (a)

Figure (a) and (b): Slope correction

 D= Lcosθ where L is the slope distance (measured)
 Slope correction = -L(1-cosθ)
 When converting an observed slope distance to its
horizontal equivalent, the slope correction is always negative
and is applied to the measured length L.
 If the height difference between the two points is
known and the slope between them is uniform then 2
∆ℎ
∆ℎ2 ∆ℎ4 −
 Slope correction =− − 2𝐿
2𝐿 8𝐿3
Where ∆ℎ is the height difference between A and B
 For slopes less than 10% the last term in the above
equation can be ignored.
Tension
 Only considered for steel tapes because steel is elastic and the
tape length varies with applied tension.
 Every steel tape is manufactured and calibrated with a standard
tension of 50 N applied.
𝐿(𝑇𝐹 −𝑇𝑆 )
 Tension correction =
𝐴𝐸
 Where TF = tension applied to the tape (N)
TS = standard tension (N)
A = cross-sectional area of the tape (mm2)
E = modulus of elasticity for the tape material (N mm-2)
(for steel tapes typically 200,000 N mm-2)
 The sign of the correction depends on the magnitude of TF and
TS
Temperature variations
 Only considered for steel tapes because they contract and
expand with temperature variations. Therefore, if a tape is used
at a field temperature different from the standardization
temperature, then a correction has to be applied to the measured
length.
 Temperature correction = αL(tf – ts)
 Where α = the coefficient of expansion of the tape

Material (e.g. 0.0000112 per °C for steel)

tf = mean field temperature (°C)
ts = temperature of standardisation
 The sign of the correction depends on the magnitude of tf and ts
Sag (catenary)
 Only applied to steel tapes

Figure above: Measurement in catenary

 Since the tape reading required is the chord between the end
points of the distance a sag correction must be applied to the
catenary length measured.
 𝑤 2 𝐿3 cos 𝜃2 𝑊 2 𝐿 cos 𝜃 2
 Sag correction = − =
24𝑇𝐹2 24𝑇𝐹2
 Where θ = the angle of slope between tape supports
w = the weight of the tape per metre length (N m-1)
W = the total weight of the tape (N)
TF = the tension applied to the tape (N)
 When converting a measurement to its equivalent chord
length, this correction is always negative.
Combined formula
 After calculating all the corrections to the measured tape distance,
they are combined in one equation called the combined formula as
follows
 D = L – Slope ± Standardization ± Tension ± Temperature – Sag
 Where, D = Horizontal distance

L = measured slope distance

 For vertical measurements V
 V = VM ± Standardization ± Tension ± Temperature
 Where VM = measured vertical distance
Example:
The length of a line was measured by a tape suspended in catenary
under a pull of 134N, the mean temperature being 160 𝐶 at a slope
angle of 40 and a reading of 29.898m was obtained.
The tape was standardized on the flat and its standardized length
was 30.015 at 200 𝐶and 89N tension. What is the actual length of the
line?
 Cross-sectional area of tape 3.24 mm2
 Mass of tape 0.026 Kg/m
 Coefficient of linear expansion 0.0000009 per C
 Young‟s modulus 15.5× 104 Nmm-2
 Nominal length 30m
Worked example : Measuring a horizontal distance with a
steel tape
Question
A steel tape of nominal length 30 m was used to measure the distance between
two
points A and B on a structure. The following measurements were recorded with
the tape suspended between A and B:
Line Length measured Slope angle Mean temperature Tension applied
AB 29.872 m 3°40' 5 °C 120 N
The standardised length of the tape against a reference tape is 30.014 m at 20 °C
and 50 N tension. The tape weighs 0.17 N m–1 and has a cross-sectional area of
2 mm2.
Calculate the horizontal length of AB.
Solution
A series of corrections is computed as follows
slope correction = -L(1-cos ) = –29.872 (1 – cos 3°40') = –0.0611 m

𝐿(𝑙 ′ −𝑙) 29.872(30.014−30)

Standardisation correction = = = +0.0139𝑚
𝑙 30

𝐿(𝑇 −𝑇 ) 29.872(120−50)
Tension correction = 𝐹 𝑆 = = 0.0052𝑚
𝐴𝐸 2×200000
Temperature correction = αL(tf – ts) =0.0000112 x 29.872 (5 -20) = –0.0050 m
2
𝑊 2 𝐿3 cos 𝜃2 0.172 ×29.8723 ×cos 30 40′
Sag correction = − = = −0.0022𝑚
24𝑇𝐹2 24×1202

Horizontal length AB = 29.872 - 0.0611 + 0.0139 + 0.0052 - 0. 0050 - 0 0022 = 29.8228m

=29.823m (to the nearest mm)
Thank you