SURVEYING

1st Semester, 2017-2018

Parts of the Instrument and Leveling Head

Aim: To introduce you to the automatic level and leveling head on the instrument. The three screw
leveling head is found on most modern survey instruments including levels, theodolites, and EDM
systems.

Typical parts of an automatic level

The instrument is secured to the tripod head

using the tripod screw.

Right side of Level

The levelling head has three parts:

A top plate or tribrach which carries a

spirit level and the instrument
Three levelling, or foot, screws
A foot plate or trivet that attaches to the
tripod head

Also labeled in this picture:

The horizontal circle, which allows the

instrument to be used to measure
horizontal angles to an accuracy of 1
(Not found on all instruments)
The object focusing screw, which is used to bring the staff or other image in to focus.

Top of Level

This picture shows the instrument controls:

Spherical level is a bubble spirit level

attached to the tribrach and referenced to the
axis of the telescope. In use the bubble must be
within the circle for the instrument to give a
horizontal sight line (Collimation).
The eye piece is adjustable and should be
set for each observer to bring the cross hairs in to
sharp focus. The instrument can be rotated by
hand, using the 'gun sight' on top of the
telescope to find the staff.
Tangent screws (one on each side) allow fine adjustment when aligning the telescope on the
staff, or setting out a horizontal angle using the horizontal circle.
The Telescope is focused using the object focus screw on the right side of the instrument.

Left side of level

The only new component in this view is

the mirror over the spherical level. This
mirror allows the observer to see the
bubble and confirm that the instrument is
correctly leveled before taking a reading.
Not all instruments will have a mirror.
 Linear bubble level

Not all instruments have exactly the same

features. This automatic level has a linear bubble
level. It only has one tangent screw and the
horizontal circle is replaced by marks at 90
intervals to allow setting out of right angles.

Eye piece focusing of the cross hairs and an

object focus screw are usually provided on all instruments.

Adjusting the levelling head

Aim: to level the tribrach so that the telescope rotates in a horizontal plane.

Leveling an instrument with a linear bubble tube.

Align the bubble tube parallel to two foot screws.

Facing the instrument rotate both foot screws in

opposite directions at the same time. Either thumbs
moving inwards or thumbs moving outwards.

The bubble moves in the direction of the left thumb.

When the
bubble has
settled in
the exact center of the tube the instrument is level on
this axis.

Rotate the telescope through 90 so the bubble tube is

aligned with the third leveling screw.

The first two screws are level so they must not be

touched.

Using the left hand adjust the third leveling screw to

center the bubble. Again the bubble will move in the
same direction as the left thumb.
 With the bubble centered the instrument should be level.

As a check rotate the instrument through 90. If necessary

re-level the original two foot screws and repeat the rotation
to check the third one.

You may have to do two sets of adjustments before the

instrument is level and the bubble remains in the centered
of the tube as the telescope is rotated.

The tube is engraved with calibration marks to show the

centered. The bubble must be no more than one space on
the calibration scale off the centered for the compensator
to work.

Leveling an instrument with a spherical spirit level.

Align the telescope parallel to two foot screws.

Facing the instrument rotate both foot screws in opposite

directions at the same time. Either thumbs moving inwards
or thumbs moving outwards.

The bubble moves in the direction of the left thumb.

When the
bubble has
settled opposite the centered mark the instrument is level
on this axis.

The bubble will probably be against the side of the circular

spirit level, and needs moving in to the centered.

The first two screws are level so they must not be

touched.

Using the left hand adjust the third leveling screw to

centered the bubble. Again the bubble will move in the
same direction as the left thumb.

With the bubble centered the instrument should be level.

As a check rotate the instrument through 90. If

necessary re-level the original two foot screws and
repeat the rotation to check the third one. The tube is
engraved with a calibration circle to show the center. The
bubble must remain within this circle for the compensator
to work.
Principle of the Automatic Level

Aim: To describe the basic principle of an automatic level.

Principle of leveling.

The level is an optical instrument that provides a

height reference. This reference is a horizontal plane
through the axis of the telescope, known as the
"Height of Collimation".

Once the height of collimation (or instrument height)

has been measured the height of other stations can
be found by measuring from this plane with a staff.

The height of collimation is found by taking a

backsight to a staff placed on a bench mark. The staff
reading is added to the bench mark value to obtain
the height of collimation.

Once the height of collimation has been found ground

height at any spot below this plane can be found by observing the staff and subtracting the staff
reading from the height of collimation.

The Automatic Level

It is essential that the sight line through the

telescope is exactly horizontal. If not errors will
occur. One solution to this problem is the
automatic level.

The automatic level has a compensator

mechanism that uses a combination of fixed
prisms or mirrors and a moving prism suspended
on a pendulum to give a horizontal reference.
When correctly set up the compensator will
ensure that the ray of light through the centre of
the reticule is exactly horizontal.

Design of the compensator mechanism varies

with each manufacturer, so the diagram above is intended to show the principle of the method, not a
specific instrument.

Not shown in the diagram is a damping mechanism to stop the pendulum from continuing to swing
when the instrument moves. The quality of the damping mechanism is very important; too little
damping will give an unsteady image which may blur in windy conditions, but too much damping
may lead to errors if the pendulum does not respond to slight movements of the instrument.

The reticule is a glass plate with fine cross hairs engraved to provide the height reference. The eye
piece should be adjusted to bring the reticule into sharp focus. The internal focusing lens is then
controlled by the focusing screw on the side of the instrument to bring the staff image in to focus on
the reticule.
Staff and its graduation

Aim: To demonstrate how to read a leveling staff that conforms to British Standard 4484.

Leveling staff

Two "E" pattern staffs are shown on the right, note slight differences in the
marking and numbers. The "E" pattern is designed to make it easy to read a
small section of the scale when seen through a telescope.

The staff is simply a large ruler, available in lengths of 3, 4 or 5 meters and

usually made of aluminum with telescopic sections.

The sections have locking buttons to ensure accurate

length is maintained.

Some staffs also have an extended length scale in

mm on the back.

Measurements are in meters and cm (10mm blocks)

which enable heights to be estimated to 1 mm.
Alternating colours are used to differentiate each meter length, the most
common being black and red on a white background.

Major graduations occur at 100 mm intervals and are denoted by figures. Minor
graduations are at 10 mm intervals and form colored squares or intervening
spaces. The lower 50 mm of any 100 mm block are joined by a band to form the
distinctive E pattern which is designed to make reading a small section of the
staff in the telescope easier.

Example staff readings are shown below:

Through the telescope

Aim: To demonstrate how to read a leveling staff that conforms to British Standard 4484.

Focus the reticule.

The reticule (or diaphragm) is a glass plate with fine lines etched on
it to provide the horizontal reference and stadia marks for estimating
distance. When first looking through the telescope rotate the eye
piece to bring the reticule in to sharp focus.

Each observer will need to focus the reticule to allow for their own
eye.

Failure to do so will cause parallax, where a small movement of the

eye's position will cause the horizontal lines to give a different staff
reading.

With the eye piece focused you will see a vertical and a
horizontal line dividing the field of view. The middle
horizontal line marks the horizontal plane through the
telescope (height of collimation) and is the reference for all
height readings.

There may also be two short stadia lines. Stadia are used for
measuring the distance to the staff by multiplying the
difference between the two stadia readings by a constant
(usually 100).

Focus on the staff

Align the telescope on the staff using the gun sight on the top of the
instrument and gently rotating the telescope by hand.

Using the side focusing screw bring the staff in to sharp focus.

Fine adjustment of the alignment can be made with the tangent

screw.

Check that the spirit level bubble is within the central portion of the
scale before reading the staff.

In this view the staff reading is 2.993

Upper stadia = 3.040

Lower stadia = 2.946
Stadia difference = 0.094
Distance to staff = 0.094 x 100 = 9.4 meters

Note that stadia distances have a low level of accuracy; one mm

error in staff reading gives a distance error of 0.1 meter
Check that the staff is vertical.

It is essential that readings are taken when the staff is

vertical. If the staff is not vertical the reading will be
larger than it should be, as you are measuring a slope
distance, and will give errors.

Some staffs are fitted with a spherical spirit level and

handles to help the staff person keep it vertical. Even
with a spirit level it is difficult to hold a staff vertical.
This difficulty increases in wind.

Staff leaning forward

reading high

To read the staff when vertical the surveyor use the

vertical reticule line to direct the staff person to move
the top of the staff left or right of the sight line.

The staff person then slowly tilts the top of the staff
towards and away from the instrument so that it will
pass through the vertical. The staff will appear to move
up and down in the telescope field. The lowest reading
is recorded as this is the point at which the staff is
vertical.

Staff vertical
lowest reading

Staff leaning back

reading high
Height References

Aim: To introduce Bench Marks as a height reference.

OS Bench Mark (OSBM).

OS Bench Marks are established by

the Ordnance Survey to provide height
references. They are usually carved
into stonework or other stable
material that is unlikely to be
disturbed.

The center of the horizontal groove is

the height reference.

Heights are given in meters above OS

Datum on large scale OS plans and
other references.

Temporary Bench Marks (TBM)

Temporary Bench Marks are often established around the survey

site. TBMs may be surveyed in to the OS Datum by leveling
between the site TBMs and an OSBM.

A site datum may be established instead and all levels referred to

a TBM that has been given an arbitrary value (usually 100.000
meters, or a value that ensures all heights will be positive).

TBMs require to be stable. The main site reference is often a steel

pin set in a block of concrete but wooden pegs set in concrete with a nail head providing the
reference level are often used.

It is good practice to establish a number of TBMs around the perimeter of a building site as a
precaution against the only site height reference being disturbed or dug up part way through the
contract.