A Topographic Survey: Maps, Angles

A topographic survey is a survey made to secure data from which may be made a topographic map indicating the relief or elevation and irregularities of the land surface. (1) Maps are based on measurements of distances, directions and heights. Surveying is the name given to the methods of making these measurements. The simplest and most commonly used method of measuring the distance between two points on the ground is called chain surveying. It is very similar to the way in which the distance between two points on a piece of paper is measured using a foot-rule. In chain surveying the place of the foot-rule is taken by a chain which is laid down in a straight line between the two points. Small areas are often surveyed entirely by chain survey provided the ground is not too rough. (2) Angles in surveying are measured with special instruments called theodolites. In its simplest form the theodolite is a telescope mounted above a horizontal circular scale, which is rather like a protractor. It is marked in degrees, minutes and fractions of minutes. (There are 60 minutes one degree). Theodolite also allows the measurement of angles in a vertical plane, such as the angle between the horizont and the top of a tall building or hill.

A Topographic Survey: Route Survey

(3) Route survey is a survey necessary for the location and construction of transportation or communication lines such as highways, railroads, canals, transmission lines and pipe-lines. The preliminary work consists of a topographic survey. Mine surveying makes use of the principles of land, topographic and route surveying with modifications in practice made necessary by altered conditions. Both surface and underground surveys are required. City surveying is the term frequently applied to the operation of laying out lots and to the municipal surveys made in connection with the construction of streets, water supply systems and sewers. (4) The maps and data produced by surveyors are used by civil engineers in many ways. Before construction begins the exact position of the various parts of the dam, or the track of the railway or road, are fixed on the ground by using normal surveying methods. In choosing the site for a dam, for instance, an engineer can study on a map the courses of all the streams in the area. By reading the contours he can calculate the amount of water which can be stored by building a dam of a given height in a certain place. In the same way the results of soil survey marked on a map will give the engineer vital information about the foundations. When deciding the route of a railway or road, the gradients, radii of curves, heights of embankments and depth of cutting can be calculated from data supplied by the surveyor. In case of a tunneling which is usually carried out from both ends simultaneously a base line is set out on the ground at each end and the course followed by the tunnellers is continually checked by measuring both levels and angles with reference to the base line. By this means it is possible to make the two tunnels meet accurately or within 1 or 2 inches over a distance of a mile or more.