Lecture 6

Dr. Hasan A Alhussaini

Lecturer at Civil Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering / University of Kufa
email : [email protected]
Kufa/ An-Najaf
Iraq

18/11/2017 1 Outlines
 Outlines

▪ Level Types
▪ Differential Leveling
▪ Precision
▪ Adjustment of Simple Level Circuits

18/11/2017 2 Definitions
 Level Types
▪ Instruments used for differential levelling can be classified into
four categories: dumpy levels, tilting levels, automatic levels,
and digital levels. Although each differs somewhat in design, all
have two common components: (1) a telescope to create a line
of sight and enable a reading to be taken on a graduated rod and
(2) a system to orient the line of sight in a horizontal plane.
▪ Electronic laser levels that transmit beams of either visible laser
or invisible infrared light are another category of levelling
instruments. They are not commonly employed in differential
levelling, but are used extensively for establishing elevations on
construction projects.
▪ Dumpy levels: are rarely used today, having been replaced by
these other newer types

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18/11/2017 Tilting Level
 Level Types
Tilting Levels
▪ Tilting levels were used for the most precise work. With these
instruments quick approximate levelling is achieved using a
circular vial and the levelling screws.
▪ Precise level in preparation for readings is then obtained by
carefully centring a telescope bubble. This is done for each sight,
after aiming at the rod, by tilting or rotating the telescope slightly
in a vertical plane about a fulcrum at the vertical axis of the
instrument. A micrometre screw under the eyepiece controls this
movement.

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18/11/2017 Automatic Level
 Level Types
Automatic levels
▪ Automatic levels incorporate a
self-levelling feature.
▪ Most of these instruments have a
three-screw levelling head, which
is used to quickly centre a circular
bubble, although some models
have a ball-and-socket Three-screw Level
arrangement for this purpose.
▪ After the circular bubble is
centred manually, an automatic
compensator takes over, levels the
line of sight, and keeps it level.

Ball-and-socket Level
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18/11/2017 Micrometer
 Level Types
Automatic levels
▪ Thus, a horizontal line of sight
is achieved even though the
telescope itself may be slightly
tilted away from horizontal.
▪ Automatic levels have become
popular for general use because
Level with micrometre
of the ease and rapidity of their
operation. Some are precise
enough for high-order work if a
parallel-plate micrometre is
attached to the telescope front
as an accessory.

Micrometre
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18/11/2017 Digital Level
 Level Types
Digital Levels
▪ It is classified in the
automatic category because
it uses a pendulum
compensator to level itself,
after an operator
accomplishes rough
levelling with a circular
bubble.

Digital Level

18/11/2017 7 This processing

 Level Types
Digital Levels
▪ At the press of a button, the image of bar codes in the telescope’s
field of view is captured and processed.
▪ This processing consists of an onboard computer comparing the
captured image to the rod’s entire pattern, which is stored in
memory.
▪ When a match is found, the rod reading is displayed digitally. It
can be recorded manually or automatically stored in a survey
controller.
▪ The length of rod appearing within the telescope’s field of view
is a function of the distance from the rod. Thus as a part of its
image processing, the instrument is also able to automatically
compute the sight length.

18/11/2017 8 Differential Levelling

 Differential Levelling

Point No. BS (+) HI FS (-) Elevation Remark

BM1 2.156 52.889 50.733
TP1 2.887 53.831 1.945 50.944
TP2 0.792 52.638 1.985 51.846
BM2 2.774 49.864 Ele. BM2=49.871

2.887 1.985 0.792 2.774

2.156 1.945

B TP2 BM2
A TP1 C
BM1

9 Notes
 Differential Levelling
Notes
▪ The addition and subtraction to compute HIs and elevations is
done directly in the notes at the time the data is collected, and
should never be saved for later.
▪ It is important in differential levelling to run closed circuits (loop
or section) so that the accuracy of the work can be checked.
▪ The intermediate points upon which the rod is held in running a
differential levelling circuit are called turning points.
▪ Careful selection of stable turning points is essential to achieve
accurate results.
▪ If possible, it is advisable to select turning points that can be
relocated, so if reruns on long lines are necessary because of
mistakes, fieldwork can be reduced.

18/11/2017 10 Notes
 Differential Levelling
▪ Balancing plus and minus sight distances will eliminate errors
due to instrument maladjustment (most important) and the
combined effects of the Earth’s curvature and refraction. This
can be done by pacing, by stadia measurements, or by counting
pavement joints if working along a track or roadway, or by any
other convenient method.
▪ The stadia method determines the horizontal distance to points
through the use of readings on the upper and lower (stadia)
wires on the reticle.
𝑫 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝑰
Where D is the distance from instrument to rod, and I is the stadia
interval (upper minus lower rod reading)

18/11/2017 11 Notes
 Differential Levelling
▪ On slopes it may be somewhat difficult to balance lengths of plus
and minus sights, but following a zigzag path can do it usually.
▪ Before a party leaves the field, all possible note checks must be
made to detect any mistakes in arithmetic and verify achievement
of an acceptable closure. The algebraic sum of the plus and minus
sights applied to the first elevation should give the last elevation.
𝑬𝒍𝒆. 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 = 𝒆𝒍𝒆. 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 − ෍ 𝑩𝑺 + ෍ 𝑭𝑺

▪ If the starting benchmark’s elevation above datum is not known,

an assumed value may be used and all elevations converted to the
datum later by applying a constant.
▪ Double-rodded lines (or double-side rod) of levels are sometimes
used on important work (precise levelling)

18/11/2017 12 Precision
 Precision
▪ To determine whether or not work is acceptable, misclosures
are compared with permissible values on the basis of either
number of setups or distance covered.
▪ The final elevation should agree with the starting elevation if
returning to the initial benchmark. The amount by which they
differ is the loop misclosure.
▪ If closure is made to another benchmark, the section misclosure
is the difference between the closing benchmark’s given
elevation and its elevation obtained after levelling through the
section.
▪ Note that in running a level circuit between benchmarks, a new
instrument setup has to be made before starting the return run
to get a complete check.

18/11/2017 13 Precision
 Precision
▪ The following formula is to compute allowable misclosures:
𝑪=𝒎 𝑲
where C is the allowable loop or section misclosure, in millimetres; m
is a constant; and K the total length levelled, in kilometres; m is 4, 8,
and 12 mm for the three classes of levelling, designated, respectively,
as first-order, second-order, and third order.
▪ On construction sites and other engineering projects, levelling is
usually carried out over short distances and it can include a lot
of instrument positions. For this type of work, the allowable
misclosure for levelling is given by:
𝑪=𝒎 𝒏
Where m is a constant and n is the number of instrument positions. A
value often used for m is 5 mm.

18/11/2017 14 Example 1
 Precision
Example: A differential levelling loop is run from an established BM
A to a point 2 mi away and back, with a misclosure of 0.056 ft.
What order levelling does this satisfy?

𝐶 = 0.056 ft × 304.8 mm/ft=17 mm

𝐾 = 2 𝑚𝑖 + 2 𝑚𝑖 × 1.61 𝑘𝑚/𝑚𝑖 = 6.4 𝑘𝑚

𝐶 17
𝑚= = = ±6.7
𝐾 6.4
This levelling meets the allowable 8-mm tolerance level for second-
order

18/11/2017 15 Example 2
 Precision
Example: Is the misclosure of the below differential levelling
acceptted?

𝐶 = 49.864 − 49.871 = −.007 𝑚 = −7 𝑚𝑚

𝑛=3
𝐶 = 𝑚 𝑛 = 5 3 = ±8.6 𝑚𝑚
As long as measured misclosure (7 mm) is less than allowed one (8.6
mm), then it is accepted.

18/11/2017 16 Adjustment of Simple Level Circuits

 Adjustment of Simple
Level Circuits
▪ Since permissible misclosures are based on the lengths of lines
levelled, or number of setups, it is logical to adjust elevations in
proportion to these values.
Example: Adjust the differential levelling in previous example.
𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 = −7 𝑚𝑚
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = +7 𝑚𝑚 = +0.007𝑚
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑠 = 3
Point No. Measured Elevation Adjusted Elevation

BM1 50.733 ----

TP1 50.944 +𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟕 It should be

𝟓𝟎. 𝟗𝟒𝟒 + 𝟏 × = 𝟓𝟎. 𝟗𝟒𝟔
𝟑 exactly the same of
TP2 51.846 +𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟕 the known
𝟓𝟏. 𝟖𝟒𝟔 + 𝟐 × = 𝟓𝟏. 𝟖𝟓𝟏 elevation
𝟑
BM2 49.864 +𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟕
𝟒𝟗. 𝟖𝟔𝟒 + 𝟑 × = 𝟒𝟗. 𝟖𝟕𝟏
𝟑
17
18/11/2017 Example
 Adjustment of Simple
Level Circuits
Example: Adjust the below differential levelling.
L=1.0 km P1=63.253
L=0.8 km
BM1=73.027

BM1=73.043 P2=71.453

L=0.7 km P3=65.677
L=1.1 km

𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 = 73.043 − 73.027 = +0.016 𝑚

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = −0.016 𝑚
Point No. Measured Elevation Adjusted Elevation
BM1 73.027 ----
−𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟔
P1 63.253 63.253+(1.0 × ) = 𝟔𝟑. 𝟐𝟒𝟖
𝟑. 𝟔
−𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟔
P2 71.453 71.453+(1.8 × ) = 𝟕𝟏. 𝟒𝟒𝟓
𝟑. 𝟔
P3 65.677 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟔
65.677+(2.9 × ) = 𝟔𝟓. 𝟔𝟔𝟒
𝟑. 𝟔
−𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟔
BM1 73.043 73.043+(𝟑. 𝟔 × ) = 𝟕𝟑. 𝟎𝟐𝟕
𝟑. 𝟔
18/11/2017 18 End
 End of Lecture 6

Next lecture: Distance Measurements

18/11/2017
19