Contours

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Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMuGz
HMFuyESlide 2

SURVEYING with Construction / Barry F.

Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
 Contours

Contour Lines (C.L.): are lines drawn on a plan that connect points having the
same elevation.
Contour Interval (C.I.): is the difference in elevation between two successive
contour lines.

 It is commonly accepted that elevations can be determined to half the contour

interval; this convention permits, for example, a 10-ft contour interval on a plan
where it is required to know elevations to the closest 5 ft.

925
915

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Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
 Contours
Scaling between two adjacent points of known elevation enables the surveyor to
plot a contour. Any scale can be used.

Example: Plot contour lines 103 and 105 103

101 104 109

Given Scale = 1:1000

103
103 contour line computations 103
In the horizontal direction: 4 cm represents 3m difference in 4 cm
elevation (DIE) (101 to 104, 104-101 = 3m)
Required is the point of elevation that represents elevation of 103 (
difference in elevation (DIE) = 2 m, 103-101 = 2 m) 107
So, 4 cm represents 3 m DIE
108
106
? cm represents 2 m DIE
= [(4x2)/3] =2.7 cm
In the vertical direction: : 4 cm represents 5m difference in elevation
(DIE) (101 to 106, 106-101 = 5m)
Required is the point of elevation that represents elevation of 103 ( 4 cm
difference in elevation (DIE) = 2 m, 103-101 = 2 m)
So, 4 cm represents 5 m DIE
? cm represents 2 m DIE
= [(4x2)/5] =1.6 cm 108
108
4 cm 4 cm

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Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
105 contour line computations
In the horizontal direction: 4 cm represents 5m difference in
elevation (DIE) (104 to 109, 109-104 = 5m)
Required is the point of elevation that represents elevation of 105
( difference in elevation (DIE) = 1 m, 105-104 = 1 m)
So, 4 cm represents 5 m DIE
? cm represents 1 m DIE
= [(4x1)/5] =0.8 cm
In the vertical direction: : 4 cm represents 3m difference in
elevation (DIE) (104 to 107, 107-104 = 3m)
Required is the point of elevation that represents elevation of 105
( difference in elevation (DIE) = 1 m, 105-104 = 1 m)
So, 4 cm represents 3 m DIE
? cm represents 1 m DIE
= [(4x1)/3] =1.3 cm 105
101 103 104 109
In the vertical direction: : 4 cm represents 5m difference in
elevation (DIE) (101 to 106, 106-101 = 5 m)
Required is the point of elevation that represents elevation of 105 103
( difference in elevation (DIE) = 4 m, 105-101 = 4 m) 103
So, 4 cm represents 5 m DIE
? cm represents 4 m DIE 105 4 cm
= [(4x4)/5] =3.2 cm 105
107 108
106

4 cm

108
108
4 cm 4 cm
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Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
 107
101 103 104 105 109

103
103
4 cm
105 107

105 107 110

106

107 4 cm

108
110 111
4 cm 4 cm

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Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
 Summary of Contour Characteristics
The following list provides a summary of contours:

1. Closely spaced contours indicate steep slopes.

2. Widely spaced contours indicate moderate slopes (spacing here is a relative
relationship).

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Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
 Summary of Contour Characteristics

3. Contours must be labeled to give the elevation value. Either each line is labeled
or every fifth line is drawn darker (wider) and labeled.

4. Contours are not shown going through buildings.

Building

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5. Contours crossing a built horizontal surface (roads, railroads) are straight
parallel lines as they cross the facility.

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6. Because contours join points of equal elevation, contour lines cannot cross.
(Caves present an exception.)

7. Contour lines cannot begin or end on the plan.

107
101 103 104 105 109

103
103
4 cm
105 107

105 107 110

106

107 4 cm

108
110 111
4 cm 4 cm

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Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
 8. Depressions and hills look the same; one must note the contour value to
distinguish the terrain (some agencies use hachures or shading to identify
depressions).

X X Y Y
100
104 101
102 103 102
101
103
100 104

104

103

102

101

100

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9. Contours deflect uphill at valley lines and downhill at ridge lines. Contour
line crossings are perpendicular: U-shaped for ridge crossings, V-shaped for
valley crossings.

SURVEYING with Construction / Barry F.

Kavanagh / Seventh Edition
10. The ground slope between contour lines is uniform. If the ground slope is not
uniform between the points, additional readings (by total station or level) are taken
at the time of the survey.

11. Important points can be further defined by including a spot elevation (height
elevation).
101 104 109

103

105 4 cm
107
107 110
106
109
108.2
4 cm

108 110 111

4 cm 4 cm

12. Contour lines tend to parallel each other on uniform slopes.

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 Constructing Contour Points in the Field
B.S. 11.95 ft

B.M. (33)
Elev. =701.5 ft

A
4
B
3
C
2
D
1

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 Point B.S H.I I.S F.S Elevation

B.M. (33) 11.95 713.45 701.5 ft

A1 11.95 701.5

A2 11.45 702.0

A3 9.15 704.3

A4 6.75 706.7

B1 11.55 701.9

B2 10.15 703.3

B3 6.85 706.6

B4 6.35 707.1

C1 10.45 703.0

C2 8.95 704.5

C3 7.15 706.3

C4 4.75 708.7

D1 8.35 705.1

D2 6.85 706.6

D3 5.45 708.0

D4 3.15 710.3

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SURVEYING with Construction / Barry F.
Kavanagh / Seventh Edition