The Pontifical and Royal

University of Santo Tomas

The Catholic University of the Philippines
Faculty of Engineering

Department of Civil Engineering | CE 223L: Fundamentals of Surveying Fieldwork/Laboratory

FIELDWORK NO. 7
RECIPROCAL LEVELING

1. Objective: To determine the relative elevations of two widely separate intervisible points by reciprocal
leveling. This is a group activity.

2. Introduction: Reciprocal leveling is performed when it is not possible to locate the levelling instrument
between the intervisible points, reciprocal levelling is performed. This is useful in case of ponds, rivers,
canals etc.

3. Instruments:
1-Steel Tape 1-Theodolite/Auto Level with Tripod
2-Leveling Rods 1-set Marking Pins/Markers 1-Plumb Bob

4. Activity(ies):

Site: Roque Ruaño Building

Procedure:
1. Know the assigned area to your group;
2. Set marking pins on points A (BM1) and B (BM2);
3. Set and level the instruments near point A;
4. Get four (4) rod readings at point A and four (4) rod readings at point B. Always rotate the telescope in 1 full
turn and make sure that the bubbles are centered before taking each rod reading;
5. Transfer, set up and level the instruments near point B, then repeat Step 4; and
6. Compute the difference in elevation between the two benchmarks.

5. Formula:

CE 223L| Fieldwork No. 7: Reciprocal Leveling 1