Prof. P.

Porchelvan

Bearings and Angles:

The direction of a survey line can either be established

i) With relation to any meridian or
ii) With relation to each other
The first will give the bearing of the line while the second will give the angle between two
lines.

Bearing of a line is its direction (clockwise) relative to a given meridian (North). A

meridian is any direction such as (i) True Meridian (ii) Magnetic meridian (iii) Arbitrary
meridian

True Meridian: Line passing through north and south poles of the earth
Magnetic Meridian: A line is a direction shown by a freely floating magnetic needle
Arbitrary Meridian: It is any convenient direction towards a permanent mark or a signal.

Designation of Bearings:

i) Whole Circle Bearing System ( W.C.B. System)

ii) Quadrantal Bearing System (Q.B. System) or Reduced Bearing System
(R.B. System)

W.C.B System – In this system, the bearing of a line is always measured clockwise from
the north point of the reference meridian towards the line right round the circle as shown in
the figures.

Q.B. System - In this system, the bearing of lines are measured clockwise or
anticlockwise form the north or south, whichever is nearer to the line as shown in the
figures.
Compass

The direction of the survey lines is measured with the help of an instrument known as
compass. Compass being light and portable, is most suited for reconnaissance and
exploratory survey. A compass is a small instrument essentially consisting of magnetic
needle, a graduated circle, and a line of sight with least count of 30'. It can not measure
angle between two lines directly. The angles between two survey lines or points are
measured with theodolite. It is used to measure both horizontal and vertical angles with
least count of 10" or 20".

Types and Uses of Compass

The compass can measure angle of a line with reference to

magnetic meridian at the instrument station point is called
magnetic bearing of a line. The angle between two lines is
then calculated by getting bearing of these two lines. In the
figure, the bearing of a line OA is 320° and the bearing of a
line OB is 40°, is observed with compass which is at the
point O. Therefore the angle AOB is calculated as 280°

There are two forms of compass available

 The Prismatic Compass
 The Surveyor’s Compass

The essential parts of both types are:

i a magnetic needle,
ii a graduated circle,
iii a line of sight, and
iv a box to house them.

There are some differences in the essential parts of the two type of compass. The
difference between prismatic and surveyor’s compass are listed in Table below.