Department of Civil and Enviromental Engineering

Surveying Lab

Profile and Cross-section Leveling

Lab Number

( 7 )

Student Name :…………………………………………………….

Student Number :…………………………………………………….

Student Section :…………………………………………………….

Submission Date
………/………./………..

Prepared by Dr Rami Al-Ruzouq

LAB 6: Profile and Cross-section Leveling
Objective:

 Learn to perform in field profile and cross-section leveling.

 compute the elevations and draw profile and cross-sections in appropriate scales.
 Perform levelling using height of collimation (HPC) method .
 Perform Misclosure and Asthmatic check for your readings.

Instruments:
 Automatic level
 Staffs
 Tape
 Tripods
 Ranging poles
Field procedures

1. Longitudinal Profile

a. Mark the stations along the profile line with ranging poles. The stations should be
10m apart.
b. Select one station and mark all points of the cross-section at this station also
using ranging poles.
c. Start the leveling from appropriate bench mark taking backsight staff reading and
record it in the field book together with the point number.
d. Take staff readings at all stations and cross-section points that you can see from
this particular setup of the level. The readings should be recorded in column
“Intermediate” in the field book. It is very important to record the station
number on the same row as the corresponding reading!
e. When you have observed all visible profile and cross-section points, select a
turning point (TP), take a foresight staff reading at it and record it in the field
book together with the point number.
f. Keep the staff set at the turning point, move the level foreword on a new setup
and take backsight reading at the same turning point!
g. Continue the leveling with a sequence of intermediate, foresight and backsight
readings until you have observed all required points.
h. The leveling should be finished with foresight reading on a bench mark.

2
Recording Data:

All readings should be recorded in field book (see attached table). Do not leave empty
rows in the field book. Each reading should be recorded on the same row as the point
number it is taken on.
Computations:

All computations, of elevation differences and elevations, should be performed in the

same field book based on HPC method :
Misclosure and Arithmetic checks.

3
2. (Longitudinal) section Profile drawing (Figure 2):

a. Select appropriate scales: for example 1:1000 for distances and 1:100 for
elevations.
b. Each station is known by its distance from the starting point of the profile.
Compute the corresponding map distances for each station in the selected
scale. For example station 0+070.000m is located 70.000m from the
beginning of the profile. In scale 1:1000 70m should be represented by
distance d=70/1000m=0.07m=7cm.
c. Select appropriate datum elevation: It should be a rounded elevation lower
than the less elevation that should be drawn in the profile. For example if
computed elevations are 0 m.
d. Draw a 2 rows table on the bottom of the page- in the first row should be
recorded the station numbers- cumulative distances of the profile and in the
second- the elevations of the corresponding points. The top border of the table
is used as x-axis and is assigned an elevation equal to the selected height of
datum.
e. Each station should be drawn using as x-coordinate the station number in the
selected scale and as y-coordinate the elevation difference between the point
and datum also in the selected scale. For example if a point has elevation
965.248m and the datum elevation is 950m the y-coordinate in scale 1:100 is
(965.248-950)m/100= 0.152m=15.2cm.

4
What to submit in your Report:

1. Data table that contains all your reading for the 10 meter intervals
2. The reduced level of all Points .
3. Error analysis and conclusions that include Arithmetic check for the center line
Run
4. Profile and cross-section drawings
 Draw a profile of the road segment. The distance in meters from BM is on
the x-axis while the elevation is on the y-axis. Vertical scale should
different from horizontal scale.
 Draw the cross sections 1, and 3 where the variation in elevation across
the width of the road (Elevation, section 1, 2 and 3). Use the road width as
the x-axis ( 0 at the left edge, half width at the centerline and full width at
the right edge).
 Figure 3 below shows an example of a road profile segment in a, while
and cross section of the road at station different stations.

Figure 3: Longitudinal Section and Cross Sections