Surveying instruments

Contents
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1 Introduction
2 Theodolite
3 Measuring wheel
4 Dumpy level
5 Tripod
6 Total station
7 Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Introduction
Surveying is the process and technique of determining distances and angles between
points, used on construction sites for the purposes of levelling and setting out
works.

Surveying relies for its accuracy and efficiency on having the right instruments.
Surveyors use a range of instruments for land surveying and mapping, and setting
out.

Historically, surveying equipment might have included:

Chains with equal size links to measure distance between two points.
Compasses to measure the direction of a line.
Solar compasses to measure the direction and latitude of a particular point using
the sun and stars.
Dioptra to measure angles.
Measuring wheels to measure large distances.
Modern surveying equipment might include:

Theodolite
Theodolite.jpg

Theodolites were developed to measure precise horizontal and vertical angles for
the purpose of triangulation – determining the location and distance of a point
through the formation of triangles.

In its simplest form, a theodolite consists of a moveable telescope attached over

perpendicular axis. It is mounted on a tripod head by means of a tribarch
containing thumbscrews for tightening and loosening. The theodolite should be
placed vertically above the point to be measured using a plumb bob or laser
plummet. Tubular spirit bubbles are used to keep the instrument level.

A ‘transit’ is a type of theodolite developed in the early-19th century by railroad

engineers. As well as being able to turn horizontally, a transit has a vertical
circle and a telescope that can be inverted in the vertical plane.

Modern theodolites use an electronic rotary encoder to read the horizontal and
vertical circles to great levels of precision.

A gyro-theodolite comprises a gyroscope mounted to a theodolite and is used,

predominantly in mine surveying and tunnel engineering, to determine the
orientation of true north. Gyro-theodolites were used during the construction of
the Channel Tunnel to align the two tunnels as they were constructed from both
France and the UK.

A tachymeter (or tacheometer) is a type of theodolite used for rapid measurements.

Similar to a rangefinder, it can determine electronically or electro-optically, the
distance to a target.
Measuring wheel
Measuring-wheels.jpg

Surveyors use measuring wheels for quicker and lower accuracy surveys of long
distances by rolling it from the start to end point. Each revolution of the wheel
measures a specific distance, such as a yard or metre. Counting revolutions with a
mechanical device attached to the wheel measures the distance directly.

Dumpy level
Dumpylevel.jpg

A dumpy level consists of a telescope-like device fitted on a tripod stand and used
for establishing or verifying points in the same horizontal plane. Together with a
vertical staff, it is used to measure height differences and transfer elevations
during building surveys.

Variants include:

Tilting level: The telescope can be flipped through 180-degrees.

Auto level or self-levelling level: Includes an internal compensator mechanism
which automatically removes any variation when set close to level. This has the
advantage of ease-of-use and can be set up quickly.
Digital electronic level: This uses electronic laser methods to read a bar-coded
vertical staff.
Tripod
Most surveying instruments are fixed on a tripod, which acts as a support. Tripods
have three legs which can be extended or lowered as required.

Total station
Totalstation.jpg

A total station (sometimes referred to as a Total Station Theodolite TST) is a

modern theodolite which is a transit fitted with an electronic distance meter
(EDM).

A microprocessor unit in the total station processes the data collected to

determine:

The average of multiple angles measured.

The average of multiple distance measured.
The horizontal distance.
The distance between any two points.
The elevation of objects.
All three coordinates of the observed points.
The data that is collected and processed can be downloaded for further processing
by computer aided design (CAD), building information modelling (BIM) or geographic
information system (GIS) software.

These are now the most commonly used surveying instrument due to their precision
and accuracy. Total stations also enable field work to be carried out rapidly with
quick calculations of coordinates.

Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

Building survey.
Condition survey.
Construction tools.
Geophysical survey.
Global positioning systems and global navigation satellite systems.
How to layout a building.
Interview with David Southam about laser scanning in construction.
Land surveying.
Laser scanning.
Level.
Levelling.
Plumb level.
Robotic total station.
Site surveys.
Surveyor.
Tool and equipment care and maintenance.
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