LABORATORY EXERCISE NO.

3
TAPING over UNEVEN and SLOPING GROUND

OBJECTIVE:
To determine the horizontal length of a line over uneven and sloping ground by the method of
breaking tape.

A. INSTRUMENTS and ACCESSORIES:

30-m tape, chaining pins, range pole, pegs or hubs, chalk or marking crayons and spring scale
sand plumb bob.

B. PROCEDURE:
1. Measuring uphill.
a) On a designated uneven and sloping terrain, mark the ends of a line(about 90m long) to
be measured. Designate the hub at the bottom of the slope as point A and the hub at the upper portion
of the slope as point B. Range poles are held or set behind each point to serve as markers, or are set at
intermediate points along the line to ensure better alignment during taping.
b) Head tapeman unreels and spreads out the tape and pulls the zero mark uphill along the
line from point A. The rear tapeman raises the 30-m end of the tape breast high while the head tapeman
moves back to a place on the line near a full meter mark where the ground surface is as high as the
other raised end of the tape. The head tapeman stays by the side of the line measured and holds a
chaining pin on the ground.
c) The rear tapeman temporarily releases end of the tape and signals head tapeman to
either move to the right or to the left in order to align him. When the pin of the head tapeman is in line
with the range pole held over point B, the head tapeman is then signaled to stick the pin vertically into
the ground.
d) The rear tapeman plumbs from point A to the terminal mark of the tape with a plumb
bob and maintains this plumb bob steadily over A while head tape man pulls the tape taut, and making
sure that the tape is on line by bringing one of the edges in contact with the previously aligned pin. The
head tapeman then moves the pin opposite the nearest full meter or of the tape and he will stick it
firmly into the ground.
e) The rear tapeman leaves the end of the tape, moves up the slope and get hold of the tape
at the point previously held by the head tapeman. The next measurement is made horizontally from the
pin stuck in the ground by the head tapeman as done at point A.
f) The process is repeated until the whole tape length is used up thus finishing the
measurement of one tape length of horizontal distance.
g) From the pin marking the end of one tape length measurement, the horizontal
measurement is continued until point B is reached. The last partial tape length is measured with the rear
tapeman holding the tape until he has the full meter mark at his end while the head tapeman pulls the
tape taut and takes note of the fractional measurement. Then the number of tape lengths and the last
partial measurement are totaled to determine the horizontal length of the line measured.

2. Measuring downhill.
a) In measuring down the slope, the tape is reversed to bring its zero end forward in the
direction of point A along the line. Horizontal measurements starts from B with the rear with the rear
tapeman holding his terminal meter mark of tape in level with B.
b) After the plumb bob of the head tapeman has been aligned with the range pole held at A,
the head tapeman drops the plumb bob causing it to leave a mark on the ground. He then sticks a pin at
the ground mark left by the plumb bob.
c) The next horizontal measurement starts from the pin until one whole tape length is
measured. As in measuring up the slope, the number of tape length plus the partial tape length at the
end of the line determines the total horizontal length of the line.
d) Tabulate observed and computed values accordingly.

Trial Line Length (m) Difference Mean Relative Precision

1 AB 258.50 0.35 258.675 6.77 x 10-4

2 BA 258.85

C. COMPUTATIONS:
1. The discrepancy for the measurement is the difference between the first measurement and
the second measurement.
2. The mean length of the measured line is determined by adding the two measurements and
dividing the sum by two. This is also known as the most probable value of the length of the line.
3. The relative precision of the measurement is determined by dividing the discrepancy by the
mean length, and the numerator is reduced to unity.

X1= 258.50

X2 = 258.85

For Difference

Line BA –Line AB
258.85-258.50=0.35

For Mean
x́ = Line AB +Line BA = 258.50+258.85 = 258.675m
2 2
Relative Precision (Rp)

Rp = Standard devation = Sd = r
Length L L

2
r= √(x́−x ) +( x́ −x )
1 2
2

r = (258.675−258.50)2+¿ ¿ ¿
√
r = 0.175

precision = 258.675 ± 0.175m

Relative Precision (Rp) = Sd = 0.175 = 6.77 x10-4

L 258.675