CV201 Elements of Surveying

Lecture 12:

Plane Tabling
Dr. Sreekumar M.
NITK, Surathkal
 Mapping
200 m

150 m

• Control
• Filling of details – Too many offsets, costly instruments etc.
• Mapping: an office work – What if there is an error ?

2
Plane Table Surveying
• Fieldwork and plotting work is done
simultaneously.

• Adapted for surveys in which high

precision is not required.

• Mainly employed for small-scale or

medium size mapping.

3
Equipments used in PT
• Plane Table + Tripod

• Alidade – Simple or Telescopic

4
Equipments used in PT
• Trough compass

• Spirit level

• Plumbing fork + bob

• Tape

5
Equipments used in PT
• Plumbing fork + bob

• Tape

6
Advantages of PT
• Map of the area is plotted in the field, i.e. both the field work and the plotting
are done simultaneously.
• Direct measurements of lines and angles are avoided as they are obtained
graphically.
• Field notes of the measurements are not required, and thus the errors in
booking are eliminated.
• Correctness of plotted work can be checked by check observations in the field.
• Cheaper and speedy method.
• Most suitable for preparing small-scale maps.

7
Disadvantages of PT
• Since the field notes are not maintained, it is inconvenient to calculate the
quantities or re-plot the survey to a different scale if required.

• Not intended for accurate work and large scale surveys.

• Not suitable in bad weather conditions.

• Difficulty due to sunlight on white paper.