ELEMENTARY SURVEYING

FIELD MANUAL
2006

FIELD WORK NO. 3

TAPING ON SLOPING GROUND

COURSE AND SECTION: __________________

SUBMITTED BY:

SN. __________ NAME: ____________________ STUDENT NO.: ____________

GROUP NO. _____ CHIEF OF PARTY: ___________________________

DATE OF FIELD WORK: ____________ DATE OF SUBMISSION: ____________

SUBMITTED TO:

PROFESSOR: __________________________
GRADE

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 FINAL DATA SHEET

FIELD WORK 3 TAPING ON SLOPING GROUND

DATE: GROUP NO:

TIME: LOCATION:
WEATHER: PROFESSOR:

A. TAPING ON SLOPING GROUND (UP HILL AND DOWN HILL)

TRIAL LINE NUMBER OF PARTIAL TOTAL MEAN

FULL TAPE TAPE DISTANCE DISTANCE
LENGTH LENGTH (M) (M) (M)
1 AB 4.00 m 0.01 m 2.01 m
2.01 m
2 BA 4.00 m 0.01 m 2.01 m

1 TAPE LENGTH = ___0.50 m___

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ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the breaking the tape method in
measuring the horizontal distance of a sloping terrain?

The advantage of using the breaking the tape method in measuring horizontal distances

of a sloping terrain is it makes it easier for the surveyors to measure long sloping distances.

Since the tape is divided into certain lengths, it gives accurate distance measurements. It

can also be useful for when the surveyors do not have an Abney level at hand. However,

since we are hovering the tape above ground when measuring the horizontal distance of

sloping ground, the disadvantage of using this method is the tape will sag, and the tape

might not be completely horizontal because the person downhill could be holding the tape

too low or too high. 

2. Give other methods of determining the horizontal distance between two points.

In determining the horizontal distance between two points, we can use the break the

tape method, Abney hand level, and parallel distance measurement, to name a few. Another

method used is dynamic taping. Similar to slope taping, we measure along the slope;

however, we also measure the vertical angle to compute the horizontal distance in dynamic

taping.

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COMPUTATIONS

A. TAPING ON SLOPING GROUND (UP HILL AND DOWN HILL)

Total Distance = ( No. of Full Tapelength * No. of 1 Tapelength ) + No. of Partial Tapelength

Total Distance (AB) = 4 (0.5) + 0.01 = 2.01 m

Total Distance (BA) = 4 (0.5) + 0.01 = 2.01 m

( 2.01+ 2.01 ) m
Mean Distance = = 2.01 m
2

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SKETCHES

Steel Tape
Tool used for measuring the distance from point to point

Chalk
Tool used for marking the distance from point to point

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CONCLUSION

Based on the result of the data gathered from the fieldwork, I can conclude that we can

measure the long horizontal distance of a sloping ground like stairs using only the breaking the

tape method. The surveyor must measure the slope as carefully and systematically as possible

to obtain a more accurate result. In other words, the surveyor must practice the value of

patience and follow all the procedures carefully and systematically to make precise

measurements. 

Moreover, I observed that some errors might occur due to sag. It could potentially create

a sag when one of the surveyors either holds the tape too low or too high horizontally above the

sloping ground. Nevertheless, after the fieldwork, I learned how to skillfully determine the

horizontal distance of a sloping ground using the breaking the tape method. 

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APPLICATION

The method of taping on sloping ground can be applied to measure the horizontal

distance of a sloping ground by breaking the tape method up and down the slope. This method

measures shorter distances to allow the tape to be held horizontally or below chest level. In the

fieldwork, we applied this method in measuring the horizontal distance up and down the slope

of a stair.

However, the accuracy of the data gathered will also depend on the taping error/s that the

surveyor/s are bound to make since the tape is hovered above the ground, thus, creating a

taping error due to sag. Hence, the surveyor/s must correct this error/s to get more accurate

data.

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REFERENCES

Surveying_Field_Manual

Mabuti, R. (2015). Taping on Sloping Ground: Field Work Report No. 2. PDFCOFFEE.COM.

Retrieved 11 October 2021, from https://pdfcoffee.com/fieldrp3-pdf-free.html.

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