Route surveys

Linear portion Curved portion

- Plunging by ranging rod
Depending on
- Reversing by theodolite
type of curve,
- Rope
different
methods are
employed
Horizontal Curve
Plan View

Vertical Curve

Profile View
 Change in horizontal alignment

IN

OUT

Change in vertical
alignment
i. Simple circular curve

ii. Compound Curve

iii. Reverse curve

iv. Broken back curve

v. Spiral curve
 Deflection angle
between back
Point where tangent and fore
back tangent tangent
and fore
tangent
meets Where
Where curve
curve ends
starts

Radius of
the curve
The tangent The tangent
line before line after the
the beginning end of the
of the curve curve is called
is called the the forward
Back tangent tangent
 Length of curve is the
Distance from point B to
curve distance from
PI is External distance
BC to EC
Tangent length is the
length from BC to PI

The longest possible

chord of the circular
curve is long chord Longest distance from
(LC). long chord to curve is
mid-ordinate.

Internal
angle
O

Terms used in simple circular curve

180° - 90° - (90° - Δ/2)
180° - 90° - Δ/2
180° = (90-Δ/2)+(90- Δ/2) + x
x=Δ
By Arc definition By chord definition

𝑺 = 𝒓𝜽 𝟓𝟎
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝒇𝒕 = 𝑹𝑫 𝑺𝒊𝒏 𝑫/𝟐 =
𝑹
𝟏𝟎𝟎 × 𝟑𝟔𝟎°
𝑫=
𝟐𝝅𝑹
𝟓𝟕𝟐𝟗. 𝟓𝟖
𝑫=
𝑹
1. Tangent length (T)

𝐼𝑛 ∆𝑂 − 𝑃𝐼 − 𝐵𝐶,
∆ 𝑇
𝑡𝑎𝑛 =
2 𝑅
∆
⇒ 𝑇 = 𝑅 𝑡𝑎𝑛
2

2. Length of Long Chord (LC)

𝐼𝑛 ∆𝑂𝐵 − 𝐵𝐶,
𝐿𝐶
∆
𝑆𝑖𝑛 = 2
2 𝑅
∆
⇒ 𝐿𝐶 = 2𝑅 𝑆𝑖𝑛
2
3. External distance/ordinate (E)

𝐼𝑛 ∆𝑂 − 𝑃𝐼 − 𝐵𝐶,
PI − O = R + E
∆ 𝑅
Cos =
2 𝑅+𝐸
⇒ E =RCos ∆/2 −1 − 𝑅
∆
⇒ 𝐸 = R 𝑆𝑒𝑐 −1
2
4. Mid ordinate (M)
𝐼𝑛 ∆𝑂𝐵 − 𝑃𝐼,
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐵𝑂 = 𝑅 − 𝑀
∆ 𝑅−𝑀
𝐶𝑜𝑠 =
2 𝑅
∆
−𝑀 = 𝑅 𝐶𝑜𝑠 −𝑅
2
∆
𝑀 = 𝑅 1 − 𝐶𝑜𝑠
2
5. Length of Curve (L)
𝑠 = 𝑟𝜃
𝐿=𝑅∆
2𝜋
𝐿= 𝑅∆
360°
6. Chainages

𝑃𝐼 = 𝐵𝐶 + 𝑇 𝐸𝐶 = 𝐵𝐶 + 𝐿
𝑦 = 𝐷𝐴 = 𝐷𝑂 − 𝐴𝑂
𝐼𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑂𝐶𝐷,
𝑂𝐷 = 𝑅2 − 𝑥 2
𝐼𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑂𝐴𝑇1 ,
𝐴𝑂 = 𝑅2 − 𝐿𝐶/2 2

𝑦= 𝑅2 − 𝑥 2 − 𝑅2 − 𝐿𝐶/2 2 O
x= Distance along the
long chord (LC)
having zero at LC/2.
y= offset distance
from LC to curve

𝑦= 𝑅2 − 𝑥 2 − 𝑅2 − 𝐿𝐶/2 2
 𝑦 = 𝑅 − 𝐸𝑂
And,
𝐸𝑂 = 𝑅2 − 𝑥 2
∴ 𝑦 = 𝑅 − 𝑅2 − 𝑥 2

𝑥2
𝑦=𝑅− 𝑅2 − 𝑥 2 𝐸𝑥𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑦= (𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒)
2𝑅
half stations

No. Chainage x (ft) Y (ft)

half stations

No. Chainage x (ft) Y (ft)

 INTERIM PD
INTERIM PD

BC EC

BC
 𝑅
Chord Length ≤
20

𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑇1 𝑎 = 𝑅 2𝛿 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠

𝜋
𝐶𝐿 = 2𝑅𝛿 × 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠
180°
𝑂𝑅
𝐶𝐿
𝛿 = 28.65 ×
𝑅
No. CL Cumulative CL 𝛿 Cumulative 𝛿