Traversing

Purpose
The purpose of this exercise is to collect traverse measurements using a total station and automatic
data collector or controller.

Equipment
At a minimum you will need a total station (TS), tripod, two prisms with poles, two bi-pods, data
collector or controller, field book, clipboard and pencil.

Field Notes
Provide a sketch of the survey. Make a note of the direction of survey (it must be counter-
clockwise). Provide a north arrow. Provide your horizontal and vertical precision of your survey.
Provide the angular misclosure.

Field Procedure
• Select a traverse different from what you had in the previous traversing lab. Consult your
instructor in identifying suitable points / traverses.

In the following notes the points are numbered as Point 1, 2, 3 and 4 for simplicity.
1. A single sighting target will be placed on monument 10A or 10 by the lab instructor for use by
every crew.

2. Center and level your instrument on the point that is furthest from point 10A or 10. This will
be your second known point.

3. Turn on the controller and connect to your total station. Interaction with the instrument and
data input must be done from the controller not the instrument.

4. Input the temperature, pressure, and humidity in the instrument.

5. Create a job file in the data collector using the following information. Name the file P11name,
where name is the first five characters of your last name (or last name if less than five
characters).

6. Go to “User” > “System Settings” > “Regional Settings” and change the units to US feet with
4 decimal places. Also, go to “Angle” and make sure that you measure in North Azimuths.

7. Then go to “Jobs and Data” and select “Choose Control Job”. Select “New”. Create a new
control job file by using the same name as previously. Select it by clicking OK. Then go to
“Create Control Data”. Create a new point and input he following information:

Point ID Monument Northing (UsFt) Easting (UsFt) Elevation (UsFt)

1 10 420540.048 2444530.475 1284.345
2 10A 420530.671 2444541.571 1285.155

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8. The coordinates of your starting point (i.e., your second known point) in your traverse can be
found online in Canvas in the “Control Coordinates” excel sheet. Add it to your control data
file by creating a new control point. The point ID should be “2”.

9. Chang the “Measure and Target Settings”, select the appropriate prism, the measuring mode
should be “Averaging” with 3 measurements, and target aiming should be “manual”. Change
these settings for both the survey and setup menus. Hit OK.

10. Go to the “Go to work!” menu, and select “Survey+” and then Select “Traverse”. Create a new
Traverse. Name it TR1.

11. In the Parameters tab “Measure sequence” should be BS > FS ^ FS > BS. Go the Quality
Control tab Hz and V tolerance should be 10’’, distance tolerance and height limit should be
0.0328 ft

12. The controller will redirect you to the “Total Station Setup” menu. The setup method should
be “Known Backsight”. Make sure that your job name shows up under the “Job:” line. If not
search for your job and add it.

13. Your point ID should be 2. Enter the “Instrument height”. Click OK. Then the backsight ID
should be 1. Input the “Target Height”. This is the height of your reflector.

14. Aim at point “1” and select “Dist”, the instrument will measure the distance and will check
your backsight. Then select “Set” if you are within the tolerance values. This will set the
orientation.

15. The controller will show the following message: “What do you want to do? Measure foresight
point or measure survey point”. For this lab always select “FS Pt: Measure foresight point”.

16. Change the number of sets to 1. You will measure in 1DR. Change the foresight ID to number
3. Aim at your next traverse point. Hit “Dist”. If the measurement is within the tolerances hit
store. Follow the instructions of the instrument. It will tell you when you need to aim at the
backsight or foresight and in what face.

17. After you take all your measurements for this setup, the controller will redirect you to the “Point
Results” screen. Hit OK. It will ask you “What do you want to do?”. Select “Move to the next
station”.
18. Go and setup on your foresight point (Point 3). Aim and measure the backsight and foresight
points (backsight point is 2, foresight is 4).
19. Then go and setup at point 4; backsight at 3 and this time instead of “FS Pt” select “Close:
Measure closing point”. Take the backsight and foresight measurements. Hit OK, this will
redirect you to a page that provides your precision in 2D and 1D and other relevant information.
If the precision is higher than 1:10,000 hit OK again. A new screen appears that asks “What do
you want to do?”. Select “Move and close angle”.
20. Move to point 2 again. Go back to the Traverse menu. Backsight should be point 4. Select close
by known point; then select point 1 as your foresight.

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21. Next the controller asks “What do you want to do?”. Select “Adjust: Perform Adjustment”. For
horizontal adjustment select the “Compass rule”. Hit OK. The controller will adjust the traverse
and will give you your accuracy in 2D and 1D.

Note: At each set-up, measure the HI and re-enter into the controller. Maintain the
HRs to the original set values. There is no need to change HRs at each set-up.

22. Rotate the duties among the party members as the angles are measured around the traverse.
Split the angle observation duties. If you have three party members, each party member is
required to measure at least one interior angle by 1DR.

Submissions Information
1. Angular misclosure should satisfy K = 12” (FCGS Third Order Class II) where n is the number
of average angles in the traverse.
Callow = K n

1. Your horizontal traverse precision should be higher than 1:10,000 (third order class I).
2. Your vertical traverse precision should be higher than 1:5,000.
3. Provide the misclosure, traverse precisions, and adjusted coordinates below. Also, submit your
field book.

Angular Closure = __________________

Horizontal Traverse Precision = ___________________

Vertical Traverse Precision = ___________________

Point Monument X (Easting ft) Y (Northing ft) Z (Elevation ft)

1
2
3
4

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