Article 3.

2 Levelling Equipment In Surveying

Presentation By Team 1
 Levelling Equipment in
Surveying
Content
1. What is levelling?
2. Levelling Equipment Definition
3. Automatic Levels
4. Rotating Lasers
5. Tilting Lasers
6. Level Tube
7. Tripod
8. Levelling Staff
9. Staff Bubbles
10. Dumpy Level
1. What is Levelling?

Levelling in surveying is the

process of determining the
height of one level relative
to another. It is most widely
used to establish the
elevation of a point relative
to a datum, or to establish a
point at a given elevation
relative to a datum.
 2. Levelling Equipment Definition

Levelling Equipment is an optical instrument used to establish or verify

points in the same horizontal plane in a process known as levelling, and is used in
conjunction with a levelling staff to establish the relative height levels of objects or
marks.
 3. Automatic Level

An auto level is an optical instrument that have a internal

compensator mechanism which automatically adjusts the line of sight.
Advantages of Auto Level

• It is very easy to use.

• Auto level results are very reliable.
• The price of auto level is low and affordable.
• Therefore, it saves time and money.

Disadvantages of Auto Level

• Vertical angles cannot be measured.

• Horizontal angle measured in the auto level is not very accurate.
4. Rotating Laser

A rotary laser level is an instrument that spins a beam of light fast enough to
create a complete 360 degree horizontal or vertical plane. They can be used
internally for fit-out projects or externally, with a laser receiver and staff, for
groundworks – i.e. digging down or building up.
Advantages of Rotating lasers

• It is suitable for quick levelling.

• It has the longest working range.

Disadvantages of Rotating Lasers

• It can be expensive.
• It requires careful handling.
• It can be difficult to use at first.
 5. Tilting Level

Tilting level consists a telescope which enabled for the

horizontal rotation as well as rotation about 4 degree in its vertical
plane.
Advantages of Tilting Level

The advantage of tilting level over other types of levelling instruments is that as the
instrument is to be only approximately levelled by using the foot screws, much time is
saved, which would be otherwise lost in bringing the bubble exactly to the center of its
tube by using the foot screws.

Another advantage is that the grades or lines with a particular gradient can be laid by
means of the micrometer screw.
Disadvantage of Tilting Level

The main disadvantage of tilting levels is that before each reading is made, the
tubular bubble must be set correctly. This is due to the absence of a compensator.

Uses of Tilting Level

Originally, the tilting levels were designed for preliminary works only, but now they
have become very popular and are being used for ordinary levelling also.
6. Level Tube
It works based on the principle that water seeks its own level. When the two
ends of the tube are held up, the water surfaces will always rest at the same vertical
plane. This offers an advantage over a spirit level as it can mark the same height
between large distances regardless of changes in the ground.
7. Tripod

The tripod consists of three legs and a head where the level instrument is mounted.
The tripod could be of aluminum or wood material. When leveling the level instrument,
the
tripod head must be set approximately level beforehand by adjusting the tripod legs.
Advantages of using a tripod

• It can support any surveying instruments such as theodolite, total

stations, levels, or transit.
• It has stability so it doesn’t shake.

Disadvantages of using tripod

• It takes time to set up a tripod.

• It is heavy to carry.
 8. Levelling Staff
The one of the main instrument used in levelling is levelling staff.
The leveling staff is a box section of aluminum or wood, which will extend
to 3 or 5 m in height by telescoping, hinging or addition of sections. One
face has a graduated scale attached for reading with the cross-hairs of the
level telescope.
 9. Staff Bubbles

These are generally a small circular bubble on an angle plate which is held against
one corner of the staff to ensure that the staff is held in a vertical position. If the staff is not
held vertical, the reading will be too large and may be significantly in error.
10. Dumpy Level

It is a short and stout with a telescope tube connected rigidly connected rigidly to
the vertical spindle. Hence the level tube cannot move in vertical plane. It cannot be
removed from its support. Hence it is named as dumpy level. The telescope rotates
in horizontal plane in the socket of the levelling head. A bubble tube is attached to
the top of the telescope.
Advantages of Dumpy level

• It is very easy to use.

• Level reading are accurate.
• The price of dumpy level is cheap compared to other instruments.

Disadvantages of Dumpy Level

• It is limited to only horizontal angle measurement.

• The angles obtained by dumpy level are not very accurate.