CEVB 211 SURVEYING PRACTICAL TRAINING

LABORATORY EXPERIMENT NO. 2

LEVELLING ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY BENCH MARK (TBM)

SECTION: 03

NAME
MUHAMMAD FIKRIL AZIM BIN ABDUL SANI

ID
CE094946

DATE OF LABORATORY SESSION

: 5 NOVEMBER 2015

DATE OF REPORT SUBMISSION

: 19 NOVEMBER 2015

LAB INSTRUCTOR
AHMED

: DR. AL MAHFOODH ALI NAJAH

TABLE OF CONTENT
CONTENT

PAGE

Table of Content

Summary/Abstract

Introduction

Materials or Equipments

5-13

Discussion

14

Conclusion

14

References

14

PROBLEM STATEMENT
As a civil engineer, you are required to apply the knowledge of levelling to
establish a temporary benchmark for a new project site.

ABSTRACT/SUMMARY
Basically, the equipment that will be discussed in this report will help me
in establishing the temporary benchmark for an easier way and more
accurate method for levelling.

It has no relevance to property lines, right-of-ways, or other surveyed

features, and is only used to complete the survey.

A temporary benchmark (TBM) is a fixed point with a known elevation

used for level control during construction works and surveys. Nails in road
seals, or marks on kerb & channel are commonly used as temporary
benchmarks.

Basically, the equipments are the main key for the practical training. Even
though we already know the basic concepts of the devices and the
procedure of the levelling for example, without the equipments, we cannot
carry out the practical training since it is the most crucial components for
this practical course.
In addition, we need learn and must be exposed to the usage and how to
handle the equipments itself. In other words, we need to identify the
apparatus and their usage to be able to carry out the surveying
procedure.

INTRODUCTION

A temporary benchmark in surveying is a control point that is set by a

surveyor to base other points off of. They will assign it an elevation, and
other points that are surveyed off of that point will have a relative
elevation rather than an absolute elevation.
A marking, or location, with a known elevation. These markings are not
usually permanent. They are used by a person doing leveling work as
intermediary points when carrying a known elevation from one point to
another. TBMs can as simple as the top of the ground surface where you
drag your foot to mark the spot. They could also be the top of a rock or
wooden stake, or even an "X" or "+" scratched into concrete or rock. It is
desirable for TBMs to be something that can be found at a later time so
that elevations can be rechecked.
The students need to minimize the errors by first, identifying the error
sources and the procedures. It is the main component of this course. In
addition, it is important for the students to acquire surveying data during
laboratory periods, applying fundamental concepts for data adjusting and
developing a preliminary route plan, all by cooperative efforts among the
students, individually and grouping.

OBJECTIVE

To establish a new Temporary Bench Mark (TBM)

Apparatus
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Automatic Level (1 unit)

Tripod (1 unit)
Levelling Staff (2 units)
Staff Bubble (2 units)
Hammer, nails and spray

Procedure
1. The experiment is began from a known reference point, nearest
Bench Mark (BM) or TBM. Otherwise, a reference point to be BM is
selected and the RL to be assumed as 100.000 m.
2. Change point (CP) is established along the levelling route to the new
TBM.
3. The distance between the Backsight (BS) and Foresight (FS) should
be almost equal (not more than 60 meters)
4. The loop to the starting point is closed (known as reference point)
5. When closing the levelling loop to the starting point, the same
established points (CP) are observed.
6. The misclosure is calculated and accordingly distributed.
7. The allowable misclosure is 0.017 mm.
8. All the observations shall be booked in the provided levelling form.
Only booking by pen is accepted.

DISCUSSION
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEODOLITE AND TOTAL
STATION?
6

Theodolites
A Theodolite is an instrument for measuring both horizontal and vertical
angles, as used in triangulation networks. It is a tool used in the surveying
and engineering industry, but theodolites have been adapted for other
specialized purposes as well. A theodolite consists of a telescope mounted
movably within two perpendicular axes, the horizontal axis, and the
vertical axis.
Total Stations
Total station is an optical instrument used in modern surveying. It is a
combination of an electronic theodolite (transit), an electronic distance
measuring device (EDM) and software running on an external computer,
such as a laptop or data collector.

Levels
The builder's level is often mistaken for a transit, but is actually a type of
inclinometer. It measures neither horizontal nor vertical angles. It simply
combines a bubble level and telescope which allows the user to visually
establish a level line of sight along a plane.

Basically, the total station can simultaneously measure the vertical,

horizontal angles and slope distances, then it can be transferred to a
computer to generate map. But, for the theodolite, it can be used for
measuring both horizontal and vertical angles only.

Discussion
Precision of levelling As with all techniques used in engineering surveying
it is important to estimate how accuracy of the measurements taken. An
assessment of the quality of levelling can be made by calculating the
misclosure for a line of levels. This is determined by comparing the
reduced level of the closing bench mark with the level obtained for it by
calculation from the staff readings. On construction sites and other
engineering projects, levelling is usually carried out over short distances
and it can involve a lot of instrument positions. The allowable misclosure
for a line of levels is given by:

Allowable misclosure =

Where, m is a constant and n is the number of instrument positions used.

The value most often used for m is 5mm m n

When the misclosure obtained from staff readings is compared to the

allowable misclosure, if miscloure is greater than the allowable value the
levelling is rejected and must be repeated. If the misclosure is less than
the allowable value, then the levelling is accepted and adjusted. The value
of m depends on the site conditions. For example if the levels found are to
be used for earth work excavations m might be 30mm. For setting out
steel and concrete structures excavations m might be 3mm. In some
cases m is specified in the contract documents.

Conclusion
The primary purpose of this report is to identify the usage of all
equipments used for surveying procedure, thus enable me to use the
equipments properly based on what I have learnt from the class and the
further investigation about those equipments.

References

http://www.tcd.ie/civileng/Staff/Brian.Caulfield/3A1/3A1%20Lecture
%205.pdf