SURVEYING
Traverse Calculation
Martha Leni Siregar
Horisontal Control
• Horizontal control is required for initial survey work (detail
surveys) and for setting out
• The simplest form is a TRAVERSE - used to find out the
co-ordinates of CONTROL or TRAVERSE STATIONS.
• There are two types:
– POLYGON or LOOP TRAVERSE
– LINK TRAVERSE
A B
F
A C
E
B D
E F G
C
D
A X
F B
A C
E
B D
E F G
C
Y
D
• Both types are closed. a) is obviously closed
b) must start and finish at points whose co-ordinates are known,
and must also start and finish with angle observations to other known points.
• Working in the direction A to B to C etc is the FORWARD DIRECTION
• This gives two possible angles at each station.
LEFT HAND ANGLES RIGHT HAND ANGLES
LINE DIRECTION
BEARING
Vary from 0 to 90 degrees
From North and South
Clockwise or counter clockwise
Two letters + numerical value
AZIMUTH
Vary from 0 to 90 degrees
From North and South
Clockwise or counter clockwise
Two letters + numerical value
Bearing
Azimuth
Azimuths are called forward or back azimuths to
represent, for example, the azimuths of AB and BA (see
figure). The back azimuth differs from the forward azimuth
by 360º on a grid map.
EXERCISES
1. If the azimuth of a line is in the second quadrant, then:
a. Bearing = S (180 - azimuth) E
b. Bearing = S (azimuth + 180) E
c. Bearing = S (azimuth - 180) W
d. Bearing = S (180 + azimuth) W
2. The azimuth of AB is 231?19’, and the angle at B is
134?42’ to the left. Find the bearings
of BA and CB.
3. The azimuth of BC is 98?24’, and the angle at C is
92?35’ to the left. Find the azimuths of
CB, CD and DC.
Example Traverse for coordinate
adjustment
110° 05' 00"
C
111° 25' 30"
65° 33' 30"
A 72° 54' 30"
D
Balancing Angles
To compute line directions, use adjusted angles
In a polygon measurement, the set of data
obtained by the surveyors usually cover:
- interior angles,
- bearing or azimuth of one of its sides
- distances
So,
-Need to balance the angles, make correction,
compute directions, departures and latitudes of
the sides, check the precision of measurement
Equal Corrections
• Distribute closure
Station Measured Angle Correction Adjusted Angle
A 65° 33' 30" 00" 65° 33' 30"
B 110° 05' 00" 30" 110° 05' 30"
C 111° 25' 30" 30" 111° 26' 00"
D 72° 54' 30" 30" 72° 55' 00"
SUM 359° 58' 30" 1' 30" 360° 00' 00"
Example Traverse: Balanced Angles
B
Measured:
•Direction of AB 110° 05'
•Distances 30"
•Internal angles C
111° 26'
00"
65° 33'
A 30"
72° 55'
00"
D
1. Balance the angles
2. Compute the directions
3. Compute Closures (error) in Departure n Latitude
4. Calculate coordinate
5. Adjust Azimuth and length
Computing Directions
B
110° 05' 30"
C
A
Compute Directions Clockwise Around Traverse
110° 05' 30"
C
Assume or find azimuth of AB
30° 15' 30"
Compute azimuth of BA (azimuth of AB 180°)
210° 15' 30"
A
Subtract angle at B
210° 15' 30" - 110° 05' 30" = 100° 10' 00"
Directions of Traverse Lines
Station Line Angle Azimuth Bearing
AB 30° 15' 30" N 30° 15' 30" E
B 110° 05' 30"
BC 100° 10' 00" S 79° 50' 00" E
C 111° 26' 00"
CD 168° 44' 00" S 11° 16' 00" E
D 72° 55' 00"
DA 275° 49' 00" N 84° 11' 00" W
A 65° 33' 30"
AB 30° 15' 30" N 30° 15' 30" E
Directions of Traverse Lines
D
Departures and Latitudes
• The latitude of a line is its projection on the north-
south meridian
– is equal to the length of the line times the cosine
of its bearing
• The departure of a line is its projection on the east-
west meridian
– is equal to the length of the line times the sine of
its bearingThe latitude is the y component of the
line and the departure is the x component of the
line
Computing Departures & Latitudes
• Compute by: Dep = L sin Lat = L cos
• Where: = azimuth L = length of line
North (+Y)
G
Lat. FG = L cos
L
F
East (+X)
Dep. FG = L sin
Example Traverse
D
Example Traverse
Departure = Length x sin (azimuth)
e.g. Dep. AB = 30.141 m x sin(30° 15' 30")
Latitude = Length x cos (azimuth)
e.g. Lat. AB = 30.141 m x cos (30° 15' 30")
Line Distance Azimuth Departure Latitude
AB 30.141 m 30° 15' 30" 15.1880 m 26.0347 m
BC 38.576 m 100° 10' 00" 37.9703 m -6.8091 m
CD 25.605 m 168° 44' 00" 5.0026 m -25.1116 m
DA 58.437 m 275° 49' 00" -58.1361 m 5.9223 m
Sum 152.759 m 0.0248 m 0.0363 m
If no error: Sum of Departure and Sum of Latitude = 0
Closure in Deps and Lats
• Closure: difference between known/computed position
– Linear error of closure (LEC)
– Relative error of closure (REC)
DEBC
C
DNBC =+931.227m
B
DNAB =+638.570m
DNCD
=-3677.764m A
DNDA =+2107.313m
DECD
DEDA
e is the LINEAR MISCLOSURE
C e = (eE2 + eN2 )
dep = eE
lat = eN eE A
eN e
A’
D
Linear Error of Closure
dep =
0.0248 m
A'
lat =
0.0363 m
0.044 m
LEC (dep)2 (lat) 2
A e.g. LEC (0.0248)2 (0.0363)2 0.044 m
LEC 0.044 m 1 1
REC
perimeter 152.759 m 3471.8 3470
1
REC = Precision (rounded to the nearest 100)
3400
Precision
What is the importance of Precision ratio?
-Requirement for level of accuracy for given works
-Ex: survey for new road design will pass with
1/3000 precision ratio, but for railway design it will
need a precision ratio between 1/7500 to 1/10000
-In this example calculation the survey will have to
be done again (Precision ratio:1/3400) if the work is
for railway construction
Traverse Adjustment
Compass Rule Adjustment
• Application
• Works for traverses with limited number of lines
lat correction line length
lat closure traverse length
dep correction line length
dep closure traverse length
Compass Rule
• Proportion is rearranged for computational efficiency
lat closure
lat correction line length
traverse length
dep closure
dep correction line length
traverse length
Compass Rule – Balance Departures
departure closure
Departure correction length
perimeter
- (0.0248 m)
dep. corr length - 0.00016235 length
152.759 m
Corrected departure = Departure + Departure correction
e.g. Corrected departure AB = 15.1880 + (-0.0049) = 15.183 m
Departure Corrected
Line Distance Departure
Correction Departure
AB 30.141 m 15.1880 m -0.0049 m 15.183 m
BC 38.576 m 37.9703 m -0.0063 m 37.964 m
CD 25.605 m 5.0026 m -0.0042 m 4.998 m
DA 58.437 m -58.1361 m -0.0095 m -58.145 m
Sum 152.759 m 0.0248 m -0.0248 m 0.000 m
Compass Rule – Balance Latitudes
latitude closure
Latitude correction length
perimeter
- (0.0363)
lat. corr length - 0.00023763 length
152.759 m
Corrected latitude = Latitude + Latitude correction
e.g. Corrected latitude AB = 26.0347 + (-0.0071) = 26.028 m
Latitude Corrected
Line Distance Latitude
Correction Latitude
AB 30.141 m 26.0347 m -0.0071 m 26.028 m
BC 38.576 m -6.8091 m -0.0092 m -6.818 m
CD 25.605 m -25.1116 m -0.0061 m -25.118 m
DA 58.437 m 5.9223 m -0.0139 m 5.908 m
Sum 152.759 m 0.0363 m -0.0363 m 0.000 m
Calculate Coordinates
XB X A Departure AB 10000 15.183 10015.183m
YB YA Latitude AB 5000 26.027 5026.027 m
XC XB Departure BC 10015.183 37.964 10053.147m
YC YC Latitude BC 5026.027 6.818 5019.209 m
Station Line Departure Latitude X Coordinate Y Coordinate
A 10000.000 m 5000.000 m
AB 15.183 m 26.027 m
B 10015.183 m 5026.027 m
BC 37.964 m -6.818 m
C 10053.147 m 5019.209 m
CD 4.998 m -25.118 m
D 10058.146 m 4994.092 m
DA -58.146 m 5.908 m
A 10000.000 m 5000.000 m
Adjusted Azimuths and Lengths
North (+Y)
G
Lat. FG
L
F
L = length of line FG
L dep 2 lat 2
East (+X)
Dep. FG
= azimuth of line FG
dep
α tan 1
lat
Calculating Azimuths and Lengths
L = length of line JK
North (+Y) L dep 2 lat 2
= azimuth of line JK
Dep. JK
dep
1
α tan
lat
J East (+X)
L Lat. JK
K
Compute Adjusted Azimuths/Lengths
Station Line Distance Azimuth X Coordinate Y Coordinate
A 10000.000 m 5000.000 m
AB 30.132 m 30° 15' 25"
B 10015.183 m 5026.027 m
BC 38.571 m 100° 10' 55"
C 10053.147 m 5019.209 m
CD 25.610 m 168° 44' 40"
D 10058.146 m 4994.092 m
DA 58.445 m 275° 48' 10"
A 10000.000 m 5000.000 m
