Md.

Siddikur Rahman
Associate Professor
Dept. of Farm Structure
PROJECT SURVEYING

Definition: Project survey includes all field works and requisite calculations together with maps,
profiles and other related drawing involved in the planning and construction of any engineering project
like railways, highways, irrigation canals, sewer lines, tunnels, dams etc.
The accuracy of the project work depends on:
i) The sound knowledge and judgment of project engineer.
ii) The types of instrument used.
iii) Time at disposal and
iv) The fund available.

Irrigation Project:
The surveying that is conducted for the completion of an irrigation project may be classed into the
three different categories. They are:
i) Preliminary survey
ii) Detailed survey and
iii) Construction survey

Preliminary survey: Before final decision is taken to take an irrigation project, preliminary survey is
essential. It includes the determination of the following.
i) Catchments area of the stream proposed to be used as the source of supply.
ii) Area of land proposed to be irrigated.
iii) Possible sites of dams in a reservoir project.
iv) Possible sites of weirs, sluices and other hydraulic structures.
v) Alignment of canals.
vi) Quality of land and water for irrigation.
vii) Collection of rainfall and discharge records of the stream.
viii) Possible crops and their water requirements and
ix) Drainage requirements.
• Items (i) to (v) are determined from the contour maps of the area.
• The quality of land and water can be determined by taking samples from the field and testing
them in the laboratory.
• Rainfall and discharge records are obtained from the hydrological department.
• Possible crops and their water requirements are obtained from agricultural department.
After collecting all the data, a project report is prepared along with a rough cost of the project.
Financial aspect is then examined and cost benefit ratio is worked out.

Detailed survey: After the feasibility of the project has been established, detailed survey of the
following is essential.
i) Location of the head-works, guide bunds, alignment of canals, distributaries and water
courses.
ii) Location of falls, cross-drainage works and canal escapes.
iii) Alignment of drainage canals and
iv) In case reservoir project, detailed geological investigations should be made in addition to the
detailed survey of the site, sites of the weirs, outlets and detailed contour survey of the
reservoir area.
Construction survey: The final construction survey includes the following operations.
i) Topographical survey of the site, preparing site plan for acquisition of land.
ii) Setting up pillars for demarcation and also serves as reference line.
iii) Establishment on ground bench mark pegs for carrying on construction and giving alignment
of the structures and
iv) Preparing running bills of the work executed monthly.

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Canal Project:
The operations in this type of project involve the following considerations.
i) Reconnaissance survey
ii) Preliminary survey
iii) Final location survey and
iv) Construction survey

Reconnaissance survey:
It is a quick survey of the whole area through which the different possible routes can be aligned. Here
very light and quick instrument like prismatic compass, tape and hand level are used. This type of
survey needs the examination and information regarding the following points which are finally
submitted by the engineer in the form of a reconnaissance report.
i) Topography of the country.
ii) Probable alignments.
iii) Obligatory areas, towns, rivers, bridges etc.
iv) Soil and drainage conditions.
v) Highest flood level.
vi) Availability of construction materials and human labour.
vii) Time required for construction.
viii) Rise and fall of the country and
ix) General slopes of the hills.

Preliminary survey:
This involves detailed instrumental examination of the strip of land along the selected alignment. The
instruments generally used are theodolites, levels, tape, chains, plane tables, hand levels etc. The
following is the procedure which is followed in this type of survey.
i) An open traverse is conducted along the middle of the strip and stakes are set on all stations.
ii) Cross levels are taken generally at 100 ft. along and at right angles to the longitudinal section
on either side.
iii) All the interior details are located by plane tabling.
iv) After finishing the field work, one topographic map and another contour map are to be
prepared.
v) In deciding the alignment and giving proper grade for this type of project, it should be
recommended that:
• Change in alignment should be minimum.
• The grades should be as small as possible consistent with the nature of land.
• The proposed alignment should be such that the amount of cut and that of fill balance each
other.
• Drainage facilities should be adequate.
• Canals intended for navigation should have less bends and the curves should be of large
radius.
vi) The longitudinal section is plotted to a horizontal scale of 1 inch = 100 ft. to 400 ft. and
vertical scale of 1 inch = 10 ft. to 50 ft. The contour interval is usually 5 ft. but it may be 1 ft.
in city survey and 10 ft. for steep ground.

Final location survey:

In this survey the alignment of the proposed work which has been finally decided in the office on the
preliminary map, is set out on the ground exactly in the same position as it appears on the paper. The
procedure adopted is as follows:
i) The north direction is located at the starting point where the chainage is assumed to zero.
ii) The centre line is staked out first by driving pegs at 25 ft. to 100 ft. intervals. The entire
boundary of the strip of land is marked by constructing pillars.

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 iii) The positions of other various points are located on the field with proper measurements by
scaling the dimensions from the preliminary map prepared in the office.
iv) Stakes are driven at the tangent points of the curves. The curves on the bends are then laid in
the same magnitude as shown on the prepared map.
v) Cross sections are taken to calculate the amount of earth work in cut or fill.
vi) Data for designing and estimating culverts, bridges and other structures are collected.

Construction survey:
In this type of survey the details of the project are set out. It involves the following operations.
i) All stakes along the alignment are checked and if some are missing, they are rest from the
plan and field data. All levels are checked and additional bench marks are established.
ii) Bridges, culverts, sluices are lined out on site.
iii) The transition and vertical curves are set out.
iv) The dimensions of the finished sub-grade are checked by means of tamplets.
v) Rivers are surveyed carefully and the waterways for bridges are determined by taking careful
note of headways.
vi) The measurements of different works completed are recorded in the measurement book and
details of materials and number of labours are noted down at regular intervals to pay running
bill during the construction period of the project.

House Setting: It means the setting out on the ground of the outlines of excavation of a building from
the plan. The procedure is as follows:
N Arrow

Diagonal

i) The north line is fixed by a prismatic compass.

ii) The centre lines of the outer walls are fixed by arrows and pegs.
iii) The intersections of the centre lines at the corners are marked by pegs. The centre lines are
extended beyond the outer edge of the wall by 3 ft. then arrows are driven and the pegs are
tied.
iv) The diagonals are checked for the accuracy of the dimensions of the individual rooms. In
calculating the diagonals, the dimensions should be checked up to three place of decimals.
v) Foundation trench-width is demarcated in the same way by knowing its width across the
centre line from the sectional elevation of the foundation.
vi) A level is placed near the plot and level pegs are set at various corners of the building. The
top of the pegs indicate the same elevation. Excavation depths are then measured vertically
from the top of the pegs.
vii) After excavation the base of the foundation is checked by using a sprit level. If the bubble of
the sprit level remains in the centre of its run, it indicates that the base of the trench is
horizontal.