Surveying

Surveying is the science of gathering information about land using elevations, distances, and angles. It is a fundamental skill for all civil engineers. Future civil engineers can greatly benefit from the basic skills integral to surveying: working with the land, problem solving, and applying complex techniques to the real world

​In this project, we learn the basics of surveying and prepare for the yearly surveying competition at the Pacific Southwest Symposium. Members have the opportunity to use surveying equipment such as a level, Philadelphia rod, tripod, plumb bob, theodolite, and total station. With the use of this equipment, we measure elevations, tape distances, triangulate heights, and determine areas around the UCLA campus.

Making a plan for stake placement during the Construction Stakeout competition task!

Hammering in a stake at its calculated position during Construction Stakeout!

Measuring point elevations for the Sewer Cut and Fill competition task!

Competition Tasks:

• Pacing
  Students walk a stretch of known distance, counting the number of paces they take. Then, using the number of paces and known distance, they calculate their pace length. This length is then used to walk and measure an unknown distance.
• Differential Leveling
  With a starting point of known elevation, students use the autolevel and Philadelphia rod to find the elevation of points along the slope of a hill. Teams then return to their original starting elevation and calculate their measuring error.
• Sewer Cut And Fill
  This task has students start at the top of a hill, measuring elevations down the hill at assigned points. Students then calculate the cut or fill necessary to lay a pipe along a pre-defined grade and depth. 
• Construction Stakeout 
  Students are given a map with distances, angles, and relative locations to a pre-placed stake in the ground. Teams then use the total station to place new stakes as indicated by the map, attempting to be as accurate as possible.

Gallery

Contact

Please let us know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions! Send us an email at [email protected]. Or, you can reach out to the Project Managers Spencer Timmons and Zachary Forster at the emails below. Also, feel free to join our slack!​

Zachary Forster
Project Manager
[email protected]

Spencer Timmons
Project Manager
[email protected]