Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Bayombong Campus

DEGREE PROGRAM BSCE COURSE NO. SURVEY

SPECIALIZATION COURSE TITLE FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVEYING
YEAR LEVEL 2 TIME FRAME 6 hr WK NO. 10 IM NO. 1

I. UNIT TITLE/CHAPTER TITLE

Unit 8

II. LESSON TITLE

TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEYING

III. LESSON OVERVIEW

Representation of Relief, Spot Heights, Contour Lines, Interpolating Contour lines

IV. DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Understand the concepts of topographic surveys
2. Interpolate contour lines
3. Plot contours using a convenient scale

V. LESSON CONTENT

Representation of Relief
The configuration or shape of the ground is referred to as topography or hypsography. Designs of
engineering projects require a representation of the character and relief of the earth’s surface.
Depiction of relief includes spot heights, hachures, form lines, contour lines, layer tinting, shading, relief
models, ridge and stream lining, subaqueous humor.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

Types of Contours
The contours are classified into the following types: Index Contours, Intermediate Contours,
Supplemental Contours, Depression Contours, and Approximate Contours.

INDEX CONTOURS. A contour shown in heavier line at regular intervals on a topographic map. It is
broken along portions of the line and the contour number indicated accordingly. Contour number
indicate the actual elevation of a particular contour line.

INTERMEDIATE CONTOURS. The lighter weight contours found between index contours which are
not usually labeled and conforms to the contour interval specified for the map.

DEPRESSION CONTOURS. Drawn to show low spots such as excavations around which contours
close. The symbol used is the index or intermediate contour to which ticks are drawn perpendicular to
the contour line on the downhill side.

SUPPLEMENTAL CONTOURS. Certain portions of the map area sometimes are so flat or level that the
contours are too far apart to show properly important breaks in the terrain. To better depict the relief
and remedy such situations, supplemental or auxiliary contours are used. They are drawn as dashed
lines or dots that begin and end when they approach the areas where the regular contours close in on
each other.

APPROXIMATE CONTOURS. It is used where the area may be inaccessible on the ground or it may
be difficult to interpret contours from aerial photographs when heavy cloud or shadows occur. To
portray a reasonable idea of relative elevations, the map maker has to make an educated guess rather
than have a blank area in the map.

Contour Interval
The constant vertical distance between two adjacent contour lines

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

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only and not for commercial distribution,”
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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

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only and not for commercial distribution,”
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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

Locating Contour Lines by Interpolation

The process of locating contour lines proportionally on the map between plotted points is termed
interpolation. Some of the methods of interpolation include Estimation, Rubber Band Method, Analytical
Method, Triangle and Scale Method, and Template Method.

ESTIMATION METHOD. This method is suitable on small scale maps where the ground form is not too
irregular. The first step is to make a careful study of the positions of the contour points and to try to
visualize the changes in slope of the terrain. Then the index contours are drawn first and are used as
guides in drawing the intermediate contours.

RUBBER BAND METHOD. The rubber band selected should be sufficiently wide such that graduations
at equal intervals can be marked on it to form some kind of an elastic scale. It is stretched between two
plotted points so that these points fall at scale divisions corresponding to their elevations. This
procedure requires two persons to undertake the plotting.

ANALYTICAL METHOD. This method is well suited for drawing large-scale maps. Distances between
points of known elevations are measured and the location of contour points are determined by
proportion. The slope between two adjacent points is assumed to be uniform.

TRIANGLE AND SCALE METHOD. The method of interpolating points by using an engineer’s scale
and a triangle is an application of the geometric method of dividing a line into a convenient number of
equal parts. This method is illustrated below.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

TEMPLATE METHOD. Interpolation by the use of contour templates.

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

Procedure for Interpolation Using Template

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

EXAMPLE: LOCATING CONTOUR BY INTERPOLATION (ANALYTICAL METHOD)

The map distance between two benchmarks, A and B, is 15 cm and their elevations above sea level
are 850.50 m and 939.60 m, respectively. Assuming uniformity of slope between A and B, calculate the
map distance from A where each of the following contours will cross the line between the two
benchmarks: 860, 880, 900, and 920 m.

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only and not for commercial distribution,”
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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

VI. LEARNING ACTIVITIES

VII. EVALUATION (Note: Not to be included in the student’s copy of the IM)

VIII. ASSIGNMENT
1. INTERPOLATING CONTOURS. The accompanying tabulation gives elevations of points over the
area of a 30m x 40m city lot. The elevations were obtained by the checkerboard method using 10-m
squares. Point A-1 is located at the northwest corner of the lot and point E-4 at the southeast
corner. All elevations are in meters.

POINT 1 2 3 4
A 878.8 882.5 883.5 883.6
B 883.2 885.9 893.7 887.2
C 882.8 888.6 891.8 889.3
D 882.5 890.4 892.6 889.5
E 883.2 888.5 892.8 893.5

a. Plot the contours using a horizontal scale of 6cm = 10m and a contour interval of 1 meter.
b. Arrange the plotting paper so that the longer side is vertical (use 8 ½” x 11” bond paper)
c. All corner designations and corresponding elevations must be indicated, including all vertical
and horizontal lines.
d. Show the direction of north and indicate the scale used.
e. Indicate the elevations of the following index contours: 880, 885, 890, and 895m. Thickness of
the index contours must be drawn about twice the thickness of intermediate contours.
f. Use a pencil for the initial plot and ink the final plot using a technical pen.

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only and not for commercial distribution,”
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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021

IX. REFERENCES
1. Surveying and Levelling by N. N. Basak , Tata McGraw Hill.
2. Surveying: Theory and Practice by James M. Anderson, Edward M. Mikhail, Tata McGraw Hill.
3. Principles & Application of Surveying, Kavanagh
4. Elementary Surveying, La Putt
5. Higher Surveying, La Putt
6. Surveying Fundamentals, McCormac
7. https://sites.google.com/site/civilengineeringwebsite/
8. http://docshare04.docshare.tips/files/30504/305047967.pdf

Numbering the IM No.: IM-CCCCCC-SSSSSS-NNNN-NNNN

School Year
Semester
Course Number
e.g.:
IM-COURSE NO-SEMESTER-SCHOOL YEAR
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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:CE 1-1S-2020-2021
IM-MCB180-1STSEM-2020-2021

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