Surveying Conceptual Questions

According to Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee, the highest relative accuracy required between points (in ppm) using GPS for horizontal control survey is

.01

A boundary survey displayed on a map that is officially approved by a county is known as

A recorded map

How many parameters of a horizontal curve must be known in order to calculate remaining parameters

2

The minimum number of satellites required to obtain a position on the earth's surface is

4

According to the FGCC, a length measurement under Order B using GPS survey should be accurate to within

8mm +/- 1ppm

What definition most closely describes a spiral curve?

A curve with a constantly increasing or decreasing degree of curvature

Transition curves are introduced at either end of a circular curve to obtain

A gradual increase of super-elevation from zero at the tangent point to the specified amount at the junction of the transition curve with a main curve

In a mass diagram

A high point on a mass curve indicates a change from cut to fill

A radial traverse survey should be adjusted using

A least square method

A benchmark is generally defined as

A permanent point with a known elevation

On a construction staking project, the instrument that can be operated by a one-man crew is called

A robotic total station crew and an RTK GPS

A foresight taken during the process of differential leveling is

A rod reading taken on a benchmark of unknown elevation

Which of the following is true of contour lines as shown on a topographic map?

A single contour line can cross with another single contour line

An x next to an elevation shows that the elevation is

A spot elevation and an exact elevation

A warranty deed is an example of

A title gurantee

The process of determining the ground coordinates of artificial points marked on the emulsion of an aerial photo is known as

Aerial Triangulation

Which two processes are used in aero-triangulation?

Aerial photography and GPS technology

What is invar tape less susceptible to?

Air temperature

All of the following is shown on a lath except: cut or fill, elevation, offset, angle to the next stake

Angle to the next stake

What types of measurements are typically made by pre 1982 Civil Engineering/Lan Surveyors in performing work for condos?

As-Built

A slope stake is, by definition, set at which point on the proposed cross section of a new facility?

At the point where the proposed side slope intersects the original ground

The agency responsible for the survey of public lands is

BLM

What is the method of minimizing error due to imperfect adjustment of a level?

Balancing sight lengths

The best way for a head chain man to hold a 100' tape when he is chaining down a slope distance is

Both at the same elevation above the ground as a rear chain man and with a level, using a plumb bob

Who can do a topo survey?

Both civil engineers and land surveyors

What effect would refraction have on a rod reading in plane surveying?

Cause smaller readings

A plumb bob is used for

Chaining and taping on correct locations

For an engineering project, which is the correct sequence used in developing a project?

Control, Topography, Construction Staking, As-built

A traverse my be plotted most accurately by the use of which one of the following: protractor, tangent offsets and scale, coordinates, natural tangents and scale

Coordinates

Plane Surveys

Cover Limited areas and disregard the earth's curvature

What types of notes should be used to develop a contour map of a 2-acre park?

Cross-section, because you need both horizontal and vertical controls

In a mass diagram of earthwork, abscissas represent stations and ordinates represent

Cumulative algebraic sum of volumes of earth in excavation and embankment

How does curvature effect rod reading?

Curvature causes greater reading

Contour Factor (C-Factor)

Describes relationship between aircraft flying height above mean ground level and the smallest accurate contour interval that can be generated at a specific flight height

The best method to absolutely locate (horizontally & vertically) underground high risk utilities is to

Determine the horizontal and vertical locations by pot holing

What is the purpose of waving the rod?

Determine the reading of a level rod at plumb position, makes sure you are getting the lowest reading on the instrument

What is initialization?

Determining precise relative position to the Base Station

The grid north is

Different than the geodetic north and a line parallel to the central meridian

Vertical Control is established by:

Differential leveling, Trigonometric leveling, Satellite technique (GPS)

Correction computed for each course as a result of balancing the traverse is a function of the

Distance of the course and the total distance

The state plane coordinate system differs from local plane systems in that

Distances are projected onto developable surfaces such as cones and cylinders rather than planes

What is not true for Lambert conformal conical projection?

Does not have any distortion in any direction

The act of prolonging a tangent line with a theodolite in the field is called

Double centering

What is measured with GPS receivers?

Ellipsoid heights

The city is planning to improve the intersection of "a" and "b" during next construction season. What type of survey is needed?

Engineering Survey, which allows for brainstorming of what kind of survey is needed

On a mass diagram, a rising curve indicates

Excavation. Descending curve is embankment

Which survey type is needed to ensure that fixed engineering work is appropriately done with respect to the project plans?

Final Survey

The contour interval on a topographic map may be computed by dividing two adjoining contour index by

Five

Electromagnetic waves are not affected by which: air temp, atmospheric pressure, fog and rain, wind speed

Fog and rain

The method that is best suited for the accumulation and presentation of data graphically from general data is

GIS

A control survey is requested for a 50-acre flat area. It is in the countryside and most of the area is covered by grass. Which method is recommended for control survey?

GPS

What additional element is required to convert ellipsoid height to the orthometric height?

Geoid Height

Control Surveys that are used for aerial mapping projects are usually based on which survey method?

Global Positioning system

If you are locating contours in a relatively small area with a fairly uniform slope, the best method is

Grid Method

When traversing using state plane coordinates

Ground distances must be converted to grid distances, directions must be converted to grid directions, coordinates of at least one point must be known

The elevation of a turning point may best be determined by deducting the leveling rod reading from the elevation of:

HI

What are a series of short lines drawn closely in the direction of the slope?

Hachures

In plane surveying, the distance between two points is

Horizontal

What is auto level used to determine?

Horizontal plan

Base map is developed in which of the following plans?

Improvement plan

During a plan review, it is discovered that the minimum horizontal clearance to a house located on the outside of a curved centerline was not met. What adjustmant can be mande?

Increase the radius, will result in more clearance

During a design review, it is discovered that minimum clearance to towns historic tower located on left side of center line was not met. What method would you recommend to meet minimum clearance, if tangents are held fixed? What if located on right side

Increase the tangent distance, increase the radius For right side, decrease radius

Slope stakes mark what?

Intersection of side slopes and natural ground

The horizontal distance between two adjacent contours

Is inversely proportioned to the slope of the ground

What is dilution of precision (DOP) in GPS planning?

It is a measure of the geometry of the satellite constellation

What is the purpose of a turning point in a bench circuit?

It serves as a point of known elevation immediately after the instrument has been repositioned

In order to achieve the best possible horizontal accuracy, which of the following would be most important with regard to EDM?

Know exact atmospheric temperature and pressure

In construction staking, a 4ft stake showing information relating to another stake is called

Lath

Which one of these level rods is considered to be a direct reading rod?

Lenker Rod

Which of the following equipment is not part of the taping accessories: tension handles, range poles, hand level, level, and plumb bombs

Level

Equipment Needed to Perform Vertical Control:

Level and a rod, Theodolite and a Rod, Total Station prism and prism rold and EDC, GPS receivers and antennas

When setting up an automatic level

Level approximately, using a circular bubble

Error of adjustment of a level may be eliminated by:

Making the backsights and foresights equal in length

You have staked the corners of a rectangular concrete pad at 4-foot offset. To check your work, you would:

Measure the diagonals

The method of describing and locating property by measurements from a known starting point called a monument

Metes and Bounds

In the "two-peg test" in leveling, backsight and foresight readings are taken at a setup midway between two points P and Q. Then, both points are sighted from an instrument set up outside of line PQ , and the results are used to determine the

Mislevelment of the line of sight of the level

What coordinate system would a USGS of a 7.5 minute QUAD sheet be based on?

NAD 27

The U.S. survey foot was introduced with the implementation of the

NAD of 1983

What are examples of a GNSS

NAVSTAR and GLONASS

The agency responsible for establishing high order control for the country is

NGS

Can an easement be created without the consent of the property owner?

No

The philadelphia rod that was used for surveying was found to be 1.2 ft shorter than originally thought. The corrections that should be made to the field notes are (subtract, add, none?)

No CORRECTIOn

Stationing along an existing highway is converted from NAD 27 to NAD 83. The highway will have,

No physical change in the alignment

The length of a parabolic highway curve has been revised to comply with the local speed limit. If the grades remain the same, the stationing of the new point of intersection will change proportionally to length, shift half the new curve length, depend on speed, or will not change?

Not change

A dumpy level is typically used to determine the elevations of points

On relatively flat surfaces

When researching records for a retracement survey for the right of way line of a road, railroad, or utility, the best source is the

Original design and construction plans with the recorded legal descriptions

Slope stakes are set

Outside the limits of cut and fill

A general benchmark is defined as a:

Permanent point marked with a known elevation

What type of surface or plane can be used in a plane survey?

Plane Surface

Most engineering surveys are

Plane surveys

In surveying, the term grade means

Proposed elevation, the slope of a profile line, vertical distance below or above grade stakes

To set stakes for rough grading (+/- .10ft) of pads on a 100 lot subdivision, what would be the most efficient method to meet precision requirements?

RTK GPS

A two mile long highway widening project contains points in both NAD 27 and NAD 83. What method do you recommend to convert all the data points to NAD 83

Readjust the original survey data to control points whose positions are included in NAD 83

At a river crossing where it is impossible to equalize the backsight and foresight, which of the following leveling methods should be used?

Reciprocal leveling, eliminates collimation errors

Trigonometric leveling does not have the inherent high precision of standard backsight/foresight leveling because of

Refraction, has an effect on the angle

A construction survey does not involve the following activity

Retracing existing land ownership boundaries or creating new boundaries

Which type of survey can be used to establish parallel and perpendicular measurements?

Route Survey

In planning a photogrammetry project, what is the most common sequence?

Set Target, Fly the Route, Set Control

Control Survey

Setting out of a network of points that are used as a reference for future surveys. This network can cover an area as large as a state or as small as a few acres

The primary purpose for break lines is to

Show where contours change direction

The usual difference between volume of earth in a borrow pit and later embankment is what?

Shrinkage

Which of the following GPS surveying technique results produces the most precise measurement? Pseudo-Kinematic, Pseudo-Static, Static or RTK?

Static

The Preferred method of obtaining the coordinates of a point P that is approximately 500 ft from two known points A and B in an area of flat terrain is to

Take two side shots, AP and BP, using a steel tape and a theodolite

Linear feet on a level rod are subdivided into

Tenths and hundredths of a foot

An environmental sensitive area is to be determined within the highway right of way. Who is most qualified to delineate the area?

The Environmental Engineer

What is mean sea level?

The average of all water heights over a tide epoch

When setting construction stakes, the guard stake is usually set behind the reference stake (ginney). The guard stake is marked with notation indicating cut or fill. What do the terms cut and fill refer to in this situation?

The difference in elevation between the ginney and the design finished grade

In leveling, what is the sum of the foresigh minus sum of backsight equal to? In closed loop?

The different in elevation between starting point and ending point. In closed loop, zero

Geoidal Undulation

The height of mean sea level above or below the spheroid

The scale of a stereo overlap formed from two aerial photos is determined from surveyed ground control. When redundant control is provided in the form of a third planimetric control point, the scale is determined from

The least squares method to compute unknowns

Control Surveys for photogrammetric mapping should position the control points according to

The number of photos and the contour interval

The geoid is

The surface of mean sea level extended over the entire globe or the surface of the sea if small channels were cut through mountains

Equipment Needed to Perform Horizontal Control:

Theodolite and a Rod, Total Station, prism and prism pole and electronic data collector, GPS receivers and antennas

When a GPS receiver's position is being determined, what is actually being measured?

Time

What is the usual function of a spiral curve in a highway design?

To transition from a tangent to a circular curve

A property owner or developer is interested in making improvements to a piece of land, which of the following is required before design?

Topographic survey

What instrument do you recommend for obtaining topographic features of a rough terrain?

Total Station

What is localization?

Transforming GPS onto a specific coordinate system

Horizontal Control is established by:

Traversing, Triangulation, Trilateration (EDM), Satellite methods (GPS) Stadia

In developing a topographic map on a rolling terrain, vertical control may be best performed by

Trigonometric Leveling

What is the term used to describe how GPS solves for position?

Trilateration

Before any excavation work, what is performed to avoid any underground utility incidents?

Underground mapping, potholing, outline excavation area

What is used for reading fractional divisions of angles on surveying instruments?

Vernier

What kind of control does a benchmark provide?

Vertical Control Only

What can a transit determine?

Vertical and horizontal angles

The current standard boundary monument in California is

a 1 inch iron pipe with license tag attached on top flush with the ground

A closed traverse is preffered to a radial traverse because

a closed traverse is more accurate

Laser EDM are unaffected by

air temparature. Are affected by water in the air but not changes in density of air caused by changes in temp

Backsights and foresights should be equal in distance in order to

compensate for collimation errors. If backsites and foresights are equidistance, instrument height error is cancelled out

The standard method of computing a volume of a proposed dam basin from a contour map is to

determine the area within each contour covering the basin and use the end-area method for the volume computation

When measuring the elevations of the terrain along a cross section on a new highway alignment, the height of the instrument is

determined from the backsight to a point with known elevation

A theodolite can measure

difference in elevation, bearing of a line, zenith angle

The most accurate method of prolonging a straight line with a theodolite uses the method of

double transit of the instrument

The distinctive feature of a tilting level is that

has a sensitive bubble that is used to level the line of sight for each observation

A Philadelphia rod

has sliding sections, is a self-reading rod, can be used as stadiaA

A POB is the starting point on a

legal description

The minimum accuracy for contour maps of all publication scales is

less than 10 percent of the elevations tested shall be in error more than one-half the contour interval

When using an Electronic Distance Measurement, better precision is attained when

long sights are taken

When using an electronic distance measurement (EDM) better precision is attained when

long sights are taken

In the adjustment or balancing of a closed differential leveling line, the amount of correction for an elevation is proportional to the

number of points between starting point and measured point

A final map used to subdivide a large parcel into 5 or more parcels is a

subdivision map

A standard total station has the ability to measure angles and distances electronically. A robotic total station has the additional function of

the ability to track a prism automatically

Which parameter varies with the scale factor in a Lambert projection used in a geodetic survey

the latitude

An instrument designed to measure horizontal and vertical angles that are read from vernier scales is called a

transit