Types of level

TYPES OF LEVELS

BY
SUMIT M. MESHRAM

Levelling :
The art of determining relative altitudes of
points on the surface of the earth of beneath
the surface of earth is called levelling.

It deals with angular and linear measurement in
a vertical plane.

NEED:
For execution of Engineering Projects it is very
necessary to determine elevations of different
points along the alignment of proposed project.

APPLICATIONS:
i) Taking rail levels .
ii) Initial ground levels for earthwork
calculations.
iii) Levels for measurement of earthwork
etc.

BASIC COMPONENTS OF LEVEL:
1. Telescope – to provide a line of sight
2. Level Tube – to make line of sight
horizontal
3. Levelling head – to bring the bubble of tube
level at the centre of its run.
4. Tripod – to support the above three parts of
the level.
1. TELESCOPE : Telescope is an optical
instrument used for magnifying and viewing the
images of distant objects. It consists of two
lenses. The lens fitted near the eye is called the
eye piece and the other fitted at the end near to
the object is called the objective lens.

The objective provides a real inverted image
infront of the eye piece at a distance lesser
than its focal distance.
Two essential conditions are involved. :
i) The real image of the object, must be
formed.
Ii) the plane of image must coincide with that
of cross hairs.
Focusing of Telescope : The operation of
obtaining a clear image of the object in the
plane of cross hairs is known as focusing.

2.Level Tube : Also known as Bubble Tube consists
of a glass tube placed in a brass tube which is sealed
with plaster of paris. Level tube is filled with either or
alcohol, the remaining space is occupied by an air
bubble. The centre of air bubble always rest at the
highest point of the tube.
Outer surface of the bubble tube is graduated in both
the directions from the centre.
The line tangential to the circular are at its highest
point i.e. the middle of tube is called the axis of bubble
tube. When the bubble is central the axis of bubble
becomes Horizontal.
The level tube is attached on the top of telescope by
means of capstan headed nuts.

3)Levelling head : Levelling head generally
consists of two parallel plates with 3 foot
screws. Upper plate is known as Tribrach and
lower plate is trivet which can be screwed on
to the tripod. Levelling head has to perform 3
distant functions :

i) to support the telescope
ii) to attach the level to the tripod
iii) to provide a means for level (foot screws)

IMPORTANT TERMS:
a) DATUM – or Datum plane is an arbitrarily assumed level
surface or line with reference to which level of other line or
surface are calculated.

b) LINE OF COLLIMATION- - the line which passes through
the Intersection of the cross hairs of the eye piece and optical
centre of the objective and its continuation is called as line of
collimation. This is also known as line of sight.

c) REDUCED LEVEL (RL) – Height or depth of a point above or
below the assumed datum is called Reduced level.

d) BENCH MARK – (BM) – B.M. is a fixed reference
point of known elevation. It may be of the following
types.
i) GTS Bench mark (Geodetic Triangulation Survey) :
These Bench marks are established by national agency
like Survey of India. They are established with highest
precision. Their position and elevation above MSL is
given in a special catalogue known as GTS Maps ( 100
km. interval).

ii) Permanent Bench Mark : They are fixed
points of reference establish with reference to GTS
Bench mark (10 km. interval).
iii) Arbitrary Bench mark : These are reference
points whose elevations are arbitrarily assumed. In
most of Engineering projects, the difference in
elevation is more important than their reduced levels
with reference to MSL as given in a special catalogue
known as GTS Maps ( 100 Km. interval).

e)Mean Sea Level (M.S.L.) : M.S.L. is obtained by
making hourly observations of the tides at any place over
a period of 19 years. MSL adopted by Survey of India is
now Bombay which was Karachi earlier.

f) Level Surface : The surface which is parallel to the
mean sphereoidal surface of the earth is known as level
surface.

g) Line of Collimation : It is the line joining the
intersection of the cross hair and the optical center of
the objective and its extensions, it is also called line of
sight or collimation.

h) Height of Instrument (HI) : The elevation of the line of
sight with respect to assumed datum is known as HI.

i) Back sight : (B.S.) - The first sight taken on a levelling
staff held at a point of known elevation. B.S. enables the
surveyor to obtain HI +sight i.e. Height of Instrument or
line of sight.
j) Fore Sight : (F.S.) – It is the last staff reading taken from
a setting of the level. It is also termed as minus sight.
Fore sight is the sight taken on a levelling staff held at a
point of unknown elevation to ascertain the amount by
which the point is above or below the line of sight. This
is also called minus sight as the foresight reading is always
subtracted from height of Instrument.

k) Change Point (CP) : The point on which
both the foresight and back sight are taken
during the operation of levelling is called
change point.

l) Intermediate Sight (IS) :
The foresight taken on a levelling staff held at a
point between two turning points, to
determine the elevation of that point, is known
as intermediate sight.

TYPES OF LEVELS:

i) Dumpy level

ii) Tilting level

iii) Automatic level

iv) Digital Auto level

DUMPY LEVEL
This are the basic levels used in construction
work.
The telescope is attached to a single bubble
and the assembly is adjusted either by means
of a screwed ball-joint or by footscrews
which are adjusted first in one direction then
at 90 degrees.

ADVANTAGES:
Itis simple compact and stable.
Fewer adjustments to be made.
Simple construction with fewer movable
parts.
Longer life of the adjustments.
DISADVANTAGE:
The telescope is rigidly fixed to its
support therefore cannot be rotated
about its longitudinal axis

TILTING LEVEL
It consists of a telescope attached with a level
tube which can be tilted within few degrees in
vertical plane by a tilting screw.

The main peculiarity of this level is that the
vertical axis need not be truly vertical, since
the line of collimation is not perpendicular to
it. The line of collimation, is, however, made
horizontal for each pointing of telescope by
means of tilting screw. It is mainly designed
for precise levelling work.

ADVANTAGES :
Helpful in quick levelling.
Ball and socket arrangement permits the
head to be tilted and quickly locked
nearly level.

The Automatic level : Also termed as self
aligning level. It has an compensator which
consists of an arrangement of three prisms.The
two outer ones are attached to the barrel of
the telescope.The middle prism is suspended by
fine wiring and reacts to gravity .The instrument
is first levelled appproximately by the circular
bubble ,the compensator then deviate the line
of sight by the amount that the telescope is out
of sight.

ADVANTAGES:
i) Much simpler to use
ii) High precision – Mean elevation error on staff
graduated to 5mm division varies between +0.5
to 0.8 mm per km of forward and backward
levelling.
iii) High speed : The speed of Dumpy level is
about 25% lower than tilting level.
iv) Freedom from errors – Accuracy is
increased by an errect telescope image.
v) Range of application – level can be used on
medium and large sized projects and setting
bench marks.

DIGITAL LEVEL:
It uses digital-electronic image processor
using a charged-coupled device(CCD) for
determining heights and distances.
Its accuracy in rod reading is .5mm and the
maximum range is 100m.

ADVANTAGES :
Data can be transferred to computer
directly.
Error in writing of data and calculations
can be minimised.
DISADVANTAGE:
It needs clear and better illuminated area
for levelling hence not useful in cloudy
area.

Types of level

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