What Are Topographical Plans and Maps?

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 11

LIC.

SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL


ENGLISH I-II

TOPOGRAPHICAL PLANS AND MAPS


9.0 Introduction
What are topographical plans and maps?
1. Topographical plans and  Plan
maps are drawings which
show the main physical
features on the ground, such
as buildings, fences, roads,
rivers, lakes and forests, as
well as the changes in
elevation between land forms
such as valleys and hills
(called vertical relief). You
base these plans and maps on
the information you collect
from topographical surveys.
 
2. Plans are usually large-
scale drawings; maps are
usually small-scale drawings.
Depending on the scale you
use to make the drawing (see
Section 9.1):

 it is a plan if the scale is


larger than 1 cm for 100
m (1 : 10 000), for
example 1 cm for 25 m;
 it is a map if the scale is
equal to or smaller than
1 cm for 100 m (1 : 10
000), for example 1 cm
for 200 m or 1 cm for
1000 m.

    
Example   Map

 An engineering plan
could show
information you need
for building fish-farm
features such as
dikes, ponds, canals
or outlet structures, at
the scale of 1 cm for
25 m (1 : 2 500).
 A topographical map

1
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

could show a fish-


farm site (scale 1 cm
for 200 m or 1 : 20
000) or a region of a
country (scale 1 cm
for 1 000 m or 1 : 100
000).

3. Plans and maps have two


main purposes in fish-farm
construction. They help guide
you in choosing a site,
planning the fish-farm, and
designing the structures that  
are needed for the farm. Plans
and maps also guide you as
you lay out marks on the
ground, so that you can follow
the plan you have made of the
fish-farm, and build the
structures on it correctly.

Starting topographical plans and maps

4. Before you begin a topographical survey, you should try to get any available
topographical plans and maps of the area, even though they may not be exactly
the kind of plan or map that you need. General topographical maps are
available from governmental organizations which are responsible for geological
surveys or land surveys, for example. National geographical institutes, soil
survey departments and agricultural development agencies can also usually
provide existing topographical maps. The cadastral department (that calculates
land taxes) of your local government may provide local topographical plans.

5. You will often have to make the topographical plans and maps yourself,
however. You will base them on a plan survey (see Chapter 7) and direct
levelling (see Chapter 8). In the following sections, you will learn how to:

 make the plan or map directly in the field by plane-tabling (see Section
9.2); or
 make the plan or map from the field measurements recorded in your
notebook (see Sections 9.3-9.6).

6. On topographical plans or maps, you should always look for:

 the name of the area or piece of land mapped, and/or the name of the
type of project for which it is used;
 the exact location of the piece of land;
 the name of the person or people who made surveys on which the plan
or map is based;
 the date(s) on which the surveys were made;

2
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

 the direction of magnetic north;


 the scale at which the plan or map was drawn (see Section 9.1);
 the contour interval, if the vertical relief is shown (see Section 9.3);
 a key, or guide, to the symbols used in the drawing.

This information is often located in one corner of the map. It is called the
legend.  

9.1 How to make scales for plans and maps


What is the scale of a plan or map?
1. To represent distances you 
have measured in the field on
a piece of paper, you need to
scale them down. This means
that you must reduce the size
of the distances proportionally
according to a scale. The
scale expresses the
relationship which exists
between the distance shown
on a drawing or map and the
actual distance across the
ground.
    

3
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

Example  

 1 cm on the plan
represents 20 m (or
2000 cm) on the
ground, or scale
1:2000.
 1 cm on the map
represents 100 m on
the ground, or scale
1:10000.
 1 cm on the map
represents 1250 m on
the ground, or scale
1:125000.

    
Note: a ratio with a smaller 
number is a larger scale, that
is, 1: 500 is a larger scale than
1 : 1000.

Expressing a scale

2. There are three ways of expressing the scale of a drawing:

 as a numerical equivalent such as " 1 cm = 20 m", which you should read


as "1 cm on the plan represents 20 m on the ground";
 as a ratio such as " 1: 2 000" which you should read as " 1 cm on the
plan represents 2 000 cm = 20 m on the ground";
 graphically, with a line that is marked off into drawing distances that
correspond to convenient units of distance on the ground.

3. Table 11 gives the numerical equivalents of the most common scales,


expressed as fractions. Scales for both distances (in metres) and surface areas
(in square metres) are shown also.

Choosing a scale

4. General topographical maps usually have scales ranging from 1:50000 to


1:250000. These are small-scale maps. In most countries, 1 :50000 maps are
now available. You can use these for general planning of aquaculture
development, including the planning of your fish-farm.

5. To show greater detail, plans are drawn to a larger scale, showing individual
structures or land areas. The scales most often used in plans are 1 :500, 1 :
4
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

1000, 1 :2000, 1:2500 and 1:5000. Detailed engineering drawings use scales
much larger than 1:500, for example
1 : 100 or 1: 10.

Note: special rulers, called "Kutsch" scales or reduction scales, make it easy to
transfer ground distances onto drawings.

TABLE 11

Distances and surface areas expressed by scales

Distance: 1 cm Surface area: 1


Scale
equals (m) cm2 equals (m2)
1: 300 3 9
  500 5 25
  600 6 36
  1000 10 100
  1200 12 144
  1500 15 225
  2000 20 400
  2500 25 750
  5000 50 2500 (0.25 ha)
1: 10000 100 10000 (1 ha)
  25000 250 62500 (6.25 ha)
  50000 500 250000 (25 ha)
1000000 (100
  100000 1000 (1 km)
ha) (1 km2)
  125000 1250 1562500

5
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

(156.25 ha)
4000000 (400
  200000 2000
ha)
6250000 (625
  250000 2500
ha)

9.2 How to make a map by plane-tabling


1. In Section 7.5, you read that 
you can use a plane-table to
make a reconnaissance
survey and to plot details. In
this section, you will learn how
to do this. It is best to use an
alidade for this method (see
Section 7.5, steps 21-28), but
you can use a simple ruler,
and a series of tailor's pins to
show the observed directions,
instead.

2. First, choose an appropriate


scale for the map you will draw
(see Section 9.1, steps 4 and
5). Get an estimate of the
longest distance you need to
map, and decide upon the size
of the map you require. If the
map is to be fairly large, you
can draw it on several sheets
of paper, and glue them
together.
    
Example  

 You have a plane-


table, size 40 x 55 cm.
 You estimate the
longest distance to be
mapped = 400 m.
 From Table 11, you
find that if you use a 1
: 1 000 scale (where 1
cm is equivalent to 10
m), you will need 40
cm to draw this
distance on your
sheet of paper.

6
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

 If this scale is large


enough for your
purposes, you can
use just one sheet of
paper.

    
3. Cover the board of your  Set up the plane-table at point A
plane-table with paper (see
Section 7.5, steps 34-39). Set
up the plane-table (see
Section 7.5, steps 40-44) on or
near some major feature A of
the area you need to map,
such as a large rock, a path, a
river or a tall tree.

4. Using a well-sharpened
pencil with a hard lead, mark a
small point and circle on your
paper. This is point a, the
location of the major feature,
where you have set up your
plane-table. Be sure to choose
a section of the paper from
which you can later map the
entire area. For example, if
you will be mapping only
ahead of point A, begin near
the centre of the bottom
margin of the plane-table.

Note: you will identify physical


features in the field that you
need to map with capital
letters. You will identity the
corresponding points that you
draw on the plane-table sheet
with lower-case letters.
    

7
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

5. Rotate the table so that you  


will be drawing the map in the
orientation you need. Using
your magnetic compass as a
guide, draw arrows showing
the magnetic north (see
Section 7.5, steps 45-46).

Note: you should always try to


locate the north facing the top
of your map. This is a rule
which is always applied in
professional topographical
maps. You may not be able to
follow the rule, however,
depending on the direction of
the longest distance and on
the scale you select.

    
6. Using your alidade, sight  Draw ax
from the first marked point a to
another major feature B which
you can see from the plane-
table location. This could be a
small hill, a bend in a path or a
ranging pole. Draw a thin line
ax in this direction.

Note: you can use the alidade


much more easily if you place
a pin at point a on the board,
and then swivel the alidade
around the pin until you can
sight the second point.
    
7. Measure the horizontal  Draw ay
ground distance from the
plane-table station A to the
major feature B. Then mark

8
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

this distance along line ax,


starting at point a and scaling
it down as line ab.

8. Without moving the plane-


table from point A, repeat this
process for all other major
features C, D, etc. which you
can see, and draw lines ac,
ad, etc.

    
9. Move the plane-table to one  
of the major features you have
just mapped, such as C.
Choose a feature from which
you can easily map another
part of the area, such as the
route of a path or the course of
a river.

10. Set up the plane-table over


this point C. Reorient the
table. Use the compass and
the magnetic north arrows you
have already drawn (see step
5 above), or, instead, use the
alidade, backsighting along a
drawn line which passes
through the new station C and
a known major feature such as
A (see Section 7.5, step 47).
    

9
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

11. From this new station C,  


map in the new major features
which you can see, as
explained above.

12. If necessary, move to


other stations to complete the
mapping of the entire area. If
you need more details in the
map, go back to one of the
mapped features, reorient the
table by backsighting on
another mapped feature, and
map the details as required.

13. You can use the above procedure for plane-tabling in several different
situations in the field, such as:

 mapping an open traverse ;


 mapping a closed traverse;
 mapping by the radiating method;
 mapping by the triangulation method.

Usually, you will use a combination of some of these surveying methods to map
an entire area.

Open traverse   Closed traverse

    
Radiation   Triangulation

10
LIC. SANDRA SOTO MOREIRA TECHNICAL
ENGLISH I-II

INSTRUCCIONES
 PARA EL CUADERNO DE INGLÉS
 PARA ESTA ACTIVIDAD DEBE UTILIZAR ESTE DOCUMENTO
 TODO DEBE ESTAR TRADUCIDO AL INGLES DE MANERA ENNUMERADA
 PARA REALIZAR LA TAREA DEBE UTILIZAR TODO EL DOCUMENTO

TAREA

TOPOGRAPHICAL PLANS AND MAPS


1. COPIAR TODO REGLON SALTADO LUEGO TRADUCIR PALABRA POR
PALABRA
2. COPIAR LOS VERBOS CON SU RESPECTIVA TRADUCCION
3. COPIAR LOS SUSTANTIVOS, ARTICULOS Y OTROS CON SU
TRADUCCION
4. COPIAR TODOS LOS SIGNOS DE PUNTUACION LUEGO TRADUCIR
5. COPIAR NUEVAMENTE EL DOCUMENTO LUEGO TRADUCIR EN
CONTEXTO
6. REALIZAR UN COMENTARIO EN INGLÉS, MINIMO 100 PALABRAS

RECOMENDACIONES:
 AL RETORNO A CLASE S SE REVISARA TODO EL PROCESO DE LA TAREA
 SE TOMARA UNA EVALUACION DE LOS TEMAS AVANZADOS

11

You might also like