Free Surveying MCQs with Answers
77 Surveying MCQs from Civil Engineering, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
Surveying covers measurement of distances, angles and elevations, traversing, levelling, contouring, plane table work, theodolites, total stations and basic photogrammetry. It includes error adjustment, coordinate calculations, area and volume determination, and the distinction between accuracy and precision, as well as between temporary and permanent adjustments.
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77 questions · page 4 of 4
- A. The difference between consecutive staff readings
- B. The sum of all backsights only
- C. The difference between consecutive bearings
- D. The product of the staff readings
Explanation: In the rise and fall method, a smaller succeeding staff reading indicates a rise, while a larger reading indicates a fall.
Correct answer: The difference between consecutive staff readings- A. Datum line
- B. Contour line
- C. Grid line
- D. Chain line
Explanation: A contour line connects points having the same reduced level or elevation.
Correct answer: Contour line- A. Nearly level
- B. Uniformly depressed
- C. Steep
- D. Without elevation change
Explanation: Close contour spacing indicates a large change in elevation over a short horizontal distance, which represents a steep slope.
Correct answer: Steep- A. Object point
- B. Vertical axis
- C. Levelling screws
- D. Cross-hairs
Explanation: The eyepiece is focused to make the cross-hairs appear sharp to the observer.
Correct answer: Cross-hairs- A. Smallest value that can be read or estimated
- B. Largest distance it can measure
- C. Maximum permissible observational error
- D. Average value of repeated observations
Explanation: Least count is the smallest measurement increment that an instrument can directly read or reliably estimate.
Correct answer: Smallest value that can be read or estimated- A. Top of the staff downward
- B. Foot of the staff upward
- C. Line of sight upward
- D. Centre of the bubble outward
Explanation: A levelling staff is graduated from its bottom, and the staff reading increases upward from the point on which it stands.
Correct answer: Foot of the staff upward- A. Very close to a single occupied station
- B. Located only on a straight chain line
- C. Difficult to approach directly
- D. Required only for elevation measurement
Explanation: In the intersection method, rays are drawn from two known table stations and their intersection fixes the detail point.
Correct answer: Difficult to approach directly- A. Geodetic surveying does not require a reference datum
- B. Plane surveying uses only angular observations for control
- C. Geodetic surveying is limited to small construction sites
- D. Plane surveying neglects earth curvature over the surveyed area
Explanation: Plane surveying treats the earth's surface as approximately flat because the area is relatively small.
Correct answer: Plane surveying neglects earth curvature over the surveyed area- A. Absolute latitude of the corresponding side
- B. Length of the corresponding traverse side
- C. Absolute departure of the corresponding side
- D. Square of the corresponding traverse length
Explanation: The transit rule distributes latitude corrections according to the absolute latitudes and departure corrections according to the absolute…
Correct answer: Absolute latitude of the corresponding side- A. 13.5 m
- B. 100.0 m
- C. 135.0 m
- D. 101.35 m
Explanation: For a horizontal sight, the distance is D = ks + c. Thus, D = 100 × 1.35 + 0 = 135 m, not 101.35 m, which would incorrectly add the staff…
Correct answer: 135.0 m- A. Bubble tube is correctly graduated
- B. Staff is held exactly vertical
- C. Line of collimation is truly horizontal
- D. Tripod legs have equal lengths
Explanation: The two-peg test checks whether the line of collimation is horizontal when the bubble is centred.
Correct answer: Line of collimation is truly horizontal- A. Measure the vertical angle of a line
- B. Locate a point by double intersection
- C. Measure the length of an offset
- D. Determine the approximate magnetic meridian
Explanation: A trough compass indicates the magnetic north direction and helps orient the plane table approximately.
Correct answer: Determine the approximate magnetic meridian- A. Upstream direction
- B. Downstream direction
- C. Nearest hilltop
- D. Steepest contour slope
Explanation: Contour lines form V-shaped bends pointing upstream when they cross a valley or stream.
Correct answer: Upstream direction- A. Show the direction of magnetic north
- B. Define the reference system for photograph measurements
- C. Indicate the height of the aircraft above sea level
- D. Identify the highest point visible in the image
Explanation: Fiducial marks provide fixed reference points for establishing the photograph coordinate system.
Correct answer: Define the reference system for photograph measurements- A. To eliminate the need for a benchmark
- B. To make every staff reading numerically identical
- C. To reduce the effects of collimation, curvature and refraction
- D. To ensure that the instrument remains permanently adjusted
Explanation: Equal sight lengths cause several systematic effects to be nearly equal for the two readings and therefore largely cancel in their…
Correct answer: To reduce the effects of collimation, curvature and refraction- A. 180°
- B. 270°
- C. (n − 2) × 180°
- D. 360°
Explanation: A complete circuit turns through one full angle, so the algebraic sum of consistently measured exterior angles is 360 degrees.
Correct answer: 360°- A. Plumbing fork
- B. Alidade
- C. Trough compass
- D. Drawing sheet clamp
Explanation: A plumbing fork, used with a plumb bob, transfers the ground station point to or from the corresponding point on the drawing sheet.
Correct answer: Plumbing fork