Area and Volume Computations
Area and Volume Computations
Area and Volume Computations
CE 111 Section 1
February 23, 2015
Crew:
Jordan Eikamp
Brandon Raleigh
Andrew Suiter
Objective:
The objective of this lab is to learn how to measure areas of irregular shapes using a
planimeter. Also, a goal of this lab is to determine areas and volumes (of cut and fill) of cross
sections from established coordinates.
Introduction:
Measuring areas of regions is an important part of surveying. Rather than physically
measuring the region and calculating the area, if the region is already mapped it can be more
convenient to measure the area directly from the map. If the region is an irregular shape, a
planimeter can be used to measure the area. A surveyor uses a planimeter to trace the region
on a map. The difference between the final and initial reading of the planimeter is the area of
the region traced (on the map). Once this area is measured, the map scale is used to convert
the area into the correct units for the actual region (not on the map). This method saves time
compared to physically measuring the region and calculating the area.
For some projects, soil (or other material) must be added to or removed from a site
based on elevation needs. To calculate the volume of cut (material to be removed) or fill
(material to be added), surveyors can look at areas of cross sections of a project. After
calculating the areas of cross sections at each end of a station, surveyors take the average of
the two areas and multiply that by the length of the station (or the length until volume switches
between cut and fill). These volume calculations let surveyors know where the need additional
material, where they need to remove material, and whether they will need to borrow or have
excess material.
Reading 2
Reading 3
Mean
Standard
Error of the
Mean
Planimeter
Reading
0.511
0.456
0.538
0.502
0.0241
Area on map
(in2)
5.05384 in2
4.50989 in2
5.32087 in2
4.962 in2
0.3656 in2
1.04 acres
1.22 acres
1.14 acres
0.08165
acres
Area of actual
1.16 acres
region (acres)
Task 1 Analysis:
Knowing the constant for our planimeter, the area of a plot of land on a map was
calculated. The results of this test are found in Table 1. The area of the region in the map was
found to be 4.962 in^2 on the paper, and using the conversion factor of 1 in = 100 ft. we were
able to determine the area of the plot of land to be 1.14 acres. The standard error of the mean
was calculated for the area of the parcel on the paper as well as the area of the actual parcel in
acres. The standard error of the mean for the area on the paper in square inches was a bit high,
but it did not end up effecting the standard error of the mean for the area of the parcel in acres.
The map of the parcel of land, the planimeter readings used in the calculations, and the
calculations themselves can be found on the second page of Appendix A.
Results:
Cross Section Areas:
A1+00: 85.02 ft2 (cut)
A2+00: 70.55 ft2 (fill)
A3+00: 140.50 ft2 (fill)
Task 2 Analysis:
The cross sections for Task 2 can be found on the third and fourth pages of Appendix A.
Using the coordinate method, the area of each section was determined, and the results of these
calculations can be found above. The tables of coordinates that were used to calculate the area
of each section are located on the third and fourth pages of Appendix A.
Using these cross sectional areas, the average end area volumes in cut and fill were
calculated between the stations. To adjust for shrinkage, 20% was added to the volumes in fill.
These calculations can be found on the fourth page of Appendix A, and the results are listed
above in the Task 2 Results section.
The cumulative earthwork quantities were then calculated, assuming that at station 1+00
we started with 0 yd3 of material. Between stations 1+00 and 2+00 the quantities of cut and fill
needed were almost equal, so the area between stations 2+00 and 3+00 will require the vast
majority of the fill material needed for the project. Overall, 468.32 yd3 of fill material will be
needed to complete work on this project. The cumulative earthwork quantities at each station
can be found above, and the calculations are located on the fourth page of Appendix A.
Conclusions
In this lab, the planimeter was used to determine the area of a given parcel of land by
determining the planimeter constant using an area of known volume. This tool is very useful in
determining the area of a plot of land because it requires only an aerial photograph or scaled
map of the plot. In Task 2, the cumulative earthwork quantities were calculated for a two lane
roadway divided by 3 stations. Using the cross section at each station, the volume of earthwork
in cut and fill between each of the stations was calculated and used to determine the cumulative
earthwork quantities needed at each station for the entire project. These types of earthwork
calculations can be very useful in future surveying labs and projects.
Appendix A:
Appendix A cont:
Appendix A cont:
Appendix A cont: