Setting Out in Civil Engineering

This task is usually undertaken once the site has been cleared of any debris or obstruction and any reduced excavation work is finished. It is always the responsibility of the contractor to set out the road course using information provided by the designer or surveyor. We are told that accurate setting out is of paramount importance and should therefore only be carried out by competent persons and their work checked thoroughly, preferably by different personnel and by a different method. There are factors we consider when laying out the road plans on site. This includes the size of the road, the width of the drainage and the width of the walk way. The other factors we noted are planning requirements by the local authorities We were told the first task in setting out the road is to establish a baseline, this we did using line and peg. The peg had a nail in it middle onto which the line is tied and it was driven into the ground, the line is stretched and another peg with nail in it middle was used to hold it down at another edge. The base line is also a line on which all the setting out can be related, it often coincides with the centre of the road. The position of this line must be clearly marked on-site so that it can be re-established at any time. We were told the methods that could be used for setting out and the instruments and they are stated below;

Methods of Setting Out:

Ranging

Using of levelling instrument

The instruments used:

Ranging pole

Line

Pegs

Levelling staff