Recommendations to shoot / determine a grade on proposed road

[JeffInCO]

I purchased a complete auto-level kit from eBay about 7 years ago. It came with the level itself, a tripod, a durable case, and the rod (which itself came with a case). I think it was about $250 new; I think the brand was AmScope. I don’t see amscope levels anymore on eBay, but there are other similar kits.

I have used it extensively around our acreage. For relative elevation measurements, it is accurate down to hundredths of a foot. Way better than any handheld gps.

The only caveat is that it takes two people to do the job. One to hold the rod, the other to look through the level. I’ve been tempted a few times to swap it out for a used laser level, which allows one person to shoot elevations. I probably won’t so long as I have a few teens around to help

Jeff

 

[ovrszd]

Jeff, for personal use the old "scope" transit is excellent.

For professional use the "Laser" transit is excellent.

 

[4570Man]

Jeff, for personal use the old "scope" transit is excellent.

For professional use the "Laser" transit is excellent.

I’d just assume use my scope transit for measuring grade points. For setting pins on the same grade or checking a pad for level the laser is a huge time saver.

 

[mred2]

Jeff, my BIL made a stand that hold the rod up right. It allows me to use one by myself.

 

[/pine]

FWIW....IMO Anyone considering buying an optical level/transit etc...spring for the "stadia hairs" if available...it offers quite accurate distance measuring...

Fiberglass (electric) fence rods with the "step in" feet work well for securing a make shift range and elevation rod holder for flying solo...

 

[dodge man]

I have leaned a level rod against a tripod to work by myself but that is a bad setup. I did a lot of construction staking I’m my work as a surveyor and never used a laser level but we didn’t stake a lot of flat building pads. For about the last 15 years we used a digital level, it read a rod that looked like a giant bar code. The gun had a display that gave the rod reading and it did the math for you and displayed the elevation.

A couple of tips. If you are using a transit or an auto level, keep your shots under 250’ if you want good results. If you want less accuracy keep it less than 500’. Beyond that you can’t see the rod very well.

Yes most good levels will do stadia and are pretty accurate to the nearest foot.

Levels need to be checked. They can get way out of whack, including the laser levels. Learn how to do a two peg test.

Also we ALWAYS worked in tenths and hundredths of a foot. Learn how to work in that method. The only thing we did in inches were things like pipe size and tree diameters.

 

[Rebeldad1]

my question, which is: The best way to roughly calculate grades we can achieve, etc.

So, is there any thing anyone can recommend to make this easier and/or any devices to help us out that won't be crazy expensive? .

so... OP... what did you wind up using? a lot of good answers but some not simple and inexpensive.
still think a simple bubble angle indicator works fine for a rough estimate.

 

[beowulf]

so... OP... what did you wind up using? a lot of good answers but some not simple and inexpensive.
still think a simple bubble angle indicator works fine for a rough estimate.

Well, I started out wondering how I might determine a route to the top of the hilltop proposed home site - i.e., contemplate a new road up, or use the much longer existing road which would take more to maintain and had a number of curves that might not satisfy County Fire. All that explained in the OP. I have selected a grading guy but he is tied up now and in any event wants to wait until we have had some rain before starting (and that is fine as we have a long way to go before we get through the other steps). I really just wanted to have more information re what was possible, feasible, etc. And as I have time, I thought it would be a bit of fun to figure this out.

Anyway, what I eventually learned was that I could determine the elevations at the proposed starting point of the new driveway/road, and at the hilltop proposed home site using info on the Internet. And we also measured what seemed to be the most logical way up - with a 300 foot measuring tape reel - the distance from the starting point to the hilltop. Then with the help of Dodgeman and others - providing the math and formula - I could determine that the grade for the proposed road could be made to meet the requirements of County Fire. ( I put the elevation numbers and distance in an earlier post).

The only thing that has changed since then is that I have moved the proposed starting point out about 15 feet further out, and I have marked the proposed route, and have used my tractor to grade a path to the top - about 12+ feet wide. I have also determined that there will be one spot near the beginning where the slope may exceed - slightly - the 12% limit, with the rest easily coming in under 12% - though that could change. With a chainsaw and the tractor I have taken out the smaller trees and bushes etc. to clear the way. There will be 3-4 more trees to move but I will leave those for the bulldozer when the grading contractor gets here - too big for my tractor. It was nice to see the 'way up' sort of cleared out - it all started to make sense once I could see all that take shape. So, I am satisfied now with the feasibility of the more direct route, and happy that I have a lot more info than I had before posting. Hey, and I had a lot of fun doing it as once I had the requisite info re feasibility of the short way up I was able to get a lot of seat time on the tractor.

As always, grateful for the help I find here.

Forgot to mention: the way up seems as if it will be uniformly gradual - but I will be checking on that when I get back to it and will then try to utilize some of the other suggestions here - i.e., to check the grade at any spot where it may seem to be a bit steeper.

 

[4570Man]

Also we ALWAYS worked in tenths and hundredths of a foot. Learn how to work in that method. The only thing we did in inches were things like pipe size and tree diameters.

My laser transit came with a 10 inch foot stick. It’s almost useless to me. How many 10ths of an foot do you move up to accommodate a 8” block? Also it seems to me a stick that’s just in inches like 1-96” or whatever height it is would be easier than a feet and inch stick. You can easily add and subtract inch values with a calculator. Adding and subtracting feet and inch values takes more effort.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Also we ALWAYS worked in tenths and hundredths of a foot. Learn how to work in that method. The only thing we did in inches were things like pipe size and tree diameters.

I'm starting to think that just plain metric is easier.