Designation of Bearings | Compass Surveying

Designation of Bearings | Guide to Compass Surveying

In my previous article, I discussed different types of Bearings in Compass Surveying. In this article, we will discuss in brief different designations given to the bearings depending on measurement of angles.

Designation of Bearings

  1. Whole circle bearing
  2. Reduced Bearing (RB) or quadrantal bearing (QB)
  3. Fore Bearing (FB) or forward bearing (FB)
  4. Back bearing or Backward bearing (BB)
  5. Calculated bearing

Whole Circle bearing

Bearings measured from north in a clockwise direction is termed as whole circle bearing.

The value varies from 0 degrees to 360 degrees.

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Classification of Bearings | Surveying

Types of Bearings | Guide to Surveying

It is an angle made by the survey line with reference to some fixed meridian.

Bearings are classified into three types:

  1. True bearing
  2. Magnetic bearing
  3. Arbitrary Bearing

True bearing

The angle made by a survey line with reference to the meridian is known as true bearing. It always remains constant.

Magnetic bearing

The angle made by a survey line with respect to magnetic meridian is known as magnetic bearing. It changes from place to place.

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