A dumpy level is an instrument used in surveying and building to transfer, measure, or set horizontal levels. It is set up on a tripod and depending on the type, either roughly or accurately set to a leveled condition. It is an older style equipment that requires skilled use to set it accurately. The instrument requires level to be set in each quadrant, to ensure it is accurate through a full 360 ° traverse.

Materials used to make Dumpy Level

For better strength, it is usually made of durable materials like :

• Brass
• Gun metal

Features

The important features are :

• The instrument requires one operator to look through the site while the other person holds a tape measure or graduated staff at the position to be measured.
• Operators generally start from a reference point known as a benchmark. This point may be a value from a known survey point, or an arbitrary point used as a once off.
• Provided with a telescope, which is fixed rigidly to horizontally rotating table.
• There is only one axis of rotation in dumpy level, i.e. the vertical axis. The axis is made vertical by means of a spirit level and foot screws.

Point to be noted

The initial leveling of the dumpy level must be done very carefully. No adjustment can be made to the foot screws between sightings to the staff, since rotating a screw would alter the height of the line-of-sight.

Uses

They are mainly used to gather and/or transfer elevations during site surveys or building construction.

Application

It is an instrument mainly used to set horizontal levels in different kinds of surveys. Some of their application area are :

• Building Construction
• Meteorological Studies
• Land Surveying
• Engineering Application