Traversing:
The instrument is successively set at each station of the traverse and the fore bearing and back bearing of each line is taken and recorded in the field notebook. The observational errors in this survey tend to compensate as each bearing is observed independently. Distances between each survey stations are measured using a chain/tape. The offset points are located either by procedure followed in chain surveying or by angular measurement with compass.
The bearings of survey lines in a traverse are observed in progressive way. The bearing recorded in the direction of progress of survey is called the fore bearing while the bearing of the same survey line from the end station (station B on line AB) is termed back bearing.
It can be noted that back bearing of a line is equal to its fore bearing ± 180o. Plus sign is used when fore bearing is less than 180o and minus sign is used when it is more than 180o.