Surveyor device

The method of remotely determining roadway crown elevation and horizontal location in a portion of a roadway that is in transition from straight roadway to curved roadway wherein one edge of pavement is higher in elevation than a break point on said roadway and one edge of pavement is lower in elevation than said break point, such method utilizing a laser emitter for projecting a plurality of identifiable laser beams, at least one optical detector, and a laser beam receiver comprising:

• positioning the laser emitter on the lowest edge of the roadway pavement substantially coincident with said break point;
• verifying that the laser emitter is plumb within a specified tolerance;
• projecting two identifiable laser beams horizontally across the roadway, said beams having a predetermined difference in elevation such that the laser beams are entirely blocked by said roadway surface;
• utilizing an optical detector positioned at a known elevation above the laser emitter to observe the points of the roadway which are illuminated by each identifiable laser beam;
• determining the angle in relation to the optical detector at which laser illumination is observed for each discrete laser beam;
• relaying the obtained measurements to a data collector;
• and
• calculating the position of each point of the roadway which is illuminated by said laser beams using standard trigonometric functions to compute the slope of each segment of said roadway whereby the horizontal position and elevation of the break point relative to the laser emitter may be determined.

The method of remotely determining roadway crown elevation and horizontal location in a portion of the roadway that is in transition from straight roadway to curved roadway wherein one edge of pavement is higher in elevation than a break point on said roadway and one edge of pavement is lower in elevation than said break point, said method utilizing a plurality of laser emitters, said laser emitters each projecting at varying angles a single, discrete laser beam and a plurality of laser beam receivers to receive each of said laser beams, comprising:

• positioning a first laser emitter on the lowest edge of the roadway pavement at a known elevation substantially coincident with the break point;
• placing a first laser receiver on the opposite, highest edge of the roadway pavement at a known elevation in substantial linear alignment with the first laser emitter;
• verifying that the first laser emitter and the first laser receiver are plumb within a specified tolerance;
• projecting a first, discrete laser beam across said roadway toward the first laser receiver;
• varying the angle from vertical at which said first laser beam is projected incrementally until the break point blocks the laser beam from contact with the laser receiver;
• detecting the lowest elevation of the first laser beam that is transmitted to the first laser beam receiver by the first laser emitter;
• determining the angle at which the first laser beam is blocked from contact with the first laser beam receiver;
• relaying the break point elevation measurements to a data collector;
• plotting a first line along which the break point lies from the derived data;
• positioning a second laser emitter on the highest edge of the roadway pavement at a known elevation substantially coincident with the break point adjacent the first laser receiver;
• placing a second laser receiver on the opposite, lowest edge of the roadway pavement at a known elevation in substantially linear alignment with the second laser emitter;
• verifying that the second laser emitter and the second laser receiver are plumb within a specified tolerance;
• projecting a second, discrete laser beam across the roadway toward said second laser receiver;
• varying the angle from vertical at which the second laser beam is projected toward the second laser receiver incrementally until the break point of the roadway blocks the second laser beam;
• detecting the lowest elevation of the second laser beam that is transmitted to the second laser beam receiver;
• determining the angle at which the second laser beam is blocked from contact with the second laser beam receiver;
• relaying the coordinate to a data collector;
• plotting a second line along which the break point lies using the derived data;
• and
• calculating the horizontal and vertical position of the break point based upon the intersection of said lines.