NICET - Highway Construction Inspection Practice Exam

Is Sta. 21+00 up-station or back-station from Sta. 23+00?

1. Up-station

2. Back-station

3. Equal station

4. Dependent on the direction of travel

The correct answer is: Back-station

In highway construction and surveying, the terminology of "up-station" and "back-station" relates to the reference points along a project layout, typically measured in stations. Each station is denoted in a linear format, where the first number indicates the number of tens and the suffix represents the number of units. In this context, Sta. 21+00 is positioned before Sta. 23+00 along the centerline of the road or construction project. When analyzing the stationing from Sta. 23+00, Sta. 21+00 would indeed be earlier in the sequence, indicating it is located further back in relation to Sta. 23+00. This gives us a directional understanding where an up-station refers to a point that is further along in the alignment or path, while a back-station refers to a point that is further behind. Thus, identifying Sta. 21+00 as a back-station from Sta. 23+00 reflects that Sta. 21+00 is positioned at a lower station number compared to Sta. 23+00. It accurately describes the relative positions along the project alignment, making "back-station" the correct classification in this scenario.