Civil 3D: Fierce Solutions

Imperfect Intersections

We'll repeat the process for the last intersection with Alley 3 and Alley 4. Notice that because of the transitioning geometry at the northwest curb return, the pavement edge is setback beyond the 10' lane width value we have been using. This is not a problem because instead of configuring a lane width of 10' for the primary road left offset parameters, we'll tie it to Road A's left offset alignment created to generate the curb/gutter baselines. We will perform this for the Alley 3 intersection. Alley 4 will be configured like the others.

So as we run through the intersection routine for Alley 3, we'll make this change to our process for offset parameters:

This completes the workflow for townhouse corridors.

Four-way Intersections with Three Alignments

We're defining each alley using the intersection tool. Before using the intersection tool, an assembly set needs to be created. I determined that the following set of assemblies would serve my purpose for Alley 1 and probably the remaining intersections as well. My reasons should become clear as we work through this example.

Before defining an intersection, we need the following information:

• Left lane width of primary (main) road
• Right lane width of primary road
• Left lane width of secondary road
• Right lane width of secondary road
• Radii at each intersection quadrant (in this case at edge of pavement)
• Left lane cross slope of primary road
• Right lane cross slope of primary road
• Left lane cross slope of secondary road
• Right lane cross slope of secondary road

These values will be entered into the intersection wizard but can also be configured as defaults in the Create Intersection command settings. For this example, we'll step through the wizard.

On the first page of the intersection wizard, the intersection corridor type should be set to Primary Road Crown Maintained. Even though the primary road, Road A, has no crown, we do want the secondary road to tie into the edge of pavement of Road A.

On the second page of the wizard is where the values listed out above are entered. Hitting the appropriate buttons will allow us to configure those values.

Offset Parameters (Lane Widths):

Curb Return Parameters (Radii at EP):

Lane Slope Parameters (Lane Cross Slopes):

On the third and final page of the wizard, we're creating a new corridor and configuring our three assemblies into the assembly set. Since the primary road is already modeled, we're using the null assembly there. Since the intersection is very close to being perpendicular, we will not have any half sections for the secondary road. Since we will be reusing this configuration, we can save the set out for later use. The intersection can now be created.

To finish off Alley 1, we'll grab the diamond shape grip at the end of the intersection and drag it to the end of the alignment.

Next we'll go to the corridor properties of Alley 1, create its surface, apply its boundary, and then paste it into the FG-Roads surface for the overall roadway.

The next intersection appears to be a 4-way intersection but the alleys here, Alley 2 and Alley 5, are represented by their own alignments.

Civil 3D cannot do 4-way intersections with 3 alignments. If you try, it fails to produce the curb return profiles correctly. So to work around this, we have to treat this as two 3-way intersections. To make the program think this is a 3-way intersection, we'll temporarily move the start point for the Alley 2 alignment away from the intersection point. This will temporarily change the existing profile. The proposed profile will stay intact.

We then run the intersection tool on the 3-way alignment by repeating the entire process for Alley 1.

We return the start point of the Alley 2 alignment to the intersection point; move the start point of the Alley 5 alignment, then run the intersection process on Alley 2. Then we return the start point of the Alley 5 alignment back to the intersection point.

Next: Imperfect Intersections

Multiple Corridors for One Surface

In this example, you could create the entire roadway network in one corridor. Since there are so many baselines in the Road A corridor, the rebuild isn't instant. Creating each alley in isolated corridors will allow us to save time on rebuilds. Plus since the entire pavement area was done in one baseline, the triangle cleanup at the alley intersections will be better if we pasted the roadways together in one overall FG surface.

Create the Road A surface in corridor properties using the top links. Add the corridor extents as the outer boundary.

Create an overall roadway surface that will contain the roadway network.

Paste the surface for Road A into the overall roadway surface.

Next: Four-way Intersections with Three Alignments

Modeling Curb & Gutter in Parking Areas

To add the curb and gutter from Road A, we create baselines along each section of curb and configure assemblies containing the curb subassembly only. Since one side of the road is catching, the other side is spilling, and header curbs are being used in various locations, the following assemblies were created using the UrbanCurbGutterGeneral subassembly:

To create alignments along the edges of the corridor, we extract alignments and profiles from the left and right edges of pavement from the corridor feature lines. To do this successfully, go to the Codes tab of the corridor properties of Road A. Change the code set to turn off feature lines that are not associated with the top of your corridor if your default code set does not. This will ensure that we are selecting the correct feature line for this task.

Extract:

Be sure you chose the corridor, not the underlying extracted feature line from the previous exercise or the command will not work:

Name the alignments and profiles accordingly. There will be one alignment representing the left and another representing the right. 

Add baselines for each section of curb/gutter:

Continue to add baselines creating sections of curb/gutter:

Next: Multiple Corridors for One Surface

Corridor Targets

In this example, we need to maintain the planar 3% cross slope but extend the pavement into the parking areas while respecting the curb returns. With the Feature Line from Objects command, the edge of pavement for the corridor can be extracted from the preliminary drawing and joined at the intersection. There will be on feature line for the left of side Road A and another for the right side of Road A. These feature lines do not require elevation.

Open up the corridor properties for Road A. On the Parameters tab, click set all targets, and configure both feature lines to their respected assembly sides as Width or Offset Targets:

Slope or Elevation Targets are not necessary since we are allowing the default cross slopes in the assemblies have control:

Results:

Note: Select corridor and use Add a Section to tighten up small curve radii and 90 degree corners.

Next: Modeling Curb & Gutter in Parking Areas

Create Simple Corridor

In this example, we have a main road called Road A and five alleys called Alley 1, Alley 2, Alley 3, Alley 4, and Alley 5. The centerline alignments and profiles have been created for these roads. The edge of pavement meanders along Road A because of the parking areas.

 

Two assemblies have been created. The assembly for Road A is planar maintaining a 3% cross slope draining from right to left. The assembly for Alley 1 – 5 is v shaped maintaining 2% cross slopes on both sides. These typical sections will be maintained throughout the corridor. At the intersections, the alleys will transition to the edges of Road A.

Create a simple corridor for Road A. Adjust the start and end stations to coincide with the transition start points on the curb return. Set your frequency to 1 for tangents, curves, spirals and profile curves.

Default frequency values can be configured on the Settings tab so that they do not have to be configured with each corridor.

Currently, this corridor has one baseline with one region and no targets.

Next: Corridor Targets

The Basics of Corridor & Assembly Planning

Corridors are 3-dimensional models based on:

• Alignments
• Profiles
• Assemblies (typical cross sectional template)

Corridors are composed of

• Baselines (alignments and their associated profile)
• Regions (segments along an alignment where an assembly is assigned.

A corridor can contain more than one baseline. A baseline can contain more than one region.

Assemblies are composed of subassemblies i.e. pavement sections, curb/gutter sections, shoulder sections, sidewalk sections, and daylighting instructions. Subassemblies are composed of programming code that enables Civil 3D to do things like run quantities, change lane widths, and gutter dimensions.

Corridors, like surfaces must rebuild when changes occur. This can be done manually or automatically depending on your corridor settings and the size of your corridor; large, complex corridors should be rebuilt manually.

Subassemblies cannot be stored up on the server since they are a product of a combination of DVB, DLL, and XML files residing in your Civil 3D installation. However, they can be attached to an assembly and write-blocked out to a central folder on the server. This can be a time saver when working with typical sections that differ in dimensions from the Civil 3D stock subassemblies.  

When an assembly has been created, subassemblies are attached from the Tool Palettes. When an assembly has been selected, the Properties palette opens displaying the advanced parameters controlling the physical characteristics of the subassembly.

Help with the subassembly can be displayed by right-clicking on the subassembly in the Tool Palette and selecting Help.

Next: Create Simple Corridor

Townhouse Corridors

Townhouse corridors are complex. Parking stalls, odd transitions, and even intersections are difficult to model with a typical section. With planning, perseverance, and a complete understanding of corridors, near perfect contours can be created in a short amount of time.

This workflow will be divided into the following posts:

• The Basics of Corridor & Assembly Planning
• Create Simple Corridor
• Corridor Targets
• Modeling Curb & Gutter in Parking Areas
• Multiple Corridors for One Surface
• Four-way Intersections with Three Alignments
• Imperfect Intersections

AU 2011: When CAD Management and Information Technology Grow Apart – Class Summary

At Autodesk University, a parallel event was held called the Leadership Forum. This took place on Monday, November 28, and my contribution was facilitating a round table discussion on the successful marriage of IT and BIM. Below are the class discussion points with a summary of the ideas exchanged.

 1.  Do you see your CAD and IT Management efforts growing apart? What is driving this separation?

As technology evolves, so is the role of the CAD and IT Manager. Whether or not they coexist in the same department or different departments, details and issues of the adjacent technologies are multiplying. The roles of each involve the management of technology collections. The growth is positive since it offers improvements to existing business processes and new areas of business development. The negative side of this is could be that priorities of each are no longer aligned and communication suffers. Company size, size of support staff, and company culture can impact the negative as well as the positive.

2.  What differentiates CAD Management from Information Technology Management? What is driving the evolution of CAD Management to BIM Management?

Basically, CAD Management deals with the support of operations centered about application processes; IT Management deals with the support of technology infrastructure. There is some overlap i.e. data collector, GPS, and laser scanner support; troubleshooting application crashes and malfunctions. CAD Management involves the processes involved in putting black lines to white paper; BIM Management involves the integration of multiple technologies to facilitate the qualification, quantification, and optimization of a design model.

3.  How should the collaboration of BIM & IT in your organization keep you competitive?

 BIM and IT need to partner with leadership to align priorities with optimization of operational processes to guarantee expeditious uptime and expand business development opportunities.

   

4.  What should or shouldn't be the expectations of BIM Management according to Leadership? How might IT hinder or encourage the development of BIM in the organization?

Leadership expects BIM Management to ensure that the company's software investment pays off. Leadership also expects to stay informed of the progress. The language used in this conversation must center around ROI. Often times it is difficult to measure ROI. However, speaking in terms of "what it would cost us if we weren't using this technology" often helps to illustrate a clear picture of a company's application of BIM processes. IT can assist with this by collaborating with BIM on hardware requirements and upgrades. If IT can understand overall cost savings in setting up a successful BIM implementation, both can work together to clear obstacles.

  5.  What does being on the cutting edge of technology mean to you? What are your thoughts & concerns about placing your firm on the cutting edge of technology? Obstacles?

There are three schools of technology thinkers: leading, cutting, and bleeding edge. The bleeding edge which involves the use of very new technology integrated with a lot of unknowns is where present companies did not want to be. Technology implemented after six months of circulation in the industry was considered cutting edge. Staying on the cutting edge is a desirable place to be since cutting edge processes can be researched and prepared for before implementation. Staying on the leading edge gives a little more of a comfort margin between release and implementation of new technology. Implementing technology after being released for a year was an equally desirable place to be.

6.  How and where do BIM & IT overlap?

Overlap can differ from one company to the next depending on size and culture. Typically the overlap occurs in supporting infrastructure technology that is highly applications dependent. Workstations, plotters, 3D printers, data collectors, GPS units, and laser scanners all lend to the overlap. Having one single support submittal process that notifies appropriate staff is less confusing for the end users and expedites response time. This means that even if BIM and IT are in separate departments, they must still work and communicate as one team.

7.  What does it take for communication between Leadership & Technology Leads to be effective?

Technology must be able to communicate on leadership's level to facilitate an understanding between the two. Leadership doesn't want to hear complaints about fatal errors, layer standards, RAM amounts, sluggish network or internet access, server crashes, etc. The mission of a technology lead is to minimize and eliminate the day to day issues that impact operations. However, if there are costly issues that can be eliminated with new technology solutions (hardware or software), communicating these in terms of long-run cost savings will hold leadership's attention. Be prepared to counter the question "what will it cost us" with "what it will cost us if we don't", not only in terms of dollars and cents, but in terms of business development opportunities as well. Leadership expects IT and BIM to bridge their own gaps, communicate, and work together for the prosperity of the company. 8.  What drives BIM, IT, & Leadership into successful ventures?

When the arms of technology are successfully communicating, collaborating, and assisting each other, this positively influences production which is a story leadership wants to hear. Leadership also wants to be educated, not on the details but on the overall picture. Asking the question "what makes this improvement or process meaningful to leadership" and being able to communicate this will promote valuable two way conversation and collaboration with leadership.

9.  Where is the evolution of Technology taking us? What should our objectives be in utilizing this evolution?

It's difficult to predict exactly where the evolution of technology is taking us. We can define where it is we want it to take us. Together, IT, BIM, and leadership can do this so that goals can be defined and set. And if the technology being sought doesn't exist, defining the need helps to formulate objectives. Setting objectives involves asking the question with regard to infrastructure and operations, "How do we want to be positioned six months from now or this time next year?" With the evolution of technology must come the evolution of intellect within an organization; therefore, it is very important that goals be set accordingly.

 

Do You Really Want to Do This??

Although this is a known issue that has been around for ages, I still find people who are experiencing this. Therefore, I'm posting the solution here.

This is actually an odd issue caused by creating associative hatch patterns that use the linework in external references as part of the boundary definition. To get rid of this annoying issue, you must do the following:

• Delete the hatch pattern(s).
• Create the boundary linework in the current drawing.
• Unload the external reference.
• Recreate the hatch pattern.
• Reload the external reference