Creating and Viewing a Corridor in AutoCAD Civil 3D

About Corridor

In  Civil 3D the Corridor is a three-dimensional model of a design encompassing the horizontal, vertical, and the cross-sectional geometries. In other words, a corridor is a combination of an alignment that provides horizontal geometry, a profile that provides vertical geometry, and an assembly that provides cross-sectional geometry. These Civil 3D objects are combined together to create a dynamic three-dimensional corridor model. 

 To explore various options to create a corridor for your project, we will learn in this to create and view a corridor in AutoCAD Civil 3D.

1.  Before starting the tutorial download the c08_civil_3d_2014_tut.zip file from www.cadcim.com. The path of the file is as follows: Textbooks > Civil/GIS > AutoCAD Civil3D > Exploring AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014.

2.Save and extract the downloaded file at the following location:

C:\civil3d_2014\c08

3. Open the File civil3d_2014_c08_tut01

The drawing file contains 1 surface, 1 alignment, 2 profiles, 1 profile view, 2 road assemblies.

Calculating Earthwork Quantities between two surfaces

Earthwork  estimation is an important part of any civil engineering project. Civil3D provides you with a streamlined method to calculate total cut, fill and net volumes of earthwork between the existing and the desired surface. The earthwork volumes between two surfaces can be calculated either by creating volume surface or by directly calculating the total cut and fill volumes between the two surfaces.

Civil 3D is the most powerful, simple and accurate tool to make earthwork calculations. For earthwork calculations you just need two surfaces in your drawing, one is the existing surface and other is the desired surface. Civil 3D analyzes both the surfaces and calculates the total volume of cut and fill by comparing the vertical distance between points in these surfaces. The distance between the elevations of two surfaces can then be used to create a third surface, known as volume surface. The most efficient method to calculate Earthwork quantities through Civil3D is  by using Composite Volumes.

To use Composite Volumes, type reportsurfacevolume in the command line and press ENTER . On doing so, Panorama window with the Composite Volumes tab will be displayed.

The following tutorial will explain the whole procedure to calculate the Earthwork Quantities using Composite Volume method and how to create a TIN volume Surface .

1.  Before starting the tutorial download the c04_civil_3d_2014_tut.zip file from www.cadcim.com. The path of the file is as follows: Textbooks > Civil/GIS > AutoCAD Civil 3D > Exploring AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014.

2.Save and extract the downloaded file at the following location:

C:\civil3d_2014\c04

3. Open the File civil3d_2014_c04_tut01

The drawing file consists of two TIN surfaces: the Existing Ground surface with borders and contours, and the Proposed Ground surface with triangles. You will notice a magenta colored polygon in the Proposed Ground surface.

Computing Composite Volumes

1. Enter REPORTSURFACEVOLUME at the command prompt; the Composite Volumes tab in the Panorama window is displayed.

2. Choose the Create new volume entry button from the Composite Volumes tab of the Panorama window; a new volume entry is added to the list box.

3. Double-click on the cell in the Base Surface column; a drop-down list is displayed. Select the Existing Ground option from this drop-down list

4. Similarly, select the Proposed Ground option from the drop-down list in the Comparison Surface column. On specifying the base and comparison surfaces, the net cut and fill volumes are displayed in the Cut and Fill columns, respectively.

The total volume of material to be removed from the existing ground is 20567.26 Cu.Yd. and the total material required to be filled is 13341.22 Cu Yd.

5. Accept the default cut and fill factor values. Move the slider at the bottom of the Panorama window to pan across the window to view the adjusted values for the cut, fill and net material required. The net volume of material is 7226-05 Cu Yd. This means that to create a balanced proposed ground, the 7226-05 Cu Yd of material needs to be removed from the existing ground. Note that the red graph in the Net Graph column indicates that the material needs to be removed from the base surface.

6. Close the Panorama window.

Creating the TIN Volume Surface

1. Choose the Create Surface tool from Home > Create Ground Data > Surfaces drop-down; the Create Surface dialog box is displayed.

2. In this dialog box, select the TIN volume surface option from the Type drop-down list.

3. Set the values of the TIN volume surface properties as follows:

 Name: Volume Surface             Base Surface: Existing Ground

Comparison Surface: Proposed Ground

4. Choose the OK button; the Create Surface dialog box is closed. The surface is created and displayed in different colored bands.

Creating Surface and Adding Point Data----Civil 3D 2014

Surface is considered as a building block and basic requirement of any Civil 3D project. There are four types of surfaces in Civil 3D: TIN Volume surface, TIN surface, Grid surface and Grid Volume surface. The TIN Volume surface and Grid Volume surface are used for calculating volumes.

In this Blog we will learn all about,

Creating a TIN( Triangulated Irregular Network) surface in Civil 3D.

Adding Point Data File to the TIN surface.

Use the Point file downloaded in the previous blog i.e civil3d_2014_c02_tut02an .txt.

You can download the file from http://www.cadcim.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ISBN=978-1-936646-32-6

After completing the following tutorial the surface image will look like the as shown in  Figure 1.

Figure 1  Surface displaying major and  minor contour lines

Creating the Surface

1.To create a surface, firstly Choose the Create Surface tool from Home > Create Ground Data > Surfaces drop-down; the Create Surface dialog box is displayed.

2. Click in the Value field of the Name property and enter a name of your choice.

3. Choose Add from the shortcut menu; the Add Point File dialog box is displayed.

4. Now, ensure that the TIN surface option is selected in the Type drop-down list of the Create Surface dialog box and choose the OK button; the dialog box is closed, also the surface is created and is added to the Surfaces node in the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette.

Note : You cannot see the surface at this stage because it is empty and you need to add data to make it visible.

Adding Point File to the Surface

1. Expand Surfaces > EG Surface > Definition in the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette.

2. Select Point Files from the Definition node and right-click; a shortcut menu is displayed.

3. Choose Add from the shortcut menu; the Add Point File dialog box is displayed.

4. From the Specify point file format list box, select the PENZD (space delimited) option. This file format is used for the point files that are saved with the extension .txt.

Note: If you select the wrong format for the point file from the Specify point file format list box, Civil 3D will display an error message indicating that the wrong file format has been selected.

5. Next, choose the button on the right of the Selected Files list box; the Select Source File dialog box is displayed.

6. Browse to the folder c03 and select civil3d_2014_c03_tut01- PENZD text file and choose the Open button; the file name and path is displayed in the Selected Files list box.

7. Choose the OK button from the Add Point File dialog box; the data is added to the surface.

Viewing the Surface

1. Enter ZE in the command line and then press ENTER; the surface will be displayed with a surface border, major, and minor contour as shown in figure 1. This is due to the default surface style settings of the template file.

Point Groups and Point Styles in Civil 3D 2014

In this blog, we will learn all about

·       Creating a Point Group

·       Creating a new Point Style and assigning it in Civil 3D 2014. Wonder,  these tools are  
   really handy to quicken up the project.  

So what is Point Group and Point Style all about.

Point Groups, is a collection of similar types of points  taken from a survey. These points have similar properties and also have their own styles and labels. Point Styles are defined to points to differentiate with each other in virtue of its properties.

Now let us take an illustration to explain how to create point groups and styles in Civil 3D 2014. To start with open the file that contains points. In this case I will open the civiil3d_point.dwg. You can also use  your own file. To download the file login to https://www.cadcim.com/exploring-autocad-civil-3d-2013 save the file with file name civil3d_2014_c02_tut02.txt.

   

On completing this tutorial blog, the dwg will look as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1  Points displaying the point groups and point styles

·       Start with Opening the New Template

1. Choose New from the Application Menu; the Select template dialog box is displayed. Select the _Autodesk Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS.dwt template and choose the Open button to open the template file.

·       Now, let's Import Points in the drawing, to do so start with following steps:

1. Choose the Point Creation Tools tool from Home > Create Ground Data > Points drop-down; the Create Points toolbar is displayed.

2. Choose the Import Points button from the Create Points toolbar; the Import Points dialog box is displayed.

3. Select the PENZD (space delimited) option from the Specify point file format list box. On doing so, the points are arranged in the order of the point Number (P), Easting (E), Northing (N), Elevation (Z), and Description (D). The points are separated by a space delimiter.

4. Choose the Add files button (button with + sign) on the right of the  Selected Files list box; the Select Source File dialog box is displayed. Browse to the location where you have saved the civil3d_2014_c02_tut02.txt file.

5. Select the file and choose the Open button; the dialog box is closed. Note that the selected file list in the Import Points dialog box shows the path of the selected text file.

6. Next, choose the OK button in the Import Points dialog box; the dialog box is closed and the points are imported.

7. Choose the Prospector tab in the Toolspace palette and note that a black colored symbol is dis­played on the left of the Points node indicating that the points have been added in the drawing,

8. Enter ZE in the command line and press ENTER; the drawing will now display the points. Next, close the Create Points toolbar.

9. Expand the Point Groups node. You will notice that all the points are added to the default _All Points group.

·       Creating the Point Group

1. Choose the Points tool from the Ground Data panel of the Modify tab to invoke the COGO Point tab is displayed in the ribbon.

2. Choose the Edit/List Points tool from the Modify panel of the COGO Point tab; the Panorama window with the Point Editor tab is displayed.

3. Scroll the bar in the Panorama window to view the description of points. On scrolling the bar, you will notice that some of the points have GRND as the point description. Now, you need to create a new point group that will include all the points with GRND as the description.

4. Close the Panorama window after viewing the point description of all points that you have imported.

5. Now, right-click on Point Groups in the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette; a shortcut menu is displayed. Choose the New option from the shortcut menu; the Point Group Properties - Point Group - (1) dialog box is displayed.

6. In the Information tab, enter Ground Points in the Name edit box.

7. Choose the Include tab and then select the With raw descriptions matching check box. Enter GRND in the corresponding edit box.

8. Next, choose the OK button; the dialog box is closed. All points with GRND as the raw description are added to the Ground Points point group in the Point Groups node.

·       Creating the Point Style

1. Choose the Settings tab of the Toolspace palette Basic point style and expand Point > Point Styles; a triangular symbol on the left of the style name is displayed. The style being used is an existing style named Basic.

2. Right-click on the Point Styles node and then choose the New option from the shortcut menu; the Point Style - New Point Style dialog box is displayed.

3. Accept the default point group name in the Name edit box and choose the Marker tab from the dialog box.

4. Ensure that the Use custom marker radio button is selected and then choose the third button from the Custom marker style options.

5. Select the Use size relative to screen option from the Options drop-down list in the Size area.

6. Enter 4 in the percent edit box.

7. Now, choose the Display tab and make sure that the Plan option is selected in the View Direction drop-down list.

8. Next, in the Component display region, click on the color of the Marker component; the Select Color dialog box is displayed.

9. Select the blue color from the dialog box and choose the OK button to exit the dialog box.

10. Now, choose Apply and then OK from the Point Style - New Point Style dialog box; the dialog box is closed and the point style name is added in the Point Styles node in the Settings tab.

·       Assigning the Point Style to the Point Group

1. Choose the Prospector tab of the Toolspace palette and expand the Point Groups node.

2. Right-click on the Ground Points group; a shortcut menu is displayed. Choose the Properties option from the shortcut menu; the Point Group Properties - Ground Points dialog box is displayed.

3. In the Information tab, select the New Point Style option from the Point style drop-down list in the Default styles.

4. Choose the Apply button from the Point Group Properties - Ground Points dialog box; you will notice that all ground points are displayed in blue color with the selected marker style.