Create cross sections for Civil 3D roadways

00:03

In this session, we will add culverts along our corridor

00:07

and create cross sections as well as cross section sheets.

00:11

We will also look at the drive function to view our finished corridor

00:15

from the existing ground contours.

00:17

We can see a few areas where we will need to add culverts.

00:21

We can also utilize our profile to determine the low points of the existing ground.

00:27

So it looks like we will add about three culverts to our design file here

00:31

to do this. We will pick the pipe network from our home menu

00:36

and we will choose create pipe network.

00:39

We can then select the main alignment and specify the existing ground surface

00:44

as well as some of our other view parameters.

00:47

Now, in the pipe dialog box, we can specify the size of the pipe that we need to lay out.

00:53

When we choose the pipe catalog,

00:55

we can specify the type of network that we are using.

00:59

In this case, we want to use a storm drain.

01:03

And if we don't see the size of pipe that we need,

01:06

we can expand the size availability by adding all the pipes from the catalog.

01:12

Once we have determined the culvert type and size.

01:16

And in this case, we want to add a 48 inch by a 48 inch concrete box culvert

01:22

and the head wall type,

01:24

we then pick the invert

01:26

and outlet locations

01:28

in our C

01:29

ad file.

01:30

The culvert appears with the labels

01:33

and we can adjust the head wall rotation

01:35

and move the labels so that they can be read easier

01:41

and we will do the same thing for the other culvert locations as well.

01:45

Now, for these items, we will change the size and material

01:49

and then we'll adjust the labels for those as well.

01:53

Near the end of our roadway, we will add an inlet

01:57

since we are in cut condition

02:01

and the outlet will be on the other side.

02:04

Now keep in mind when we place the culvert,

02:06

the elevation will be based on the items that we snap to.

02:10

So in this case, we are snapping to an existing ground contour.

02:15

Now,

02:15

we will set up the sample lines that will dictate the location of our cross sections.

02:21

We will go to the main menu and choose sample lines,

02:24

then specify the station range in the dialog box.

02:28

We can adjust the beginning and end values or select the locations within our file.

02:34

We will also add additional sample lines at each culvert crossing that we added,

02:41

we can adjust these lines to the exact location length and skew angle.

02:46

After we have created the lines in our set

02:49

now to do this, we will select the line and use the grips

02:53

to adjust the center location.

02:55

Then we can use the end points to match our culvert limits.

02:59

We can also extend the sample lines

03:02

to widen the display area of these sections.

03:06

Once we have all of our sample lines set up, we can create the cross sections.

03:11

We do this by selecting the section view in the home menu

03:15

and we will pick create multiple views.

03:19

Since we have multiple sections that we want to create.

03:21

We select the size and scale of our sections

03:25

as well as several other display settings.

03:28

And we've selected all the sample lanes to include

03:31

the culvert crossings as well.

03:33

This is also where we would set up our

03:35

display settings to show the slope and offset values

03:38

that are based on our code sets in our corridor.

03:43

As we view the sections, we can look for any areas that may not be modeled correctly.

03:50

One of the pipe sections doesn't have enough clearance

03:52

so we can select the culvert in the section view

03:56

and edit the size.

03:60

The section will automatically update once we've adjusted the culvert.

04:04

Now, in this area,

04:05

we actually want to change our corridor model by creating a cut ditch on both sides.

04:11

So we go in and revise the assembly, then rebuild the corridor.

04:16

Now, we can adjust some of the information to the inlet structure

04:21

such as making it a drop, inlet or

04:23

adjusting the end section.

04:25

But in this case,

04:26

we'll just adjust the invert elevation so that it matches the ditch flow line

04:34

again.

04:35

Once we update the invert elevation, our pipe section updates automatically,

04:41

the sample lines are dynamic.

04:43

So if we make any adjustments to the lines,

04:45

our cross sections will update automatically

04:49

and then we can change the skew angle of our sample lines or the length,

04:54

any changes that we make will be reflected in our cross sections.

04:59

Once we have all of our sections, in order we can now create cross section sheets.

05:04

So we'll go to the output tab and select cross section sheets.

05:08

The sheets will be based on our current setup.

05:11

And civil 3d may tell us that we need to save our file before we create the sheets,

05:15

we'll just select, OK.

05:19

If we discover that any of the sheets are at the wrong scale,

05:22

we can just select the viewport

05:25

and choose the drop down arrow in the center and then

05:27

change the scale so that everything fits within the drawing.

05:34

Everything looks to be good here.

05:36

Now, we'd like to run the drive command to inspect our corridor.

05:39

But before we can do this,

05:41

we need to create the surfaces that are based on our corridor.

05:45

So we select our corridor, then we select corridor surface,

05:49

we can select the different elements from our corridor to base that surface upon. So

05:54

some of these elements are going to be the pavement,

05:57

the cut and fill limits or the sidewalk

05:60

and the carbon gutters.

06:02

So once we've added those,

06:03

now we'll go to add an external boundary at the edge of our corridor

06:08

and this prevents any unnecessary triangulation, then we'll rerun the corridor

06:13

and then we can view the design contours

06:16

and we can even see based on the surface

06:19

contours that this has accounted for our super elevation.

06:22

So these surfaces look like they will work for what we need.

06:26

Next.

06:27

We'd like to create a surface that only displays

06:29

the existing ground outside of the corridors that we've created

06:34

to do this, we will create a drive surface

06:36

that contains the existing ground surface.

06:40

So we'll simply paste that in there,

06:44

then we can create a high boundary

06:47

for the drive surface that is based on our design corridors.

06:52

And once we've added that hide,

06:54

we can see that those contours don't extend across that hide

06:58

and we'll do the same thing for all the other design surfaces as well.

07:02

Then once our surface is set, it looks like we'll be ready to create our drive.

07:08

Now,

07:08

one step that we want to do before we execute the drive is to create corridor solids.

07:14

And so we'll extract the solids from our corridor.

07:17

So this will help in the quantification

07:20

of our materials.

07:21

And the solids tend to display a little bit better in the drive view.

07:25

When we extract the solids,

07:27

we want to make sure that this is dynamically linked

07:30

to our corridor so that if any changes are made,

07:33

those will be reflected in the solids as well.

07:36

So to run the drive, we select our corridor, then select drive

07:40

next, we'll select the feature line that we want to follow.

07:44

Once we're in the drive view,

07:46

we can set the view parameters so that we're

07:48

at the right height and at the right angle,

07:51

then we can make any kind of changes to our surface display.

07:55

In this case, we want to correct the color

07:57

so that only the solids are displayed,

07:60

we can also adjust the design speed of the drive

08:02

or we can step through a section at a time.

08:06

So really, this provides us with the best view

08:09

to ensure that our cut and fill limits are correct

08:12

and that our other elements are correct as well.

08:15

We can inspect the corridor for other features such as the curbs or

08:19

the taper lanes and verify that those are in good condition as well.

08:23

So this gives us the ability to review

08:25

things both horizontally and vertically at the same time

08:32

and we'll review all the corridors that we created.

08:37

So these look to be in pretty good shape,

08:39

we can see one or two areas that we may need to adjust or revise.

08:43

So this gives us an overview of culverts, cross sections and corridor views.