Advance Road Design Civil3d
Advance Road Design Civil3d
Civil Site Design provides a template and string based design environment for creating
Roads and land re-grading inside AutoCAD, as well as pipe design including stormwater
drainage and sewer.
Table of Contents
Surfaces
Road Design Basics
Drainage
Sewer
Grading
Developed by:
Sales: sales@civilsurveysolutions.com.au
Ph: 1300 254 004 (Australia)
Before you Start – Please start Civil 3D 20XX and open the Quick Start Tutorial.dwg training file.
Note: The training files can be found by running the General Open Tutorial Folder Command.
Surfaces
Because you are in Civil 3D, you can read Civil 3D surface data directly into Civil Site Design – there is no
need to use the CSD Surface tools.
For information, below is an option for creating surfaces using Civil Site Design.
We recommend you read below, but skip this step
Creating a Surface
Let’s do a quick review of the current drawing:
On the right you can see that there are triangles (3D
faces) in the drawing – these represent the
surveyor’s information. The first step is to convert
these into a TIN Surface. The 3D faces are located
on the layer SURF
Also included are layers for other objects as follows:
Alignments – ALIGN
Drainage – PIPES-DRAINAGE
Sewer – PIPES-SEWER
Contour Labels
Contour labels can be applied at the
edges of each contour, at regular intervals
internal to the contour line, and along user
selected lines. You get to control colour,
layer, text style and text size.
Step 11: Click on the Outputs > Contour
Labelling tab
Step 12: For the Major contour labels, tick
ON the Mid labels and then click
Update Labels. Note extra
labelling at regular intervals
along the major contours – the
Spacing parameter controls the
distance between the contour
labels.
To add your own contour labels where you want:
Step 13: Tick on the option Label by Line, then click on the Add
button.
Step 14: In the drawing, click on two locations inside the surface –
contour labels will be added along the line between the two
points.
Labels will be created along the line.
This line displays when the Create Surface form is displayed – moving
the line using AutoCAD grips will move the contour label locations.
Note: You can change the Type and click on Update Labels to update the
labels in the drawing.
Slope Arrows
Sometimes it’s helpful to see the direction of
flow as well as see ‘at a glance’ the steep and
flat areas across the surface – this is done by
displaying slope Arrows
Step 15: Click on the Outputs > Slopes &
Arrows tab and tick on Show Slope
Arrows
Step 16: Click on the Update Display button
and note the slope arrows display in
the drawing
Step 17: Type in different slope ranges,
change range colours (by clicking on
the colour swatch) and click Update
Display
Step 18: Untick Show Slope Arrows and
click on Update Display.
You can also select an AutoCAD table style,
set the column widths and click on the
Create Table button to add an AutoCAD table in the drawing
Height Shading
It is often helpful to display the surface
with different colours representing
elevation ranges.
Step 19: Click on the Outputs > Height &
Directions tab and tick on Show
Height Shading
Now to set up the height ranges – the Set
Up Table button allows you to do this
easily.
Step 20: Click on the Set up Table button
and set the following:
a. Under Region Split
Metho, tick on the option
By Increment and set the
increment to 5.
b. Click on the colour swatch and set the colour to Red.
c. Click OK to apply the colour ranges, and then click on Update Display.
Step 21: Untick Show Height Shading and click on Update Display.
Surface Statistics
Step 22: Click on the Statistics tab
Step 23: Click on the Update button and review
the outputs. The Print button will generate a
text file output
Alignments
Alignments are read directly from Civil 3D – create Civil 3D alignments and Civil Site Design will work with
them directly.
Roads
The next step is to take the 2D plan layout geometry (the alignments) and turn them
into Strings, with road cross sections assigned.
A String is an object that contains vertical geometry and (optionally) cross section
geometry. It uses an alignment for horizontal geometry control. Cross sections
are calculated at user defined intervals and at geometry points along the
alignment – cross sections are joined together to form surface models.
A Road is a particular type of String – as well as having its own vertical
geometry and cross sections assigned at each sampled section, when
one Road String meets another, or two Road Strings cross each other,
they will share levels (elevations) where they intersect. In all cases of intersecting Roads, there is a ‘Main’
Road and a ‘Side’ Road. The Main Road does not get adjusted through the intersection zone; however
the Side Road String vertical grading will adjust to adopt the design of the Main Road cross section,
normally between the left and right edges of the Main Road. The cross section Code that is used to
define the edge of Main Roads is controllable by you – the default is to look for the LEB and REB codes
on the Main Road cross sections.
Getting Started
Before you Start – Please start Civil 3D 20XX if not already open, and open the Road Network.dwg
training file.
Note: The training files can be found by running the General Open Tutorial Folder Command.
The Template Editor form will now display. The Template Editor consists of:
A spreadsheet view at the top for
you to create Sections (aka Legs)
left and right of the String to which
it will be attached. Each Section is
defined by an offset distance, as
slope/vertical and a Code
(describing the end of the Section).
The Plot option sets whether or not
the Code will be textually
described at the time of plotting
cross sections.
There is a visual display below the
spreadsheet view – this updates
as geometry is changed
Function controls to the right
o Use the arrows at the top to cycle through Templates
o Click on Template Options to make new Templates
o Click on Create Section or Create Kerb to create Sections (complete with subgrade
layers)
o Click on Let Side and Right Side to assign some starting batters.
o Controls to set subgrades to be assigned if new Codes are inserted on the String.
Step 3: Set the current template to Local
Metric Road 6m SM.
Step 4: Set the Width of Section (Leg) 1 to
3.2m on both sides – this changes
the width of the road (LEB and REB
codes)
Step 5: Set the width of Section (Leg) 6 to
1.2m on both sides – this changes
the width of the footpath (LFPO and
RFPO)
Step 6: Change the batter slopes – click on the button Left Side and
change the Slopes to 1:2 cut and 1:2 fill
Step 7: Repeat for the right side – click on the button Right Side and
change the Slopes to 1:2 cut and 1:2 fill
You can make as many Templates as you need by clicking on the
Template Options button and selecting to Create New Template in
Local Library.
We will use the Metric Road 6m SM Template for our Road cross sections.
Road Creation
Step 8: From the Ribbon, click on Roads Create/Edit Road.
Step 9: At the prompt, pick the Delawn alignment in the drawing. The
Add Roads form displays:
Step 10: Set the Template to Metric Road 6m SM and click on OK.
In the drawing, the road linework will immediately display, representing
the extrusion of the cross sections along the String vertical grading and
the alignment horizontal geometry.
Note: The colours of the linework can controlled from the ribbon command Roads
> Plan Drafting Layers.
The Vertical Grading Editor Window will also display. The Vertical
Grading Editor provides a comprehensive set of tools for designing the
string vertical grading. Create/delete IP’s, set IP levels/grades and assign
vertical curves from the Vertical Grading Editor interface.
As well as managing the string vertical grading, the Vertical Grading
Editor also allows the user to open cross section windows to review the
cross sections as well as allowing cross sections to be edited.
The Design Data form allows you to fully customise your cross sections
along your string, and can be accessed from the Vertical Grading Editor
or directly from the Ribbon.
Vertical Grading
A view of the initial design and layout is shown below:
Move the Vertical Grading Editor (VGE) window where you want in the drawing and resize the window to
suite. Note that the software has applied an automatic best fit design, creating multiple IP’s inclusive of
vertical curves. You are encouraged to edit the vertical design.
As the design changes, the linework in the drawing will update.
Step 11: In the Vertical Grading Editor, click on the Delete IP button up the top, near the left.
Step 12: Click in the display window of the Vertical Grading Editor at around chainage 150 – the vertical
IP is removed and the design updated.
You can click on the Add IP button to create more IP’s. The ‘snap’ IP buttons ( and ) will create
IP’s that are snapped onto the sampled (existing) surface.
The Raise Lower All IP’s icon allows you to set a cut/fill volume outcome – once you click OK the
software raises and lowers the string to achieve the required volume result.
Note: Use the middle scroll button to zoom and pan in the Vertical Grading Editor display window. Roll the middle
mouse to zoom and hold it down to pan.
There are many more IP editing tools – hover over each item to read what it does.
You can show more cross section windows by clicking on the Display Cross Section Window from
the VGE and then clicking a chainage to display in the VGE display.
Step 18: Click on the Move IP Anywhere button and click on the IP you have previously edited. Move
the IP around and watch the cross section window/s. All open cross section windows
automatically update as design changes are made.
Step 19: Change the display of information by clicking on the Display Settings button
Step 20: In the Settings form, untick Show Levels and
tick On Show Code. Click OK to exit the form -
the cross section window now displays code
information, instead of design levels.
Use the arrows to navigate to different chainages or
use the pick list to change the chainage to display. Right
clicking on the VGE will reset the chainage for the cross
section window opened with the right click.
Note: Use the middle scroll button to zoom and pan in the Cross Section display window. Roll the middle mouse to
zoom and hold it down to pan.
Close and open cross section windows by clicking on the X top right.
The left side panel lists all the aspects of the cross section that can be edited – anything with a + next to it
can be expanded to show the inputs/edits assigned.
Step 22: Expand Templates and click on the template entry – the details show on the right. The Metric
6m SM Template is applied for the full length of the alignment.
You could completely change your cross sections by picking a different Template and clicking to apply the
changes.
The Add Entry button is used to add more controls – this allows you to change Templates along the
Road string.
The Variations section allows you to edit your cross sections on a code-by-code basis. With the
Variations controls you apply the following edits, and more:
- Delete a Code over a chainage range
- Insert a new Code over a chainage range
- Vary the width and/or slope of a Code over a chainage range
- Set the offset of a Code to match a selected alignment
- Set the offset and level of a Code to match a selected String
The Batters section allows you to override the batter conditions anywhere along the Road string.
Step 23: Close the Design Data Form window by clicking on the X at the top right of the form.
Surface Creation
As well as creating a surface for the current String, you can create an ‘Automatic Road Network Surface’
model – this type of surface model automatically includes the Road, Kerb Return, Cul-de-sac and Knuckle
Strings in one trimmed surface model. To set this type of surface up:
Step 1: From the Ribbon, click on Roads Auto Model. A surface model of the current Road string
is automatically created.
Note: Use the Surfaces Create Surface command to edit the display of the surface, or edit some aspects of
the display directly from the VGE
Step 2: From the VGE window, click on the
Control Surface Display button
Step 3: On the Surfaces tab, you can quickly turn the
mesh or contours on/off, and change contour
intervals. Click on the Models tab
Step 4: For the TotalModel, tick on the option Auto
Rebuild and click OK
This sets ARD to automatically update the surface as
changes are made in the VGE.
You can test this by using the the Move IP Anywhere
function to move an IP and reviewing what happens in the
drawing as each edit is made.
Quick Volumes
At any time during the design of any String, you can extract a quick volume summary of your string
design.
Step 1: From the VGE, click on the button Volume Report. An interactive volume reporting form will
display listing the section by section volumes and totals
Step 2: Close the VGE window for Delawn by clicking on the OK button.
Long Sections
Step 1: From the Ribbon, click on Roads Long Section. Click on the Delawn alignment in
the drawing.
Step 2: In the Select Sections to Plot form, click on Selected Sampled Sections.
A preview long section displays in a new Layout and a form displays for you to edit and manage the
display of your long section. From here you can set up the layers, scales and assign a title block. You
can also fully customise the data displayed on the long section and in the rows at the bottom.
Saving styles provides a quick means of recalling long section output displays, ready for immediate
plotting output.
Step 3: Click on Load Style, select the style
QS A1 Title and click OK. The long
section presentation will immediately
update.
Step 4: Click on Plot to Layout to create
new AutoCAD Layouts in the
drawing – the long section will span
multiple sheets (layouts) as
required. A model view can also be
included in the output.
Cross Sections
Step 5: From the Ribbon, click on Roads
Cross Sections. Click on the
Delawn alignment in the drawing.
Step 6: In the Select Sections to Plot form,
click on Selected Sampled
Sections.
Step 7: Click on Load Style, select the style
QS A1 Title and click OK. The
cross section presentation will
immediately update.
Step 8: Click on Plot to Layout to create
new AutoCAD Layouts in the
drawing – the cross sections will
span multiple sheets (layouts) as
required.
Setout
Step 9: Go to the Model Tab and
from the Ribbon, click on
Roads Multi Object
Setout.
Step 10: Click OK at the next form to
accept the name for the
setout.
Step 11: Click on Load Style.
Pick CL Code - P (no circle)
dwg + PENZD
table.setOutStyle and click
OK. This will establish some
Settings output controls
Step 12: From the Object and Code
Select tab, tick the Off
buttons for the Kerbs and
Cul-de-sacs so we just set
out the Road centrelines.
Note: The above image displays the setout form after all roads, kerb returns and cul-de-sacs have been created.
Since only one Road String exists at this stage, setout will be limited to just showing Delawn.
You can pre-set which sampled cross sections are used in the creation of setout points. By
default, the Roads will setout every sampled section – it’s often preferred to limit this to the same
sampling as the cross sections.
Step 13: In the Objects to Set Out list, click on Delawn, then
click on the Edit button.
Step 14: In the Setout Spacing along Chainage, use the pick
list to set the spacings to Section Plots. This sets the
setout spacings to match the cross section plot
sampling.
You can also set a starting point number for each Road.
Step 15: Click OK.
Step 18: From the Ribbon, click on Roads Open Vertical Grading.
Step 19: At the command prompt, click on Stawell Street in the drawing (or press [Enter] and select
Stawell from the list of strings).
Step 20: Repeat the above two steps and open Sydney Street (This is the road that forms a cross road
with Stawell).
Stawell Street and Sydney Street both contain IP’s at the start of each String, with the IP’s describing the
cross section of the intersecting ‘main’ Road. Stawell Street also has IP’s midway along that describe the
cross section of Sydney Street where it crosses Stawell Street.
Move Sydney Road up
and down by editing the
IP closest to the vertical
red line located around
chainage 80 – the vertical
grading of Stawell Street
will immediately update to
match the new cross
section of Sydney Street.
Automatic vertical curves
have been created either
side of the intersection –
you edit these when you
create or resample the
road cross sections (they are not editable in the VGE window).
Intersection connectivity is automatic.
The surface will rebuild as the vertical grading of any string is edited – it’s now time to create kerb returns.
Step 21: Close all open VGE windows.
Kerb Returns
Kerb Return Strings are a special type of String – as well as supporting a vertical grading design and
cross sections, kerb return strings understand that they should connect to two Road strings, specifically to
particular Codes on the road strings. By default, these Codes are LEB and REB (representing left edge of
bitumen and right edge of bitumen).
Step 1: From the Ribbon, click on Roads Kerb Return and click on the northern side of the
intersection between Delawn Street and Sydney Street.
Step 2: From the Single Arc tab, type 12 for
the Radius
Step 3: Click on the button Create/Update
Alignment
In the drawing, a new ‘kerb’ alignment is created
as well as a Kerb String – the intersection is
automatically remodelled to include the removal
of overlapping Codes from the Main and Side
Roads and the surface rebuilt.
The cross section for the kerb return string is
automatically constructed from the matching
Codes on the Main and Side Road cross sections
– when these codes are dissimilar, users can
specify a Template for the kerb return cross
sections.
Step 4: If desired, change the Radius to 15 and
click on Create/Update Alignment.
The kerb return updates both the
horizontal alignment as well as the
String vertical grading.
Step 5: Click on Display Vertical Grading,
click OK on a message if it displays.
Step 6: Click Close to close the Kerb Definition form.
The Vertical Grading of the Kerb Return will display. The incoming IP’s and outgoing IP’s from the kerb
return are matched to the Road cross section Code levels.
If desired, open the VGE of the Main and
Side Road – edit the Main Road IP’s and
watch both the side road and the kerb return
VGE update.
The cross sections of the kerb return are
‘built’ from the main and side road cross
sections.
Step 7: Click OK to close the kerb return
VGE.
Note: Use the Kerb Return command to edit any
kerb return string in the drawing.
Cul-de-sacs
Cul-de-sac Strings are a special type of String – as well as supporting the vertical grading design and
cross sections, cul-de-sac strings understand that they should connect to the start or end of a Road string,
specifically to particular Codes on the road strings.
Step 1: From the Ribbon, click on
click on Roads Cul-
de-sac and press [Enter] at
the command prompt – this
will initiate the process for
creating a new Cul-de-sac
Step 2: Fill in the following:
- Cul-de-sac Name: MarinCDS
- Incoming Road: Marin
- Match to Code: EB
- Start Chainage: 190
- Radius 1: 15
- Radius 2: 10
- Radius 3: 15
Step 3: Click on the Create/Update
Alignment button.
The alignment creates in the drawing.
Now to establish the vertical grading controls and the
modelling controls.
Step 4: Click on the Vertical Grading Controls button to
display the vertical grading design controls.
Step 5: For the Cul-de-sac Template pick Auto
Step 6: Click on the button Display Vertical Control – the
VGE for the MarinCDS String will display
Step 7: Click on Close to close the cul-de-sac form.
The cul-de-sac VGE shows the incoming and outgoing Road levels along the edge of the Road – you get
to design the internal IP’s and levels.
Note: The Transfer Levels options allow you to set automatic IP’s to be included in the cul-de-sac vertical grading,
with the elevations being calculated using the road crossfalls.
The Surface
automatically
rebuilds to include
the cul-de-sac
design.
Volume Reports
You can generate volume reports for each String, as well as a summary volume report across the entire
road network (this includes trimming of the roads and inclusion of the kerb returns, cul-de-sacs and
knuckles)
Step 1: From the Ribbon, click on click on
Roads Volumes
An interactive volume report form
will display. In here you can
a. Select the road on the left
to obtain section by section
volumes
b. Report Total Volumes for all
road network objects
c. Report subgrade volume
information
d. Output to .csv and as a
table in the drawing.
Pipes - Drainage
Quickly create, edit and plot pipe networks using ARD.
ARD Pipes supports the creation and layout of stormwater
drainage pipes (Rational Method), sewer pipes, service
obstruction and general pipe networks.
Plotting and report outputs are made directly into the drawing,
so revision control is made simple.
Like Roads, the pipes module supports the display of multiple
branches along any network in separate design windows (pipe
Vertical Grading Editor windows) from which you can readily
edit pipe sizes, invert/obvert levels, insert and delete pits.
Let’s have a look a creating a quick drainage network from
some polylines in the drawing.
Step 1: In the drawing command line, type LAYON and press [Enter}.
All layers will turn on – there are layers
in the drawing representing pipe and pit
locations. ARD can create pipes and
pits directly from polylines, converting
each polyline vertex into a pit.
Note the following layers in the drawing:
- PIPES-DRAINAGE
This layer contains the polylines that
represent the desired locations for
pipes and pits.
Pipe Settings
There a number of pipe settings that control the list of pits, pipes, design controls of cover and slope,
minimum and maximum flow velocities, freeboard, rainfall locations, design storm ARI’s and more. Let’s
have a look at some of the critical items for drainage design:
Step 2: From the Ribbon, click on click on Pipes Active Network
Step 3: From the General Tab then click on the Defaults Tab, set the Design Surface to be
TotalModel. Top of pit levels are initially set to match the design surface
Step 4: Click on the Pipe Tables tab and review the list of Pipes – pipes are set by Pipe Class and Pipe
Type. The pipe type list allows the user to type in pipe ID’s, set pipe sizes and other geometric
and hydraulic controls.
Step 5: Click on the Drainage Tab then click on the
Design Settings tab. Items to confirm/edit
include:
a. Location: Melbourne
b. Minor Frequency: 10yr ARI
c. HGL Method: Pipe Partial Water Level
d. Pipe Flow Time Velocity: Flow/Part Area
of Pipe
e. Automatic Bypass to next Pit: Tick ON
Step 6: Click on the IFD Tables tab. Here is where you
can create new IFD tables to use.
Step 7: Click on the Pit Tables tab. Here you can set up
Pit Classes and Pit Types – for each Pit Type you
establish the performance of the pit (eg: for on-
grade pits, you specify gutter flow vs inflow)
Step 8: Click on the Services Tab – here you create service obstruction types and set the pipe
size/shape and the clearances required around the pipe
Step 9: Click OK to save and exit the settings.
Assigning Catchments
Skip this step if you are doing a general pipe design, or you know your pipe sizes and levels.
Stormwater catchments can be created from polylines in the drawing or can be assigned areas directly.
You set the parameters of the catchment.
Step 1: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Catchment Area.
Step 2: At the prompt, click on the leftmost upstream pit (pit number 1)
Step 3: In the Add/Edit Catchment Areas form, click on the Add button to make a new catchment.
Step 4: In the Create/Edit Catchments form,
set the following:
a. Catchment Name: 1
b. Method: Single C Factor
c. Total Area: 1 Ha
d. C Factor: 0.6
e. Tc (min): 6
Step 5: Click OK to create the catchment.
The catchment is created and a block is inserted
in the drawing to represent the catchment. You
are returns to th eAdd/Edit Catchment Areas
form to add more catchments to the pit.
Step 6: Click Close to stop adding catchments to this pit.
Step 7: At the prompt, select the northern pit at the head of the court bowl (pit 9)
Step 8: In the Add/Edit Catchment Areas form, click on the Add button to make a new catchment.
Step 9: In the Create/Edit Catchments form, set the following:
a. Catchment Name: 2
b. Method: Single C Factor
c. Total Area: 1 Ha
d. C Factor: 0.7
e. Tc (min): 6
Step 10: Click OK to create the catchment.
Step 11: Click Close to stop adding catchments to this pit and then press [Esc] to stop assigning
catchments.
Creating a Network
Currently you have a collection of connected pipes and pits. You now need to make them into a Network
by specifying a single downstream (outlet) pit and assigning the outlet water level. Once this is done,
ARD will route the flows through the network and determine the HGL outputs and assign pipe sizes and
levels to deal with the Minor Frequency storm.
Step 1: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Create/Update Network.
Step 2: At the prompt, select the most eastern (rightmost) pit (pit 8) as the downstream outlet pit
Step 3: In the Create Drainage Network form, type in Drainage 1 for the network name and then click
OK.
Step 4: For the Downstream Water Level select Top of Pipe and click OK.
The drainage network is now formed – the pits will be circled and directional flow arrows will be presented
on each pipe, with the directions pointing toward the outlet.
The pipes and pits have now been designed based on the catchments and can be reviewed in the pipe
Vertical Grading Editor (VGE) windows.
Branch Sequencing
It’s important to tell ARD how you want to plot the pipe runs (in what order) – to do this you apply Branch
Sequencing. After you have sequenced the network you can also renumber the pits based on the branch
numbers/names.
Step 5: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Branch Sequence.
Step 6: At the prompt, select a pipe on the network and click OK to confirm the selection
Step 5: Right click on another pipe. For the Pipe, click on the Lower button to lower the whole pipe.
Minimum pit drops will be preserved, unless you have manually edited the invert of the next
upstream or downstream pipe.
Step 6: Click in the Diameter pick box and pick a bigger pipe size – all downstream pipes will update so
they don’t downsize. Un-tick Set by User to restore the pipe size to the ‘design’ size.
From the Pipes VGE you can insert pits, delete pits and set the pipe slope, as well as other
edits.
Note: Use the buttons to cycle through the pipes and use the various zoom buttons to zoom to
particular pipes along the VGE.
There are more pipe and pit editing tools – hover over each item to read what it does.
Reports
In the software you can develop your own reports to generate
tables – you pick the property to report in each column, as well
as set the heading and column widths. An AutoCAD table is
created in the drawing – there is a command line entry to force
all tables to update after you make a change to the network.
Step 3: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes General. Click
on one of the pipes you created and then click OK to
confirm the selection.
Step 4: From the Report Format pick box, select Pit
Schedule – Pit Families. The report settings list will
update – each line is setting a column to display in the
table output.
Step 5: Click on the AutoCAD Table button and select a
location in the drawing. An AutoCAD table will be
created.
Step 6: Repeat the above two steps to make the following
reports:
a. Report Format: Drainage – HGL Report
b. Report Format: Drainage – Pipe Report
Trench Volumes
Step 7: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Volumes. Click on one of
the pipes you created and then click OK to confirm the selection.
Step 8: Accept the default Subgrade Depth (this accounts for pipes that run
under the road – you only backfill to the underside of the Road
pavement) and click OK.
A text report is created, listing the volume of material removed and backfilled.
At the bottom of the report is a summary of the volumes as well as a summary
of the pipes used.
Note: You can change the backfill conditions for the pipes by using the Set Pipe
Backfill Lengths command.
Plan Drafting
Step 9: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Label Network. Click on one of the pipes you created
and then click OK to confirm the selection.
Step 10: Accept the defaults in the Select Plot Items in Plan form and click OK.
Text is added at each pit and along each pipe.
Data Share
You can share your network (including catchments and bypass) geometry to Watercom Drains or PC
Drains directly. With Watercom Drains there is also the capacity to receive the results from the Drains
analysis and plot the pipe, pit and HGL changes using ARD Pipes.
Service Obstructions
Crossing services are a significant design consideration in any pipe network. In ARD, you create service
pipe networks directly from polylines – these will show up on your
drainage, sewer and other service obstruction networks when viewed in
the Pipe Vertical Grading Editor – the pipes are colour discriminated to
highlight clashes and insufficient pipe clearances
Step 1: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Service Pipes/Pits with
Levels.
Step 2: In the Create Service with Levels form, set the following:
a. Service Type: Gas 225
b. Name: Gas-225
c. Depth from Surface (mm): 1000
Step 3: Click OK. At the command prompt, select the polyline on layer Pipe-Service (the polyline
crosses the last pipe in the network).
Step 4: In the Edit Pipe Run form, you can set the levels of
each polyline segment to establish pipe levels along
the service network.
Step 5: Accept the defaults and click OK.
A service obstruction network will be created. This can be
viewed and edited in the Pipe Vertical Grading Editor.
Pipes - Sewer
Sewer pipe design processes parallel those of drainage – the process for creating
pipes and pits, editing pipes and pits, creating networks, editing in the Pipe Vertical
Grading Editor and plotting are the same.
Where sewer differs from drainage is in regards to lot control (house connections) –
for sewer, the levels of the sewer mains are driven by the lowest connection levels
from adjoining properties.
Step 1: ARD can create pipes and pits directly from polylines, converting each
polyline vertex into a pit.
Note the following layers in the drawing:
- PIPES-SEWER – polyline representing the desired location for pipes and pits
- LOTS-SEWER – closed polylines for each property
This layer contains the polylines that represent the desired locations for pipes and
pits.
Pipe Settings
There are specific settings for Sewer design – these relate to pit drop controls, pipe slop controls and
house connection controls.
Step 2: From the Ribbon, click on click on Pipes Active
Network
Step 3: Click on the Sewer Tab then click on the House
Connections Tab. You can make new House
Connections and set the slope, cover and drop behaviour
of the house connection – this is used to establish the
initial house connection levels and set the sewer pipe
levels.
Step 4: Click on the Design Tables tab. The Direction Change
Pit Drops sets the pit drops to be assigned based on the
direction change through a pit. The Junction Pit Drops
tab sets the pit drops to apply at junctions, based on the
worst angle change for incoming pipes.
Step 5: Click OK to save and exit the settings.
Creating a Network
Step 9: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Create/Update Network.
Step 10: At the prompt, select the most north eastern (rightmost) pit (pit 21) as the downstream outlet pit
Step 11: In the Create Drainage Network form, type in Sewer 1 for the network name, set the Sewer
Type to Default and then click OK.
The sewer network is now formed
Branch Sequencing
Step 12: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Branch Sequence.
Step 13: At the prompt, select a pipe on the network and click OK to confirm the selection
Step 14: In the Pipe Network Branch Sequencing form, click on Auto Sequence Branches and click OK
Step 15: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Network Labelling Settings.
Step 16: From the Network Labelling Settings form, set the following:
a. Network Labelling Style: MH Line Number/ Pit Number
b. Defaults for Pipe Labels and Pit Labels: type a hyphen (-) in the Middle cell
Step 17: Click OK to apply the adjusted pipe and pit labels based on the branch sequencing. Pits will be
numbered MH Branch#-Pit#.
Note: You can make your own labelling style for the pits.
Reports
In the software you can develop your own reports to generate tables – you pick the property to report in
each column, as well as set the heading and column widths. An AutoCAD table is created in the drawing
– there is a command line entry to force all tables to update after you make a change to the network.
Step 40: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes General. Click on one of the pipes you created and then
click OK to confirm the selection.
Step 41: From the Report Format pick box, select Sewer – Pit Schedule. Click on the AutoCAD Table
button and select a location in the drawing. An AutoCAD table will be created.
There is a specific report for the house connections.
Step 42: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Sewer House Connection Report.
Trench Volumes
Step 43: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Volumes. Click on one of the pipes you created and
then click OK to confirm the selection.
Step 44: Accept the default Subgrade Depth and click OK.
A text report is created, listing the volume of material removed and backfilled. At the bottom of the report
is a summary of the volumes as well as a summary of the pipes used.
Plan Drafting
As well as labelling the pipes and pits, as was done with the Drainage Network, you can also label the
house connections.
Step 45: From the Ribbon, click on Pipes Label House Connections. Click on one of the pipes
you created and then click OK to confirm the selection.
HEC-RAS Support
You can generate sections in ARD and pass them to HEC-RAS. At the time of passing across the data
you can include ineffective areas, houses and skewed sections. HEC-RAS results can be imported back
into the drawing as 3D polylines (flooding extents) and a ‘water’ surface can be created.
Introduction to Gradings
As part of Advanced Road Design (ARD), the gradings module provides tools to perform surface gradings
for design and planning purposes. Grading is a technique to design unusual shapes that do not work well
when created using a traditional string and cross section approach.
In order to construct a grading, we generally know the shape the grading is going to look like. In ARD this
shape is initially defined by the use of templates. By developing an appropriate template we can easily
define the cross sectional shape the new grading is going to be constructed with.
1. For this quick start design, please open the drawing Quick Start ARD
Grading.dwg
4. This example is running counter clockwise, the template needs to be created with the internal
segments drawn on the left hand side. From the Template Options button select Create New
Template in Local Library, click OK, and name it: CCW Basin 2m deep.
5. Next, define the template as shown below, and add a batter condition to the right at 1 in 3. This
completes the template for the basin.
6. Now we have completed all the preparation work and can now go ahead and select the Create
Grading option from the surfaces panel on the ribbon.
7. In the grading form, we need to apply a name for this grading, assign a template, set a target
surface and define an initial elevation.
8. Once the grading model has been built we can go ahead and further design the
basin vertically by using the Vertical Grading Editor or the Grid View (Vertical Grading tab on
the Grading form).
9. Next we can obtain a quick bulk earthworks volume by clicking on the Volume Report button.
These volumes are calculated based on a difference of the grading model and the surface
selected as the target surface in the grading dialog box.
Notes:
Notes:
Notes: