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CADClinic:IntroductiontoCivil3DCorridors|Cadalyst

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CADClinic:IntroductiontoCivil3DCorridors
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15Nov,2005
By: MikeChoquette
Cadalyst

DesigningroadsystemsiseasywithCorridorDesign.

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Incaseyou'vebeentoogluedtoyourmonitorlatelytonoticethemediablitz,Civil3Disthefuture
replacementofAutodesk'sLandDesktopandCivilDesignproducts.Civil3D2006,nowinitssecondfull
release,iscomingintoitsown.Oneofthebiggestimprovementsistheroaddesignsystem,calledCorridor
Design.
ThissystemhasamoregeneralnameinCivil3Dsinceitisequallyapplicabletoroads,bikepaths,rail
corridors,levees,designedditchesandswalesjustaboutanykindoflineardesignproject.Thesystem
createscorridorobjects3Drepresentationsofyourprojectbasedonahorizontalandverticalalignment
andaproposedcrosssection(calledanassembly).AswithalmosteveryaspectofCivil3D,thesecorridor
objectsremaindynamicallylinkedtothealignmentsandtheassembliestheyarebasedon.Thatmeansthat
ifyouadjustoneofyouralignmentsorassemblies,the3Droadmodelcanupdateautomatically,together
withproposedcontoursandvolumecalculations.
OverviewofAssemblies
Thecoreelementsofthecorridorsystemareassembliesandtheircomponentsubassemblies.Allofyou
CivilDesignveteranscanforgetCivilDesigntemplatesandsubassemblieswelcometotheworldof
dynamicproposedsections.Theassemblyobjectisessentiallyananchorusedtorepresenttheprofile
gradepointintheproposedcrosssection.Thisusuallytranslatesintothecrownpointofatwolane
roadway.Onceyouhavelocatedanassemblyobjectinyourdrawing(Corridors/CreateAssembly),you

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thenattachsubassembliestoit.

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Subassembliesaresegmentsofaproposedcrosssection:apavedlane,shoulder,curb,sidewalk,etc.A
numberofsophisticatedassemblesareavailableoutofthebox,andyoucancreateyourowncomponents
frompolylinesorlinks.(Creatingyourowncustomsubassembliesisatopicbestleftforafuturearticle).You
canbrowsethestocksubassembliesthroughtheCivil3DCatalog(General/Catalog)orthroughseveral
preconfiguredtoolpalettes(figure1).

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Figure1.Attachingasubassemblytoanassemblywithatoolpalette.
Civil3Dsubassembliesarehighlycustomizablethroughtheirobjectproperties.Forexample,thelane
sectionsubassemblieshavewidth,depthandslopeparameters(figure2).Thesenumericparametersallow
thesamesubassemblytorepresentdozensofdifferentdesignscenarios.Plus,itmeansthatifyouwantto
changealanewidth,forexample,allyouhavetodoischangethewidthparameter.LookMa,nodrafting!

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Figure2.Easilychangethepropertiesofasubassembly.
Youcanaddsubassembliestotheassemblyquicklyandaccuratelybyclickingonthedesiredcomponentin
atoolpaletteandthenclickingontheassemblyitself(forcomponentsrightatthebaseline)orbyclickingon
thecircles(markers)locatedalongothersubassemblies.Youcanbuildacompletedassemblybystringingit
togetheronesubassemblyatatime.
Infigure3below,Ihavedesignedasimplesubdivisionroadwaywithtwo12foottravellanes(called
LaneOutsideSuper),curbing(UrbanCurbGutterGeneral),sidewalksections(UrbanSidewalkwitha
sidewalkandgrassstripononesideandonlyagrassstripontheother)andaspecialdaylighting
subassemblythatwillallowforditcheswheninacutcondition(BasicSideSlopeCutDitch).

Figure3.Thesamplecorridor.
Onceyouhaveahorizontalandverticalalignmentandacompletedassembly,yourroaddesignisreadyto
roll.YoucancreatecorridorobjectsthroughtheCorridors/CreateCorridorcommand(figure4).After
choosingyouralignmentsandassembly,theCreateCorridordialogboxappears.Thisdialogboxreplaces
manyofthesectionsamplinganddesigncontrolfunctionsofAutodeskCivilDesignCompanion.Youcan
assigneachsegmentofthedesignthatneedsuniquesettings(differentassemblies,differentstation
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sampling,etc.)asseparateregions.Eachregioncanhaveappropriatestartandendingstations,different
assemblies,samplingfrequencies,etc.,andallofthisassigneddataisavailableinatableforreviewand
editinglateron.(ThisbeatstheheckoutofCivilDesignCompanion'sEditDesignControldialogbox,where
youcouldn'ttellwhatuniquesettingsyou'veappliedandwhere.)Corridorscanevenincludemultiple
baselinesforintersectingroads,ramps,doublebarreledhighways,etc.

Figure4.TheCreateCorridordialogbox.
Aftersettingtheappropriatesectionsampling,startingandendingstationsforyourcorridor,therealfun
begins.AswithmanyAutodeskproducts,themostimportantcontrolshavethemostsubtleandmysterious
names.Theellipsisbutton( )intheLogicalNamefieldcallsuptheLogicalNameMappingdialogbox
whereyouassignwhichsurfaceyouwouldlikearegiontodaylightonto,aswellasassigntransition
alignmentsandprofiles(moreonthislater).ForthisfirstcorridorwewillsimplyassigntheTargetDTMsto
ourexistinggroundsurfaceandclickOK(figure5).

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Figure5.Configuretheregionsofthesamplecorridor.
Afterconfiguringoneormoreregionsandsettingthenecessarylogicalnames,youarereadytobuildyour
corridorclickOKintheCreateCorridordialogbox.OnceCivil3Dhasworkeditsmagic,youshouldseea
wireframemodelofyour3Droadwaydesigninthedrawing,whichdefaultstobluelinework(figure6).

Figure6.Awireframemodelofthesampleroadwaydesign.
Again,thiscorridorobjectisdynamicallylinkedtoyouralignment,verticalalignmentandassembly.Ifyou
makechangestoanyofthesedesignfeatures,thecorridorwillupdateafterrightclickingonthecorridor
iconintheProspectorandchoosingRebuild(figure7).TheRebuildAutomaticoptionisgreatifyoudon't
makemanychangestoyourdesignsorhavealotoftimetokill.(Ifyouhaveanumberofeditstomakeat
once,youmaywanttomanuallychoosetorebuildwhenyou'refinished,ratherthanwaitforarebuildafter
eachchangewiththeautomaticoption.)

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Figure7.TheRebuildcommand.
Youcanviewthecorridormodelinashaded3Dmodebychangingtoa3Dviewpointorthroughthe
AutoCADobjectviewer.Youcanalsocreatecontoursifdesiredforthefinalplanorasananalysistool.To
viewthecontoursdescribingthecorridortopsurface,selectthecorridor,rightclickandchooseCorridor
Properties.IntheSurfacestabclicktheCreateaCorridorSurfacebutton(farupperleft)tocreateasurface
withthename[Corridorname]Surface(1).
ThesubassembliesthatshipwithCivil3Dalreadyknowwhattheirtopsurfacegeometrylookslike.Specify
thelinksonthetopofthecorridorwiththedropdownsmenus,andthenpresstheAddSurfaceItembutton
(figure8).Youcouldthendoubleclickonthesurfacenameandrenameit.Toviewthecontoursdescribing
thistopsurface,makesurethestyleshownforthissurfacehascontoursdisplayed(suchastheexample
BorderandContourssurfacestyleavailableinthe_AUTODESKCIVIL3DIMPERIALBYLAYER.DWT
template).

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Figure8.Addsurfacestoyourcorridor.
Tocompletethesurface,clicktheBoundariestab.Rightclickonthesurfaceyoujustcreatedand
automaticallyaddadaylightboundary(figure9),whichpreventsthesurfacefromtriangulatingacrossthe
insideofacorner.Anautomaticdaylightboundaryisvalidwheneveradaylightsubassemblyisattachedto
bothends.ClicktheOKbuttontocompletethesurfacedefinition.Surfacescreatedthroughcorridorswill
alsoremaindynamicallylinkedtothedesignalignmentsandassemblyrebuildingacorridorwillalso
rebuildthesesurfaces.

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Figure9.Addingadaylightboundary.
SimpleTransitions
Civil3Dcantransitionproposedcrosssectionssothatasingleassemblycanhorizontallyenlargeor
compresstorepresentachangingcrosssection.Forexample,thecorridorinfigure10isshownontheleft
withaconstantwidth.Thegraphicontherightshowsthelanesectionwideningfromonelanetotwoin
ordertomakeroomforarightturnlane.Civil3Dcanalsoapplyverticaltransitionstoallowapointinthe
crosssectiontofollowaspecificprofile.ApplyingthiskindofsimpletransitioninCivil3Disaloteasierthan
itmaylook.

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Figure10.Thecorridoronthelefthasaconstantwidth.Thecorridoronthe
rightshowsthelanesectionwideningfromonelanetotwoinordertomake
roomforarightturnlane.
Horizontaltransitionsaredefinedbyadditionaloffsetalignments.Infigure10therightedgeofpavement
(EOP)isdefinedasanewalignment.Sincethisalignmentwillnotbeusedasabaseline,itsstationsand
alignmentdirectiondonotneedtomatchorevenlineupwiththeroadcenterline.
OurexampleassemblyincludedLaneOutsideSupersubassemblieswithbuiltincontrolsforwidthandlane
outsideelevation.Toassigntransitionsselectthecorridor,rightclickandagainchooseCorridorProperties.
Intheparameterstabpresstheellipsisbutton()intheLogicalNamefieldforthetransitioningregionto
againopentheLogicalNamedialogbox.Noticethefieldswhereyoucandefinethewidthandoutside
elevationofeachLaneOutsideSuper,aswellasthewidth(Target_HA_Alignment)oftheUrbanSidewalk
subassemblies.Toattachanoffset(transition)alignmentfortherightlane,changetheObjectNamefield
fromNonetoyourtransitionalignment(suchasREOP,figure11).ClickOKtoreprocessyourcorridorand
voila!Thecorridorshouldtransitionrightoncue.

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Figure11.Attachinganoffsetalignment.
Tosummarize,Civil3D'scrosssectionsubassembliesallowfordynamic,parameterdrivendesignfor
roadwayandsimilarprojects.AlthoughCivil3Dcouldusemoreofthem,theexamplesubassembliesthat
shipwiththeproductarefairlyrobustandwidelyapplicabletomanydesigntasks.Civil3Dcreates3D
corridorobjectstofullyrepresenttheproposedconditionbasedontheseassemblies,allowingfor
automatedcontourcreationaswellasotherdesigntasksnotcoveredinthisarticle(suchasquantity
takeoffs).Theseparametriccorridorobjectscantakeintoaccountmultiplebaselinesforintersectionsaswell
astransitioningoffsetalignmentsandprofilesforvaryingwidthsandelevations.Allinall,thisparametric
designsystemisahugeandlongawaitedstepforwardforcivildesigners.

AbouttheAuthor:MikeChoquette
AboutMikeChoquette
SeecontentsbyMikeChoquette

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