Site Grading Concepts

To begin to understand the

task of site grading, letʼs
imagine land development
as creating a sculpture, but
on a very large scale. If
sculptors were to create
works of art from wood, they
would probably begin by
studying the original piece
of wood, assessing its
dimensions, shape, and
surface features. These
elements would all factor
into how the sculptors would
approach their work. A
sculptor with some
computer savvy might even
model the original piece of
wood on a computer and
plan out each cut of
material.
The first activities that are
performed during a land
development project are: the
measurement, mapping, and
modeling of the land in its
existing form. To plan out
how the land will be
reshaped, you must first
understand how it is shaped
right now. This is analogous
to the sculptorʼs
measurement and
assessment of his or her
medium. The measurement
and mapping of land is
known as surveying and
the data that is collected
during the process is known
as survey data.

Almost all grading workflows

can be enhanced by
breaking the design up into
smaller temporary, or
intermediate, surfaces.
Instead of trying to calculate
an irregular grade along the
perimeter of the building
pad, model the site grades
with a simple surface model.
Then extract the perimeterʼs
elevations from it.
A. Using feature lines, or
other methods, create a
model of how the pad
area will drain. Include
control point elevations
and hinge lines. Make
sure that the extents of
the model contain the
area of what will be the
final pad model. If the
temporary pad surface
area is smaller than the
pad perimeter, the
program will be unable
to properly extract
elevations.
B. Create a temporary
surface model from the
 feature lines.
F. Create an alignment of
the pad perimeter. This
alignment will be used
as the corridor baseline.
G. Use the Create
Surface Profile
command to create a
profile from the
temporary pad surface.
This profile will be used
for the corridor baseline
profile.
I Thought Detention Was
a Bad Idea
The pond that you design in
a grading process is referred
to as a detention pond. Its
function is to slow down the
release of stormwater to the
same rate that existed prior
to development. When it
rains, runoff is collected by
the inlets and conveyed to
the pond through
underground pipes. The
pond outlet is restricted to
reduce the flow of water.
This causes the water to
back up, hence the need for
a pond to detain it. After the
storm is over, the water will
stay in the pond for a bit
until it empties out.
Whatʼs the reason for all
this? Before grass, soil, and
forest were replaced with
pavement, runoff water was
released from this area of
land at a relatively slow rate.
Now, less of the water is
being absorbed, and itʼs
traveling much faster along
the pavement and concrete
that carries it. This increase
in flow and velocity causes
erosion damage and must
be mitigated. A common
way to accomplish this
mitigation is by including a
pond in your design.

What Are Contours?

Contours are lines that are
used to represent
topography or changes in
elevation across the ground.
Most people experience
contours in things like trail
maps that cover a large area
(square miles or square
kilometers) in comparison to
what we typically see in Civil
3D. By definition, contours
are lines that connect points
of equal elevation. If you
took a giant horizontal blade
and passed it through the
ground at equal elevation
intervals, you would get
contour lines. In flat areas,
the lines would be far apart,
and in steep areas, the lines
would be close together.
With practice, you can look
at a contour map and
visualize the 3D shape of the
land that the map
represents.

More About Slopes

Slopes are a significant
aspect of land development
design. For every project,
certain slope ranges are
targeted for specific
purposes, and the ranges
can vary from project to
project. For a residential
project, weʼre interested in
knowing where there are
excessively flat areas
(yellow, 0%—2%) because
there could be potential
drainage problems in
those areas. Yellow areas on
building pads are OK
because there will be a
building there, but yellow
areas on the road could
represent drainage
problems. Green areas (2%
—10%) represent slopes
that can be traveled across
safely by foot or with a
vehicle. We would want the
entire road surface to be
green as well as enough
areas between a building
pad and the street to install
a driveway. Orange areas
(10%—34%) represent
places where traveling could
not take place, but the
slopes are still stable and
safe from collapse. In a
given project, we would
expect pond embankments
and the backs of some of
the lots to be orange.
Orange areas on the road or
entire front yards that are
orange would not be
acceptable. Finally, red areas
represent slopes that are too
steep for the soil to support.
These areas would be
subject to collapse and
considered dangerous. Red
areas must be removed

Styles and Company

Standards
Civil 3D styles can make it
easier for end users to meet
company standards and can
make graphical output more
consistent. With a good set
of styles that integrate
company standards, all that
an end user has to worry
about is choosing the right
style from a manageable list
of choices. Conversely, if
end users have to create
their own styles, labels, and/
or other graphical
components, their drawings
will most likely vary and may
not comply with those
standards.

The New Way to Build

Although contours are the
most common final product
of a design surface, there
are other ways that your
grading design can be used
and one in particular that is
becoming more popular
every day: a machine
model. Contractors are now
able to use GPS-guided
excavation machines that
can synchronize their
operation with a computer-
generated model
representing the design of a
project. Where does this
model come from? You
guessed it: Civil 3D and
other programs like it.
Although the contractor
often has your model
checked and reworked
before uploading it to a
machine in the field, it all
starts with your grading
design in Civil 3D. A well-
defined, accurate, finished
ground surface translates
directly to a well-built, well-
functioning project.