Corridor Section Editing and Subassembly overrides

[ricknichols54]

First off, dang it feels good to be back!!  After a really long dry spell due to the lousy economy, I am finally back in the civil world again doing what I love.

Anyway,  I'm trying to build a corridor that targets the existing surface with a linkslopetosurface sub.  It works just like I want it to, but there are areas where I want to override the target and have it target an existing curb return alignment.  Is there a better sub I should be using that will target one first and then a second if the first doesn't work right?

Also,  with my corridor section editor, can I adjust the vertical scale to be exagerated?  It's really tough to edit the 1:1 ver./hor. scale.

Anyway, thanks for the help!

Rick

[BrianHailey]

Welcome back to the industry and welcome to the forums.

First off, I don't have C3D on this computer so I'm not sure if what I'm telling you is right on or not.

On the Daylight subassemblies group in the toolpalettes, there is a "DaylightMultipleIntercept" (or something like that). Not exactly sure how it works but check it out, it might be what you need.

You could also try adding conditional subassemblies to your assembly. This way if you are over a certain amount of cut or fill (or distance from target) do one thing, otherwise, do another thing.

Another thing you could do, if this is happening at specific areas is to simply split the region of your corridor and asign a different target for the different regions (using the same assembly).

Hope this helps.

[sboon]

Welcome back to the board.

Conditional subs would likely be the solution to your problem.  If the target object - an alignment, featureline etc is found within a specified distance then use a subassembly that attaches to the curb.  If the target is not found then use a the daylighting sub you already have.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[Jay_B]

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@RickNichols54 wrote:

First off, dang it feels good to be back!!  After a really long dry spell due to the lousy economy, I am finally back in the civil world again doing what I love.

Anyway,  I'm trying to build a corridor that targets the existing surface with a linkslopetosurface sub.  It works just like I want it to, but there are areas where I want to override the target and have it target an existing curb return alignment.  Is there a better sub I should be using that will target one first and then a second if the first doesn't work right?

If your slope is variable and has to tie at the curb return alignment, I've had good luck with the "Daylight to offset" using an alignment as the target and it will force a daylight at the intersection of the targeted surface and targeted alignment. If it's more of a vertical tie, I may go a different route.

Also,  with my corridor section editor, can I adjust the vertical scale to be exaggerated?  It's really tough to edit the 1:1 ver./hor. scale.

Unfortunately there's no vertical exaggeration supported in Section Editor, strictly 1H:1V.

Anyway, thanks for the help!

Rick

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[ricknichols54]

No my slope is a constant.  What I want is to have the constant slope run out until it catches at the existing grade or hits another alignment first.  I have attached an image to see if that helps.  You can see where my constant slope runs out and catches at the right spot on the EG.  However, I don't want it to cross the red curb return alignments.  I will pursue the conditional subs.  I don't know how those work, but will begin doing some research.

Thanks guys!!!

[sboon]

This one might be trickier than I thought at first.  Just to confirm - you want the assembly to project outward until it intersects either the surface or the target line.  If it finds the line first then the section will be left hanging above the surface.  Is that OK?

 

[sboon]

I think I've got it.

This assembly starts with a marked point, then a LinkOffsetAndSlope at -10% targeted to the offset alignment.  Then there are two Conditional subs.  If the test location is below the surface use a LinkToMarkedPoint to jump back to the Marked point, then use LinkSlopeToSurface to finish.  If the test point is above the surface then use MarkedPoint so that you have a featureline at that location and LinkToMarkedPoint to create a visible link.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[fcernst]

I think he wants to hold a constant 10%, so if the test at Alignment produces cut, and a LinktoSurface is executed, that probably won't be at 10%.

[ricknichols54]

I'll explain what I'm trying to do in the real world.  That will probably help.  So, we are doing an overaly for an airport runway.  It will basically just be a 1" overlay (to keep things simple now) over the existing surface.  The one caveat to this is that the existing runway has some shed sections and I want to tweak this to where it is a constant crown.  In order to do this the 1" overlay becomes much thicker on the downhill side of the shed sections.  In these areas where I am forcing a crown over the shed my cross section is basically up 1" from the existing surface on the high side of the shed, then I run a 1% grade up to the crown, then a -1.5% grade back down to the edge of the runway.  Where there are no taxiway intersections, it's no big deal.  I just use a lane transition sub and target the existing etw on each side.  However, where there are intersections, I add a generic link slope to surface sub that runs out until it catches.  It works just fine in the middle of the intersection, but obviously I don't want to pave clear out beyond the existing curb returns.  One thing I did try was to break the corridor up into regions and use my transition subs to catch the curb returns rather than the runway etw.  This works ok, but I get strange results where the regions meet.  It's kind of like Civil 3D can't make up its mind with which section to use at the joining point of the regions.  I have attached the intersection showing (on the right hand side) where I have the weird results.  You can see the light green line running out still and the strange daylight line.

[fcernst]

This would be straightforward to create in SAC. Two auxiliary test points at the constant projection slope for surface and alignment and then choose the one with the shortest offset to create P2 and the Link.


Sent from my iPhone

[ricknichols54]

Okay, forgive me. I have been out of the game for a bit. SAC? Help me
get up to speed here.:)

[sboon]

After reading your description I'm thinking that you might want to change your approach.  The intersection tools would allow you to create a design where the drainage crossfall is perpendicular to the curb returns from the edges of the through lanes out to EP.

Something vaguely similar to this.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[ricknichols54]

I've been playing with the intersection wizard, but nort really having much luck.  I've tried to use the tutrial as an example, but it's a fourway vs. a T.  I know this is probably extremely elementary, but I just haven't had the opportunity to learn how to use this tool very well yet.  I'm guess I am going to need to create profiles for my secondary road.  I have alignments already.  Is there anyway I can get someone to put together a quick step by step base on my screen shot?  Again, just for clarification, I'm doing 1" overlay (really it's 4" grind out and 5" replace) on the runway that runs right to left here.  At the same time as the the overlay, I am trying to force a crowned section at "optimal" elevations...meaning there would be a 1" overlay on the high side of the shed, minimal cross slope up to the crown and maximum slope allowed back to existing edge of travelway.  Then I need to blend in the secondary taxiway thats running top to bottom in the screen shot.  Thanks All!!

[sboon]

The wizard works best for intersections of normally crowned roads.  You already have a section and a design for the main runway and I don't want to waste that.  Here's a suggested workflow to get this done:

Start by extracting the EOP featureline on the right side of your main runway - assuming that you have that design complete and you're just trying to tie in the taxiway.  Make sure that you don't check the option for creating a dynamic link to the corridor.  Next build a centerline profile for the taxiway, making sure to match the elevation of the extracted featureline where it crosses.  The third step is the profiles for the two curb returns.  They have to match the typical crossfall of the taxiway where they're parallel and blend into the featureline.

The two curb return alignment/profiles will be the new baselines added to the corridor.  The assembly can be as simple as a LinkOffsetAndElevation which will be targeted horizontally to the taxiway alignment and the featureline, and vertically to the taxiway profile and the featureline.  Once you have a corridor surface you can tweak the profiles as needed to get water flowing in the right directions.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[markmcguire3467]

SAC = Subassembly Composer.  It's an add-on you can download from Autodesk for free if you have subscription services.  If you plan to stick with corridors, I suggest taking a weekend and learning it - it's probably the best additional component Autodesk has released for Civil 3D in a long time.  Aside from the obvious of creating your own custom subassemblies - you get to create the codes for the links.  I find the default subassembly codes very limiting thus making the quantity takeoff tool fairly useless.  Using SAC, you can set as many codes as you want to one link - even make the code a String which can be edited in Civil 3D for each time you use the same subassembly...  plus, you can run SAC at the same time as CIvil 3D - so if a month later you can't remeber exactly what you were trying to do with the custom sebassembly, just open it in SAC - much easier than the help files for the default subassemblies...