AutoCAD Civil 3D

[#1]

A few handy links I found/remembered:

http://bimontherocks.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/03/civil-3d-success-stories-stream-restoration.html (follow the links in there)

http://bimontherocks.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/10/leveraging-a-temporary-corridor-for-stream-projec... (great post!)

There are other posts on Dana's blog too - have a search round for them.

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/civil3d_river/

Also there is this - haven't used it myself but, and it is a Labs add-on so please read the condtiions of use.

[#2]

I have attached a graphic of my proposed river with centreline.  I have the river profile done for the centreline but as previously stated I do not know how to create a surface or 3d model of my river with only a cl profile.  Now that you can see my river and how irregular shape it is do you think creating numerous sections and assemby's will help create what I am looking for.  If there was a way I could apply the cl profile values to my entire river would be great but I am sure there is no easy way to do this.

Thanks for all the suggestions

[#3]

see attached design

[#4]

Do you need something like this? (Skip to time 1:00 specifically)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2AG4c3WhP0

Drafting a 3D stream is extremely complicated and I can tell you feature lines are the best method by far. PM me if you have more specific questions on how to do this.

Mike

[#5]

Mike, if you were kind enough to share your method with the group, I for one would certainly appreciate it...

Regards

- Mick

[#6]

Just a thought: what about simply drawing your river bed contour lines (either by hand or by offsets), assigning some elevations then creating a surface from these contours? Your river form could be as organic as required and it would be very quick. Cheers - Mick

[#7]

Mike,

Thanks for the YouTube clip. Like you we resorted to using feature lines which were not only better for describing the natural river bed but also in design of the rehabilitated channel. But a point I made at the start of this discussion was around my frustration with the stability of Civil 3D using this approach. As I said before we lost many hours and missed a deadline trying to get the systems to function. It all seemed to start going wrong when we applied the feature lines to the 3D surface and then started manipulating the channel section for the new hydraulic design. If you have a secret to getting around this problem, it would be great to hear it.

We have reverted back to Version 2012 as it seems more stable, and have had our hardware checked out, so we are sure that's not the problem.

stuart

[#8]

I've been using featurelines in 2013 on a few projects, and have not seen any problems like you describe.  I am currently only using feature lines for surface breaklines.

Stuart - were you using them with grading objects or just to build surfaces?

[#9]

We have spent many years developing a process that really works for us and my company is actually offering to train others on this process. I don’t want to leave you in the dark completely with that so I will say, the most stable method that we have found to use for stream design is a combination of alignments, profiles, and feature lines used as surface breaklines.

I’m sure we’re all aware that actually creating a good design within the geomorphic parameters is quite daunting. However, we have some great tools that help us get our intended design into Civil3D and ultimately constructed the way we envisioned. These tools include spreadsheets and a number of custom styles and parts in Civil3D.

If you are interested in the training we offer, please give me a call. I would love to help make the Civil3D part of the design less of a headache for you.

Mike Aust

(804) 200-6447

Timmons Group