Need help deciding on plan of attack for project.

[robertjohnson5316]

Hello All,

The company I'm working for is placing a bid for a reinforced slope design project. We were given the CAD files that had grading contours and 2D polylines representing the slope limits. What I need to do is create profile views of each slope (roughly 20). So far I have created a surface out of the contours, taken the portion of the polyline that represents the top of slope and made that into an alignment, and create surface profiles for all the slopes. The surface profile views only include the top of slope profile. What I need to do is also include the toe of slope in the profile view.

Should I make the toe of slope into an alignment, create a surface profile of using that alignment, then combine/superimpose the two profile views? Would that reflect an accurate representation of the slope face?

If anyone has dealt this, or if you can recommend an online resource for this I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice

[Neilw_05]

"Should I make the toe of slope into an alignment, create a surface profile of using that alignment, then combine/superimpose the two profile views? Would that reflect an accurate representation of the slope face?"

Obviously the projected toe of slope profile will not be true length relative to the top of slope profile, so technically it will not be an accurate representation. Probably the most accurate way to represent the slopes would be with cross sections. It all depends on your objective.

[robertjohnson5316]

"Obviously the projected toe of slope profile will not be true length relative to the top of slope profile, so technically it will not be an accurate represenation. Probably the most accurate way to represent the slopes would be with cross sections. It all depends on your objective."

I agree. Especially when curves are introduced (and typically occurs as most roadways aren't straight).

If the objective, in this case, is to produce elevation views of the slope structure in order to reflect the required reinforcement, is there another way? I have yet to run into anyone who produces drawings for reinforced soil slopes, so I'd like to reconfirm my methods. In the past I've taken the elevation view and "un-folded" the slope structure so that it's projected onto a horizontal plane. Then I remove portions of the slope (typically around curves/bend points) to account for the actual area of the slope.

[Neilw_05]

Now that you mention that you are needing to detail reinforcing of structures it is more clear. This would be a good candidate for 3D modeling, but if you don't have the tools or expertise for that you might have to resort to orthographic projections, which is what it sounds like you are doing from your description.

Another option is to provide a cross section at each critical location. The steel guys should be able to fill in the gaps in the field.