Volumes Dashboard - Subgrade Volume Capability

[fcernst]

Please add a column for the user to enter a surfacing material thickness for the top surface within the Bounded Volumes areas of a parent volume surface, and have that accounted for in the parent volume surface.

This way a person could compute and monitor site subgrade volumes using the Volumes Dashboard . There is an important need for a straightforward way in the design software to compute subgrade volumes.

There is a need for civil software used in civil site work, to continuously monitor subgrade volumes for site earthwork balance, while the designer is designing the contiguous top surface (FG). 

*Kudos that the Bounded Volumes update dynamically when their boundaries are grip edited.

[tcorey]

Nice idea, Fred.

[jmatthei]

Holey cow yes.

It's astonishing that the program has been around this long and doesn't yet have material and subgrade capability.  And that nobody else has created some other software to compete yet.

We only have that ability in corridors, and we need it for the rest of the site.

Jeremy

[el_nath]

Why not use a differential surface (paste proposed grade onto new subgrade surface, then raise/lower; remains dynamic to original surface)? It's not the same as a corridor model, but it does work.

For an actual model of plaza pavement layers, I've been thinking about making a subassembly that targets the proposed grade surface, where I can specify several material layers, such as pavers, aggregate, and fill. Using offsets and dividing the links, such that the top links target the proposed grade surface every 2-5 feet, depending on a user input (tesselation), I'll have a corridor that's dynamic to my design surface, which is dynamic to my site grading, and one that shows materials in sections view. Can't do that with differential surfaces.