topic Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues in Revit Architecture Forum

Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

asikora_frazedesign — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 15:25:23 GMT

Hopefully someone can answer this for me or possible provide a little education as to how to go about this if I am doing it wrong. From time to time we are supplied with a paper copy of a survey and it is not possible to obtain an original CAD version. In those instances we go into Massing and Site > Property Lines > Create by entering distances and bearings I then do the following steps

Pick a point ideally one that says basis of bearing, or a corner that says FIR (Found Iron Rod), or something similar. In this case I stated with the Western edge of the first straight line.
I then enter the information into the table that matched the survey exactly as written. Moving in a clockwise manner around the survey
Upon reaching the final step I am usually off and often by hundreds of feet.
I then click ok to see the results. In this case the first three points look correct (two lines 1 arch)but all of remaining points are completely off
I select the property line and edit the table
At this point I usually have to look at the survey vs was was plotted and make some N/S and E/W changes.
I do these one at a time so I can see what affect each change has
- For this example I had 2 lines and 5 curves (a redactive version of the survey is added below).
  - Line #1 & 2 look perfect
  - Arc #1 looks good
  - Arc #2 Survey N and E changed to S and W
  - Arc #3 Survey N and E changed to S and W
  - Arc #4 Survey Looks good
  - Arc #5 Survey S and E changed to N and W
- Once I make the final change to Arc 5 Revit does tell me From last to first point: Closed

I think click OK and view the final result it usually looks about 99% correct at this point and I sometimes go back in to adjust the L/R versions of each curve

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better way I can go about this instead of having to guess which item to change?

Below is a copy of the survey and below that is a copy of the original table and results as well as the adjusted table and results

I will mention I use the F (Field) version of each bearing and distance vs the D (Deed) version.

Original Table & Results

Adjusted Table & Results

Re: Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:08:48 GMT

Yeah, you have to flip the N/S and/or E/W sometimes. Usually I can look at a plat map and tell someone noted it incorrectly.

Re: Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

asikora_frazedesign — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:17:01 GMT

I assume this is because a surveyor will pick a point and survey in both directions but with Revit you have to start at point and move around in 1 continuous direction.

Well just wanted some confirmation that something is not wrong with my Revit settings, I am not entering it incorrectly, or some other issue. I will wait to see if there any additional responses for a few days before I mark an approved answer.

Re: Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:28:49 GMT

They are supposed to start at one point and go all the way around...but if it was done in LDD/CD you have to change the tag to flip direction, but I've known many drafters that never paid attention and just tagged and submitted without taking the time to make them read correctly.

Re: Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

SteveKStafford — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:32:39 GMT

Like the other comments, your description matches mine for the most part. Flipping bearing orientation is the most common requirement I've dealt with.

I imagine the surveyor starting out in the morning at one corner of the site and at lunch they walk back to the their truck. When they start out after lunch the go to the start point and head in the other direction working toward where they stopped for lunch. It's probably not how it actually happens but in my mind it explains why the bearing values get reversed. Haha

Re: Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

barthbradley — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 04:00:17 GMT

@asikora_frazedesign wrote:

Am I doing something wrong?

You're not doing anything wrong. Reverse calls are very common on Plats. But, you can easily detect which legs are reversed in the direction of travel. For instance, I can clearly see that Curve 2 and Curve 3 are not traveling NE in the clockwise direction, and therefore need to be reversed by exchanging both directions on the call.

Re: Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

asikora_frazedesign — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 14:42:00 GMT

In my mind it is a bit different. Lets use a square lot to make this easy and lets # each corner starting with 1 and going clockwise. I assume they start with #1 and survey to point 2 and 4 that gives them 1/2 the lot. Then then walk over to point 3 and survey back to 2 and 4 given them the other half the lot. I understand the efficiency of this and have no issue with that just with their drafter or whomever would correct the bearing in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion.

Re: Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

AzWoodWarrior — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 06:41:33 GMT

I used to make base maps using Autocad Civil 3d and it did arcs as they should be done. Revit doesn't take into account the tangent and instead uses the cord. I have tried to make my arcs work by doing the trigonometric functions but I still have to mess with it to get it correct. It's mostly hair pulling, cursing, and more trial and error.

Re: Plotting a Survey into Revit - Issues

asikora_frazedesign — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 14:05:40 GMT

I will say I think part of the problem is the surveys I usually get in PDF form, it appears the surveyor picks a starting point and shoots in 2 directions (Square Survey = 4 points.). So they will measure points 1 to 2 and 1 to 4, then 2 to 3, and 3 to 4. So 3/4 of the survey is in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction then the last point is opposite. Revit wants to move in one direction plotting it and wants to read it as 4 to 1 so instead of seeing SE, Revit is expecting NW or something along those lines.

Of course I am not a surveyor so I really have no idea how it should be.