why am i getting contours shown as intersecting lines?

[Anonymous]

Hi - can anyone help?? I am trying to edit a DWG provided by an architect but some of the lines (contours) are showing as criss-cross intersections? Any ideas??

[Kent1Cooper]

I don't see to what you are referring in the "Capture 1" image.  In the "Capture" image, it looks like not the contours but POINT objects with a combination of PDMODE and PDSIZE [the PD part = Point Display] System Variable settings causing that effect -- read about those in Help.

[ChicagoLooper]

You're right. As a matter of rule,  topographic contours should never intersect. However, there are exceptions. 

Two sets of surfaces may be depicted in a single drawing. The surfaces will be represented by contours typically labeled EG and FG. EG=existing grade and FG=finished grade. It's OK for EG and FG to intersect because they represent two completely different surfaces, pre-construction and post construction, where the latter surface will replace the former.

Depending on the drawing's audience, say an excavator subcontractor, he might find it useful to compare both grades at once because it'll help him determine where and how excavation is to be performed. He'll know how much and where he should cut and how much and where he should fill. 

Start with the contour layers. Are they on two separate layers? Do the layers have descriptive names? Do the contours have different line types? Continuous and continuous? Or continuous and dashed?

BTW, Capture.JPG looks like points (not contours) that are too large and should be scaled smaller whereas Capture1.JPG looks like existing and finished grade. Both points and contours are used to depict elevation which is vital in construction drawings.