Civil3d template for site plans & grading plans

[sanetdikkumbura1950]

Hi,
When drawing a grading plan for a municipality in the USA (profile views/cross sections), is there a suitable template for Civil3d?

[tony1978]

I can't speak for other states but for Texas most cities don't control how you plans, sections, and profile sheets look like, only DOT (Department of Transportation) or if its public bid infrastructure project. So, every firm plan sheets will look different. I build custom templates for civil engineering firms and survey firms cross the US and everyone's templates for private developments looks different. Vast majority of cities have an engineering checklist of what they want to see on the engineering plans. They are not focused on layers names, colors, linetypes, label styles, font styles, and block styles.  I would be more focus on how user friendly the template is, and could it work for all types of projects,  more of a universal template but not a master template that has 1,000 layers and styles...that can be annoying. 

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[chriscowgill7373]

As Tony said, a lot of municipalities dont have a particular template.  Those that do, expect you to use it.   If we dont have one provided to us, we use our standard company template.  It is setup with all the proper styles to obtain how we want our drawings to look.  There is really no OOTB solution, other than a minimalist template that comes with Civil 3D.  It has a "standard" style for each entity type, perhaps a few more. 

If you are starting from scratch, it is best to have an idea what you want it to look like, and then build your template to suit.  My recommendation when building any template, is to use as much out of the box capability as you can, and if you cant, don't try to force it.  What I mean is this, dont use Civil 3D to create a base entity, then because it doesn't doesn't look exactly like you want, trace over it and freeze the Civil 3D entity.  Use the Civil 3D entity, and change your expectations for how the drawing will look.  It will save you hours of work down the line.

And of course, before settling, ask here in the forums if it is possible, and provide pictures, what you are getting in C3D, and what you would like to get.  Someone may know how to manipulate the style to give you what you want.