NAD 83 coordinates treated as meters

[Anonymous]

I have this text file of NAD 83 coordinates. When I load the pts in Civil 3D, the coordinates are treated as if they were meters.

Let's say 1 pt has a latitude of 55.000 and another pt has a latitude of 55.200, they will only be 0.2 m appart in Civil 3D. What had to be done for Civil 3D to import the pts with their correct coordinates?

I set the pt format on which the pts are imported to be in a NAD 83 format but it doesn't fix the problem.

[Jeew-m · Accepted solution]

Dear warhysterix ,

I think you may have open up a metric drawing when importing points. You should use a imperial version/imperial template of civil 3D before importing points.

Thanks

[Pointdump]

W,
Welcome to the Autodesk Forums.
"...text file of NAD 83 coordinates."
Can you post the file? Technically speaking, NAD83 is a Datum. Only Projected and Geographic Coordinate Systems have Coordinates. The NAD83 Datum is the basis for LOTS of Coordinate Systems, including many that are Metric.
"I set the pt format on which the pts are imported to be in a NAD 83 format..."
Please show us a Screen Shot of your Point File Format and tell us which Coordinate System you have Assigned to your drawing.

Dave

[ChicagoLooper]

The issue is NOT whether you use a metric or imperial template, the issue is the type of coodinate system you have assigned to modelspace. In your case you have assigned a ‘geographic’ CS instead of a ‘projected’ CS, where the former  uses units expressed in degrees while the latter uses units expressed in either feet or meters. In other words, does Autocad treat 55.00, 55.20 as degrees or as feet (meters)? A metric OR imperial template is irrelevant. What is important is your modelspace’s CS, which was determined, either appropriately or inappropriately, by you. 

Depending on the location of your site, you should assign the applicable State Plane and Zone in feet OR the applicable UTM zone in meters while keeping the geographic projection given to your feature data objects by the original author. 

Do not make the mistake that many others make and erroneously believe, for one reason or another, that the CS assigned to modelspace must match the inherent  CS of your feature data objects. It is perfectly OK your data to use geographiic degrees while your modelspace uses feet (or meters) because C3D/M3D will accurately (using high math and geodesy, of course) perform a geodetic transformation. This geo trasformation is not only misunderstood and overlooked by Cad users but misquoted and misinterpretted as well. 

Changed your ‘assigned’ CS from geographic to projected and you’ll be fine.