IMAGINiT Civil Solutions Blog

Pipe Network Design Styles in Civil 3D

Mick Reynolds, EI  |  Solutions Consultant

Over the years I have built many custom Civil 3D templates.  Part of the process is finding out what clients would like in terms of content to create a set of construction documents that are easy to read, accurate and efficient to produce.  While no one would argue Styles aimed at producing these finished documents is extremely important, Styles used to aid the design phase are often marginalized or omitted altogether.  One fine example of a Style that is beneficial during the design phase, but is not acceptable at construction level are Alignment or Profile “Layout“ Styles.  These Alignment and Profile Styles show the tangents and curves of these Civil Objects as different colors, and make it easier during design to identify the transition locations (PC’s & PT’s for Alignments and BVC’s & EVC’s for Profiles).  There is another Style I like to use during design of Pipe Networks to help me avoid the annoyance of changing the flow direction and reapply Pipe Network Rules when I forget to change the flow direction during the layout process.

When laying out Pipe Networks it is important to remember to change the direction of flow when you arrive at a low or high point in the associated profile.  A couple of things I have used or seen people use is split screens to look at the plan and profile simultaneously, or writing down all of the high and low point stations from a profile.  While these are effective, neither method is efficient.  The solution I use can be taken directly from the standard Civil 3D Imperial and Metric Templates.  There is an Alignment Label Set that includes Horizontal and Vertical information called “Major Minor H+V Geometry Points” that can be applied.  When this Label Set is applied it will require the user to set the Profile it is reading the high and low points from (usually the Design Profile) twice.  One time it is set to read the high point information and the other will be for the low point information.  The dialogue box with Design Profiles is show in FIG. 1.  Like Horizontal Geometry Point label set elements, the user then identifies the vertical elements they would like to see displayed, also seen below in FIG. 1, number 1.

 

FIG. 1

The user then selects the items they want to show labels for as shown below in FIG. 2 for the high points.

 

FIG. 2

The net result is an alignment that will show this information as part of the labeling the user will see while laying out the pipe as seen in FIG. 3.  After the Pipe Network had been laid out, simply restore the Label set used for construction documentation.

 

FIG. 3

 

Projecting Objects in AutoCAD Civil 3D

Mick Reynolds, EI  |  Solutions Consultant

Autodesk added the ability to project objects to Profile and Section View s a few releases ago.  While some users have been using them, I find that a large number of users don’t know they are there.  I think part of the reason is because the Projection tab is not present by default in the Profile View Properties dialog box, as seen in FIG. 1. 

 

FIG. 1

In order for at least the first object to be projected from the plan view to a profile, the user has to recognize the option availability in the Contextual Ribbon when the Profile View is selected as shown in FIG. 2.

 

FIG. 2

Once this option from FIG. 2 is selected, an object can be selected to project into the Profile View, then configured to show up with user customized options for display (Style), Elevation Options (Use Object, Manual or selecting a Surface to read off of) and Label Style as shown in FIG. 3.  In the case of this example a location of a fire hydrant has been projected into the Profile View and the result is seen in FIG. 4.  Another thing to notice after you create your first Projection is that a new tab appears in the Profile View Properties so additional Projections can be added and managed (FIG. 5).  The following is a list of the type of objects that can be projected into Profile Views.

• AutoCAD Civil 3D objects: Points, Feature lines, and Survey figures
• AutoCAD objects: Points, Blocks, MView Blocks, 3D solids, and 3D polylines

I have seen new workflows using Projections using Feature Lines at top and bottom of pipes to show Waterline locations, overhead sign clearances and even a company who models the sag of overhead utility lines with Feature Lines and projects them into Profile Views to show clearances.  While this post only covers Projecting objects into Profile Views the same workflow can be used for Section Views.

 FIG. 3

 

 FIG. 4

 

 

FIG. 5

Classy Pipe Labels

Mick Reynolds, EI  |  Solutions Consultant

In my previous post “I Can Name That Part In…”, I detailed steps where a user can input their own text for the Part Name of each Pipe and Structure size to make it easier to label.  I felt a follow-up post would be helpful since an option we had in versions prior to Civil 3D 2015, is no longer in the 2015 version.

When building templates for clients, I commonly had requests to have several of the same pipe sizes within a Specific Part family only with different classifications such as for RCP or PVC pipes.  In Civil 3D 2014 and earlier, once you changed the name of a Pipe or Structure part, you could go back into the family and add another part with the same size so it could be renamed.  I would commonly add several of the same pipe diameter, but rename each to include a pipe classification that could then be chosen from the catalog or swapped to when laying out a Pipe Network.  The labeling of each pipe could then be setup as specified in my previous post.  I am not sure if there was a programming change in Civil 3D 2015 specifically designed to remove this option, or if it was a by-product of some other change but this is no longer available.  When trying to add the same part size to a Part Family, Civil 3D 2015 returns a message letting you know that size is already included (see FIG. 1).

 

FIG. 1

As far as I can tell, there are no ramifications from Civil 3D templates made in previous versions that include these multiple sizes with different names, and can be called into labels as the Descriptions.  My work-around solution takes advantage of the fact that Civil 3D 2013, 2014 and 2015 all have the same file format, and the Pipe Network Parts Catalog has no changes that impact my solution.  I would suggest building the Parts List in one of the previous versions (preferably Civil 3D 2014), then using your favorite import method to bring them in to Civil 3D 2015.

I Can Name That Part in…

Mick Reynolds, EI  |  Solutions Consultant

One of the more frustrating parts of using Pipe Networks in Civil 3D is how difficult it is to create labels for pipes and structures that contain the information you require, formatted in a readable format.  Several challenges with labeling pipes might be how the diameter is formatted or trying to include the material, or even including a classification of pipe in the label.  If I used the out-of-the-box settings and tried to label a pipe with length, diameter, material and slope, I might expect a label like the one in FIG. 1.

 

 FIG. 1

The default Civil 3D labeling options leave something to be desired especially where it comes to material and class, unless the user wants to customize their Part Catalog for their entire organization.  And while I have just been mentioning the pipe labels, the structure labels can be more troublesome.  There is a way to customize the labels for your Parts Lists items so you can make better labels, without touching your Pipe Network, Part Catalog.  Although creating these will require a little more work in your Parts List, it will pay big dividends in the end. 

 

The first step is to go into the Pipe Network Defaults, in the Pipe Network Feature Settings, and change the “Use Size Name From Parts List As Description” to “Yes” as seen in FIG. 2 below.  The default for this option is “No” with Civil 3D standard installations.

 

FIG. 2

Once this Feature Setting has been changed, whatever Name is input for the part size in the Parts List (see FIG. 3), can be called into the Pipe Label style via the Description component (see FIG. 4).

 

 FIG. 3

 

FIG. 4

The result is a Pipe Label containing better information formatted in a way that is easier to control as seen in FIG. 5. 

Once the Feature Setting is changed it not only affects the Pipe Labels as mentioned in this post, but can also be applied to Structure Labels as well.

 FIG. 5