PRODUCT FOCUS
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013
by: Sam Lucido
What’s in Your Profile?
➲A
s a Senior CAD Designer working in a civil group, I find myself creating several profiles during the design process of a project. Some profiles will include only existing and proposed grade, while others can be a little more complicated (i.e., pipe networks and drainage channels). All the profiles I create may be slightly different, but there is always one common request I receive: Is it possible to hatch the boundaries between areas of the profile to better visually represent what is happening on site? Recently I was asked if I could shade the cut and fill areas as well as the drainage channel of an existing profile.
SETTING UP THE PROFILE Let’s begin by using a typical alignment created on a site drawing, moving from west to east showing the line for the profile. Within our site drawing we have two surfaces: one for existing grades (EG) and the other for proposed grades (PG)—two surfaces created during the design of a civil project. We will use these two surfaces to create our profile lines as shown below in Figure 2. Notice how I have labeled the cut and fill areas as well as the drainage. I have highlighted the existing and proposed ground lines to show the boundaries we will be using in this example.
In AutoCAD® Civil 3D®, hatch patterns can be applied to areas that are formed by two profile lines (boundaries). You can easily hatch those areas using the hatch creation profile tools found within the Profile View Properties dialog box as shown below in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Profile View Properties 26
www.augi.com
Figure 2: Example profile May 2013