Civil 3D Corridor Feature Line Frequency

Our exploration of an all-too-common Turn Lane and Median Corridor design reveals that we have skills and best practices to learn to successfully navigate Complex Corridors in Autodesk Civil 3D.

Repetitive and simple Civil 3D user actions can dramatically affect the amount of work required and the quality and substance of the Civil 3D Corridor results accomplished.
Some of those events include:

• Shared Data Reference project-based design control
• Robust and consistent Sets of Assemblies resources
• How and When we create Corridor Baselines and Regions
• Region Frequencies Property Settings
• How, What, and When we share the Corridor results in our project

A Point of Frequency for Corridors

Well-managed Civil 3D Corridors can and do solve and deliver solutions to common and complex civil engineering design problems. More fodder to consider will adjust our perspectives. Each and every Autodesk University is stuffed with creative real-world example sessions. AU Online is worth the price of admission.

Frequent attempts at different approaches to Complex Corridors construction is instructive and necessary to develop these Civil 3D user skills and the best practices under discussion.

Region Frequency Properties

Speaking of Region Frequency…
What do we get from a Complex Corridor when the minimal Region Frequency Properties are employed?
The featured and pointed answer is instructive and worth a video.

 

Region Frequency and Feature Lines

The Civil 3D capability to employ a shared Corridor Data Reference to manage a Corridor collector’s many output results is certainly worth the weight. A Civil 3D Corridor is far more than a Surface production engine.
The Region Frequency Properties help manage those results.

Notice in the video how the Assembly Groups assignments in the applied Assemblies in the Regions effected the different South and North Feature Line resolved results from the Corridor.

The Civil 3D Corridor engine works the way it does. This is not always what we want at the moment. The Corridor engine does tell us exactly how it connects the dots.

Corridor Feature Line Frequency

Baseline Regions we want to produce automatically connected Feature Lines should employ Assemblies with the same Right or Left Assembly Groups of Subassemblies.

The all too frequent line is – How do we learn to see what we need to fix?

An improved Baseline and Region construction plan may require that we retool our horizontal, vertical, and cross section design control to produce better managed Corridor Surfaces, Feature Lines, and Points results.

Design Control Replacement Matters

How frequently do we employ the Data Shortcut Manager Tool?
The replacement power of the Data Shortcut Manager Tool allows for many new, interesting, and useful output opportunities and helps us to better manage all of that in our Civil 3D projects.
See the Site Grading with Corridors videos and posts for more about the many Corridor Feature Line and Alignment and Profile extraction methods and conversion details.

Regions and Frequency

In all Corridors it is easy to fail to recognize the fact that the Region Start Station and End Station definitions are themselves part of the Assembly Frequency properties.

Assemblies in a following Region that adds or removes Subassemblies from Assemblies often require either or both Added Stations early in the following or preceding Region or small (0.01) gaps between the Regions themselves to properly resolve the changes in the cross section design control in detail.

As mentioned previously, we can employ Baseline and Region On and Off controls to help identify these issues in Regions in a Complex Corridor. Does an isolated Region resolve as expected?

This also means that sometimes more Regions (e.g. Left and Right Regions) with separate partial Assemblies should be considered before adding Frequency to a Region that does not resolve as expected.

Tangent to Tangent Design Control

The Corridor engine has Region applied Assembly Frequency issues with tangent to tangent horizontal control geometries. By rule Civil 3D applies entire Assemblies as instructed to these locations. The addition of small curve segments to the horizontal design control geometry may produce satisfactory results. It may not.

Separate added Right and Left Regions with partial Assemblies and managed Frequencies and/or Targets may solve Corridor resolution problems for chamfers and other tangent to tangent horizontal control geometries.

See the Civil 3D Grading Multiple Baseline Mechanics post and video. The video includes examples and explanations of Corridor Bow Tie resolutions - how Corridor generated Feature Line design control depends on Region Frequency Settings in Civil 3D.
The Site Grading with Corridors series of posts and videos contain additional examples and details.

The frequency that we encounter Complex Corridors in Civil 3D is up to us. These common Corridors are clearly applicable to roadways, parking lots, flood control systems, and almost every civil engineering grading design challenge.

It unquestionably helps to have robust and rich Civil 3D Style, Civil 3D Set, and other in-depth and integrated Civil 3D resources to tackle these beasts. We make that affordable and accessible to all.

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Complex Corridor Posts

Complex Corridor Frequency Posts