tr21399 using autocad civil 3d for transportation...

TR21399

Using AutoCAD Civil 3D for Transportation Infrastructure Design Randy Roberts [email protected]

Description

This class will provide an overview of the tools and applications within the FDOT Civil 3D State Kit. I will demonstrate how the tools work and how the district employees and consultants use the State Kit to meet FDOT standards. I will cover the following sample of FDOT applications: FDOT Takeoff Manager—an application that enables users to create automated Quantity Reports in Microsoft Excel; FDOT Entity Manager—which enables the user to draw graphical entities with pay item data for Quantity Takeoff (QTO) pre-attached, or place the pay item data on entities after they are drawn; FDOT Signs—which enables the user to design sign assemblies and place them into the drawing with pay items attached; and Create File—an application that enables users to create files based on discipline and sync with the proper Templates. The newly created files are then saved to the project folder hierarchy.

Your AU Expert

Randy Roberts holds the position of CAD Applications Development/Support Specialist and has been so since 2011 working solely with AutoCAD Civil 3D®. He provides support and training to users using the AutoCAD Civil 3D State Kit. Before working in his current position, he was a partner in a Civil Engineering Firm in the metro Atlanta, Georgia area from 2001 to 2009 designing commercial and residential projects. His CAD use history Starts with AutoCAD®, DCA®, Softdesk®, Land Development Desktop®, and finally evolving to AutoCAD Civil 3D® he has a combined 25 years of experience in project design and production using Autodesk Software. Randy has spoken and taught hands on workshops at several CADD conferences including the Annual Florida Department of Transportation Design EXPO Conference.

Learning Objectives

An understanding of what the FDOT Civil 3D State Kit is

Where to find, and download the FDOT Civil 3D State Kit

An Overview of what each Application and Tool does in the State Kit

Where to find Help & how to use all the Resources

mailto:[email protected]

First Things First… What is and where do I find the FDOT State Kit to Download?

The FDOT Civil 3D State Kit is a powerful suite of Applications and Tools that allow Consultants and Internal FDOT designers to produce Transportation Plans that meet the stringent standards that FDOT enforces. FDOT is a dual Engineering platform agency accepting Autodesk or Bentley designed projects. Florida is in the process of making all plan submittals going forward be a 3D model. The State Kit is located on the Production Support | CADD Office website. Currently there are two versions available, one for Civil 3D 2017 and 2016. A Link is provided below. Click Here for Latest FDOT Civil 3D Downloads

There is also an AutoCAD only install for users who do not have Civil 3D, but would still like to have access to the resources (Blocks, Templates, etc.)

http://www.fdot.gov/cadd/downloads/software/FDOT2017CADDSoftware.shtm

The State Kit version installs on top of your existing Civil 3D Install. You must have the same version of Civil 3D to work with the like named State Kit, example being FDOT2016 goes with Civil 3D 2016 only.

Installing the State Kit

Please read the Installation Instructions before installing the software, it contains useful information and troubleshooting information if you run into an issue

When installation is complete and you reboot your machine, there will be a folder called “FDOT2016.C3D” on your desktop, this folder contains the

applications that are located outside of the State Kit. The folder will be named with the version installed, example being FDOT2017.C3D if you install the

2017 version of the State Kit.

TIP- You can have both 2016 & 2017 Installed side by side without issues.

The Folder list below contains the Shortcuts and Internet Shortcuts to all the necessary Applications. The installer puts the FDOT2016.C3D Shortcut on your desktop.

The Installation Folder structure on your computer will look like below. The install is typically located on the C drive, but you can choose a different drive. Let’s peak inside some of the more pertinent folders to see what’s available.

Apps Folder The Apps Folder contains all the applications that can be found on the FDOT Ribbon or in the Folder List on your desktop, within each folder are the required resource files that are required for the application to work properly. Depending on the application folder there are some additional help documentation available as pdf files.

Data Folder The data folder shown below is where most of your day to day resources are located. The first folder is the Blocks folder which contain all the block drawing files. Use Entity Manager, Design center, or Content Explorer to access all the individual blocks that reside in each file.

The Corridor Design Standards folder which contains the Florida Green book which control the design standards for Alignments, Profiles, Design Speeds, & Super Elevation. It is equivalent to the AASHTO standards.

The Layer Standards folder contains a backup of the Layer Standards for each file type, so if the design file gets corrupted the proper layers could be restored to the file. The folder also contains the layer filters that are used in the State Kit that corresponds to the standards based file name.

The Multi-Line Patterns folder contains the XML files that are used for the FDOT Multi-Line Application. The user can create their own patterns in addition to use and edit the pre-made versions.

The Pay Item Data Folder contains the AECMERGE file which contains every Pay Item number and formula associated with every design object FDOT uses in its plans. The Florida Categories file further breaks down the object categories by number ranges. These files are required to create quantity reports

The Pipes Catalog contains the “FDOT Drainage” Parts list which contains every FDOT part that is referenced in the published Design Standards, which includes Structures and Pipes.

The SSA folder contains the IDF Curve data for each of the 11 Florida Zones

The Templates folder contains the main design file templates which are populated with the Object and Label Styles already preset to aid the designer. The main Template used is the fdotmaster.dwt. The other templates in the root folder are used for the Key Sheet. Utilities, Survey, Cross Sections, etc.) The subfolders within the Templates folder contain the following:

The Non-Civil Discipline folder contains templates that are used for Architectural use. The Sheets Folder contains all the main templates used for sheet layouts, such as Sheet Borders, Plan & Profile, Cross Sections, etc. The sub folders listed within represent the discipline. The TXT and XLSW contain Design Notes that can be linked to the design file through Data Link Manager and Pre-Formatted Spreadsheets that can either be automatically filled in with Quantity Takeoff data or manually added. They are referred to as Summary Boxes or Summary Reports and are used in conjunction with FDOT Takeoff Manager.

Launching the State Kit

THE DESKTOP SHORTCUT

THE TASKBAR SHORTCUT

It is easy to determine which version you are running since it has the version number on the two shortcuts. When you launch the State Kit is starts Civil 3D, but uses the FDOT2016C3D Profile which contains all the settings and paths required to allow you to work seamlessly with your drawing session.

The first thing you will notice is the message in the drawing area stating not to start your work using this default template, which contains no styles or layers all new design files will require using the “Create File” Application which will be covered in the Demonstration.

The Second item you will notice is a Ribbon called FDOT, which contains all the Applications, Utilities, and some familiar AutoCAD commands moved here for convenience. TIP- If you launch the State Kit and do not see the FDOT Ribbon or the message above run the Profile Scrubber that is included in the install folder. See the Installation Guide for user instructions.

Going from Left to Right on the FDOT Ribbon let’s look at what each section contains and then look at each individual Tool. The description and explanation can be found for all FDOT’s

Applications by looking at the tool tip, there is also additional help documentation available by pressing F1, which also has a link to the Quick Clip Video that will show how the tools work.

Create File The first section is called Create File and contains the Create File Application, which is where the designer starts all new design files to insure proper symbology.

Tools The Tools section contains a few custom FDOT tools, but mostly it is common commands that have been moved to the FDOT Ribbon for ease of use.

2 POINT TWIST/UNTWIST

LANDXML CONVERTER

LANDXML GROUPER

SUPER AUDIT

SWAP PARTS

ATTACH/CLIP DGN FILE

LAYER TRANSLATOR

CONVERT ELLIPSES TO ARCS

INSERT IMAGE

MLINE

Pay Item Tools The “Pay Item Tools” section is used to draw, place, & create Entities with the appropriate Pay Item Data used to create Quantity Takeoffs for FDOT projects. The bulk of designing Traffic Plans takes place using this section.

ENTITY MANAGER (EMX)

FDOT SIGNS

FDOT MULTI-LINE

PAVEMENT MARKING TOOL

PLACE BLOCK GROUP

DATABASE EDITOR FOR ENTITY MANAGER

Quantities The Quantities section is where you can find the tools necessary to generate takeoff reports and link reports to the file, along with other useful tools. The FDOT Web Gate Menu and Master Pay Item List are hyperlinks that will navigate to appropriate FDOT webpage for the designer’s benefit.

TAKEOFF MANAGER (FTM)

LENGTH CALCULATOR

TRNS*PORT SHEETS

TABLE

DATABASE EDITOR FOR AECMERGE

Quality Control The Quality Control section contains the tools necessary to check the design file against the FDOT standards to make sure it complies for each submittal phase. If errors are found the user can easily revise each instance.

QC QUICK CHECK

UNLOAD QC QUICK CHECK

FILE CHECKER

DRAWING CLEAN UP

Reports The Reports Section contains general reporting tools that aid in the designer’s day to day work. The Style List is a utility that will save all styles out to an Excel file that reside in the active file.

LANE SLOPE

QC BATCH

GeoTech The Geotech section contains the Bore Hole utility that will plot bore holes in plan view and projects them into section views, however if your data changes you will need to delete and re process the data as the Tool is not dynamic.

Links/Contacts The Links/Contact Section is where you find all the Links for support and resources to aid in your FDOT project. The section on the left has email contacts if you run into an issue using the State Kit. The Engineering Links pull down contain hyperlinks to resource documents for easy reference. The CADD Resources pull down contains hyperlinks to additional help documents related to the FDOT Civil 3D State Kit. The Production Support GoTo meeting Link opens a GoTo Meeting box where you enter a meeting id number that will be provided to you by the CADD support staff.

Engineering Links

CADD RESOURCES

FDOT Tool Palettes

The FDOT series of Tool Palettes contain useful tools to help aid in your design. Let’s look at each one to get you acclimated to their content. We will go from top to bottom on each Tab with the tool tip that goes with each one to provide a brief explanation on what its purpose is.

With Tool Palettes turned on right click on the Palette Group name to see a list.

FDOT Subassemblies When you launch, the State Kit the default Palette visible is the FDOT Subassemblies. The FDOT Subassembly Palette Group contains all the special assemblies which are developed in house using .net code. The Subassemblies are based off FDOT Design Standards and each one has a unique help document which is accessible by right clicking on any Subassembly and selecting Help. The document is a valuable resource which includes; Description, Attachment Point, Input Parameters, Target Parameters, Output Parameters, Behavior, Layout Mode Operation, Point, Link, Shape Codes, and a Coding Diagram which shows a pretty picture of how it is put together. An example follows.

Tip- A typical FDOT project will use both; FDOT Subassemblies & out of the box Civil 3D assemblies.

SUBASSEMBLY HELP DOCUMENT

Now Let’s take a glance of the available Subassemblies starting with the first tab.

Assemblies

Barriers/Fences

Curb & Gutter

Day Light

General

Lanes

Medians

RRR

Traffic Separator

FDOT Civil Blocks The FDOT Civil Blocks Palette Group contains Special Dynamic Blocks that can be manipulated by user input. Let’s look at each one.

Tip- You can identify Dynamic Blocks by the Lightning Bolt displayed with the image.

FDOT Civil Blocks

FDOT Traffic The FDOT Traffic Palette Group contains Special Dynamic Blocks that can be used for the creation of traffic plans including Signalization, Lighting, & Signing and Pavement Marking. Let’s look at each tab available.

MAST ARMS/ASSEMBLIES

The first tab is the Mast Arms/Assemblies, these Mast Arm Assemblies have dynamic properties that allow the user to select the type of Pole that is matched with the appropriate Mast Arm based on FDOT Standards. Pay Item Data is also included. The Mast Arms section are the individual Arms that when selected will attach to the Pole block that is in the drawing.

SIGNAL BLOCKS

The Signal Blocks tab contains the blocks used to create Signalization Plans, for example the 5Shor block is used to attach to the Mast Arm to represent the type of Signal Head used. The other blocks are used for annotation purposes based on FDOT Standards.

SIGNAL HEADS PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL HEADS

The Signal Heads are used to detail and annotate the type of Signal used by the number of assemblies used and Pay Item Information. The Pedestrian Signal Heads are used to detail and annotate the Type of Pedestrian Heads used at cross walks at road crossings, both tabs also contain blocks used to denote Existing Signal and Pedestrian Heads.

SIGNAL & LIGHTING TABLES

The Signal & Lighting Tables tab contains Tables that the user inserts into the drawing and fill in the appropriate data that matches plan standards. The State Kit contains many other Tables that can be used, to see them simply type in Table or click it on the FDOT Ribbon and look at the Table Types available.

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