Creating Station / Offset Labels

As mentioned earlier, an alignment is often used as a baseline, enabling other features to express their locations in relation to that baseline. This is typically done with station offset notations and, of course, the AutoCAD® Civil 3D® program provides you with labels to do just that. This type of label is referred to as a station/offset label.

Unlike the label groups that you learned about earlier, station/offset labels stand alone and must be created one by one. They are capable of reporting the station and offset of a point that you select as well as the alignment name, coordinates of the point, and other types of information.

You can create station/offset labels as either fixed or floating labels. If they are fixed, then they hold their positions and update the station and offset values when the alignment is edited. If they are floating, then they maintain their station and offset values and move with the alignment when it is edited. Like spot elevation labels, station/offset labels are paired with a marker.

To create station/offset labels in a drawing, complete the following steps:

The Exercise File can be downloaded at the end of the article  

1. Open the drawing named Station Offset Labels.dwg located in the Chapter 06 class data folder. This drawing is zoomed in to the intersection between Jordan Court and Madison Lane. Your task will be to label the station and offset of either end of each curve that forms the intersection between the two roads.

2. Click the Jordan Court alignment, and then click Add LabelsStation/Offset – Fixed Point on the contextual ribbon tab.
3. While holding down the Shift key, right-click and select Endpoint.
4. Click the northern end of the northern arc. A new label that references the Jordan Court alignment is created at this location.
5. While holding down the Shift key, right-click and select Endpoint. Then click the southern end of the southern arc. Another label is created.

6. Press Esc twice to end the command and clear the selection of the alignment. Click the Madison Lane alignment, and then click Add LabelsStation/Offset – Fixed Point on the contextual ribbon tab.
7. While holding down the Shift key, right-click and select Endpoint. Click the western end of the northern arc.
8. While holding down the Shift key, right-click and select Endpoint. Then click the western end of the southern arc. This label and the one created in step 7 provide the station and offset in reference to the Madison Lane alignment.
9. Press Esc twice to end the labeling command and clear the selection of the alignment. Click one of the labels, and then click the square grip and drag it to a new location that is clear of other lines and text. Repeat this for the other labels to improve their appearance and readability. The result should look similar to Figure 6.6.

   Figure 6.6  Station/offset labels applied to the edge-of-pavement arcs at the intersection of Madison Lane and Jordan Court

Download Exercise File :

• C06 - Creating Station-Offset - Metric     --- ( 1.06 MB )
• C06 - Creating Station-Offset - Imperial  --- ( 913.33 KB )
• Civil 3D All Exercise Files - Chapter 06