Are the curves too sharp for the expected speed? Is the alignment parallel to other important features? Are intersecting roads perpendicular to one another?
Segment labels stand alone like station/offset labels; however, you can create them in bulk if you so desire. For example, all of the tangents of an entire alignment can be labeled at once if you choose that option when creating the labels.
To create some segment labels in your drawing, complete the following steps:
- Open the drawing named Segment Labels.dwg located in the Chapter 06 class data folder.
- Click the Madison Lane alignment, and then click Add LabelsAdd Alignment Labels.
- In the Add Labels dialog box, do the following:
- For Label Type, select Single Segment.
- For Line Label Style, verify that Bearing Over Distance is selected.
- For Curve Label Style, verify that Curve Data is selected.
- Click Add
- Zoom in and click one of the tangents of Madison Lane. Notice the bearing and distance label that is created.
Tips:Be careful to click the line, not one of the station labels or tick marks. You may need to zoom in a bit to do this.
- Press Esc to end the labeling command. Click the newly created label, and then click Flip Label on the ribbon. This swaps the position of the bearing and distance.
- Select the label once again, and this time select Reverse Label. Notice what happens to the bearing: It switches from SW to NE (or vice versa, depending on where you clicked in step 4), but the numbers don’t change.
- Click Add in the Add Labels dialog box. Then click the curve and the other tangent of Madison Lane. This will create two new labels in the drawing.
- Press Esc to end the labeling command. Click the curve label, and then click the label’s square grip and drag it to a clear location in the drawing. This will improve the appearance and readability of the label and automatically create a leader pointing back to the curve.
- In the Add Labels dialog box, change Label Type to Multiple Segment. Change Curve Label Style back to Curve Data.
- Click Add, and then click anywhere on the Jordan Court alignment. All tangents and curves are labeled at once.
- Move the curve labels for Jordan Court to open areas in the drawing so that they are easier to read (see Figure 6.7).
Figure 6.7 Curve labels added to the Jordan Court alignment. To improve readability, the labels have been dragged away from the alignment and into clear areas.
Why Be a Bear about Bearings?
If this is the first time you’ve seen bearings, you may not know what is going on here. A bearing is a way of expressing the direction of a line. In this exercise, the bearing of the eastern tangent of Madison Lane is S67°27'02.54"W. That means if you face south and then turn yourself toward the west about 67°, you’ll be facing roughly in the direction that this line is pointing. Since there are 90° between south and west, you’ll actually be facing more west than south.
When the bearing is reversed, it’s like you’ve done an about-face and you’re now facing 67° east of north. This doesn’t change the appearance of the line at all, and it might seem picky to distinguish between SW and NE in this case. But when you think about it, the stationing of this road is increasing in a certain direction (west in the case of Madison Lane), which establishes the direction of the alignment. For consistency, it’s a good idea for the direction of your bearing labels to agree with the direction of your alignment.