Designing Vertically Using Profiles

Now that the paths of the roads have been established as alignments representing their centerlines, we will now look at the answers to these questions: What will it be like to travel along those paths? Will the terrain be steep or flat? Will it change much from one end of the road to the other? Will it require earth to be moved to smooth out the bumps in the road?

In section, “Modeling the Existing Terrain Using Surfaces,” you learned how existing ground surfaces can be used to analyze the shape of the ground. Although surfaces can be quite effective for this purpose, you’re looking for something that tells you specifically what the terrain is like in relation to the road alignment. Once you have learned that, you’ll be looking for an effective way to redesign the terrain to create a nice, smooth road.

Whether analyzing the terrain along an alignment or redesigning it, the tool that is most effective is the profile. Profiles allow you to show a slice through the ground along a specific alignment. This provides you with a clear and direct visualization of changes in terrain so that you can assess existing conditions and improve your design if necessary.

• Creating Surface Profiles
• Displaying Profiles in Profile Views
• Creating Design Profiles
• Editing Profiles
• Using Design Check Sets and Criteria Files
• Laying Out and Editing the Example Profiles for the Project (Additional Exercise)

Download Exercise File :

• Civil 3D All Exercise Files - Chapter 07 - Metric     --- ( 9.82 MB )
• Civil 3D All Exercise Files - Chapter 07 - Imperial  --- ( 9.00 MB )

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Laying Out and Editing the Example Profiles for the Project