Last week I wrote about the Autodesk Seize the Opportunity Virtual Event on April 19. On Friday, I was talking to Jerry and he shared some more details about his session called On the Road to Success: Autodesk Solutions for Roads and Highways. The session is focused on using Civil 3D for a road project, but also incorporates tools from Map 3D and Navisworks to tell the entire story.
(As a side note, don’t you love this rendering of an interchange? I’m not sure what kind of interchange it is, but I’ll bet you could find it at The Infrastructurist in their posts Don't Pluck the Clover Leaf or What's a Double Trumpet? (A Field Guide to Interchanges). That image was created from a Civil 3D model that the Benelux Users group built for us. We call those type of images “Heroic Imagery”. I need to remember to write up a blog post about the making of heroic imagery. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll get a headache.)
Jerry will show how to use tools from Map 3D, Civil 3D and Navisworks for planning and design.
I am really glad to see more examples of using geospatial data in infrastructure planning. Jerry will show using data about level of service, accidents, flooding and more to identify locations for potential intersection improvements. I think what is important to keep in mind is that even if you don’t have data readily available in your area with traffic or transportation information, it’s pretty straightforward to combine graphical data from raster imagery or CAD files with traffic data and reports to make your own Map 3D layers. The power you get for exhibit creation and analysis is worth the time invested. Better yet- next time you hire a traffic firm to do a TIS, ask them how they create their exhibits and work together on finding a way to keep the data alive.
More of us need to spend time in that planning and conceptual design space. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Conceptual Road Design Ideas where I created a simple corridor style to show the extents of a roadway grading. What about combining that with more geospatial data? For example, I could extract the boundary from my corridor surface and convert it into a Map 3D object. Then I combine that with parcel information, land use information, flood zones, etc. and be working up reports on who will be impacted or what kind of risk might be involved with a given design alternative. There are some neat new features for Map 3D 2011- check out Murph’s blog post for some commentary.
Jerry is also planning on showing an intersection model, and highlighting new features for roads and highways- such as corridor improvements.
By combining the Civil 3D model with a point cloud of an overpass bridge, Jerry will do some clearance checks. You can also use point clouds for clash detection in Navisworks.
Karen did a neat demo using this same point cloud right in Civil 3D. She creates an elevation analysis with the bridge scan to check for height requirements.
Jerry delivers a great presentation- always full of the right combination of technical how-to and thought provoking ideas. Register today for Autodesk Seize the Opportunity Virtual Event on April 19.
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