CI224519-L

The 123's and ABC's of Corridor Model setup,

planning, and execution
Jeff Frye
HDR Inc.

Learning Objectives
• Setup a model file
• Learn to plan for the unexpected
• Build flexibility into your assemblies to allow for quick changes in design
• Document your corridor designs files quickly with fields

Lab assistants:
Charline Fox, HDR Inc.
Zachary Sharp, HDR Inc.
Rich Liggett, HDR Inc.
Steve Walz, HDR Inc.

Description
This hands on lab will take you from start to finish on a corridor design using the latest tools
available. You will be given several tips to help start your design right. This class will give you
some tools to bring back the office to share with other users, help them document their designs,
and help you save time and money on your projects.

Speaker
Jeff Frye is a cadd professional with over 28 years of design and drafting experience. He has
worked for small and large firms and is always eager to share ideas, tips, tricks, and time to help
make civil 3D and users more productive. His design background includes many miles of
roadway, urban corridor, and rural highways. He is always looking for faster and more
productive ways of getting from cad to paper. This is his 15th year attending AU and he is
looking forward to continuing to share with you this year.

Page 1
Table of Contents
The 123's and ABC's of Corridor Model setup, planning, and execution..................................... 1
Setting up your model file .................................................................................................... 3
Template ............................................................................................................................. 3
Units and Zone ................................................................................................................... 4
Object Layers ...................................................................................................................... 5
VPORTS ............................................................................................................................. 6
STREAMLINING WORKFLOW ........................................................................................... 7
Workflow – 2D xref file ........................................................................................................ 8
Workflow – Corridor file ....................................................................................................... 9
Workflow – Pipe Network file..............................................................................................10
Workflow – Display file .......................................................................................................11
Workflow – Sheet file .........................................................................................................12
GATHERING YOUR PROJECT DATA ..............................................................................13
TOOLSPACE EXPLAINED ................................................................................................14
SHARING DATA ................................................................................................................15
DATA REFERENCING ......................................................................................................16
CREATING ALIGNMENT ...................................................................................................17
CREATING A SURFACE PROFILE ...................................................................................18
Add a series of conditional CUT Scenario subassemblies ..................................................24
Add a series of conditional FILL Scenario subassemblies ..................................................26
CODE SET STYLE ............................................................................................................30

Page 2
Setting up your model file
Organization of data is a normal part of our work and life right? Simple things like your
silverware drawer for example; forks, knives, and spoons each go in their respective
compartment. Every house has a silverware drawer. And every house has a “junk” drawer.
EVERYTHING is in the junk drawer, but you cannot find it easily…This section will help you
keep your models from looking like the junk drawer and more like an organized and professional
model.

Template
Our class started with the out of the box _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS.dwt file.

This file contains all of the layers, styles, and settings we need to start.

Figure 1

Page 3
STEP 1: Drawing Settings

Units and Zone

I set the units and zone tab up as follows I set the scale to 1’=20’, USA, Washington,
and coordinate system to State Planes, North Zone, US Foot as shown below.

Figure 2

NOTE: Setting these settings up front will save time later when referencing your 2D data
in. Especially if you are in a rotated UCS.

Page 4
Object Layers
When working in a complex corridor file, you will constantly want to turn off layers to de-
clutter your workspace. Having objects on unique layers helps to sort them in the dialog
better. I used PREFIX for the name of the object to make sorting easier, you can put
these as a SUFFIX if you prefer.

Figure 3

NOTE: You can set these settings to be your default settings in a company DWT file by saving
this file as a TEMPLATE.

Page 5
VPORTS
These are not paperspace view ports, but rather modelspace vports. They are setup to allow
you quick access to the different parts of your model that you are working on. We will setup our
drawing to show three active vports. To set these up in your own drawing:

Type VPORTS, and select “Three: Above”, select OK

We will use these later to setup a plan view, cross section view and a view of the assembly we
are using.

Figure 4

NOTE: You can grab the grips and resize these as your need changes. To return to a single
view, type VPORTS and select “Single”.

Page 6
STREAMLINING WORKFLOW
Workflow Diagram

Page 7
STREAMLINING WORKFLOW
Workflow – 2D xref file

Page 8
STREAMLINING WORKFLOW
Workflow – Corridor file

Page 9
STREAMLINING WORKFLOW
Workflow – Pipe Network file

Page 10
STREAMLINING WORKFLOW
Workflow – Display file

Page 11
STREAMLINING WORKFLOW
Workflow – Sheet file

Page 12
GATHERING YOUR PROJECT DATA
Open 1-Corridor_CI224519-L.dwg to begin the next steps. We all need to start
at the same place.

Step 1: Xref the following files into your drawing at 0,0 with no rotation and no
scaling: CI224519-L_BASEMAP.dwg and CI224519-L_ROW.dwg. SAVE the
drawing.

DATA SHORTCUT SETUP

Next we need to create our data shortcut project to be able to share data with
others users.

In the same session of Civil 3D…

Step 2: Open CI224519-L_SURFACE.dwg
Step 3:
• Expand toolspace
• Right click on Data Shortcuts [], and choose Set Working Folder
• Browse to your desktop, select Make New Folder in the bottom left corner,
type “AU_2018” in the box. Hit OK.
• Right click again on Data Shortcuts [] and choose New Data Shortcut
Project folder, type C1224519-L in the Name box. Hit OK.

•
• Your Data Shortcuts folder should look something like this:

•
SAVE YOUR DRAWING

Page 13
TOOLSPACE EXPLAINED
Toolspace is the heart of your project data. All of your project data resides here
in two separate spaces. The upper part (RED outline in image below) is what is
in your current file, and the bottom part (BLUE outline in image below) is what
data is available to you and your team.
Notice our surface “EG” only shows in the top area, this means only you can see
it now. In the next steps we will make it available for others and it will show up in
both the upper and lower spaces.

Page 14
SHARING DATA
We now need to make this surface available to you and others on your team by
making a data shortcut of the surface data.
Still in C1224519-L_Surface.dwg
Step 1: Right click Surfaces in the bottom half of toolspace, and choose Create
Folder, type Existing in the name and hit OK. This will allow us to organize our
data better.
Step 2: You will probably get this dialog box… follow the instructions to fix

Step 3:
• Right click on Data Shortcuts and choose Create Data Shortcuts
• Check EG. (note you can hit the “pick in drawing” button in lower left to
select the surface manually)
• Hit OK
• Drag and drop EG into the Existing Folder you previously created.

• CLOSE the C12245190-L_Surface file, save changes.

CONGRATULATIONS – Your surface EG is now available for all members of
your team to reference into their drawings.

Page 15
DATA REFERENCING
In this class, the only object that we will data reference is the surface. But note
that you can do the same steps for Alignments, Profiles, Pipe Networks,
Corridors, and View Frame groups.

SHARING DATA

Step 1: Open 2-Corridor_C1224519-L.dwg

When we look at Toolspace now, we only see the surface in the lower half. Let’s
make a data reference of the EG surface so it shows in both the upper AND the
lower area. This will make it available in our current file. It will create the Existing
folder and put a data reference of the surface in your current file.
• In the lower area, right click on EG and choose Create Reference. Hit OK.

You can now stylize your surface any way you want to see it. Spend a minute
looking at the different styles available and how they allow you to see the surface
in different ways.

At this point your drawing should look similar to this:

Page 16
CREATING ALIGNMENT
Step 1: Open 3-Corridor_C1224519-L.dwg

Step 2: Alignment
• From the Create Design ribbon, choose Alignment ->Alignment Creation
Tools
• Name the alignment C1224519-L
• Set stationing at 10+00 for the start station
• Set labels and style to anything you want.
• Choose the circle on the LEFT as the starting point and the circle on the
RIGHT as your ending point.

Page 17
CREATING A SURFACE PROFILE
Step 1: Surface Profile (Existing Ground)

Click Home tab->Create Design panel->Profile drop-down->Create Surface

Profile
In the Create Profile from Surface dialog box, in the Alignment list, select the
horizontal alignment to use for the profile (C1224519-L).
Ensure that the surface you want to use is listed in the Select Surfaces list. If
multiple surfaces are listed, use Ctrl + click to select one or more of them from
which to create profiles.
Optionally, in the Station Range area, specify start and end stations if you want
the profile to cover a distance less than the entire length of the horizontal
alignment.
Click Add to add the centerline profile to the Profile List.
Optionally, select the Sample Offsets check box. Enter the offset distances in the
field if you want the profile to include one or more offsets from the centerline of
the horizontal alignment. Use positive numbers to specify right offsets, and
negative numbers for left offsets. Use commas to separate the values. Example:
20,-20,30,40
Optionally, click Add to add the offset profiles to the Profile List.
In the table, review the data for each profile line and make corrections as
required. Optionally, add or delete profiles in the Profile list.
Do one of the following:
If you want to draw the profile in a profile view, click Draw In Profile View, and
then go to the create profile view procedure.
Click OK. The profiles you created are saved. If the alignment has one or more
profile views associated with it, the profiles you created are added to the views.

Page 18
Create a single profile view to display a surface profile and to design a layout
profile. Each profile view displays new or existing profiles and offsets for one
horizontal alignment.
Click Home tab >Profile & Section Views panel>Profile View drop-down>Create
Profile View.
In the Create Profile View wizard, navigate through the pages by using the links
at the left or clicking Back or Next.
Note: Click Create Profile View at any time to accept the current settings.
The wizard pages contain the following controls:
General page - Specify the alignment name and profile view name and
description.
Note: The Show Offset Profiles By Vertically Stacking Profile Views is only
applicable when creating stacked profile views.
Station Range page - Specify the starting and ending stations.
Profile View Height page - Specify the profile view height and any split profile
options, including split stations and styles for individual stations.
Profile Display Options page - Specify the profiles to be drawn as well as their
styles, labels, and layers.
Pipe/Pressure Network page - Specify the pipe networks or parts to be drawn.
Data Bands page - Specify the data band sets and their properties.
Hatch Options page - Specify how to mark areas between two profiles on the
profile view, such as where terrain must be cut or filled to create the design
profile.
Click Create Profile View.
In the drawing window, click a location for the lower left corner (origin) of the
profile view grid. The profile view is drawn.

Page 19
Step 4: Layout Profile (FG,DESIGN)
• Create layout profiles to represent designed elevations along an alignment.
• You typically draw a layout profile on the grid of a profile view, using the surface profile
as a guide.
• A profile view grid must exist in the drawing to draw layout profiles. Create curves and
tangents by freehand sketching or by entering numeric values.
• You can create a layout profile with tangents, and then optionally add curves at the
points of vertical intersection (PVI).
• You can create a profile from an external ASCII file that contains a series of stations
along an alignment, the elevation of each station, and optionally, the length of curve at
the station.
• Curve attributes are set by the Curve Settings command. These curves maintain
tangency when edited.
• Several methods are available for drawing a layout profile:
• Use the Draw Tangents command to specify points of vertical intersection (PVIs) for a
series of straight tangents. Later you can add free curves with specific parameters
between the tangents.
• Use the Draw Tangents With Curves command to specify PVIs for the tangents,
automatically creating curves between the tangents using the parameters you specify in
the Vertical Curve Settings dialog box.
• Use the constraint-based profile design commands to create a profile one sub-entity at a
time.
• When you are prompted for point locations, you can use the Transparent Commands to
specify points in the profile.
• To create a more detailed design using a specific parameter or other constraints, or to
create curves without first creating tangents, use the constraint-based tools included on
the Profile Layout Tools toolbar.
• The criteria-based design feature allows a layout profile to be validated against local
design standards. You can select a design criteria file and/or a design check set using
either the Create Profile - Draw New dialog box when you create the layout profile, or the
Design Criteria tab of the Profile Properties dialog box after it has been created.

Page 20
Step 5: Create Assembly
(Autodesk Help)

1. Open 4-Corridor_CI224519-L.dwg.
2. Click Home tab Create Design panel Assembly drop-down Create
Assembly.
3. In the Create Assembly dialog box, for name, enter C1224519-L. Click OK.
4. When the ‘Specify assembly baseline location’ prompt is displayed on the
command line, click on the vertical line under the profiles in the lower left
vport.
The viewport zooms to the assembly baseline, which looks similar to this:

Add a lane subassembly

1. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
2. Click the Basic tab.
3. Click GenericPavementStructure. (Appendix Help)
4. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Width: 12
o Shift Width: 0
o Default Cross Slope: -2
o Slope Direction: Away from Crown
o Depth: 0.67
o DeflectOuterVerticalFace: No
o TopLinkcodes: Pave,Top
o Shape Codes: Pave
5. In the drawing, click the marker point on the assembly baseline.

Page 21
The right lane subassembly is now attached to the assembly baseline.
Add a curb subassembly

1. In the Tool Palettes window, on the Curbs tab, click

UrbanCurbGutterGeneral.
2. In the drawing, click the marker point at the top-right edge of the travel
lane.

Note:
If you attach the subassembly to the wrong marker, you can move it to the
correct location. Press Esc to exit subassembly placement mode. Select the
subassembly you wish to move. A blue grip is displayed when the subassembly
is selected. Select the grip, and then click the correct marker point.
Add a sidewalk subassembly

1. In the Tool Palettes window, on the Basic tab, click Basic

Sidewalk.
2. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Width: 6
o Depth: .5
o Buffer Width 1: 0
o Buffer Width 2: 1
3. In the drawing, click the marker point at the top, back of the curb.

Page 22
Page 23
Add a series of conditional CUT Scenario subassemblies

1. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
2. Click the Conditional tab.
3. Click ConditionalCutOrFill.
4. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Layout Width: 5
o Layout Grade: 1:1
o Type: Cut
o Min. Distance: 0
o Max. Distance: 2

1. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
2. Click the Generic tab.
3. Click LinkWidthToSurface.
4. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Use Superelevation AOR: No
o Slope Direction: Away from Crown
o Slope: 2:1 (50%)
o Add Link in: Cut Only
o Codes: Defaults are fine
5. Select the end of the previous conditional sub assembly to placement.

Page 24
Add a second conditional subassembly and wall scenario.

1. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
2. Click the Conditional tab.
3. Click ConditionalCutOrFill.
4. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Layout Width: 12
o Layout Grade: 2:1
o Type: Cut
o Min. Distance: 2
o Max. Distance: 9999

5. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
6. Click the Generic tab.
7. Click LinkWidthToSurface.
8. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Use Superelevation AOR: No
o Slope Direction: Away from Crown
o Slope: 0.05:1 (wall simulation)
o Add Link in: Cut
o Codes: Defaults are fine
9. Select the end of the previous conditional sub assembly to placement.

Page 25
Add a series of conditional FILL Scenario subassemblies

1. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
2. Click the Conditional tab.
3. Click ConditionalCutOrFill.
4. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Layout Width: 5
o Layout Grade: 1:1
o Type: Fill
o Min. Distance: 0
o Max. Distance: 2

5.
6. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
7. Click the Generic tab.
8. Click LinkWidthToSurface.
9. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Use Superelevation AOR: No
o Slope Direction: Away from Crown
o Slope: 2:1 (50%)
o Add Link in: Fill Only
o Codes: Defaults are fine
10. Select the end of the previous conditional sub assembly to
placement.

Page 26
Add a second conditional subassembly for the wall scenario.

1. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
2. Click the Conditional tab.
3. Click ConditionalCutOrFill.
4. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Layout Width: 12
o Layout Grade: 2:1
o Type: Fill
o Min. Distance: 2
o Max. Distance: 9999

5.
6. If the Tool Palette containing the subassemblies is not visible, click Home
tab Palettes panel Tool Palettes
7. Click the Generic tab.
8. Click LinkWidthToSurface.
9. In the Properties palette, under ADVANCED, specify the following
parameters:
o Side: Right
o Use Superelevation AOR: No
o Slope Direction: Away from Crown
o Slope: 0.05:1 (wall simulation)
o Add Link in: Fill
o Codes: Defaults are fine
10. Select the end of the previous conditional sub assembly to
placement.

Page 27
This action ends the subassembly placement command.
Mirror the subassemblies to the left of the baseline
1. In the drawing, select the four subassemblies you added.

2. Right click. Click Mirror.

3. Click the marker point on the assembly baseline.
The subassemblies are displayed on the left side of the assembly marker. The
Mirror command creates a mirror image of the selected subassemblies. All the
subassembly parameters, except for the Side parameter, are retained.

Note:
The parameters of the mirrored subassemblies are not dynamically linked. If you
change a parameter value for a subassembly on one side of the assembly
baseline, the change will not be applied to the opposite side.

Page 28
Step 6: Create Corridor
• Click Home tab Create Design panel Corridor Find.
• In the Create Corridor dialog box, specify the following parameters:
• Name: C1224519-L
• Description: AU 2018
• Corridor Style: Basic
• Corridor Layer : C-ROAD-CORR
• Baseline Type: Alignment and profile
• Assembly: C1224519-L
• Target Surface: EG
• Select Set Baseline and Region Parameters to add multiple baselines and
regions, or modify the default frequencies or start and end stations.
• Click OK.
• In the Baseline and Region Parameters dialog box, you can assign
assembly frequencies and targets, edit the parameters in the properties
table, and add additional controlling baselines and regions.
• Click in the Frequency Column and the follow the graphic below

Page 29
 • Click OK
• Click in the Target column:
o NOTE: Surface targets all set to EG
o No other targets are set
• Set as follows:
• ASPHALT_RT -> Select from drawing and choose the RIGHT edge of
gutter line.
• ASPHALT_LT -> Select from drawing and choose the LEFT edge of gutter
line. (see graphic below)

•
• Click OK twice to create the corridor.
• The corridor name is displayed in the Corridors collection on the
Prospector tab.
CODE SET STYLE
• In plan view currently the corridor looks pretty plain and hard to see what is
Asphalt vs what is Concrete or Grass.
• Lets change the code set style to All Codes with Hatching
• Right click on the corridor, and go to corridor properties
• Select the Codes tab and change the Basic code set style to All Codes
with Hatching. Notice the hatch patterns now are a little more descriptive
and representative.

Page 30
Step 7: Create Sample lines and Section Views
• Choose Sample Lines in the Profiles & Section Views panel on the Home
ribbon.
• Press Enter to select the alignment from a list if you have a complex
corridor.
• In the Create Sample Line Group dialog box, select the data sources to
sample.
• The command line request for picking a station is not a recommended
method. Instead, make a selection from the Sample Line Tools dialog box.
The example in the video uses the most common selection, By Station
Range.
• Set values in the Create Sample Lines dialog and click OK to draw the
sample lines. Press Enter to complete the command and create the
sections.
• Set our sections to be 25’ apart, and 100’ wide (50’ each side)
Step 8: Creating multiple section views
• Choose Create Multiple Views in the Profile & Section Views panel on the
Home tab.
• In the Create Multiple Section Views dialog box, adjust the settings as
needed. In the Section Placement tab, you can select a production
template and allow Civil 3D to determine how many cross sections will fit in
a set viewport. The example uses a Civil 3D Imperial Section.
• Make any additional adjustments for Offset Range, Elevation Range,
Section Display Options, and Data Bands. Click Create Section Views. The
views are laid out on the sheet according to the settings stored in the
Group Plot Style.

Page 31
Step 9: Corridor Shape Volume Quantities ( Video is 8 minutes long)
• Open: 5-Corridor_CI224519-L - quantity.dwg
• Watch Video

Page 32