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Creating a Profile, Sectioning, Templates

This is a useful tool. With it, you can create profiles from your topographic data. You can create
channels or dikes with bottom or top widths you designate, at grades you designate, and determine
excavation and/or fill for that channel or dike. There are also other uses that will become apparent.
Start out in a drawing with a valid surface. This will be the data used for the profile.
Let me explain the general process. You must first define an Alignment. An alignment is just a
line indicating where the profile is to be located. It is generally the centerline of the planned
channel.
Once the alignment is defined, the machine can create a profile of that alignment based on
Surface data. Once a profile is created, you can apply finished grades called vertical alignments.
You can then have the computer draw cross sections along the centerline of the profile. Once
sections are created, you can apply a Template to those sections. Templates represent finished
work. You can create templates for waterways, filterstrips, diversions, or any kind of linear work.

First of all you need to be in the Civil/Design menu palette. Using a polyline, start at the point of
your profile that you want to be the beginning. Draw where you want the to locate the centerline of
your proposed channel. The polyline may extend beyond the point that the channel will stop.
However, IMPORTANT: Do not extend either end of the polyline beyond the limits of your surface
data. One must have ones data. If you are not able to make a profile, its probably because your
alignment is outside the limits of your data.
If you have an existing polyline such as a break line in place, you can use that to make your
alignment. You can make your alignment out of regular lines, but that process may be more
involved, so I usually use polylines.
From the Civil: menu: Alignments
DEFINE FROM POLYLINE
Pick the polyline you just made. A red X will
appear at whatever end you started on. This will be the beginning of your alignment/profile
(0+00). The computer will prompt you to either Pick reference point or Enter for start. Enter at
this point. A dialog box will appear asking you to name your alignment. Give it a name of 8
characters or less. If you want to describe it further, you can in the adjacent window. If you want to
start at any station other than 0+00, designate so here. Pick OK. The command line will show
you the name, length, and stationing of the line you chose.
At this point, I usually label my alignment. This will come in handy later when you are
doing your profile and/or cross-sections.
From the Civil: menu: Alignments
STATION LABEL SETTINGS
You will get a dialog box Alignment Stationing
Settings.
Make sure the Station labels and Station Point labels boxes are checked. The default settings
will give you a station label increment every 100 ft. with a tick mark every 50 ft. If you are doing
a waterway or diversion, that would be adequate. But, if you have a smaller channel like a
filterstrip, you may want your stationing 20 or 25 ft. apart with a tick mark every 10 ft. You choose
the level of detail you want. I usually make the Station label offset 5 ft. Fifteen feet is too far
away. Pick OK.

From the Civil: menu: Alignments

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CREATE STATION LABELS
The command line will again show you the name
and stationing of your alignment and prompt you for the beginning station <.00>. Enter and choose
your ending station. Usually, your alignment is not to the nearest foot. You can set your ending
station to the nearest foot if you want to (However, you cant exceed your alignment length).
Otherwise Enter.
The computer will want to know if you want to delete existing stationing. If you have an alignment
already defined and you dont want to lose the stationing, type N and Enter. If you dont mind
losing existing stationing, accept the default <Yes>, Enter. Station labels and tick marks will
appear along your alignment. If the text is too small or too large, you may rescale it through
Utilities:
EDIT.
If there is a point on your line that you want to identify for some reason, and it does not fall
at one of your labels or tick marks, you can identify it by:
From the Civil: menu: Alignments
STATION/OFFSET
LABEL
The command line will ask you to Enter point
Pick the point on your line that you want to station. You will get a rubberband line attached to
that point. The command line says Second leader point. Pick a point on the screen where you
want the label text to appear. The command line will say Next point. Hit Enter here. A station
number and offset will appear. If you are done, Hit Enter. Otherwise continue to pick points
until you are. These points will be for design purposes. Dont worry how they look. You can polish
up their appearance later or remove them for the final plan.
We are now ready to create a Profile.

From the Civil: menu: Profiles

PROFILE SETTINGS
VALUES
You will get a dialog box, Profile Value Settings
At the section labeled Stationing Increments you can set the labeling and grid line values of your
profile. Set your station labels to appear at the appropriate increment for the level of detail you
want on your project. It may be 100 ft. for a waterway or 10 ft. for a filterstrip. You choose. If you
want more detailed grid lines, you would set them here as well. For instance, you can set your
profile station labels to appear every 100 ft. and have a grid line every 50 or 25 ft. You choose. As
for the other portions of the dialog box, K values and Sight Distance Values, etc., I never mess
with them. I set Label Precision Values, both Existing and Finish, at 1 or 2. Pick OK.
From the Civil: menu: Profiles
SURFACES
SET CURRENT SURFACE
You are picking the surface data to use to create
your profile. Highlight the surface whose data you want to use. Pick OK. If you want to have
more than one surface represented on your profile, (Such as before and after grading), you would:
From the Civil: menu: Profiles
SURFACES
TOGGLE MULTIPLE SURFACES
The command line will tell you whether the
multiple surface capability is on or off.
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From the Civil: menu: Profiles
SURFACES
SELECT MULTIPLE SURFACES
You will get the dialog box, Multiple Surface
Selection. In the left-hand window, highlight the appropriate multiple surfaces by Ctrl-Picking.
The surfaces to be profiled will appear in the right-hand window. Pick OK.
Regardless of whether or not you are working with single or multiple surfaces, the next
procedure is the same. Lets assume that you have a single surface profile:
From the Civil: menu: Profiles
EXISTING GROUND
SAMPLE FROM SURFACE
The command line will indicate the information
for your alignment and you will get a dialog box, Profile Sampling settings. If you want banks to
be profiled, as well as the centerline, make sure the Left and Right sampling box is checked. The
distance to be sampled left and right from the centerline should be as wide or wider than the
anticipated top width of your work. For instance, If your waterway is to be at least 50 ft. wide, top
width, make sure your left /right sampling is at least 25 ft. on each side of the centerline. Pick
OK.
The command line will ask you to designate the station on the alignment where you want
the profile to start. The default station is <0>. Unless you have a reason to want to start farther
along the alignment, Enter. The command line will ask you at what station you want the profile
to end. The default number will be the end of your alignment. If thats OK, Enter. If you dont
want or need the profile to go that far, you can type in the station you want.
The command line will keep you informed of whats happening. If all has been done
correctly, you will ultimately get a message saying You have sampled profile for ____ ft. of
alignment. If your command line doesnt say that, there is no use going any farther. You did
something wrong. Start over.
But, you did it right.
From the Civil: menu: Profiles
CREATE PROFILE
FULL PROFILE
You will get a dialog box, Profile Surfaces. Pick the
surface data you want. Pick OK. You will get a dialog box, Profile Generator. This allows you
to define how you want the profile image and graph on the drawing to look. The start and end
stations can be changed here if need be. In the Datum Elevation Entry box, you see the high and
low elevations of your profile. In the box marked Datum is the elevation that your graph will
start on. Usually this is too low. I usually designate an elevation closer to the low point of my
profile. Make the Vertical Scale 10. Anything less than that will skew the profile and graph out of
proportion. Leave the Profile Creation Parameters as Left to Right.
Make sure that in the Grid Creation box, Import Grid is checked. This will define what your
graph looks like. Make sure your horizontal spacing is reasonable (25, 50, etc.) and that your
vertical spacing is at least 1 ft. Pick OK.
The Command line will request Select Starting Point. Pick a spot on your drawing where you
want your profile to appear. Make sure you give it plenty of room. You dont want to place it over
the top of your existing work.
When you pick your starting point, the command line will ask you if you want to
Delete existing Profile layers. If you have existing profiles you dont want to lose, type N and
Enter. If you want to re-do an existing profiles or you dont care. Enter the default <Yes>.
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If youve done everything right, the profile will appear on the screen. Everything will come in,
white.
You will have to go into the Layer Control box to add different colors to your profile and
graph layers. The layers you may want to change are: all layers that start with P... (i.e. PGRID,
PBASE). I recommend making the PGRID and PVGRID layers, color no. 8.
If you have created a multiple surface profile, The process of creating a grid is much the
same. It goes like this:
From the Civil: menu: Profiles
CREATE PROFILE
FULL PROFILE
You will get a dialog box, Profile Surfaces. Pick and
highlight the surface data to be profiled. It will usually be your existing ground surface. Pick
OK.
From here on, the procedure for creating a profile is the same as discussed on the previous page.
You will get the same Profile Generator dialog box discussed on page 3. You treat it the same
way.
However, when you get all done making your Full Profile:
From the Civil: menu: Profiles
CREATE PROFILE
SURFACE PROFILE
You will get the same dialog box, Profile Surfaces.
Pick and highlight the other surface data to be profiled. Pick OK. You will see a profile of your
second surface appear on the same graph as your original ground profile. Neat!

So, now that you have a profile of the centerline of the existing ground of your channel, We
can develop the finished grades.

From the Civil: menu: Profiles

FG CENTERLINE TANGENTS
CREATE TANGENTS
The computer will list the Starting
Station and Existing Elevation of your profile. The command line will ask you at what point
or Station you want to start your profile. You can use your osnaps to pick out a point on your
centerline or graph to start your finished grade. At this time, however, type S for Station,
Enter. The command line lists the default station <.00>, or the beginning of your existing ground
profile. Enter. The command line will now list the starting elevation of the profile. Assuming that
you want your finished grade to end up at existing ground, Enter.
A rubberband will attach itself to the profile at the beginning. The command line now
gives you alternatives. It should say, Select point (Station/eXit/Undo/Length). What you can do
at this point is: Select a point (using osnaps) along your profile to be the end of the next reach or
(type S) to designate the station. (Type X) To Exit type U. If youve made a mistake, to undo
the location and elevation of the point you just picked; Or (type L) to indicate the length of the
next reach of your finished grade.
For now, type S, Enter. The command line prompts you for Station. Type in a number
to identify the station of your profile to extend the grade to (Station 1+00 is typed as 100),
Enter. The command line will prompt you for: (Grade/Elevation/Undo/eXit). Type in E.
Enter. The command line will give you a default elevation. Type in the elevation that looks like it
would be reasonable for that reach. Enter. A line will appear on the screen that represents the
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finished grade of that reach. The computer gives you the statistics for that line. It tells you where
your point is now,(station and elevation) and what the grade of the last reach is.
If the grade doesnt come out to what you want, you can Undo it. Type S for Station,
and enter the same station. Then instead of picking Elevation , pick Grade and type in the
grade you want. The tangent line will re-appear at the grade you specified. Notice that at the end of
every reach, you have the opportunity to undo and modify it. Repeat the sequence until youre
done with all the reaches of your finished ground profile. Enter back to the command line. You
should now have a finished grade line for the length of your profile. You have just created a
Vertical Alignment. So, next:
From the Civil: menu: Profiles
FG VERTICAL ALIGNMENTS
DEFINE FG CENTERLINE
Everything will disappear except
the finished grade line. The computer will give you the vital statistics of your vertical alignment
and ask you to: Select the starting Point. Pick the end of the line nearest station 0+00. That
segment of line will be highlighted. The command line will ask you to Select objects. Pick all the
other segments of your finished ground profile. Enter. Everything will re-appear.
From the Civil: menu: Profiles
FG VERTICAL ALIGNMENTS
IMPORT
The computer will, again, give you the
vital statistics of your vertical alignment and ask you if you want to Label tangents and vertical
curves. Enter the default <Yes>. The command line now wants to Delete Finished ground Profile
layer. Enter the default <Yes>. The finished grades and the points where the grades change will
be labeled. These grade changes are called Points of Vertical Inflection, (PVIs). Finished grade
elevations will appear along the bottom of your graph, opposite the existing ground elevations.
Nice job!

You now can view and print out cross-sections of your existing ground profile by:

From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections

EXISTING GROUND
SAMPLE FROM SURFACE
Select the surface that you created your profile
from.
You will get a dialog box, Section Sampling Settings.
Make sure the Swath Widths left and right of your centerline are wide enough to account for
your anticipated work. The Sample Increments are self-explanatory. (We dont do spirals)
In the box marked Additional Sample Control, make sure that Alignment Start, Alignment
End, PCs/PTs, and TS-SCs/CS-STs are checked. If you have any points you want to make
sure are sampled, check the Add Specific Stations box. You will want to sample junctions of
laterals. changes in direction and other important design points. (Remember your alignment
stations I had you do?) This will make sure that these points are sampled even though they may
not fall on the Sample Increment you specified. Pick OK.
The computer will tell you what the beginning and ending stations of the alignment youve
chosen, and will ask you at what station you want to start your sectioning. Enter the default <.00>
unless you have a compelling reason to start someplace else. Likewise Enter the default end of your
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alignment or change if needed. If the process went successfully, the computer will inform you that
You have sampled ____ft. of alignment.
Now, you may want to look at the sections you just created:
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
VIEW/EDIT SECTIONS
The cross-sections will be displayed, one at a
time. To scroll through them, Enter the default <Next>. When you reach the last cross-section, type
X to exit back to your drawing.

Now, lets say that you have compelling need to print out your cross-sections. The following
procedure will do that for you:
The first thing you are going to want to do is change the scale of your drawing (Chapt. 1, Creating
a New Drawing). Make sure the scale of your drawing is 1:1 before you print out your sections.
Otherwise, the sections will be skewed 30:1, 40:1 or whatever your present drawing is.
Changing the scale will have no affect on the work youve done up to now. When you are done,
you can change the scale back. Remember, the drawing, itself, is always 1:1, The scale only affects
text size and printing appearance.
Your drawing printing scale now is 1:1.
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
SECTION PLOT
SETTINGS...
You will get a dialog box, Cross Section Plotting Settings
Pick the button that says Section Layout. This controls the way the section graph is configured.
On the left side, Offset Incr. is the distance increment. If the box says 10, you will get a vertical
grid line every 10 feet. The boxes below Offset Incr. have to do with labeling. An Offset lbl
incr. of 2 will label every other vertical grid line. The bottom box, Rows below Datum controls
the elevation grid lines printed below the elevation of the lowest point on the section.
On the right, Elevation Incr. is indeed, elevation increment. Unless you have dramatic cross-
sections, use 1 ft. for your increment. The Elevation lbl incr. behaves the same as the offset labels.
Rows above max. will give you the number of elevation grid lines above the high point of your
section. Pick OK. Then pick OK on the Cross Section Plotting Settings dialog box.
Now you are ready to plot. You have a choice of 3 plotting configurations.
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
SECTION PLOT
SINGLE - will print the cross-sections, one at a time. You
will be asked what stations you want to plot. You can Enter through all of them, or pick and
choose.
PAGE - will print out all of your sections on a page with
borders.
ALL - will print out all of your sections in a series.
The choice of plotting configuration is yours. Try one way. If you dont like it, do it over a different
way. Once youve done your sections, you can print them out any way or any time you want. You
dont have to re-do the section process every time you want to print them.
Lets assume you picked ALL. The computer will again give you the vital statistics of your
alignment and ask you for Beginning Station. Pick the default <.00>. Enter. The command line
will now prompt you for Ending station and default to the end of your alignment (< >). Pick it
unless you have a good reason. Enter. The command line will ask you for the Sheet Origin
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Point. Where on your drawing do you want the series of cross-sections to appear? Be sure to make
plenty
of room. Pick a point on your drawing. The cross-sections will appear in sequence on your screen.

Templates
Templates are standard designs that you might apply to a profile. An 8 ft. wide waterway can be a
template. A 30 ft. filterstrip could be a template. Any design that could be applied in a wide
number of sites and/or situations can be stored as a template in your computer. The first thing you
will need to do is create a template. What you are going to create is the bottom of your channel (or
top of your berm). What you will actually define is the left half of the bottom of your channel. This
process is difficult to explain without an illustration. I will attempt, below.

Fig.1

Template of 8 waterway

Notice that we do not define the sideslopes. This allows you to apply the template at any sideslope.
Now to define a template:
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
DRAW TEMPLATE
The command line will ask you to locate a Starting
Point. This will be point A on Fig. 1. Pick a point on the screen. The command line will now ask
you to Select Point (Relative/Grade/ Slope/ Close/Undo/eXit). You will select the next point
Relative to your starting point. Type R, Enter. The command line will ask you for Change
in Offset (Grade/Slope/Close/Points/Undo/eXit). (Remember AutoCAD Coordinate
commands?) For our 8 waterway template, type -4 Enter. The command line will prompt you
for Change in elev. Type 0 Enter. The template should be starting to take form on your
screen. There should be a rubberband attached to the left endpoint of your template line. You are
now at point B on Fig. 1. In this case, this is all we need to define for this template. For whatever
reason, we must Close a template after we locate all the points. Type C (for Close) Enter. The
command line will prompt you for another Starting Point. Since we dont want to create another
template line, Enter. You should be back at the Command line.
Now youll need to define this template line as a template. So:
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
TEMPLATES
DEFINE TEMPLATE
The command line will tell you to Pick Finish Ground
Reference Point. That is the point that will be attached to the centerline of your profile. That
would be Point A. Using osnaps, pick the right endpoint of your template line. The command line
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then asks Is Template Symmetrical Enter the default <Yes>. The command line now should say
Select Objects, and you now have a Pick box. Pick your line. Enter. The command line
should say Press any key to select material name. Press a key. You will get a dialog box, Surface
Material Names. Pick OK. The command line will say, Pick Connection point out. The
connection point is the point that will be daylighted to the ground surface. This would be Point B
of Fig. 1. Using osnaps, pick the left endpoint of your template line. The command line now says,
Pick Datum points (left to right). Using osnaps, you will pick the two endpoints of your line,
again; this time, left to right. The computer will use these points to generate the data to create
daylight lines and compute excavation and fill. When you have picked your Datum Points,
Enter.
The command line will ask you if you want to Save Template. Enter the default <Yes>.
Give the template a simple, memorable name. Since this is an 8 ft. waterway template, you could
call it 8ww. This is the name the template will always be presented as. When you have given it a
name, Enter. When you are done defining templates and when you get the command line,
Define Another Template (Yes/No). Type N and Enter.
You now have a defined template to apply to your profile/sections. When you import the
template, it will be applied to your finished ground profile at the grades you designed.
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
DESIGN CONTROL
EDIT DESIGN CONTROL
You will see a dialog box, Enter Station Range. This
will be where your template will be applied to the profile. Pick OK or designate the reach you
wish the template applied to. You will see a dialog box, Design Control. In it, you will see data
on the current alignment, station range, etc. At the bottom, youll see a section, Chose Edit
Operation. In it youll see buttons. The top one should be Template Control. Pick it. In the top
left-hand corner, there should be a window marked Template Pick the SELECT button next to
it. You will see a dialog box, Template Librarian. The template you created should be in the list
on the left. Pick it. It should be highlighted and the graphic representation should appear in the
large screen within the dialog box. Pick OK. You will be back in the Template Control dialog
box. Pick OK. You will be back in the Design Control dialog box. Pick the button that says
Slopes. A dialog box, Slope Control will pop in. You will be determining the sideslopes of any
excavation or fill for the left or right side of your channel. In this case, make the excavation and fill
8:1 for both the right and the left. Make sure the Cut or Fill type is Simple. In the windows
marked Cut (Fill) Type, type in an 8 in all 8 locations, both Typical and Maximum. Pick
OK. You will be back in the Design Control dialog box. Pick OK.

The computer should crank a little and you should get a dialog box, Process Status sometimes
overlain by another dialog box, Section Processing Status. The will bear the alarming message
that Sectioning Processing Errors have occurred. Dont worry about it. Your template probably
overran your section data in a place or two. Pick OK. The Process Status dialog box will
contain pertinent data about your alignment and sections. It will indicate the range of stations that
the templates were applied to and the last station considered. Pick OK. The alignment data will
appear above the command line. Now take a look at the results:
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
VIEW/EDIT SECTIONS
Use the same procedure as you did to view the sections of
your existing ground (Page 6). You will see the existing ground and the template as applied at the
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finished grade defined in your profile. You can print these out if you want using the same
procedure as before.
Now, if you want to, you can depict the way the finished work will look on the screen:
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
POINT OUTPUT
CATCH POINTS TO DWG
The command line will ask you if you want to
Import Catch Points (Yes/No). This will put actual datum points representing daylight lines on
your drawing. You can if you want to, but it will clutter up your drawing. Lets type N, Enter.
The next option is Import daylight lines (Yes/No). Enter the default <Yes>. You will be asked
for the Beginning station. Enter the default <.00>. The command line will then prompt
Ending Station. Unless you have a good reason, Enter the default ending station. The daylight
lines for the channel should lay out on your surface.
The last step is to do cut & fill for your channel:
From the Civil: menu: Cross-Sections
TOTAL VOLUME OUTPUT
VOLUME TABLE
The vital statistics of the alignment will be
listed. The command line will say Volume Computation Type (Prismoidal/Avgendarea). Enter
the default <Avgendarea>. The command line will say Use of Curve Correction (Yes/No).
Enter the default <Yes>. The command line will say, Use of volume adjustment factors (Yes/No).
Enter the default <Yes>. Leave the Cut adjustment factor at <1.00>. If you want to add a
percentage for compaction to the Fill adjustment factor, do so. Otherwise, Enter the default
<1.00>. The command line will again prompt you for the beginning and ending station of your
work. Enter the same numbers you did above. The command line will prompt you for where the
Insertion point for the table will be. Pick a point on your screen not on your work.
A table showing excavation and fill for each station should roll down from your insertion point.
Congratulations.