Creating Cross Sections

To complete this tutorial you will require the Profiles & Design module.

Note: This tutorial cannot be completed using LISCAD Lite.

Aim

The aim of this tutorial is to show you how to create cross sections.

Typical Scenario

You have a project that requires a set of cross sections to be created along the proposed centre line of a road.

Before you begin

Select this button to obtain the required data file.

  1. Set the Section Marker Display and Attributes

    Then select File/Open and open "Cross Sections.see" in the Tutorial folder.

    First select Display/Features/Alignments tab and ensure the following settings have been made to display the attributes of the road centre line alignment.

    Feature Display Of Alignments Dialog

    Select OK to apply the display settings.

    Cross sections are created along primary alignments at intervals defined by section markers. As we already have a primary alignment called "Design", section markers now need to be created. To do this select Task/Profiles & Design.

    Then select Attributes/Section Markers and set the attributes as shown here.

    Section Marker Attributes Dialog

    Press OK to save these settings.

  2. Create the Section Markers Along the Alignment

    Select Create/Section Markers, then Method/by Range.

    In the Create Section Markers by Range dialog make the settings as shown here.

    Create Section Markers By Range Dialog

    Press OK to create a series of section markers along the alignment at the displayed chainages and key points.

    Close the dialog.

    The section markers you created will look something like this.

    What The Section Markers Look Like

  3. Create a Corridor of Interest

    You now need to create a corridor of interest to define the extents of the cross sections along the entire length of the centre line alignment.

    To do this select Create/Corridor of Interest then Method/Table.

    In the Corridor of Interest Table dialog select "Design" from the Alignment list.

    Snap and accept the point at chainage 0.000.

    Create COI By Table

    Key -12.000 into the Offset 1: field and 12.000 into the Offset 2: field, and press Add. The chainage and offset values are transferred to the table display.

    Create COI By Table

    Snap and accept the point at chainage 94.875.

    Key -14.000 into the Offset 1: field and 14.000 into the Offset 2: field, and press Add. The chainage and offset values are transferred to the table display.

    Create COI By Table

    Repeat the previous steps to enter two more chainage points using the values shown in the table below.

    Create COI By Table - Complete

    Press Apply to create the corridor of interest and then Close to close the dialog.

    Detail Showing The Start Of The COI

    The corridor of interest is displayed as a continuous line that surrounds the centre line alignment.

  4. Create a Cross Section Set from the Digital Terrain Model

    The cross section set is now ready to be created.

    Select Profile/Cross Section/Create. Press the Parameters button to show the Cross Section Parameters dialog.

    Make the settings as shown below which will ensure that Model 1 in "Cross Sections.see" is used for the cross section set extraction.

    Create Cross Section Parameters dialog Box

    Select OK to save the settings and return to the Cross Section Creation dialog.

    Cross Section Creation Dialog

    Make the settings as shown here and select Create to create the cross section set.

    Select OK when the confirmation message shows.

  5. Create a Second Cross Section Set Representing the Underground Utilities

    You will now create another cross section set. This time showing any utilities that intersect with a cross section.

    To do this first select the Parameters button to show the Cross Section Parameters dialog.

    Make the settings as shown below. Then select OK.

    Cross Section Parameters - From Objects

    Cross Section Creation - Utilities Dialog

    Enter the values shown here in the Cross Section Creation dialog and select Create to create the cross section set.

    A new cross section window is created and displays the first cross section (at chainage 250) in the "Utilities" cross section set. (This is the first section that had any crossing planimetric lines. There is only one other section that met the criteria and hence there are only two cross sections in the Utilities set, which show an underground drain.)

  6. Display the Two Cross Section Sets

    Select Cross Sections/Open.

    Select the "Natural Surface XS" cross section and then Open.

    Both cross sections that were created are now displayed at chainage 250.

    Open Cross Section Dialog

  7. Set up the Cross Section Display

    You will now alter the display of information for the cross sections. To do this select Display/Features.

    In the Feature Display dialog select the Cross Sections tab and set the following options.

    Tip: You can quickly show the Display Features dialog by right clicking anywhere on the screen and selecting it from the floating menu.

    Feature Display - Cross Section Dialog

    Then select the Layout tab and set the following options.

    Feature Display - Layout Dialog

    Select OK to close the dialog and apply the display options to the "Utilities" cross section.

    You will notice that the changes have only been applied to the "Utilities" cross section. To apply display settings to the "Natural Surface XS" cross section.

    Select Display/Features again and select the Cross Sections tab.

    Select "Natural Surface XS" from the Cross Sections list and make the same settings as for the "Utilities" cross sections, except for the Symbol check box.

    Press OK.

    The dialog will close and the display settings will be applied to the "Natural Surface XS" cross section.

    Use the Fit tool to fit the cross section to the window.

  8. Step through the Cross Section Set

    Various commands are available to navigate through the cross sections.

    Select Display/First Section to go to the first cross section in the set. In this case it is at chainage 0.000.

    Then use Display/Next and Display/Previous to move through the cross section sets. Buttons for these commands are as follows.

    Tool Bar Buttons For The Display Commands

    Select Display/Go To Section and select Chainage: 250.000.

    Goto Cross Section Dialog

    Press OK.

    An extract of how this cross section should appear is shown below. This cross section shows a drainpipe intersecting with a cross section.

    Cross Section View

Conclusion

You have now completed this tutorial and should have a good understanding of how to create and view cross sections.

You have also learnt how to: