Vertical curve at profile exaggeration

[jmkona]

I'm using 2004 and drawing a profile for a utility. I need a 25' radius for my vertical curve for this utility line. I'm wondering how people draw this radius if there is a vertical exaggeration in the profile. Horizontal scale is 1"=20' and Vertical scale is 1"=5'.

Thanks!

[JPlanera]

That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of... Why on earth would someone want to draw like that? Everything should be 1:1.

[eldon]

Perhaps draw an ellipse at the required distorted scale and scale up to suit the 25' radius

[BIGAL]

The simplest way is to draw a pline with very short straights this is the way most civil software companies do it. If you use a parabolic vertical road curve it has various formula to calc all the values like x,y for a chainage given curve length and grade 1 grade 2. simple to exagerate vertically. If you want a true radius just thinking need to calc the intersection point given a sloping curve can be done.

 

Search net for parabolic road vertical curve

[rickh]

One option is to draw 1:1 height:vertical. Then make a block out of it. Then insert that block. When you insert the block, you can change the x:y scale independently.

 

You can do this with just individual pieces, or you can draw the whole profile with easy x,y input and then insert the whole thing back with the vertical exaggeration.

 

JPlanera, it's common practice for roadway profiles. I believe the goal is to be able to see differences in elevations easier (so something like a small ditch is easy to spot - myself being structural though, we squish that exaggerated stuff back down to 1:1:))

[Organic]

One option is to draw 1:1 height:vertical. Then make a block out of it. Then insert that block. When you insert the block, you can change the x:y scale independently.

 

This is what I would do also.

 

That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of... Why on earth would someone want to draw like that? Everything should be 1:1.

 

It is common for longitudinal sections for roads, stormwater, sewer etc.

[CyberAngel]

That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of... Why on earth would someone want to draw like that? Everything should be 1:1.

 

To amplify Dink's comment, if you did draw a vertical profile at normal scale, you'd have trouble seeing some of the detail. A road with a 1% slope would look nearly horizontal, but it's important for the contractor to see it. Flat road = stormwater collecting = wrecks.

[JPlanera]

To amplify Dink's comment, if you did draw a vertical profile at normal scale, you'd have trouble seeing some of the detail. A road with a 1% slope would look nearly horizontal, but it's important for the contractor to see it. Flat road = stormwater collecting = wrecks.

 

Makes sense... Thanks for the info! In any case, the scaling block idea seems like the easiest route, although you cant dimension a non-uniformly scaled block. Hope that isn't an issue..

[CyberAngel]

the scaling block idea seems like the easiest route, although you cant dimension a non-uniformly scaled block.

 

Once you have the block in place, explode it. Then you can dimension it. A curve will likely become an ellipse.

[eea123]

I agree with the other's advice and if you foresee having any repetitive design, keep the profile in a 1:1 drawing and XREF it into the exaggerated scale profile sheet DWG.

[Tyke]

The suggestion of the block is the one that is easiest and it works well.

 

A long time ago, before Civil 3D, we used to draw the whole section at 1:1, including text, and when it was finished make a wblock out of it. It was then it was inserted into an empty drawing with an X:Y ratio of 1:5 and exploded on insertion. All the text was then selected and given the required height. It was found to work very well and was a lot quicker than doing the vertical exaggeration calculations when drawing the section.

[malcolm]

I dont use CAD (too long in the tooth!) but the old rule for selecting a drawing radius (r) when drawing a required radius (R) at exaggerated scales (usually vertical scale > horizontal scale) is r=(R x vertical scale)/(horizontal scale squared).  For example if I needed to represent a radius (R) of 300m when having scales at 1:500 (Hz) and 1:50 (Vt), I would draw a 0.06m radius aid.  I think the same process could be used to solve the problem above.