Feature Lines vs. 3D Polylines

I just graded a small paking lot using only feature lines. Not only am I amazed by the stability, but I learned a couple lessons.

In Land Desktop we “Add Vertices” to a 3D Polyline. In Civil 3D we “Insert Elevation Point.” When prompted, use the “Increment” option to add vertices at a specified distance.

In Land Desktop we use “Object Projection” to retreive elevations from a surface. In Civil 3D we use the “Elevations From Surface” command.

In Land Desktop we used the “Create Curb” command to offset a 3D Polyline thus modeling a curb. In Civil 3D we create a “Stepped Offset.”

Each of the commands listed above are available in the Grading menu.

Feature Lines can be added to a surface as “Breaklines.”

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