This Natural Regrade dropdown menu command is designed to show the amounts and locations of cut and fill that are required to transform the Comparison Surface (typically the disturbed surface) into the design surface. The Comparison Surface is specified in the current GeoFluv™ project on the Output tab. The design surface for this command is the result of combining the GeoFluv™ design in the layers in the drawing within the GeoFluv Boundary plus the Surface for Elevations (specified on the Setup tab) outside the GeoFluv Boundary.
After comparing these two surfaces, this command identifies the centers of earth-material volumes that need to be moved and the centers of voids that need to be filled to create the GeoFluv™ design. The command includes the option to identify optimal straight-line material movement paths.
Note that this command uses linework from particular layers in the drawing. This means that any editing the user makes to the linework in these layers will be reflected in the results.
The prerequisites for using the Cut Fill Centroids command is that the linework for a GeoFluvTM design must already exist in the drawing and the Comparison Surface must be set. To create the GeoFluvTM design in the drawing, the user can click on the Draw Design Surface button on the Output tab of the Design GeoFluv Regrade command. The Comparison Surface file can be entered by clicking on the Comparison Surface button on the Design GeoFluv Regrade Output tab.
Clicking on the Cut Fill Centroid command causes the Cut & Fill Centroid Locator dialog box to appear, if the prerequisites have been met. The Cut & Fill Centroid Locator dialog box gives the user several options.
Minimum Region Volume allows the user to type a minimum cut / fill centroid region volume for the calculations into an edit box.
Generate Labels is a toggle setting that allows the user to have the centroid region number, cut or fill, and volume value labeled on the drawing next to a crosshair that indicates the centroid coordinates.
Text Size Scaler: Allows the user to type a scale factor into an edit box to enlarge or reduce the size of label text. This command is inactive when Generate Labels is toggled off.
Layer: Allows the user to specify the layer on which the labels will be drawn by either typing them into an edit box or by left-clicking on the Select button which produces a dropdown list of existing layers from which to choose. The user can highlight a layer name on the list and click OK at the bottom of the dropdown menu to select a layer.
Generate Boundaries is a toggle setting that allows the user to specify if Natural Regrade shall create cut / fill boundaries and, if so, to what layer the boundaries should be saved. If toggled off, the edit window is inactive. When toggled on, the user may accept the default boundary layer name, type a different boundary layer name into the edit box, or left-click on the Select button to choose from the list of layers.
Hatch Regions is a
toggle setting that allows the user to have the centroid regions
covered with hatching to make it easier to discriminate from other
parts of the drawing.
Hatch Scale: Allows the user to type a scale factor into an edit box to enlarge or reduce the size of hatching. If the user specifies a scaler that causes the hatch spacing to be too dense or the dash size too small, this error will be reported on the Command Line. [Tip: Before drawing a different scale, erase the previous iteration using Edit/Erase/Erase by layer.] This command is inactive when Hatch Regions is toggled off.
Layer: Allows the user to specify the layer on which the hatching will be drawn by either typing the layer name into an edit box or by left-clicking on the Select button which produces a dropdown list of existing layers from which to choose. The user can highlight a layer name on the list and click OK at the bottom of the dropdown menu to select a layer.
Hatch Styles: Allows the user to specify hatch styles to differentiate among Fill, Zero elevations between Fill and Cut, and Cut material by either typing them into an edit box or by left-clicking on the Select button which produces a dropdown list of existing layers from which to choose. The user can highlight a layer name on the list and click OK at the bottom of the dropdown menu to select a layer.
Report Optimized Earth Movement is a toggle setting that allows the user to specify if Natural Regrade shall not only calculate and identify the cut and fill centroids, but also determine the shortest straight-line haul distances to distribute the material from cut to fill regions.
When the user is satisfied with the
settings on the Cut & Fill Centroid Locator dialog box,
left-clicking on the OK button at the bottom will cause the
centroid command selections to be executed and the Cut & Fill
Centroid Report to appear on the screen. This report lists the
three-dimensional surfaces that were compared to make the
calculations, the material and void centroid regions that were
identified, the volume of material or void in each region, whether
the region identifies a cut or fill area, and the northing and
easting of each centroid.
If the user toggled on Report Optimized Earth Movement, the
report will be appended with the Earth Movement Report which lists
the volume in cubic yards of material that has to be removed from
region x to region y and the straight-line haul distance for the
material movement, when such a solution can be found.
Pulldown Menu Location: Natural Regrade
Keyboard Command: gfCentroids
Prerequisite: Design geofluv