Takeoff/SiteNET CAD File From Start To Finish

This lesson takes a drawing file from drawing cleanup to volume calculations and surface viewing.

NOTE: This tutorial is written for the Construction module. However, many of these steps can be completed using the SiteNET pull-down menu in the Civil module.

1. Click the Windows desktop icon for Carlson to start the program.
   • If you get the Start Page, pick Open Files.
   • If you get the Startup Wizard dialog box, click the Browse button.
   • If you are taken directly into CAD, click File -- Open.
   Browse/navigate to the default folder location of C:\Carlson Projects and open the Takeoffdemo1.dwg file. Use the File -- Save As to save a copy named Takeoffdemo1-A.dwg. Completing this tutorial will alter the drawing file and by renaming the file from the start, you'll keep the original file intact (allowing you to run through the tutorial a second time if desired). This is also a good practice to keep when working on drawings from 3rd parties.
2. Activate the Construction menu via Settings -- Carlson Menus -- Construction Menu. Now we can begin to process this drawing. The main Takeoff commands are listed in processing sequence in the Takeoff (or SiteNET in the Civil module) pull-down menu:
   
   Many of these commands are also grouped as icons in the Takeoff General toolbar shown here:
   
3. As is often the case with construction-oriented projects, it is desirable to establish the drawing in its correct geo-location so the site can be constructed through the use of GPS-assisted machine control applications. Issue the Settings -- Drawing Setup command to set the values shown below and click OK when ready:
   
4. Typically, drawings have lots of drafting fixes that must be done before the surfaces can be modeled with any accuracy. Issue the Takeoff -- Drawing Cleanup to display the dialog box shown below:
   
   This command will apply the selected cleanup function(s) on the drawing to help automate the cleanup. Here's a brief description of the most important of these functions:
   • Remove Layers With No Entities: Drawings often have lots of layers. This routine removes layers that have no entities in the drawing so that we don't have to deal with them.
   • Join Linework With Same Endpoints: This routine will take linework that is broken into multiple segments and join them into a single linework entity. For example, it will join together broken segments of a contour polyline into a single polyline.
   • Reduce Polyline Vertices: This routine removes extra vertices from polylines as long as the removing does not shift the polyline more than the specified Offset Cutoff distance. This will reduce the size and complexity of the drawing.
   • Set Elevation Outside Range To Zero: In case the drawing contains entities that are outside the range of valid elevations for the site, this routine will set them to zero elevation. The program treats zero elevations as "no elevation" and modeling will filter out these zero elevation entities.
   For this site, the elevations are around 800. So let's set the Min Elevation and Max Elevation fields to the values shown above. The cleanup will set any entities outside this elevation range to 0 (zero). With other Takeoff functions, we can later assign proper elevations to any of these zero elevation entities that need to be used in modeling. Set the remaining values as shown above and click OK when ready. When the cleanup is done, the program will show a report of the cleanup results. Click the Exit (doorway) button to exit the Standard Report Viewer:
   
5. Our next task will be to specify the layer(s) in the drawing which contain existing site conditions. Takeoff uses the layer name(s) to categorize data into one of three general categories for the purpose of building surface models:
   • Existing - Used to model initial/pre-construction site conditions.
   • Design - Used to model proposed/post-construction site conditions.
   • Other - Used as a collection of unknown/irrelevant site conditions (text notes, hatches, etc).
   These surfaces are referred to as the "Target" surfaces. By default, everything starts in the Other classification. Use the Takeoff -- Define Layer Surface/Material/Subgrade command to display a dialog box similar to that shown below:
   
   To switch between lists, pick the tabs at the top of the dialog. In this drawing, all the contours are for the existing ground surface. In the layer list, all the layers that start with INDEX and INTER are for these existing ground contours. Select/highlight these layers and then click the Move To button with the Existing target as shown above (to highlight multiple layers at a time use standard Windows Ctrl+click and/or Shift+click functionality.
   
   Next move the layer names that start with PR (for proposed) to the Design target by highlighting these layers and clicking Move To with the Design target selected. Also move the layer PAD to Design. Finish by clicking the Save button to save the changes and then pick Exit.
6. In the Display menu, you can turn on/off whether to display layer targets by using the Existing Drawing, Design Drawing and Other Drawing commands:
   
   Practice turning on/off the Existing Drawing, Design Drawing and Other Drawing. When only Existing Drawing is on, you should see just the contours. When only Design Drawing is on, you should see just the design polylines and leader labels. When only Other Drawing is on, you should see the entities that are assigned to neither Existing nor Design. Set this condition as active:
   • Existing is Off
   • Design is Off
   • Other is On
   to resemble the drawing as shown below:
   
   Some of these layers we do want to assign to the Existing and Design targets. To better see the entities, use the View -- Window command and pick two points that make a window around the entities as shown above. Once zoomed in, you can see a text label of 818.70 PAD which is for the Design target. Other labels 817.00, 818.00, etc, are contour labels for the Existing contours. There are a few commands in the Inquiry menu to find out the layer names for these entities and two quick ones are:
   • List
   • Layer ID
   Let's run the Inquiry -- Layer ID command and when prompted:
   
   Pick entity to read layer: pick the 818.70 PAD label (the entity is reported as being on the ----TX07 layer)
   Pick entity to read layer: pick the 818.00 label (the entity is reported as being on the TEXTS layer)
   Pick entity to read layer: press Enter
   
   With this information known, we could return to the Define Layer Surface/Material/Subgrade but let's explore the use of organizing the data through a visual screen-pick. Issue the Takeoff -- Set Layer for Design command and when prompted:
   
   Select entities for design surface.
   [FILter]/<Select entities>: pick the 818.70 PAD label
   [FILter]/<Select entities>: press Enter
   
   The layer of the selected entity is migrated to the Design classification and its visibility set consistent with that target. Issue the Takeoff -- Set Layer for Existing command and when prompted:
   
   Select entities for existing surface.
   [FILter]/<Select entities>: pick the 818.00 label
   [FILter]/<Select entities>: press Enter
   
   The layer of the selected entity is migrated to the Existing classification and its visibility set consistent with that target.
   
   NOTE: To short-cut these commands, explore the use of the Takeoff/SiteNET Display toolbar as shown below:
   
   With this work complete, we can return the drawing view back by running View -- Extents command. Let's validate our layer classifications. Re-issue the Takeoff -- Define Layer Surface/Material/Subgrade command and visit each tab to the values suggested below:

   Takeoff1 Layer Targets

   Existing Layer Targets	Design Layer Targets	Other Layer Targets

   Check that your Layer Surfaces match the three lists shown above and then click Save and Exit.
7. Besides assigning target surfaces by layer, layers are also used to define material names and/or subgrades depths. By assigning material names and depths to layers, the volume, area, length and count for entities on these layers can be reported. Also the depth is used to vertically adjust the designated surface (subgrade depths in the Existing target would represent potential material to be demolished). The polylines used for subgrade depths must be closed polylines. Takeoff supports nested subgrade polylines for exclusion areas such as parking lot islands by counting how many subgrade polylines surround an area. If the number is odd, then the area is inside the subgrade. Otherwise the area is not part of the subgrade. Use the Takeoff -- Display menu commands to set this condition as active:
   • Existing is Off
   • Design is On
   • Other is Off
   First, we need to know the layer names for our subgrades. Re-run Inquiry -- Layer ID command and when prompted:
   
   Pick entity to read layer: pick the large pad polyline (it reports the PAD layer)
   Pick entity to read layer: pick the curb polyline (it reports the PR-FC-CURB layer)
   Pick entity to read layer: press Enter
   
   Next we need to make sure that these polylines are closed. In this example, the outside curb polyline is open at the top. To close the polylines, run Edit -- Polyline Utilities -- Edit Polyline -- Close Polylines and when prompted:
   
   Select Polylines to set closed.
   [FILter]/<Select entities>: pick each of the pad and curb polylines (six in all) and press Enter when done selecting
   
   Re-issue the Takeoff -- Define Layer Target/Material/Subgrade command and activate the Design tab. Select/activate the PAD layer and click the Edit Layer button. A dialog appears for defining the Pad material properties. Set the values as shown below and click OK when ready:
   
   NOTE: Calculating cost is an optional feature. For this example, we cited a Cost of "$15" per "Ton" with a density of "110."
   
   Next pick layer PR-FC-CURB and choose Edit Layer. Set the values as shown below and click OK when ready:
   
   Review the summary depths of the pay materials we just modified. Click the Exit button and indicate Yes to save changes.
8. Now let's visually verify the subgrade areas. Issue the Takeoff -- Subgrade Areas -- Hatch Subgrade Areas to display the dialog box below:
   
   Click the Draw All button. The resulting hatch areas show where the subgrade is applied. Notice how the islands are not hatched because they are curb polylines that are already inside another curb polyline. Also note that the smaller pad area is not hatched because this polyline layer is different from the bigger pad polyline.
   
   Optional: Re-run the Hatch Subgrade Areas command, select a desired subgrade layer and click the Edit and attempt to match the look of the image below through the following settings:

   Subgrade Hatch Settings

   Subgrade	Hatch Pattern	Color
   PAD	Conc	Green
   Pavement	Asphalt	Red

   When finished viewing the subgrade areas, issue the Takeoff -- Subgrade Areas -- Erase Subgrade Hatches command.
9. Takeoff will model the existing ground and design surfaces based on points, lines and polylines with elevation. It is essential for these drawing entities to have correct elevations in order to get correct surface models. Often the provided drawings will have the drawing entities at elevation of zero with text labels indicating the true elevation. Takeoff has many tools for assigning elevations to these entities. To help visualize which entities need to be assigned elevation, Takeoff will color entities at zero elevation in grey (as established under Settings -- Carlson Configure -- Takeoff/SiteNET Settings). As entities get assigned elevation, they return to their original color. This elevation coloring is applied to layers that have been assigned to the Existing or Design surfaces.
   
   Let's start by working on the Existing surface. To isolate the existing entities, use the Takeoff -- Display menu commands to set this condition as active:
   • Existing is On
   • Design is Off
   • Other is Off
   Let's explore real-time elevations through the use of the Inquiry -- Drawing Inspector command. Once activated, right+click and make sure Display Elevation is checked (you might also find it valuable to have the Display Layer and Display Entity options checked). Next, hover over a contour polyline and Drawing Inspector will report the elevation. Other info may be displayed as well depending on what is selected from the right+click options:
   
   In this example, the existing ground surface is defined by just contour polylines and these polylines already have elevation. So there are no changes needed for preparing the existing surface entities. If the contour polylines were at zero elevation, then you could use the Elevate -- Assign Contour Elevation menu commands (such as Multiple in Series).
10. Next let's prepare the design surface. To isolate the existing entities, use the Takeoff -- Display menu commands to set this condition as active:
    • Existing is Off
    • Design is On
    • Other is Off
    Notice that all the design linework has a grey color because it is at zero elevation. Run the Inquiry -- List Elevation command and when prompted:
    
    List Elevation [Options/<Select Entity>]: pick the main pad polyline (its elevation of 0 is confirmed)
    Select Entity (Enter to end): press Enter
    
    To set the pad polyline elevation, run the Elevate -- Set Polyline To Elevation command and when prompted:
    
    Enter/<Select text or linework of elevation>: pick the 818.70 PAD text (the non-numerical information is stripped and the numeric value is reported)
    Enter elevation to add to text values <0.0>: press Enter
    Select entities for elevation change.
    [FILter]/<Select entities>: pick the larger pad polyline
    [FILter]/<Select entities>: press Enter
    
    Next, let's set the elevation of the smaller pad under the main pad. Use the View -- Window command to zoom in around the smaller pad so that we can read the text label. The label of 17.56 is short for 817.56. In this example, the 800 was dropped from many of the elevation labels to save on label clutter. Run the Set Polyline To Elevation again. This time when prompted:
    
    Enter/<Select text or linework of elevation>: pick the 17.56 text (any non-numerical information is stripped and the numeric value is reported)
    Enter elevation to add to text values <0.0>: type 800 and press Enter
    Select entities for elevation change.
    [FILter]/<Select entities>: pick the smaller pad polyline
    [FILter]/<Select entities>: press Enter
    
    Then run View -- Zoom -- Previous (keyin short-cut ZP to get back to the full view of the site (color changed for clarity):
    
    Finally, we need to set the elevations for the curb polylines. First, use the View -- Window to zoom in around some of the curb labels below the smaller pad as illustrated below:
    
    Next, issue the Elevate -- 2D to 3D Polyline -- Text With Leader command. This command will assign the elevations from the labels to the polylines by following the label leader to find the position on the polyline. For polyline vertices without elevation labels, the elevations will be interpolated from the other labels. When prompted:
    
    Options/Select sample of elevation text: pick one of the labels with a "TC" suffix as cited in item 1 above and press Enter
    Select sample of an annotation leader: pick the associated leader line as cited in item 2 above and press Enter
    Select sample of a polyline to convert: select a sample of a polyline for conversion as cited in item 3 above and press Enter
    Select polylines to convert, leaders and elevation labels to process.
    [FILter]/<Select entities>: type all and press Enter twice
    Enter elevation to add to label values <0.00>: type 800 above and press Enter
    
    Next, a dialog appears for selecting which label names to use:
    When Takeoff detects different text labels within the elevation labels, you need to choose which ones to process. In this case, we only want the labels with TC (Top of Curb), so highlight TC and click the ---> (Add) button and then click OK when ready. All the curb polylines now have elevations and should also have colors because the elevations are assigned. Finally, issue the View -- Extents to return to the full site view.
11. The limits of the site are defined by a closed polyline. This polyline is used as the boundary for the models and the volumes. In this example, there is a closed polyline on the PERIMETER which is currently part of the Other target. Use the Takeoff -- Display menu commands to set this condition as active:
    • Existing is Off
    • Design is On
    • Other is On
    Issue the run Takeoff -- Boundary Polyline -- Set Boundary Polyline command and when prompted:
    
    Select boundary polylines.
    [FILter]/<Select entities>: pick the perimeter polyline as shown below:
    
    
    This selected polyline is now set as the boundary polyline for the rest of the Takeoff routines.
12. To calculate volumes, the program needs two surfaces:
    • existing ground, and,
    • design considerations
    These surfaces are modeled by triangulation. With the preparation of the previous steps, we're now ready to make the models. The drawing entities have been cleaned up, assigned elevations and assigned target surfaces by layer. Making each model is now a one step process:
    • To make the Existing Ground surface, issue the Takeoff -- Make Existing Ground Surface. The program will process the entities (regardless of their screen visibility) and make the triangulation surface.
    • To make the Design Ground surface, issue the Takeoff -- Make Design Surface.
13. As a visual check that the Design Surface was formed correctly, let's explore the site in a 3D isometric view. Run the Takeoff -- 3D Drive Simulation command to display a dialog box similar to that below:
    
    This routine shows a 3D view of the site and allows you to "drive" around through the use of the arrow keys on most standard keyboards. This is a good way to check that the surface triangulated correctly. We want to make sure that there are no elevation spikes and that the subgrade depths are modeled. To drive the site:
    • choose a View Direction, and,
    • choose a View Position, and,
    • choose a Vehicle, and,
    • choose a Speed
    Then click the Run button and use the arrow keys to turn. Click the Stop button to pause the moving. Experiment with the various Shading options and "tabs" of other settings to achieve an appealing visualization style. Click the Exit (doorway) button when complete.
14. Cut/Fill color maps can be used for a visual output of the site cut/fill areas and also serves as another check that the models are correct. Issue the Display -- Cut/Fill Color Map command to display an image similar to that shown below (also shown with Cut/Fill Labels):
    
    Under default conditions:
    • Cut areas are drawn in different shades of red (deeper colors represent deeper cut), and,
    • Fill areas are drawn in blue, and,
    • regions in Cut/Fill neutral areas tend to shade white
    Continuing, issue the Display -- Cut/Fill Labels to more closely resemble the image above. To change the size, color, spacing and other label options, run the Display -- Display Options and go to Cut/Fill Labels tab shown below:
    
    The resolution of the color blocks in the map can be changed through the Spacing group of controls. Turn off the Cut/Fill Labels by re-issuing the Display -- Cut/Fill Labels command to uncheck it.
15. To calculate volumes, run the Takeoff -- Calculate Total Volumes command to display a dialog box similar to that below:
    
    The settings the Cut Swell and Fill Shrink factors get multiplied into the cut/fill volumes. Set these factors as desired and click OK when ready. The results are displayed similar to that shown below:
    
    Click the Exit (doorway) icon when ready. Run the command again and change the Report Output mode to see the volumes in different formats like PDF or Excel.
16. To report the material (paving) quantities, issue the Takeoff -- Material Quantities -- Standard Report routine to display the dialog box below:
    
    Specify the options as shown above (feel free to explore the options in the Report tab) and click OK when ready. The report includes (among other this) the:
    • Count, and,
    • Length, and,
    • Area, and,
    • Volume
    for each type of material that was assigned for reporting in the previously discussed Takeoff -- Define Layer Target/Material/Subgrade command and generates a report similar to that below:
    
    Click the Exit (doorway) icon when ready. The Takeoff -- Material Quantities -- Custom Report command can be used to report these values with control of the report format and the option to export to Excel.
17. Optional: For computers that have Google Earth™ Pro on desktop installed, let's see how the site looks when overlaid on this application (or any other application which can display Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files). Issue the File -- Export -- Google Earth File command to display the dialog box below:
    
    Review and set the values as suggested above and click OK when ready to display a dialog box similar to that shown below:
    
    Provide the file name specified above and click the Save button when ready. When prompted:
    
    Select points, polylines, text, solids, images, lines and arcs to write.
    [FILter]/<Select entities>: type all and press Enter twice
    
    The results are overlaid on Google Earth as illustrated below:
    
18. Lastly, let's remove the shaded hatch of the Cut/Fill color map through the use of the Display -- Cut/Fill Color Map command.

This completes the tutorial: Takeoff/SiteNET CAD File From Start To Finish.