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Power Inroads cross sections

1974pantera
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I am a long time InRoads user and am not real happy with Power InRoads at the moment. I have to get out some cross sections in a hurry but it appears taht I have to have a corridor first. I have a typical alignment via PI's and have created profiles. The help basically is useless for any direction to create multiple cross sections as in the past. I need the simple cross sections with crossing features annotated. This works perfectly the OLD want with a profile but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get some simple cross sections along my alignment. HELP Please the clock is ticking....I really don't want to use the profile command to create many cross sections.

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    I don't know why Bentley does not put the old cross section app as an add-on.  It is a real pain since most of my DTMs are created from site tools, not the modeler, or even and alignment.  If I need to create sections quickly on an online call, I cannot do 2-point sections.  Bentley, Do yourself a favor and make the old users happy, who are also the mentors of younger users. 

  • 0 Offline in reply to 1974pantera
    If you would like a simple surface displayed in cross sections all you need is an alignment and a DTM. The following can all be done in one file or multiple files and then connected via referencing

    Step 1: Import the alignment from ALG. Sounds like you were already able to do this. If not the command in under the General Geometry task menu

    Step 2: Import the DTM as a terrain model.

    Step 3: Using the Inroads Explorer dialogue load your preference file (XIN) and then under the corridor modeling task select create cross sections. Then just follow the onscreen prompts.

    If you need to display crossing features the workflow gets a bit more complicated.

    Marc
  • 0 Offline in reply to 1974pantera
    This all helped me but I still contacted Bentley and they tried to walk me through the section command and it did not work. I had to move on to something else so I'll revisit this later.
  • 0 Offline in reply to caddcop
    Thanks Chuck for your response. Bentley should have just left the cross section command in the pull down like the create profile command. I am using ss3 at the moment of course within v8i. I would like to use the older version (ss2 I guess) on v8i but we do not have v8i on the basline software for this project so I'm stuck with ss3 or I use ss2 with Microstation XM and I'm not real fond of XM after using v8i for the last 3 years on other projects. I was able to at least get the cross section command to work after I imported the alignment but no surfaces appeared in the dialog box. I then assumed I had to import a "mesh" surface. I imported one of my dtm's that has an exterior boundry but when it displayed the triangles when loaded (very anoying, i want to display them when I need to, not all the time) they shot accross abviously ignoring the exterior boundary. Why would it do that, if the dtm was created using PowerInroads. Don't tell me it can't even read it's own dtm file. Anyway thanks again for the help, I'll keep plugging along.
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    If you are using the Ss3 or Ss4 version, what you are seeing is that the cross sections tools have taken a step backwards, as the capabilities of Open Roads are ramped up. There are a number of posts on this forum where users have expressed similar "complaints" and the solution, good or bad, follows:

    • You can run both Ss2 and either Ss3 or Ss4 on the same PC. I'd recommend you get Ss2 installed so that you have access to the Cross Section tools you are used to.
    • Corridor models are not backwards compatible, but ALG and DTM files are.
    • There may be other incompatibilities - I have to leave that to others to address however.

    BTW, I have been using Power InRoads Ss2 for a number of months now having come from the MicroStation with InRoads world and when using the same version (Ss2, Ss3, Ss4 or even XM) the capabilities are identical while some of the interface is not. I actually prefer the InRoads command fully integrated into the MicroStation menu vs having a separate, full InRoads menu in its own area under one top InRoads menu item. 

    Charles (Chuck) Rheault
    CADD Manager

    MDOT State Highway Administration

    • MicroStation user since IGDS, InRoads user since TDP.
    • AutoCAD, Land Desktop and Civil 3D, off and on since 1996
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