Drainage & Utilities Workflow

Hi All, our utilities dept. are in a testing/discovery phase for utilities design using ORD (Drainage & Utilities Workflow). They come-up with below observation. I didn’t get the chance to explore non-roadway workflow in detail. What’s your opinion/suggestion on below observation.

  1. Design analysis in WaterGems are still not integrate with ORD.
    1. The hydraulic analysis will not be used in the ORD-Utilities, ended up with manual converting 2D DXF file to 3D model.
  2. Catalog creation for structure is not parametric.
    1. The structure need to be created for each type of the chamber/manhole. There is no table to create the parametric type of manhole.
    2. Structure in 3D model can be stretched below the pipe, however could not apply rules to shrink when the pipe IL changed shallower.
  3. Labels are not dynamic change and statically station in the drawing when there are design change to the model.
    1. All labels have to be removed for every design change of the model. Re-create and re-work the labels again.
  4. Alignment or path for utilities network is not dynamically changed.
    1. Rework the alignment/path for plan and profile whenever there is an update in the model.

ORD Version 10.10.01.03. Bentley Metric Workspace is used. Testing is done outside Projectwise.

 

Parents
  • Re. 1a - if you have WaterGEMS data then you can export that to Shapefiles, and import them into ORD using ModelBuilder. Once you've set up the ModelBuilder mappings, then it's straightforward to update the ORD model when the WaterGEMS Shapefiles are updated.

    Re. 2a - we don't support MicroStation parametric cells in Drainage and Utilities yet, but we are working on it

    Re 2b - the height of a chamber will shrink, but only down to the minimum height of the two 3D cells that the feature definition uses. Make sure your 3D cells are not any taller than they need to be - I have seen cells that are 5' / 1.5m or taller, when they could be less than that.

    Re 3a - this might depend on exactly how you are creating the labels, but they should update when the Drainage and Utilities data changes. If you haven't already tried this, then look at the Civil Labeler functionality. There was a Coffee Corner webinar on the Civil Labeler on the 12th of January, which you should be able to find if you open the CONNECTION Client, and click on Learning > On Demand Webinars for OpenRoads Designer.

    Re 4a - this depends on how you have set up the relationship between the Drainage and Utilities elements and the other design elements. For example, if you select an Elevation Reference when you place a node, and that linear / surface subsequently changes, then the ground elevation of the node will update. If you locate the plan position of a node using a snap, or Civil AccuDraw, to a linear, and the linear subsequently changes, then the position of the node will update. We don't automatically update invert elevations - that's accomplished for storm and sanitary elements by computing the system.

    there are a number of training classes available for Drainage and Utilities on the LEARN Server, for further information.

Reply
  • Re. 1a - if you have WaterGEMS data then you can export that to Shapefiles, and import them into ORD using ModelBuilder. Once you've set up the ModelBuilder mappings, then it's straightforward to update the ORD model when the WaterGEMS Shapefiles are updated.

    Re. 2a - we don't support MicroStation parametric cells in Drainage and Utilities yet, but we are working on it

    Re 2b - the height of a chamber will shrink, but only down to the minimum height of the two 3D cells that the feature definition uses. Make sure your 3D cells are not any taller than they need to be - I have seen cells that are 5' / 1.5m or taller, when they could be less than that.

    Re 3a - this might depend on exactly how you are creating the labels, but they should update when the Drainage and Utilities data changes. If you haven't already tried this, then look at the Civil Labeler functionality. There was a Coffee Corner webinar on the Civil Labeler on the 12th of January, which you should be able to find if you open the CONNECTION Client, and click on Learning > On Demand Webinars for OpenRoads Designer.

    Re 4a - this depends on how you have set up the relationship between the Drainage and Utilities elements and the other design elements. For example, if you select an Elevation Reference when you place a node, and that linear / surface subsequently changes, then the ground elevation of the node will update. If you locate the plan position of a node using a snap, or Civil AccuDraw, to a linear, and the linear subsequently changes, then the position of the node will update. We don't automatically update invert elevations - that's accomplished for storm and sanitary elements by computing the system.

    there are a number of training classes available for Drainage and Utilities on the LEARN Server, for further information.

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