I have roughly 800 points with northing, easting, elevation, depth below grade, stationing, and offset from my alignment information. The depth below grade varies from point to point otherwise the solution would be quite simple. There are roughly 8-10 different depths below grade for all of the points and it's rare that two in a row have the same depth. Eventually, I'm trying to put in conduit that is that depth below at those points. I've been searching all sorts of different questions to try to find a simple solution for this task. Currently, I am manually putting in nodes at each point for the set elevation. I've attempted to have OpenRoads automatically do this with "Extract from graphic" but it won't allow me to select my points.
Is there a better way to create a conduit run with this many points than just manually putting in a node at each point and eventually connecting the nodes? Is there a way to import my data so it creates nodes or better yet, conduit at the appropriate depths? In my searching on importing the data, I've seen a lot regarding COGO points but quite frankly, have not been able to figure out what exactly they do to know if they'd be useful.
I do not think you need to create nodes for your points. The main challenge is connecting the dots. You are already in a 3D file, so is there an efficient way to connect the dots? You only need Microstation lines at this point. Once that is done, you can then use Extract From Graphic to create a 3D model of your utilities. You have the option when doing this to use the elevations from your 3D lines. How efficient that process goes depends on how well you segregate your data. If you use level, line color, line weight, and linestyle to organize your utilities by utility type, shape, material, and size you can then use filters to make the process of using Extract From Graphic much faster. Also, consider whether or not you want each line to be a separate utility conduit, or the entire linestring. How it imports will depend on how you created the 3D lines - as separate lines or chained linestrings.
Karl Dauber, PEAdvance ConsultingLaurens County, SCkarldauber@advconsult.netwww.advconsult.netwww.linkedin.com/in/karldauber