Avoiding Overlap when Extracting Volumes from Civil 3D Corridors

When placed along an alignment, Civil 3D sample lines slice through corridor models and identify the end areas used to calculate earthwork and structural material volumes.  In places where alignments intersect, their respective sample lines may also intersect resulting in duplicate volume calculations.  Fortunately, Civil 3D makes it easy to calculate average end area volumes at intersections using “match line” alignments. 

In today’s installment we’ll explore a way to build custom alignments that serve as match lines for the sample lines used in volume calculation.  Ensuring sample lines terminate along common linear segments eliminates the possibility of crossings and avoids overlap in volume calculations.

If you’re interested, I’ve created a video below that walks through everything…

-Jeff