Newsletter - 26 April 2006

Company News

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STELLENBOSCH FACULTY OF ENGINEERING OPEN DAY

Kobus du Plessis, lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering and organiser of the open day for the Civil department was extremely pleased with the success of the day: "The event was attended by more than 5000 students who came from all areas, some coming from as far as Springbok" he explained.

In the spectacular water laboratory of Civil Engineering actual water problems concerning rivers and dams were simulated by means of models, allowing students to gain practical knowledge on real problems. The event was also attended by industry speakers who shared information on current issues.

Reece Hanning with Kobus du Plessis
(Lecturer in the Faculty Civil Engineering)

Product News & Information

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Roads Design Made Easy

In the past it used to be a tedious task to translate a roads design to a DTM surface. You had to translate the cross sections and then fix up the DTM model to accurately define all the side drains and banks. In the latest version of Civil Designer, this task has been greatly simplified.

You can translate a roads model easily and accurately by selecting the 'Alignment / Horizontal / Cross Sections / Translate' option and then specifying the correct Layer and Surface. You then select the 'Roads Model' option and press OK. The program will allow you to switch on the newly created DTM surface to check the results.

Working with Cross Sections is just as easy. You can indicate features such as Fence Lines, Telephone Poles or Pipes on your Cross Section Drawings. You can also extract cross section points from a surveyed feature, plot cross sections with symbols and height the cross section points.

When extracting cross sections from a DTM feature, select the option 'Alignment / Horizontal / Cross Sections / Extract' and then choose the correct surface and layer.

CROSS SECTIONS Click to enlarge

Once you have checked the 'Apply DTM point filter' check box, the point filter dialog will appear. You can use the filter to specify what DTM data to use when extracting cross sections. Also specify a Section ID for the extracted cross section points. Press OK. The program will extract cross sections from break lines only in cases where the break lines are connecting to the points specified in the DTM point filter. To view the cross sections, select the option 'Section / Graphical Edit'.

Another useful function is the heighting of cross section points so that they are positioned exactly on the ground cross section. This step will however not be necessary if you want to indicate crossing pipes. To height points, select the option 'Section / Interpolate' and then specify the layer onto which the points should be raised as the Process Layer. Select the layer to be heighted as the 'Store to Layer' and press Next. Once you have checked the 'Height the entire Store to Layer' option, select Finish and check the results in the 'Section / Graphical Edit' option.

The improved functionality in Civil Designer's Roads module makes the generation of plans, long sections and cross sections easy and takes the hassle out of road design and route planning.

Civil Designer Support & Development

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ANNUAL UPGRADE AND SUPPORT AGREEMENTS

Support Contracts are charged at 13% of the product purchase price and guarantee cutting edge software functionality, the availability of our Support Centre and the provision of a free marketing and publicity service where your project success stories are showcased in top trade journals. Support agreements therefore give you more choice and best of all, you will have immediate access to our upcoming Civil Designer 6.4 version with the latest functionality.

Here are the latest downloads available on the updates page:

• Civil Designer v6.3 - Build 27
  Build 27 (05/04/2006)

• Civil Designer v6.3
  Help file Update (14/05/2004)

• Civil Designer v6.3
  Hasp Driver Update (18/08/2005)

  TECH TIP TUTORIAL

Chainage Equations
 

Chainage Equations allow you to add or subtract a constant from a certain chainage range to accommodate long and short chainages (chainage intervals longer and shorter than the actual interval used)..

View Tech Tip

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Training is often regarded as the cornerstone to achieving optimal results and enhanced productivity. The value of good quality training cannot be emphasized enough.

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

If you are interested in training, please contact your regional office to make your booking as the courses are extremely popular.

 

CURRENT VISITS & TRAINING ACTIVITIES

Our Customer Consultants will be involved in the following visits and training activities over the next couple of weeks. Please feel free to give us a call on (021) 701-1850. We would be happy to meet up with you to discuss your training or product needs.

Customer Quote

WATZE HEPKEMA AFRICON NAMIBIA

Robert Mugabe Road Extension

"We relied quite heavily on Civil Designer to help us with our designs. It is so much easier to improve the alignments of the road according to requirements when you are working with such a program. It calculates the desired quantities quickly and accurately and this has definitely increased our confidence." read more

Click here to view Detailed Customer Showcases from our clients.

Bureau Service

Bureau assists companies to complete specialised projects on time.

The Knowledge Base Bureau is fully operational with a dedicated team of professionals that clients can outsource at any time to complete specialised projects within clearly defined timelines. The division assists companies that have limited resources and who are in need of specific services.

Whatever the job spec, the Bureau team will take care of it. We are committed to helping you grow your business.

For more information contact Brett Pureveen on (021) 701 1850 or visit www.knowbase.co.za/bureau/.

Recruitment Service

Short and long term contract opportunities now available:

We are currently looking to place a selection of highly competent civil engineers in a limited number of top contractual positions.

These opportunities are available to those with extensive experience in the industry and with proven expertise in the use of Civil Designer and/or AllyCAD software.

If you are interested in this exciting challenge and look forward to a lucrative career move, then please e-mail yvonne@knowbase.co.za or call us on 021-701 1850 for further details.

This is a random selection of our candidates for permanent placement. Send us an email and include the Candidate Number for further information:

Buy your Plotter from the People who know how to use & Install them

Civil Designer Support     INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT CENTRE support@knowbase.co.za   086 0101 999 (South Africa only) +27 21 7011850 (International Clients)

CIVIL DESIGNER is the leading civil engineering infrastructure design package with nine integrated modules that operate seamlessly on a single design platform. This places unequalled design functionality at your disposal without the inconvenience of transferring data between different design programs.
 

DESIGN CENTRE

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Knowledge Base Software
Developers of Professional Civil Engineering and CAD Design Solutions

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