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SPECIALISED DESIGN SOFTWARE
Although most specialised design packages have
excellent design capabilities, they have different
interfaces and methodologies, resulting in a long and
difficult learning curve for the designer.
Civil Engineers often find themselves under extreme
pressure to complete projects in the shortest possible
time, resulting in the need for a program with a short
learning curve. In addition to this, data must be
transferred between standalone programs as the
designer works on various design platforms. This is a
cumbersome process that is often not even possible.
The result is the loss of valuable time and a dramatic
reduction in productivity,' explains Bester.
A great limitation of specialised design programs
however, is the lack of interaction between the
various design elements. This forces the designer to
spend hours checking for clashes between services time
that could best be spent optimising the design.
Site layout with aerial photograph
and cadastral data
CAD BASED DESIGN AND DRAUGHTING
CAD based design and draughting systems are linked to
a specific CAD platform and often have seamless
graphical capabilities. ‘The shortcomings attached to
this approach include a design platform that ties up
an expensive CAD workstation and more importantly, a
design that is frequently not as in-depth or as robust
as it should be. The design program operates more like
a specialised draughting tool and there is very
limited or no interaction between the various design
elements,' says Vincent.
INTEGRATED INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN
Bester believes that with an integrated infrastructure
design approach, the user receives the best of both
design worlds. Individuals receive a heavyweight
infrastructure design program that offers a complete
integration of both specialised design software and
CAD based draughting. It also offers seamless
interaction between the various design modules.
Integrated design software operates on a common user
interface, thereby leading to a shorter learning curve
for the designer. The designer may switch between
different elements of the design within a common
framework and user interface. The integrated program
also shares data between the different design modules.
A robust integrated infrastructure design system has
comprehensive design capabilities for every aspect of
infrastructure design. Users are able to interact with
the program and may configure the design standard to
suit their individual needs. The design is therefore
under the full control of the engineer.
The graphics of the program are compatible with
industry standards and embrace the principle of
WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get).
Users may view the dynamic spatial relationship
between the various design elements and may
incorporate bitmap images and aerial photographs as a
backdrop to the design. With an integrated approach
designers are able to create construction drawings
quickly, easily and with minimum effort.
In addition to this, users have the convenience of one
support centre that addresses all their product
enquiries and there is only one upgrade schedule that
result in the various program modules never being out
of sink with each other.
Services with contours and height
shading
INTEGRATED INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN IN PRACTICE
'Civil Designer encompasses the concept of fully
integrated infrastructure design in its entirety. The
software consists of a suite of nine modules that
interact seamlessly to operate on a single world-class
design platform,' says Vincent.
DESIGN CENTRE is the heart of the system and includes
the graphical & topographical engines. It allows you
to create new drawings with supporting digital terrain
modelling data. This module is a prerequisite in order
to run one of the other design modules. With Design
Centre you can generate contours with user-defined
intervals, highlighting and labels. Other functions
include shading the model by slope or height range and
then getting a breakdown of the percentage of the
model in each band.
The SURVEY & TERRAIN module is a Digital Terrain
Modelling system that provides interactive earthworks
design and calculations. It includes cut and fill
optimisation as well as The SURVEY & TERRAIN module is
a Digital Terrain Modelling system that provides
interactive earthworks design and calculations.
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It includes cut and fill optimisation as well as
rendered three-dimensional views with light source,
material colours and textures. It incorporates more
intricate survey calculations, error figures and
control surveys. In addition to this, it allows you to
model complex bulk earthworks projects in any one of
the 128 surfaces. Users may switch between different
“what if” scenarios and calculate the difference in
volume in each case. You may even ”fly” through a site
and save the images in .AVI format for presentation purposes.
WYSIWYG line styles and annotations
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ROADS is a comprehensive interactive embankment design
module that is suitable for urban and rural roads,
dams, freeways, airports and railways. This module
enables users to take a “drive” down the completed
road in a rendered 3D view to check for blind rises
and other anomalies. It handles any roundabout, clover
leaf interchange and dual carriageway with ease.
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SEWER is a foul-water network analysis and design
module that combines interactive drawing functions
with powerful design functions. It supports a complex
system of inflows and overflows. The graphical
functions allow users to insert nodes, links or pump
stations, change the flow direction or query a node or
link with a click of the mouse. The design takes into
account the hydraulic and geometric relationship
between the different branches in the network.
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STORM is a runoff event network analysis and design
module that models complex overflows including the
dual drainage model. Runoffs may be attenuated by
means of reservoir routing with full reporting of
reservoir depth, storage and outflows. Flows are
routed using the continuity equation or the time shift
method. This is 30% to 100% more cost-effective than
simply adding the runoff peaks together. The program
allows you to view the flow hydrographs of single or
multiple culverts in order to accumulate further
information.
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WATER is a powerful module for the analysis & extended
time simulation of fluid handling networks with pipes,
valves, reservoirs and pump stations. This module
allows you to determine the impact of extensions to
the network, increased demand, imposition of water
restrictions, power failures, major pipe breaks and
empty reservoir conditions.
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MAP is a fast and easy to use Geographic Information
System. By exchanging data between MAP and our CAD and
design modules, it allows you to use MAP as an editor
for ArcInfo and MapInfo data. It is designed for use
by local authorities, government and non-government
bodies, and all others who need to represent physical
entities with an associated database of information.
MAP is a cost-effective data capture and editing tool.
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TURN simulates the low speed turning manoeuvres of a
range of vehicles from cars through to aircrafts, as
well as user-defined vehicles along a specified
tracking path. Various paths may be tracked, including
centre line track path and swept paths in forward and
reverse simulation. Users may also create new
libraries and add your own vehicles to the library by
simply entering the dimensions for the new vehicle
into a graphical vehicle dimension dialog.
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The CAD module is an add-on module to Design Centre
and gives you the full functionality of AllyCAD, an
industrial strength 2-D CAD developed by Knowledge
Base.
Drawing generated from database of
all services
BENEFITS OF USING CIVIL DESIGNER
'The benefits of using integrated infrastructure
design such as Civil Designer are numerous. The
program is the largest selling civil engineering
software package in Africa. It is sold to more than 15
countries throughout the world with thousands of
satisfied users around the globe,' concludes Bester.
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