Menu: Survey / Alignment
The alignment manager can create, modify, delete and interrogate different alignments in the same Vision database. Alignments created are used in many functions of the software: sections and profiles, camera path, road by sections, etc.
An alignment manager is also available in the Civil module, where more options may be used; including vertical alignment management.
The left column shows the various alignments created, the central part (optional via “Calculation on alignment”) is used to calculate offsets and rights-of-way over the alignments and finally the right side is used to define and manage the selected alignment. The “Raw align.” tab is used to view each of the points of intersections that make up the alignment, while the second allows you to view each segment.
Here is the list of the different options available within the alignment manager
Compute dist./offset: Computes the distance of a point along an alignment and its offset from that alignment. Results are shown below the button.
Compute point(s): Create a point at the specified distance and offset. If the “By interval” option is checked, it will generate points after the first along the alignment at each interval with the same offset. The until is the station value to stop creating points.
Compute offset: Calculate and draw the right and left offset alignment. The name and offset value of each side must be specified.
Save: Save the changes on the alignment.
Validate points: Used to determine whether there are already points at the vertices entered.
Create points: Creates points at the coordinates of the alignment vertices that do not already have them.
Report: Produce a text report of the alignment definition. It can be saved as a text file.
Invert: Used to invert the order of the alignment points.
Reinitialize: Delete the alignment definition.
Import/Export LandXML: Allows you to import and export alignments in XML format.
Pick Points: Adds points to the alignment by picking them on the drawing.
Pick Polyline: Adds points to the alignment by selecting a polyline; the function will create temporary points at each vertex. If the “Validate Points” function is used later on, it will check for matches between existing points on the vertices of the polyline and the temporary points. If the “Create Points” function is used, new points will be created at each temporary vertex in the alignment.
Draw/Erase: Allows you to draw or erase the alignment in the drawing.
This alignment manager will only create horizontal alignment, which means that only the raw alignment and the horizontal alignment tab are available. The raw alignment contains the intersection of the different tangents during construction. The PI can be specified as the intersection of two lines or the PI of a curve, a spiral or a spiral-curve-spiral. The horizontal alignment will adapt accordingly. As for the horizontal alignment, each segment as its parameters, a segment can be a line, a curve, a spiral, a symmetrical spiral or the end. For more information about the alignment structure management, consult the Civil – Alignment section.