Road Radii

[nca777]

Struggling here with creation of a basic driveway and autocourt. How do you add radii to hardscape objects like a road while maintaining constant width, as in a road or driveway? 

[nca777]

how do I draw an "arc-tangent' radius to edit a site object (hardscape in this case)??

[rowbear97]

Not sure what it is you are looking for. You can draft a polyline and change your mode from lines to 'tangent arc mode' and type in an exact radius by hitting the tab button while drafting in that mode. Once you have created the desired centerline off-set those polylines and close you shape then use the Landmark>Create Objects from Shapes to produce a road, site element, hardscape, etc. If you have an image or a file you want to share I can help more. 

[Jonathan Pickup]

An easier way might to start with basic objects ( rectangles, rotated rectangles) and add them together using Add Surface. Then edit the vertices to create the radi you need. Then create your object from the shape. If the object is already created, use the reshape to to edit the vertices. 

[nca777]

On 4/4/2017 at 2:55 PM, Jonathan Pickup said:

An easier way might to start with basic objects ( rectangles, rotated rectangles) and add them together using Add Surface. Then edit the vertices to create the radi you need. Then create your object from the shape. If the object is already created, use the reshape to to edit the vertices. 

 

Seems the most logical means is drafting as if in CAD, ie 2d geometry,--centerline, offset, radius/fillet, etc then creating objects. In doing so, I'm just finding the draft a little flukey, maybe Im just too accustomed to autocad. It would AWESOME to have a detailed workflow tutorial specific to roads and parking. Current tutorials Ive found across the web are woefully insufficient for real world projects.

 

Jonathan, the problem in as far as I can tell with the workflow you suggest is getting proper inside and outside turning radii while keeping consistent lane widths. Maybe I need more practice..

[rowbear97]

On 4/4/2017 at 2:55 PM, Jonathan Pickup said:

An easier way might to start with basic objects ( rectangles, rotated rectangles) and add them together using Add Surface. Then edit the vertices to create the radi you need. Then create your object from the shape. If the object is already created, use the reshape to to edit the vertices. 

I have often tried this method but find that, as the gentlemen point out, drafting the centerline ensures that you get consist radii tangent alignment.