Trimble® Business Center

Working with Point, Line, and Surface Data

Adding Points and Coordinates If you need to include a point for control or stakeout that was not observed in the field and imported in a points file, you can add one to your project manually. You can also add additional coordinates to existing points when you want the project to be computed based on designed coordinates rather than observed coordinates.

Editing Points As well as being able to edit a coordinate's latitude, longitude, and elevation, you can rename points to ensure all the points in your project have unique IDs. If you have multiple points with the same point ID, you can also merge them into a single point or create a single point from two or more points that share identical coordinates.

Measuring and Calculating the Inverse Between Points To check your point data, you can measure between points to determine the bearing, distance, slope distance, as well as changes in offset and station. You can also calculate inverse values, such as the grid distance, azimuth, and change in elevation between points.

Creating Lines The software lets you create highly-versatile linear objects (linestrings) composed of one or more segments by defining points and the connections between the points. You can also specify vertical values/elevations at locations along the linestrings to make them 3D.

Editing Lines You can modify imported lines and linestrings that you create by redefining their points and the connections between the points, changing vertical values/elevations along the linestrings, and by adding, inserting, and deleting segments. Other editing commands help you join, break, set elevations, and delete segments in linestrings.

Entering Values Using Snap and COGO Commands Snap and COGO commands use geometric calculations to help you specify and select coordinates and points more easily and accurately. Snaps can either use existing geometry or values that you enter during the command.

Creating Alignments To represent roadways, build alignments by defining horizontal segments or inscribed curves at PIs. Then, add vertical segments and station equations if needed.

Editing Alignments The Alignment Editor enables you to edit an alignment's segment types and values, and insert new segments into an alignment. You can also change the alignment's vertical geometry and station equations.

Viewing Data in the Cross-Section View Use the cross-section view to check surface cross-section geometry along a single, specific alignment anywhere it coincides with a specified surface.

Viewing Data in the Surface Profile View Use the profile view to check the geometry of a vertical alignment. The profile view displays a vertical, graphic view of a single, specific alignment.

Creating Surfaces When you create a surface, you select a set of objects to use. These selected objects are called "members" of the surface. Members do not become part of the surface, they simply define it. You can create a surface from many types of data in your project, including points, lines, alignments, and GNSS sessions and vectors.

Editing Surfaces Edit a surface by adding to, and removing from, the set of members. As a result, the surface updates to reflect the changes. Change any of the members. Breaklines are lines that help to define the shape of surfaces by controlling how triangles in the surface mesh are formed; triangles forming a surface never cross a breakline. Clean-up the edges of surfaces in your project so that you can accurately calculate volumes when comparing surfaces.

Creating a Corridor Template After you have created a corridor, you can create and insert one or more cross-section templates into it. Templates include instructions that define the cross-sections required to build the corridor (for example, the various offsets and slopes for a road). Each cross-section template you insert defines the corridor from the station where it is inserted until the station where the next template is inserted, or the end of the corridor.

Creating a Corridor You can create, edit, import, and export corridors, which are 3D models of linear structures, such as roads, pipelines, trenches, and waterways. A corridor is based on a horizontal and (optional) vertical alignment and templates that define cross-sections and transitions throughout the length of the corridor.

Creating an Uncompacted Surface for PCS400 Using an existing ground and design surfaces, you can create a surface that represents the ideal surface shape to be formed by a paver screed in placing asphaltic concrete by accounting for the compaction that occurs as the asphalt is rolled.

Adding and Removing Surface Boundaries You can also define the extents of a surface by adding or removing one or more boundaries or closed lines as the limits of the surface. You can create holes and islands within or outside of a surface by selecting additional boundaries.

Creating a Surface Edge Breakline When you want to prevent trimming or recalculated triangles at the current edge of a surface, you can create a breakline along the outer edge of the surface.

Densifying a Surface for Field Data When you prepare data to export to the field, you can densify the surfaces and road surfaces to create a finer mesh of triangles in the surface. This helps assure that the surfaces achieve suitable and similar accuracy and precision in both SCS900 and GCS900.

Viewing Data in the 3D View The 3D View helps you visualize three-dimensional data, such as surfaces, from pre-defined orthographic and isometric viewpoints, and by dynamically orbiting around the data.

Viewing Data in the Surface Slicer View Use the surface slicer view to check any surface cross-section by slicing vertically through the surface.

Creating Contours, Boundaries, and Cut/Fill Grids Add contour lines to a surface at regular elevation intervals to help visualize the topography. Add a single contour to mark a specific elevation and help visualize its topography. For example, you might want to create a contour line to indicate a flood plain or a cut/fill line. Create a boundary to delineate a portion of a surface if you do not want to send an entire surface to field software. You can also create a grid of values showing the elevation differences between two surfaces.

Defining Materials and Computing Volumes Define materials that you want to use in earthworks volume calculations and reports. You can enter two of three values for the shrinkage, haul bulkage, or haul compaction of materials to calculate the third value. Use the Earthwork Report to calculate volumes based on a single surface, or the comparison of two surfaces.