The Section Profiles tool is a road analyzing tool inspired by traditional road surveying techniques. Section Profiles drops cross-section profiles along a centerline that can be utilized for road analysis. The profiles can be displayed in Profile View and saved as an image.


The Section Profiles tool only works on the selected polyline or centerline, and appears in the TOOLS for Profile tab.




Overview


Quick Usage Guide

  1. Select the polyline/centerline that is drawn over the center of the road.
  2. Go to the TOOLS tab. 
  3. Set the appropriate Along and Across values in the boxes available in the Create group.
  4. Click on Section Profiles in the same group.
  5. Section profiles are drawn along the centerline and grouped in a new layer in the Project View. 


Section Profile Settings and Options

Before launching the section profiles creation process, you'll want to set the appropriate Along and Across values.


The Along value represents the spacing between two successive section profiles along the centerline. Determine this value on the basis of your survey requirements and the road topography. In addition to section profiles, determined by the Along value, other section profiles will also be drawn at the vertices of the center line. 


The Across value represents the length of the section profile, i.e., it is the width of your survey. To easily determine this value, measure the span of the road—using the measurement tools in the ANALYSIS tab—from the farthest road feature to the opposite side (e.g., edge of gravel to edge of gravel).



Show Profile Line Information

You can Style your profile lines to show their names and numbers in the Viewport, as well as change the label size and color, along with the line color.

 


Where to Use the Section Profiles Tool

The Section Profiles tool is a part of the Virtual Surveyor toolbox for road surveying. 

  • You can use it to generate a set of cross sections at regular intervals along a the center line of a road. 
  • Then analyze the cross-section profiles in the Profile View and copy the profile plots to illustrate the road in an analysis report.


You can also use the Section Profiles tool with Terrain States to analyze haul road safety over time. 

  • In the example image below, the second survey (black profile - March 2019) was conducted after a haul road maintenance. 
  • Compared to the previous survey (blue profile - January 2019), you can see that the safety berms have been reshaped on the sides of the track.