The Section Profiles tool is a road analyzing tool inspired by traditional road surveying techniques. Section Profiles drops cross-section profiles along an axis. The profiles can be displayed in Profile View and saved as an image.
The Section Profiles tool only works on the selected polyline or profile and appears in the TOOLS for Polyline tab and the TOOLS for Profile tab.
Overview
Quick Usage Guide
- Select the polyline or the profile that is drawn over the axis of the road.
- Go to the TOOLS tab.
- Set the appropriate Along and Across values in the boxes available in the Create group.
- Click on Section Profiles in the same group.
- Section profiles are drawn along the axis 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 axis. 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 distance—using the measurement tools in the ANALYSIS tab—between the center line and the boundary of the area to be surveyed (end of pavement, drain ditch, etc.). Double this distance and use it as the Across value.
Show Profile Line Information
You can Annotate 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.
To do this:
- Select your Section Profiles in either the Project View or the Viewport.
- Once you've selected the profiles, click on the TOOLS tab.
- Tick the Name box to show the section line annotations in the Viewport.
- Change the color of selected profile(s) in the Styling section.
- Change the annotation label size and color of the selected profile(s) in the Annotate section.
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 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 pervious survey (blue profile - January 2019), you can see that the safety berms have been reshaped on the sides of the track.
