Trimble Business Center

Is there a way to digitize profiles along an alignment with TBC;  Not cross sections but the actual profile?  A local engineer has produced a set of drawings for a proposed roadway and the only existing ground  information provided is an existing ground profile at CL and 18' os L and R, and since the deadline for questions has passed they can't issue any drawings with plan view contours.  I was thinking of using the digitize cross sections feature in some way and adapting the results but this is not working out.  Any ideas will be helpful.

I will probably end up guesstimating spot elevations at 25' increments to get us though this bid but was hoping TBC had something that could help.  

What is the format of the data that you have CAD or Raster PDF or Vector PDF? There are ways to do this for sure - if you can get the data in some how e.g. you can bring in the Sheets into Plan View and either Extract the Vectors or Digitize over the Profile Drawing and digitize the Grid Lines to Give Distance Scale and Elevation Scale - then you can use Copy To Profile, Move the profile to the Correct Station and Elevation, Scale the Profile to remove Exaggeration and then add the profile Line as a Vertical Alignment to the Alignment (use existing line in Vertical Alignment Editor). If the Sheets are vector PDF then import them and place them / Georeference - use the Easting as Station and the Northing as Elevation and then extract the vectors. If imported as CAD then import the Profile as CAD and then do the same process.  

Alan

They are raster pdfs.  Thanks for the information!  I will try this out.

Alan,

Just finished my first section of plans and it seems to have worked great.  I did see a small error after I adjusted for scale in the profile (+/- 0.2') but my guess is that this is due to working with digitized/scaled pdfs.  I can see this actually being faster in some cases then digitizing a bunch of existing contours over a long thin corridor.  I will definitely keep this in the tool box for next time.  

Thanks again for the help!

Ben