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TBC - Combined Utilities Trench

  • 1.  TBC - Combined Utilities Trench

    Posted 08-13-2019 04:26

    Is there any way of creating a template for a combined utility trench with several different utilities within one trench?Combined Service Trench



  • 2.  Re: TBC - Combined Utilities Trench

    Posted 08-13-2019 11:55

    You can only have one Utility line to drive the location of the Trench, however the shape of the trench can be designed to accommodate multiple utilities - the additional sizing has to be specified "specifically" i.e. it will not vary the size of anything other than main Trench Width  to the size of the pipe - but you can for sure design Shelves and extra widths Left and Right for a Trench Template to accommodate multiple utilities - you can then create those additional Utilities to check that they do in fact fall in the designed trench

     

     

    Enclosed is an example using the Schematic above - not sure what the terminators are so I put Junction Boxes at each end for now - the Trench is designed off the HV line and I roughed out the missing dimensions - created the Ducts as Cylindrical Ducts and then applied the trench Template. The Trench designed this way only allows for one set of Backfills in the entire trench - if you need the different backfills in each vertical section then you would need to build vertical walled trenches and apply the backfill separately in each trench section.

     

     

    Project attached if you want to take a look how this was defined (I did not do Backfills here or Depth Brackets)

     

    Here is the same project - now modeled as 3 separate trenches linked to 3 separate utility lines - each with separate Backfill stacks for Trench fill quantities.

     

     

    Let me know if this helps

     

    Alan



  • 3.  Re: TBC - Combined Utilities Trench

    Posted 08-13-2019 13:17

    Gavin,  We can't do this directly, but we can get close depending on what information you are interested in.  If you can give me a more complete description of your workflow and the problem you are trying to solve, I can give you more direction.

     

    The limitation is that we can't subtract the space occupied by multiple pipes from the trench or calculate the shape based on more than one pipe.  Multiple pipes bring lots of complexity to building the model.  For instance, how do you want to model multiple pipes into a node?  Do they come to a box or does each have a bend?

     

    The Utility module is intended to allow users to visually see how the pipes and nodes interact with other features and to calculate simple volumes and pipe quantities.   It is not our main purpose to make a solids model.  Think more of a quantity takeoff from a set of plans where the design is schematic.

     

    You can create multiple lines from your diagram at the desired offset and convert each set to a pipe size and material.  You do not have to assign each one a trench, so you can see how they interact with your project.  Depending on what you want the nodes to look like you will need to decide how to model them.  Perhaps one can control the center line location and shape of a junction box and the others just use a point to control their end within the box.  You may want to specify 3d points at a bend so that the pipes connect without a conflict.  The solution is non trivial and probably can't be modeled by one controlling line.

     

    You can use the largest and lowest one to control the shape of the trench.  You can then see the surface of the trench and each of the pipes within the trench. If you want to account for the material displaced by the additional pipes, then this will need to be a manual adjustment based on area and length of the pipes.  Maybe you want to just add the note "Contractor to fit in field".  Try a simple case like in the following image and see what you want to model and report.

     

    tim