Forums >> Revit Systems >> Tips & Tricks >> A solution for roads and paths

itsmyalterego

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Joined: Thu, May 28, 2009
829 Posts

I thought some of you might find this interesting.  Today I made a family--a road.  Roads/paths have been a constant source of pain for revit users.   So lets call this a beta phase, and a preview.  When I upload the final version I want it to have more option and less quirks.

- 10 adaptive points on a spline define the path of a roadway and curbs. 

- Independent on/off parameters for left and right curbs.

- Parameter to control width of roadway/path.

- Path is flexible in X/Y AND Z axis. 

- No geometry edge lines or topo lines!!

HERE ARE THE QUIRKS/HOW TO USE:

- When placing the path points, they must first be placed horizontally.  Don't try to trace your road yet, just click horizontally 10 times...  Then rotate the system in the general direction of your road.

- Move the points to follow your road path. (May require hitting tab to select the adaptive point)

- IF NEEDED (especially along curves) rotate the adaptive point itself with the rotate tool so the X/Y axis are perpendicular/parallel to the road path, otherwise the width does not generate accurately since the profile is oblique.  The curbs also enjoy consistent perpendicular profiles. 

-Modify Z axis in 3D view or elevation to fit your topo.

Enjoy--and criticism/suggestions are welcome.

Attached Images

Attached Files 107874_Matts_Road.rfa

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teafoe5

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Joined: Fri, Nov 12, 2010
1749 Posts

Very nice!  I just messed around with it a little bit and I'm curious to see how it works in an actual project, thanks!

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Typhoon

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Joined: Tue, May 22, 2007
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Maybe this can help: http://grevity.blogspot.pt/2012/05/highway-to-hell.html

and this: http://grevity.blogspot.pt/2012/06/route-66.html

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I Hope and I Wish to LEARN  more, and more, and more.... REVIT

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itsmyalterego

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Joined: Thu, May 28, 2009
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Here's a better picture, maybe.

I envision this as a surface treatment.  It will not cut the topography, so the site must be prepared for a road in one way or another.  However, it would be a simple matter to add a depth parameter to the concrete walks, to simulate a retaining wall, or to add another "embankment" feature that will slope down to grade and hopefully look like a built-up pad.

I'd like to add this because if people are like me, detailed civil topo is a luxury, and a lot of projects that need roads are in the conceptual phase where someone has to be sold on an idea and it involves altering poorly-surveyed and/or currently roadless ground.  So, good looks on bad and coarse topo.

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moussarida

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Joined: Wed, Sep 12, 2012
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Thanks you. its awesome and works well.

Doyou think you can make it curve or join to intersections where possible? e.g. driveways, t-intersection etc.

appreciate your work.

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Damien6000

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Joined: Fri, Feb 8, 2013
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Hi I have a few queries regarding the road family you have posted here. I am having some trouble in my job trying to create a road that will do what you have shown in the pictures you attached to this thread. I would love to use your road family. however I am having trouble placing the family into my project. When I place the 10 points like you describe and finish the task I get a pop up telling me that the family cannot be made. Is there something im doing wrong? When I place the points should I place on face or work plane?

Also, what family type templates did you use to make this family? A generic model adaptive? Sorry about all the questions. Looking forward to using the family you created. It looks great in your jpegs. great job!!

hope you can help,

Damien.

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itsmyalterego

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Joined: Thu, May 28, 2009
829 Posts

Hey--I kinda ran out of steam on this project and haven't really worked on it since this post.

Step one of my first post reads "When placing the path points, they must first be placed horizontally.  Don't try to trace your road yet, just click horizontally 10 times."  and this is probably the cief hangup. 

I would suggest a conservative spacing, and try to stay horizonal.  when I say horizontal, I just mean from left to right in a plan view.  You shouldn't have to mess with work planes.  I'd just associate it with the nearest level.  (which drawing it in plan should do)

I used the Adaptive Mass template, which for some reason did not come with my revit 2012 install, and I found elsewhere on this forum. 

hope this helps! 

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fwfa

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Joined: Mon, Aug 22, 2011
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Very nice work!

I found your post because I am trying to resolve an issue for modeling existing railroad lines. I work for a complany that uses 3D terrestrial scanners to capture building and other enviroments with pointclouds and then we create existing condition models from those clouds.

The client we are currently working for requires that we accuratley model the existing rails (railroad). Creating a profile and using an adaptive model will help me quickly and accuratley model the wxisting track lines. I have the family created and it works okay...no where near as well as yours does but I was going to keep working to get the kinks out of the family.

My real issue is that our client also wants us to show the twist in the rail as it stretches through the project area. The rail profile remains the same but the rail itself twist. I wanted to set parameters at each adaptive point in the family that would allow me to type in the degree of twist of the profile at each point.

Do you believe that this is possible or is the profile only controlled by the first adaptive point and it is not possible?

Thank you for any feed back you may have.

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itsmyalterego

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Joined: Thu, May 28, 2009
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Well, I don't know if you could add a parameter to rotate each profile.  reason being each profile is on its own personal reference plane of an adaptive point, and there's no real continuity between adaptive points.  To give an adaptive point  a rotation parameter you'd  have to radial-dimension/label/lock it to something fixed, which defeats the purpose of an adaptive family I think. 

Or maybe it could work... I'd play with it but I've got a deadline.

However, it's possible to reach in (alt-tabbing) and select the adaptive point and rotate that manually by an exact degree.  This is necessary with my path family for the same reason.  as you arc the path the width gets skewed, so each point has to be rotated perpendicular to the path.

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fwfa

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Thank you for the reply.

I wil try and give it a go today. I will post if I am able to get anywhere.

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bradstrauss

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Joined: Mon, Apr 1, 2013
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My processor could not handle this road family. Prefer to stick to the splitting topo and merging technique. http://bimtionary.blogspot.com/2010/02/curb-and-gutter-along-topo.html

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gonzo2011

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Joined: Mon, Aug 29, 2011
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Hello,

it look like a great way to do roads.

I would like to try it but I can´t dowload the family....

There´s another interesant link:

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