3D Typical Sections
by: Sam Lytle
Using 3D Typical Sections Beyond Roadway Design for Real-Time Urban Planning and Design
I
THE POWER OF A SECTION
n a college class more than a decade ago I remember a college profession describing the importance of typical sections in civil engineering- “You can pretty much explain anything in civil engineering, one-foot sections at a time”. He referenced how sections in bridge, dam, roads are commonly used to communicate designs that extend much longer than a single foot. I continued to learn the importance of typical sections in my short design career before I ultimately ventured into 3D visualization. The sets of roadway design plans for large projects had several
pages of typical sections showing how the road adjusted between existing and proposed along the alignment of the project. To the experienced engineer or contractor these sections (and related striping, plan sheets and other files) explained everything necessary to get the project built. Communicating these plans- and associated typical sections- to the impacted citizens in public meetings has never been quite as straightforward. Top-down exhibits and the occasional 3D rendering did the heavy lifting communicating the project impacts to the public and other stakeholders.
Figure 1
20 AUGIWorld Magazine | April 2022
augi.com
