Used to create a node.

Ribbon

Layout > Layout > Place Node

Workflow

Select Reference Element for Node Elevation. Reset to Type an Elevation - pick the element that you want to use to define the top elevation of the node. This can be a linear element which has an active profile, a mesh, or a terrain model. If you are placing a Catch Basin, and you select a terrain model as the elevation reference, then the dialog expands to let you check on an option for Catchment Delineation, and select the feature definition to use for the catchment area. The elevation normally represents the top of the cover for a chamber. Press Reset if you want to enter an elevation.

If the node being inserted only contains one solid feature symbology, such as might be the case for fittings on a water supply pipe, then the Select Reference Element for Node Elevation prompt is not displayed. This is because if there is only one solid feature symbology, then the node cannot stretch, and it's elevation is defined by the conduit that it is being inserted into.

If you are placing a catch basin, and you select a terrain model, mesh, or linear element with a profile as the elevation reference, then the value for the Longitudinal Slope in the Drainage properties is set automatically, and is updated when the elevation reference changes or the catch basin is moved. However, there are some occasions when you might not want to use this value - perhaps because you want to see if a change to the slope would mean a better drainage layout, by increasing the hydraulic efficiency of the inlet. In this case, you can set Use Longitudinal Slope in the Civil properties to False, and then type in the slope that you want to use in the Drainage properties. This slope will not be affected by any changes to the elevation reference.

If you are placing a catch basin, and you select a terrain model as the elevation reference, then the Road Cross Slope value can be measured from this surface, instead of being defined in the Hydraulic Prototype. Refer to the "Measure Road Cross Slope" section below for more information.

If you are placing a cross section, headwall, or outfall node which has a single 3D cell, then you can check on the "Elevation is the Invert" option. Press Reset if you want to enter an elevation. If the "Elevation is the Invert" check box is checked on, then the elevation - either from the Elevation Reference or the typed value, is assigned to the invert of the node instead of the top or ground. The vertical offset field is also available if "Elevation is the Invert" is checked, so that you can place a headwall at a distance below the invert of the watercourse, for example.

If you are placing a cross section that uses the "From Surface" setting, then the workflow changes slightly. Refer to the "Cross Section from Surface" section below for more information on this.

Define Location - define a point to locate the node (by clicking in the graphics, Civil AccuDraw, or snapped to other graphics). Note that the text of the prompt tells you the type of node being place, such as Place Manhole for example. If you chose a reference element in the previous prompt, then this prompt lets you define a vertical offset from that element. If you pressed Reset, then this prompt lets you type in an elevation.

Select Rotation Mode - choose whether you want to define the rotation of the node using an absolute value, or relative to an alignment (which can be any linear element).

If you choose Absolute, then next prompt is to Select Rotation or Reset to Place again. The rotation is defined as an absolute value, using the settings defined in File > Settings > File > Design File Settings > Angle Readout. If Civil AccuDraw is used the define the location of the node, then the compass will lock to the nearest compass point, which is defined in the Civil AccuDraw Settings. The rotation value is still absolute - it will not update if the element selected in Civil AccuDraw Station and Offset is subsequently modified.

If you choose Relative to alignment, then the next prompt is to Locate Reference Element for Rotation. Select a linear element, from the active design file or a reference. The next prompt is to Select Rotation or Reset to Place again. The rotation value is relative to the selected linear element, and will be updated if the element is subsequently modified.

Feature Definition - Defines the feature definition to be assigned to the new node.

Name Prefix - the feature definition provides a default naming prefix, which can be overridden here.

Notes:

After the rotation is entered the node is created and modeled. The node will be presented in plan model and 3D model as defined in the feature definition.

The value defined for the rotation of a node is applied to the construction class, line style 3 lines in the cells that make up the 2D and 3D definition of the node.

When a node is placed relative to a surface, the top of the node will rotate to match the slope of the surface. Compare the two catch basins below. The one on the left is set to orient the top to the surface. The one on right is not. In Workspace Preferences there is a setting to define the threshold for automatically setting the orientation property to true. If the slope of the surface is less than this threshold then orient is set to True. You can change the Orient to Surface property at any time.

The orientation can be toggled on and off in the properties of the node.

Manipulators

Properties

Select the node and click Utility Properties to access the Drainage properties of storm and sanitary nodes, or Utilities properties for any type of node.

Cross Section from Surface

The purpose of the Cross Section from Surface functionality is to help in the situation where a surface is available that includes a watercourse, and you want to capture the shape of the watercourse at particular locations along it. An example is the situation where an existing watercourse is being locally realigned to suit the location of a proposed culvert. You may want to include parts of the existing watercourse in your model, so that you can tie the realignment in to it both spatially and hydraulically. The data used to represent this is cross sections taken through a surface, to provide a series of offsets and relative elevations. A number of cross sections may be needed, to model where the shape of the existing watercourse changes.

To enable this functionality, the feature definition needs to be set up in a particular way, as follows:

• It needs to have a Structure Type of Cross Section.
• It needs to use a prototype for a Cross Section.
• The prototype needs to have the Cross Section Type set to From Surface, and the Section Type set to Irregular Channel.
• The element template used for the point symbology for the feature definition should have a plan cell defined (as usual).
• The element template used for the solid symbology for the feature definition should not have a cell defined, because the graphic in the 3D model will be created automatically from the data in the collection for the cross section.

When a feature definition for a cross section node that has been set up in this way is selected in Place Node, the dialog enables a field for the offset (to the left and right) of the location point, and a checkbox option to "Include Contributing Slopes."

When the location of the node is defined, the surface is sectioned, and the data is written to that node. It is stored as a collection of stations (offsets) and relative elevations. The data can be viewed by browsing the collection, which is available in the Drainage properties. The lowest elevation found from the section will have a relative elevation of zero, and the other relative elevations will be positive values. The location of the node should therefore be near to the invert of the watercourse, and the rotation should be parallel to the watercourse, because the section is perpendicular to the rotation. The node is ruled to the surface, so the collection of points will be updated if the surface changes.

If "Only Include Contributing Slopes" is checked, the data in the collection is clipped so that it only contains those vertices which are flat (both ends of the vertex have the same elevation) or slope downwards, towards the lowest elevation. This search works outwards from the point with the relative elevation of zero, so that only vertices whose slopes are such that they will contribute to this point are included.

Measure Road Cross Slope

The purpose of the Measure Road Cross Slope functionality is to derive the road cross slope from a terrain model, and update it when the terrain model changes, instead of using the value from the prototype, which needs to be manually updated. It applies to catch basins that have a conventional shape of gutter (as defined in HEC-22) - a road cross slope, a gutter cross slope, and a gutter width. Note that the values for the gutter cross slope and width are still read form the prototype. The construction class, line style 3 line in the plan cell is used to determine the direction in which the slope is measured.