Getting Started Modeling Pressure Networks in Civil 3D

Summary

This video walks through modeling pressure networks in Civil 3D. It starts by showing how to build a parts list from catalogs to represent components used in designs. It then demonstrates creating pipe runs, which function as branches in a network, based on an underlying alignment and profile. Additional topics include connecting runs, adding fittings like valves, editing geometry and elevations, and labeling components. The presenter shares links to other Civil 3D resources for further learning about pressure networks.

Takeaways

• 😀 You can create a parts list to hold commonly used pressure network components, rather than using the full component catalogs.
• 👉🏼 Pressure networks in Civil 3D 2021+ use pipe runs, which are built on underlying alignments and profiles for easier editing.
• 🔧 Pipe runs in a network can be connected, and you can have multiple pipe runs within a single network.
• ⚙️ The pipe network compass allows you to snap to available bend angles when laying out pipe runs.
• 🔧 You can add or remove bend points and fittings along a pipe run.
• 📏 Pipe run profiles make it easy to edit pressure networks vertically, including creating grade breaks and lowerings.
• 📐 You can create pipe runs that automatically offset and parallel existing alignments.
• 🛠 The content catalog editor allows you to customize pressure network component properties like descriptions.
• 🔀 Pressure pipe labels can display component properties like nominal diameter and description.
• 📚 Additional resources are available for customizing catalogs and assigning pay items to pipe networks.

Q & A

What is a parts list in Civil 3D and why is it useful?

A parts list in Civil 3D is a subset of components from the available part catalogs that come with Civil 3D. It contains the specific parts like pipes, fittings, and appurtenances that are most commonly used for a particular project or organization. Using a parts list streamlines the design process by only including the relevant components.

How are pipe runs different from previous versions of Civil 3D?

In Civil 3D 2021 and later, pipe runs are built on an underlying alignment and profile. This makes them much easier to edit both horizontally and vertically compared to previous versions where pressure networks were built just as a collection of individual components.

Can the pipe run feature be used for utilities other than water networks?

Yes, the pipe run feature does not have to only be used for pressure networks. It can be used to model other buried utilities like gas mains or fiber optic lines that also require a certain depth below ground.

How can pipe run elevations be edited vertically?

The elevations and cover depth of pipe runs can be easily adjusted using the profile view. Profile grips allow the PVI and grade to be edited. Lowerings can also be created by overriding elevations or creating an additional profile.

What grip editing options are available for pipe runs?

In plan view, pipe runs can be grip edited like alignments using the square grip, compass grip, and arrow grip. These allow for continuing the run, inserting or removing bends, and lengthening/shortening. Pipe run profiles also have PVI grips in profile view.

How are fittings determined along a pipe run?

When a pipe run is created, the available bend angles displayed in the compass are determined based on the fittings included in the parts list. The software automatically places the appropriate closest fitting based on the angle snapped to in the compass.

Can additional fittings like valves be added to an existing pipe run?

Yes, fittings like valves and hydrants can be added directly to an existing pipe run using the Layout Tools on the contextual tab. The pipe run can then be viewed in 3D to see the complete model.

How can pipe runs be created dynamically based on existing objects?

The 'Create Pipe Run From Object' tool allows alignments, polylines, feature lines or other objects to be selected to dynamically build a new aligned pipe run based on that object's geometry. Offsets can be specified as needed.

Can multiple pipe runs be connected into one overall network?

Yes. A pressure network can contain multiple pipe runs that function as branches. Runs can be connected by adding branch fittings that join them together, maintaining proper elevations.

Where can I learn more advanced techniques for pressure networks?

The presenter recommends exploring Autodesk University classes like Charlie Ogden's 2021 class on the topic. There are also Civil Immersion blog posts and videos linked in the presentation notes that cover more advanced workflows.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introducing the agenda and overview

The instructor introduces himself and provides an overview of the agenda for the session. Key topics to be covered include creating a parts list, using the parts list to develop a pipe run, connecting pipe runs, editing the underlying alignment and profile, and additional resources.

05:01

😃 Building a parts list

The instructor demonstrates how to build a parts list by selecting a catalog, adding materials, sizes and types to create a subset of components that will be used to model the pressure network. Parts lists represent frequently used items and are saved in templates.

10:02

😊 Creating the first pipe run

The process of creating the first pipe run is shown, including selecting the parts list, cover depth, reference alignment and drawing the pipe run geometry. Labels are added and editing techniques using the underlying alignment are demonstrated.

15:04

😏 Adding additional pipe runs

Methods for adding additional pipe runs to the same network are covered, either through the contextual ribbon or the Prospector tree. Techniques for connecting pipe runs with appropriate fittings are also shown.

20:04

🤔 Editing pipe run properties

The process of editing pipe run properties like styles and descriptions is shown by selecting the pipe run and pertinent properties. An introduction to editing catalog properties through the Content Catalog Editor is also provided.

25:07

😮 Drawing pipe runs from objects

The creation of pipe runs from existing objects like alignments and polylines is demonstrated, including offset distances and elevations. The runs are connected and additional components are added as needed.

30:08

😲 Editing pipe runs in profile view

Techniques for editing pipe runs in profile view are covered, including measuring elevations along pipe lengths versus at bend points. The use of profile overrides to create deviations and lowerings is also shown.

35:09

🤯 Advanced lowering and crossing techniques

More advanced methods for creating crossings and lowerings are demonstrated, such as creating a Civil 3D profile to follow. The application of overrides and editing with PVI grips is also covered.

40:11

😇 Resources for learning more

Useful resources for learning more about pressure networks are shared, including Autodesk University classes and blogs. Questions from users are also invited.

Keywords

💡pressure network

A pressure network refers to a system of interconnected pipes, fittings, valves and other components that transport pressurized fluids like water or gas. The video focuses on modeling pressure networks in Civil 3D software for infrastructure design. Pressure networks represent critical utilities that civil engineers must design and integrate with other infrastructure.

💡parts list

A parts list contains a subset of pressure network components, like specific pipe diameters, fittings and valves, compiled from the component catalogs in Civil 3D. Parts lists allow engineers to customize and streamline the components they use most frequently for pressure network design projects.

💡pipe run

A pipe run refers to a single branch or section of pipes within the overall pressure network. Pipe runs in Civil 3D 2021+ are now modeled on underlying alignments and profiles, making them easier to edit. The video demonstrates creating multiple pipe runs and connecting them into an integrated network.

💡component catalog

Civil 3D includes customizable component catalogs containing pressure network parts like pipes, valves and fittings. The content catalog editor allows users to modify catalog properties to change how components display and label in pressure network designs.

💡profile view

The video shows creating profile views to model pressure networks, including displaying the network components underground. Profiles views make it easier to edit pressure networks vertically, such as creating lowering sections.

💡lowering

A lowering refers to vertically diverting the pressure network to avoid crossing another utility. The video demonstrates using alignments and profiles to design lowering geometry and applying fitting overrides.

💡surface profile

Surface profiles represent terrain elevations. Pressure networks use surface profiles to dynamically set and update pipe elevations based on defined cover depths below ground surfaces.

💡cut length

The cut length determines pipe section lengths between fittings and endpoints in the pressure network. Adjusting the profile display to cut lengths allows smoother vertical editing at pipe segments versus only at bend points.

💡override

Applying a pipe run override holds manual vertical adjustments to the pressure network, maintaining user-defined elevations while allowing the rest of network to update dynamically with surface changes.

💡compass

The network and pipe run creation tools include a compass for visually snapping pipe alignments and fittings to permitted bend angles from the parts list during layout.

Highlights

Parts lists represent a subset of components from installed catalogs to use for pressure network design

Parts lists are organized into pipes, fittings like elbows/Ts, and pertinances like valves and hydrants

Pipe runs are new in Civil 3D 2021+ and are built on underlying alignments, making editing easier

Pipe runs represent branches in the overall water network; we can connect multiple runs

We can create pipe runs manually, from existing objects like alignments, or using the compass

The compass allows snapping to available bend angles from parts list during piperun creation

We can edit pipe elevations easily since runs have alignment/profiles with PVI grips

Overrides tab allows holding manual elevation edits while allowing dynamic updates elsewhere

We can create pipe lowerings using alignment grips or by creating an override Civil 3D profile

Pressure network parts use styles from the parts list to control appearance in views

The content catalog editor allows editing part properties like descriptions used in labels

Surface profile created with pipe run maintains dynamic link if surface changes later

Cut length profile measures cover depth at each pipe cut length instead of just bend points

Add bend PVI option places appropriate fitting at grip location instead of just deflecting pipe

Pipe run functionality can be used for things like gas mains and fiber optic lines too

Resources include Civil Immersion blog posts and Autodesk University recordings

Alan Gilbert AU presentation covers assigning pay items and doing quantity takeoffs

Transcripts

welcome my name is Jeff Bartels I'm an

infrastructure technical specialist here

at Autodesk and today we're going to

look at how we can get started modeling

pressure networks in civil 3D on screen

you can see the agenda for today's

session

we're going to start out at the

beginning we'll look at how we can

create a parts list the parts list is

used to hold the pressure Network

components that we will use to model a

pressure Network Parts lists represent a

subset of the overall collection of

components that come with all of the

part catalogs that are installed with

civil 3D we'll look at how we can use

the catalogs to build a parts list for

our project we will then look at how we

can use that parts list to develop a

pipe run the pipe run methodology is new

to civil 3D 2021 and above prior to

civil 3 2021 pressure networks were

built just as a collection of individual

components being that our pressure

networks are now considered runs they

are built on an underlying alignment and

profile which makes them much easier to

edit both horizontally and vertically

once we learn how to create pipe runs

we'll look at how we can connect pipe

runs together because you can have

multiple pipe runs within a pressure

Network we'll also look at how we can

edit that underlying alignment and

profile to modify the horizontal

geometry of the piperon as well as the

vertical and the event we want to create

lowerings and things like that and then

finally if you'd like more information

about this topic I'm going to leave you

with some additional resources

now I have to admit I'm not a big fan of

PowerPoint so instead of showing a bunch

of screenshots and bullet points and

discussing Theory instead we're going to

work live within the application

so I'm going to drop out of this

as you can see I am working in

simple3d2023.2 having said that the

majority of what we look at today is

going to work for you so long as you're

using civil 3D 2021 and above the reason

I say majority is because the new Piper

on functionality came out in 2021 and

since then there have been some minor

tweaks to the workflows so depending on

the version of civil 3D you have between

2021 and 2023.2 you may see some minor

nuances in the workflows okay we're

going to start out by building a parts

list we build a parts list from the

available part catalogs that civil 3D

comes with to build a parts list we

first have to start by selecting the

catalog

here on the Home tab in the create

design panel I'm going to expand this

and I'll choose set pressure Network

catalog

and if I expand this you can see the six

catalogs that come with civil 3D

consider these a starting point it's

kind of like you're going shopping for

the parts that you'd like to use for

your pressure Network I'm going to start

with the push on catalog and I'll click

ok

now to build a parts list from that

catalog I'm going to go to the settings

tab and then I will expand pressure

Network and if I expand Parts lists

you'll see there's I've got a parts list

in here already I'm going to create a

new parts list just so we can

demonstrate that I'll right click on

Parts lists and I'll choose new

and on the information tab I can give

this parts list a name I'll call it my

parts list down below you can see the

catalog that we are shopping from for

our pressure Network components when we

build a parts list it is organized into

these three tabs pipes fittings and

apertnesses

pipes represent pipes of various

diameters and materials fittings

represent the items that connect pipes

together like elbows T's crosses things

like that and pertinances are the other

items like gate valves air release

valves hydrants pumps things like that

so let's build out our parts list I'm

going to start here on the pipes Tab and

then I will right click on the new parts

list and I'll choose add material

and within the catalog that I'm looking

at the push on catalog you can see that

I only have one material I kind of think

of material as a family I'll choose

ductile iron I'll click OK I've just

added that material or that family to my

list now we'll add some sizes if I right

click on this I can choose add size

and notice in the dialog box we can see

the nominal diameter by default here is

four inches if I click inside this field

a couple times you can see the various

sizes that I can select so I can choose

the individual sizes I want and I can

click ok to add them to my parts list or

since we don't have a whole bunch of

them in here I could just say add all

sizes

note before I do that there are some

other items here that are editable I

could adjust the cut length here so that

it's a little bit different than what's

coming from the catalog I can also

adjust the allowable deflection if I

wanted to we'll look at some ways to

edit the part catalog in a little bit

for right now let's just add all the

sizes I'll click OK and if I expand this

you can see here's the sizes that I

brought in with respect to the ductal

iron family here's the sizes and then

I've got a column for the style the

style is what controls the appearance of

these pipes when they're viewed in plan

profile cross-section or in the 3D View

we also have a column for render

material if we want to assign that and

we have a column for pay item in the

event you have a pay item list

associated with your civil 3D file you

can apply the various pay items to these

components such that as fast as you

create the pipe runs and pressure

networks you'll be able to extract a

summary of quantities

let's go to fittings

I'm going to right click on the list and

choose add type

and you can see I have three types or

three families in here crosses elbows

and T's I'll click ok

and if I expand this I have added those

families to my fittings tab I can then

right click and add sizes just like we

did with pipes when it comes to the

elbows we have the nominal diameter you

can see that we have several to choose

from I also have several Bend angles to

choose from

since there's not a lot of them in here

I'm going to click add all sizes and

I'll click OK if I expand the elbows now

you can see my elbow options depending

on the the number of items that you need

to pull in here if there's certain

diameters that you typically don't go

above

might not be bad rather than just going

through and picking all of the smaller

ones you can always delete if you right

click you can choose delete likewise if

you select one of these hold your shift

key you can select a grouping of them

and you can delete them in bulk

okay so not bad to add them all you can

just delete the ones that you don't want

and we would go through this same

workflow for T's and Crosses we'll just

say at all sizes

and you can see all the t's because you

could do the same thing assign the style

render material pay item let's go to a

pertinances

I'm going to right click on a pertin it

says add type and with this particular

catalog I have just a couple of valve

families I'm going to add both of these

just so that we can see what those look

like

let me right click and I'll choose add

size and I can see for the 150 psi

family I pretty much just have three

size choices

there they are

and size

got quite a few more I don't know six

eight and twelve

there we go you can see the sizes for

those

now we don't have to limit ourselves to

pulling components from a single catalog

if I go to the information tab

I can come down and load a new catalog

for example let's choose the PVC catalog

and I'll click open

note that this catalog is loaded

but it's not yet in use I have not

pulled parts from this catalog and put

them in the list

that's why this one says in use and it's

locked I can't unload a cataloged word

Parts have been pulled into the parts

list okay that's the difference between

the icons here

if I go to fittings for example

let's clap some of these if I right

click on the parts list and choose add

type if I select the PVC catalog you can

see that we have additional options

things like reducers and plugs and T's

and caps let's add the reducer family

there

and then I can add sizes okay workflow

is similar

if I go to a pertinances

if I right click on the parts list and

go to add type if we go to PVC you can

see that this particular catalog also

includes hydrants that are organized by

their

very depth okay so we can create a parts

list or a subset of all the components

of all of the catalogs the parts list

represents the parts that we typically

use on our projects Parts lists are

saved as part of your template that way

when we create new designs we have the

parts that we use most often you can

always go and add to a parts list later

by having the parts list we are not

having to carry the full weight of all

the catalogs when we're doing our design

selection okay

I'm going to cancel out of this because

I've already got a parts list here let

me right click and I'll go to edits I

just want to show you what's in here

on the pressure pipes tab you can see

I've just got the sizes for ductile iron

I have

several sizes for elbows crosses and T's

and under pertinences

I've got those two gate valves and I've

got a hydrant in here as well

okay so my parts list has been created

if I would like to draw a pressure

Network here in the crate design panel I

will expand the pipe Network menu item

and I'll choose pressure Network

creation tools

this is the command that I run to not

only create a pipe run but this will

also create a brand new network since I

have not drawn any water main in this

project so far I'm going to use this to

create the new network I will call this

water

I will then give my piperun a name

we'll call it my first

run

I can select my desired parts list when

you choose the parts list you can then

see the available pipe sizes I've only

got the one family if I have multiple

families I could choose from those

I'll choose the eight inch size here's

where you could select your layers the

object layers for the various components

of the pressure Network you can select

these or have them chosen in the

template or you can take and assign

those yourself I'm just going to keep

the defaults in this case

the reference surface when we place the

pressure parts we want those to have a

particular depth below ground so what

surface do you want to measure that from

this surface right here is called demo

so I'll choose that I would like to

create a surface profile to follow the

demo surface this profile will be used

to edit the elevations of the pipes

later so I want to do that and I also

want that to be dynamic to that surface

that will happen automatically

for the cover depth I'm going to set

this to five and a half feet that's

typical for Illinois where I'm at the

reference alignment I don't have an

alignment in the adjacent area here but

in the event you were placing this water

main parallel to a roadway alignment and

you wanted the station and offset labels

of your water main to be tied to a

particular alignment here's where you

could select that alignment I could also

choose if as I draw this if I would like

to automatically label the pipes the

fittings and the apertnesses I'm just

going to leave those turned off for

right now and I'll click ok

and then I can draw my pipe rotten much

like I can create a polyline I clicked

my first point on screen civil 3D then

finds the elevation of that demo surface

and it drops down five and a half feet

I can then click my next point and then

it displays this Compass this Compass

allows me to snap to the available Bend

angles defined by the parts that are in

my parts list in my parts list I have

elbows with an 11 a quarter the 22 and a

half 45 and 90 degree bends in the event

your parts list only had elbows that had

90 degree bends those would be the only

snap options that you would see

so I just want you to understand where

the snap angles are coming from

let me pick a couple more points here

when I'm finished I'll press enter and

you can see that my pipe run is created

and the applicable elbows are placed

based on the snap that I was using on

the compass now I would like to label

these I'm going to go to the annotate

ribbon Tab and I'll click the price tag

here for the feature I will choose

pressure pipe Network and I would like

to label a single pressure part in the

plan view let's just label these elbows

I'll zoom in and I'll click this one

this one

and this one and you can see how those

were placed based on my snap I've got

nice

dimensions on those

if I select

the pipe run you can see that the grips

are very similar to what we see with an

alignment that's because it's built on

an underlying alignment in fact if I

right click you'll see alignment

properties here

if I may press Escape if I hover over

these Pi grips we see the same alignment

properties the reason why this is nice

if I click one of these grips and I make

an adjustment

you can see how the angles of the elbows

will update it will take and add the

appropriates closest elbow based on the

adjustments that I'm making

in addition to being able to drag these

Pi locations I can also insert new ones

if I come back to my contextual ribbon

here

there's an option to add a Bend pi

I can click where I'd like to place the

bend

not only does it place the band that

places the appropriate fitting let's

take and drop a label

on that

so 22 and a half

and then as I drag this we'll see how

that elbow changes in addition to adding

the pis we could take them away so you

can see I can choose remove Bend Pi if I

click near this

it takes away the pi and it takes away

that fitting

let me press escape a couple times

let's look at another thing

maybe I would like to add a valve along

this line

here in the layout panel

I will open up a pertinence because

that's where the valves are located this

is an eight inch pipe so I will choose

eight inch gate valve and I'll click add

a pertinence I will then move my cursor

close to this pipe and you can see the

boxing gloves or the glyph that shows me

that if I click it's going to add that

item to this line

if I zoom in

note that if I click this pipe run one

time I get access to these alignment

grips

so if I move this

historically in older versions of civil

3D it would pivot right here at the

valve it no longer does that these

valves now stay in line if I select this

pipe run a second time this gives me

access to the individual components

that's the trick now that I've selected

this a second time you can see I've got

the grip here on this

valve if I click this once and then

twice I can right click and here's where

I get access to the apertness properties

style I can swap these out things like

that

okay let's come over here let's say I

wanted to add another pipe run

we can have more than one pipe run in a

pipe Network

so since my contextual ribbon is open I

can add another pipe run by simply

opening the menu here and choosing

create new pipe run

let's do this though let's assume the

contextual ribbon's not on screen if you

remember when I drew this pipe run I

opened a pipe Network and I said

pressure Network creation tools

this option creates the pipe run but it

also creates a brand new network I don't

want to create a brand new network I

want to create multiple runs under the

same network think of a pipe run as

being kind of a branch in the overall

Network so I would like to make these

all part of the same network so I won't

use that option again if I would like to

add a new Piper on I can select an

existing pipe run

which will bring back the contextual

ribbon and then from here I can add a

new pipe run or

second way if I go to the prospector tab

if I expand the pressure networks

category and expand my network

right here we can see the pipe runs that

are in that Network just have the one if

I want to add another Piper on I can

right click right here and I can say add

pipe run

I'm going to do that you can see it's

adding that Piper onto the same network

I'll call this my second run and give it

a description you can see it's keeping

the same settings what we had before

let's do a different diameter this time

maybe 14 inches and then same demo

surface five and a half feet below let

me click OK and then I will click maybe

here and then we'll click here and

that's as far as I want to go I'll just

press enter so I've got a 14 inch pipe

maybe I would like to make a connection

if I select this first pipe run you can

see I have three grips if I click the

square grip at the end it's much like

I'm grip editing it in alignment okay if

I bend this it will change the elbow

if I click the plus it will bring up the

compass and it will allow me to continue

on and it will also place a fitting

there for me

if I click the arrow I can use this to

lengthen or shorten this pipe if I pull

this out such that I get close to this

pipe you can see the boxing gloves there

let me click and it places the

appropriate fitting now what if these

pipes were at different elevations in

the event we're working with a t it will

hold the elevation of the through pipe

the connecting pipe the elevation would

adjust to meet the elevation of this

through pipe

let's do this I'm going to click the

script and I'll pull it back what if we

had a Crossing let's drag this over

in the event we had a crossing and we

wanted to add a cross connector here

I can do that using this add Branch

fitting option

if we're dealing with a Crossing it's

going to ask me to select the pipes in

the order based on which depth you want

to hold so it says select first pipe and

intersection if I click this pipe first

that's the depth that's going to hold

when I click the second pipe that's the

pipe that it's going to edit

to insert my connector

okay let's apply a label to this just

want to show you a little trick here if

I select this once and twice there's my

cross I'm going to come over to the

properties palette for a second notice

the nominal diameter description we can

see that listed here can't change it

okay it's grayed out

let's say I'd like to label that part

that's a fitting now I'm labeling it

with a t but really T's and Crosses are

going to have the same label Style

I'm going to click add and then I will

click this object

and then I will click the label and we

will click the script and we'll pull it

out

as you can see the label style that's

used for this particular cross it's

labeling that nominal diameter

attribute

okay

if I I think I can close this now if I

select this cross

and go to the properties palette once

again I can't change that the label's

fine it's accurate it's just a little

bit longer than I would like maybe I

just like this to be cross 14x14 X8 X8

so I really can't edit that here you can

see that there is a description here

it's actually even longer that describes

this part and this is you can see I can

type in here this is editable okay so if

my label style pointed to the

description I could manually edit that

text here but I don't really want to do

that for every single fitting and a

pertinence an item in my pressure

Network so let me show you a shortcut

I'm going to come down and click the

Windows button and then I will select

Autodesk civil 3D 2023

inside here you'll find an application

called content catalog editor this is

installed with civil 3D this is used to

edit your pressure Network catalogs if I

go to open

you can see the same catalogs that we

saw earlier

now in the event you don't see these

right off the bat when you go into the

application I just want to show you the

folder where these are stored program

data Autodesk c3d 2023 enu pressure

pipes catalog and I'm looking at the

Imperial version there's also a metric

version

let's choose the push on catalog for a

second and I'll click open and when I

open the catalog we can see the families

if you will that have content if I

expand the cross you can see the two

families there 350 is what I think we're

looking at and if I open up this this is

where I have access to that description

okay

editable so I can make these say

whatever I want

if I drag this over

if I drag this over you can see the

nominal diameter

these are editable notice the number of

attributes in here that are unpopulated

currently everything from Branch angle

to ID coding inside coding outside

schedule SDR series strength class all

of the items if you go through here and

populate these these are things that can

participate in your labels

so they're they're not heavily used in

the catalog right now but if you wanted

to you could go through and edit the

values here and add to them to have even

more power with your labeling

having said that I'm not going to make

the changes here right now

I don't even think it would let me save

my catalog in this case because the

catalog is already it's it's in use

right now in this drawing I would likely

have to close out of civil 3D in order

to be able to save this because this may

be in a read-only state at the moment

but that would be a shortcut if you edit

the properties in your catalog and then

build your parts list from that that

will help you with your labeling in the

future in the additional resources that

I'm going to give you at the end of

today's session there will be a Autodesk

University recording that provides

demonstration for how to edit your parts

catalog and even more hyperlinks that

will show you more hardcore ways you can

get in and make changes to your catalogs

so I just want to show you that that's

there let me get out of this

okay now that we understand how the pipe

runs feature Works let's look at how we

can use it in a practical example I'm

going to zoom out and on screen we have

a portion of a subdivision

and if I hover you can see I've got a

surface here called composites

for some of these roads anyway like the

roads through here I've got a proposed

Road surface and I've got that pasted

into the existing ground surface that

pasting was used to create a composite

surface that way I have one surface for

the entire thing now I don't have a

proposed surface for this roadway yet

this road I think is called East Court

that's all right for this example just

wanted to mention that the surface that

we're using

if I'm going to create a pipe run along

this my contextual ribbon's still open

let's go to add piperon great pipe run

I'm going to call this

East Court water main

parts list is going to be water 8 inch

surface I'm going to come down from the

composite surface five and a half feet

reference alignment in the event I

wanted to label these components with

stations and offsets to the center line

of the roadway I can choose that

alignment here click ok

and now I can draw my components using

that compass

so I'll come down here and click and

when the compass is up on screen if we

go up to the contextual ribbon and

expand the compass panel right here we

can control the color of the compass and

the diameter in the event this is a

little bit bigger than you would like

notice there's an option to turn the

visibility of the compass off there's

also a snapping feature here we can turn

the snapping off back in the old days

this was very rigid you could only snap

to these predefined angles problem being

I'm allowed a certain amount of

deflection at each one of these angles

and it just didn't allow me to do that

if I turn the snapping off I can see the

angle still but I can kind of deviate

from that a little bit

make things easier maybe we'll go here

and then maybe I'll take this down

to here

when I'm finished I'll press enter

so there's my water main works just like

the other one I could select this I

could grip edit it I could label that

the pieces would update

maybe I'd like to add a hydrant we saw

how we could connect to a piper on I can

also connect from a pipe run

we'll create another one great new pipe

run

I will call this

hydrants

zero one you can name these whatever you

like

once again think of each run as being a

branch in the overall Network I'm going

to go with a six inch pipe same surface

same cover same reference alignment let

me click OK I will then click to start

at this pipe and we'll take this towards

the property corner here

and I'll press enter

it automatically puts the appropriate T

in there maybe we can add a six inch

valve now add a pertinence

so I can drop that in and then we'll

expand this and I will add a hydrant

perfect once it's been added let's take

a look at it in 3D I will click once

which gives me the alignment click it

again which gives me the hydrants and

the pipe and this valve I'll right click

and choose object viewer

and then we can tip this up

and view it in 3D

so you could add additional valves or

pertinances whatever your design

requires

that's basically what the workflow looks

like now in addition to creating

pipe runs based on the compass or

drawing them manually we can also create

pipe runs that are based on existing

geometry this will work with an

alignment a polyline or a feature line

let's assume I would like to create a

pipe run that is parallel to this

roadway West Street

I'm going to come up to the textual

ribbon and I'll say create pipe run from

object

I will then select this alignment

and remember the pipe runs are built on

an underlying alignment so we're going

to see a lot of the same options that we

have when we create an alignment I've

got the direction there I'll say that

that's okay

creating this pipe run under the same

water Network we're going to call this I

think it was called West Street let's

come down here yeah West Street so my

reference alignments if I'm labeling the

station's offsets is going to be the

same one so let's come up here

piperon is going to be called West

Street water main

we'll go with an eight inch pipe

we're going to be going under the

composite surface

we're going to create that surface

profile now a horizontal offset distance

since I'm building this pressure network

from an existing object if I leave this

set to zero it's going to put it right

down the alignment I can put a positive

or A negative number here to create an

offset negative number we'll put it to

the left and it's based on the direction

of the piperon not necessarily the

direction of the roadway alignment we'll

see an example of that here in a little

bit in this case they're both running in

the same direction so if I want this to

the left I will say negative eight feet

cover five and a half feet now since we

are building this pipe run from a

selected object in the event that object

was at elevation like a feature line I

could come down here and say use a

Vertex elevations and I could say that

feature line represents the outside top

the crown the center line you can see

some of the other options here for right

now I'll just choose the cover of five

and a half feet and I don't want to

erase the existing object I'll click ok

there's my pipe run

let's create one for this roadway this

is Long Street now with Long Street the

stationing is coming from the east to

west

I'm going to create another pipe around

here

create it from object

notice the direction it doesn't have to

be the same direction so I can have this

going the other way let me click OK

we'll call this

long straight water main

and then

I want this to tie

to the Long Street alignment center line

alignments I would like to put it to the

left

so this is based on the direction the

pipe run goes so I'll say negative eight

feet to put it on this side

click ok

and then I can click here grab the

triangle I can pull this over and make

my connection I can now go through and I

can add additional Pi locations I can

add valves and pertinances wherever I

need them to finish building out my

water main design

so we've kind of talked about how we can

do this from a horizontal perspective

let's talk for a second about vertical

for the vertical we're going to look at

the example here I've got this pressure

Piper on East Court water main when we

draw or when we create a pressure

Network the elevations by default of the

cover depth is measured from all of the

endpoints or the bend Points each place

that you click

see that I'm going to select the piper

on and then from the contextual ribbon

if I wanted to draw this in a profile

you can see that we've got the classic

option here draw parts and profile view

so we can still do that we also have

this pipe run profile but this allows me

to create a pipe run profile view write

down the utility itself

and there's the pipe run Name by default

it's going to be doing the offsets at

the bends here's the reference profile

that's the surface profile composite

that's going to be maintaining that

Dynamic relationship with in the events

of the composite surface changes the

elevation of this water main will update

as well

and I would like to draw that in a new

profile view so this pipe run offsets at

the bends which is what it is currently

it's using the same composite

and let's draw it in a new view let me

click OK since I'm drawing a new view

it's going to be creating a profile view

just like it does for other profile

views I do want to make a couple edits

here if I go to profile display options

you can see that there will be two

profiles displayed in this view there

will be the profile that represents the

grips that I can use to edit this

vertically notice there's no pipes

options in here the appearance of the

pipes is going to be based on the styles

that are assigned in your parts list and

then this is the profile of the existing

ground I'd like to draw both of those

and then I'm going to come down I want

to change the profile style for the

ground

and I don't need labels on these so I'm

going to select both of those and I'll

click and I'll say take away the labels

now if I do come down to pipe pressure

Network I can see here's where I can

select the pipes and the fittings and

the importances that are going to

display in this view once again though

the appearance is controlled by the

styles that are assigned in the parts

list

let's just create profile view and I

will click over here

so there's that pressure Network

Underground

if I select this one time just like we

saw in the plan view if I select it one

time you can see the profile you can

kind of see that magenta line that is

the style of that profile I made that a

little bit different just to make it

easier to see

notice that

we have profile grips we can adjust the

pvi we can also adjust the the gradient

and the grade out so it makes it very

easy to edit

also notice it is setting that five and

a half foot cover depth at each of the

bend locations so it's a little closer

to the ground here a little farther away

here since we're dealing with an

existing surface you can see it's just

measuring right there and then it's a

straight shot to the bend here if we

wanted this to better follow the ground

since my pipe run is selected I'm going

to go back to pressure Network land view

here and I'll choose piperun profile and

let's flip this to cut length and I'm

not drawing a new one I'm just going to

say update the one that we have

when I click OK you can see how that

updates now the styles that I'm using

for my pipes are displaying the end

lines so it's showing me the cut lengths

that are defined from the parts list and

now it's measuring that five and a half

feet at every cut length it's deflecting

the pipe at each of those cut lengths

let me drag this over

if I select this basically I have more

pvi grips historically we used to have

multiple pvi grips along the individual

pipes which made it cumbersome to edit

these vertically now since we have a

nice pvi grip at each cut length I can

make they're easy edits to this as an

example I'll click the grip here I can

pull this down I can click the grip here

pull this down

and I'll press Escape let's zoom out a

little bit

and let's look at what we really did by

adjusting those grips if I select the

pipe rotten you're in profile and go to

piperun profile

basically I've said I want it to follow

this surface okay five and a half feet

below and I'd like it measured at the

cut lengths notice there's an overrides

tab here

and there's a single override if I

select that you can see overrides this

is where I've gone through and manually

adjusted things so from now on if this

surface was to change the pipe Network

would update in this area but it will

hold the adjustments that I've made or

the overrides I've made in this area

and we can delete overrides if we want I

can select that click the delete button

click OK you can see that I'll go right

back the way it was

the reason I show you that is because

this can be used to create lowerings

real quick here I'm going to simulate

uh pipe Crossing or utility Crossing

we'll say that's maybe a sanitary sewer

or something like that that we have to

deviate around

if I select my pipe run

I can very easily click these grips

and I can pull this down

and you can create a geometry here with

the appropriate slopes and the

appropriate maybe it's 18 inch

difference here I'll leave that up to

you just want to show you that very

easily I can grip edit these I can use

the grips here to

hold the grade coming in going out to

create a lowering and I just applied it

and basically I applied an override

when you make adjustments like this the

pipe is deflecting at each of these

locations if you wanted to place a

fitting at those locations

let me select this and from the

contextual ribbon I will choose add Bend

pvi

and I'll say I want to add a actual Bend

to the profile which will

which we'll put

the appropriate elbow

or the appropriate fitting at that

location

there we go let me press Escape

and if I zoom out

let's come over here

I will click once I will click a second

time

we'll window these and then I'll right

click and choose object viewer

and we'll just pull these up in 3D

so you can see there's the lowering with

the fittings

let's pan this back over

so very easy to create lowerings now we

do that as an override let's dial things

up just a little bit more

I'm going to launch the copy command

and we'll copy this

maybe we'll come down here and we'll put

one here and maybe we'll put one here

let's say I need to deviate around these

two maybe these are crossing elements

sanitary sewer storms or something like

that

I can create my lowerings as a profile

if I select

the profile view and go to profile

creation tools I can create a civil 3D

profile for this I can call it lowering

a

and I don't need labels on this

I can then draw this

maybe we'll start nearest to here so

we're not doing it right at one of the

cut lengths and I could use the

transparent tools if I wanted to draw

this at a particular slope or grade draw

it to a particular elevation once again

I'm going to leave that up to you

just showing you that you can create

your geometry

for your lowering

we'll take this up to maybe nearest to

here

perfect let's close this now if I select

my pipe run if I go to the piperon

profile

and go to overrides I can create a new

override

starting station

will be the end point here

end station

will be the end point

here

and in this area I would like to follow

the lowering a

profile that I created I would also like

the distance below that

I almost always forget this you can see

if that's five and a half feet down it's

going to try and draw this five and a

half feet below my profile since I want

that profile to represent the top of the

pipe I'll set my distance to zero I will

then choose cleanup pvis and I'll click

ok

and you can see how that pulls it down

now I can if if I'm going to add

fittings I can do this let me choose

we'll select this and I'll do add Bend

pvi

since we did it in the middle of a pipe

I can say I want to add a Bend right

there there's my fitting

I want to apply a Bend right there

there's my fitting

and I could put other ones on here or I

could have used the grips and I could

have pulled those over if I just wanted

to show these as deflections as opposed

to having an actual fitting there okay I

don't know if I touched on this just

want to make sure if I select the pipe

running profile and get access to the

profile object select it a second time

now I have access to the individual

components okay works the same way let

me go ahead and close this

all right dangerously close to the end

of the session here let me bring this

back today we looked at how we could get

started modeling pressure networks in

civil 3D we looked some of the new

functionality some of the things that

have been added since 2021. we talked

about how we could create a parts list

or a subset of the overall catalogs that

come with civil 3D that parts list

represents the tools that we use most

often when we're generating pressure

Network designs parts list is stored in

the templates for easy use with all the

drawings that we create

we also talked about how we could

generate pipe runs the pipe runs

represent branches in the overall water

Network we can have more than one run

within a network

we can connect Those runs together and

the runs are based on an underlying

alignment and profile which makes it

very easy to edit the geometry and the

fittings both horizontally and

vertically if you get a chance to use

this feature don't assume it has to be

used for just pressure networks several

types of utilities that you may want to

model are based on depth of cover things

like gas main or Fiber Optic line you

could kind of hijack this feature to

model some of those items as well

when it comes to the additional

resources I just want to share with you

a couple things I will have the links

for these in the description for this

video I've got a link here to the

Autodesk University online site

if you go here you can access Autodesk

University

classes from prior years not just 2022

but it goes back several years there's a

search feature right here you can do a

search for pressure Network we can do

searches for other topics or other

workflows with respect to civil 3D or

any other Autodesk application there's a

wealth of information available here

and in the Autodesk University online

site one of the recommendations I would

make is to take a look at this class

that was done in 2021 by Charlie Ogden

I'll select the hyperlink

this was found just using the search

feature in 2021 with the new pipe runs

Charlie gave a presentation on this you

can watch the video right there he also

includes the presentation and the

handout I show you this because Charlie

walks through some additional ways that

you can edit your part catalogs and he

also includes links to other resources

that will give you even more information

if you'd like to make hardcore edits to

those catalogs

civil immersion blog

myself and a couple other technical

Specialists have put together this blog

and over the last several years we have

posted hundreds of how-to workflows for

many of the Civil infrastructure

applications in the AC collection once

again another wealth of information if

you visit the blog you can see that each

of us has a dedicated YouTube link there

as well where you'll find all of the

videos that each of us have created

and I show you that to show you this

I will provide the hyperlink here Alan

Gilbert gave a wonderful presentation a

few months ago that walks through

getting started using pipe runs and

pressure networks and Alan also walked

through the process of assigning pay

items within your pipe Brunson and doing

the extractions so this

link will also be in the description if

you'd like to explore that topic

okay at this point we can address any

questions that you may have