Geotechnical Module 2015 – Civil 3D

By Geoff Woodhead 

It’s been back for 2015 for a while and it’s still my favourite Civil 3D product enhancement. Geotechnical Module 2015 is available for download from the Autodesk Subscription Centre to anyone with an Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite Premium or Ultimate edition Subscription. If you have the need to incorporate Geotechnical data in your model there is no better way than with this module.

My colleague Graham has recently posted a blog on a common issue for users of Civil 3D that have installed Map 3D service packs on their machines together with a workaround to fix the issue in which the user is unable to import borehole data into Civil 3D. This can be found here.

The Specifics

For those of you who haven’t used the Geotechnical Module before it is designed to integrate geotechnical data with AutoCAD Civil 3D. It provides us the ability to store imported geotechnical information in our models, promoting wider use of valuable information and strengthening our BIM workflows. We can project boreholes to profile views enabling detailed analysis of our design in relation to its underground surroundings. It also provides the ability to extrapolate our findings and create complex Civil 3D surfaces of the strata found at our site. Recent developments include workflows for Fault Geology Modelling.

Data can be imported from a range of sources including .ags and .csv, in addition to ‘traditional’ file import methods the Geotechnical Module also allows for seamless integration with HoleBASE SI. This is great news for anyone already using HoleBASE! You can connect directly to your HoleBASE SI database and pull geotechnical information straight into your Civil 3D model meaning the most upto date data is always at your fingertips!

It couldn’t be easier to extrapolate or edit Civil 3D surfaces representing strata and I hope you’ll agree that the visualisation can really help with getting our head around whats underneath us. If you own a copy of Infrastructure Design Suite Premium or Ultimate but aren’t on Subscription then what are you waiting for? The Geotechnical Module and other product enhancements make our design experience so much more comprehensive and intuitive. They make an already great suite of applications even greater. I’ll leave you with a screen capture of a completely unedited version of my imported strata surfaces and my best wishes for your exploration of the Geotechnical Module.