How to Add a Segment/(s) to an Alignment

During training at Ideate, Inc, we are often asked how to add segment to an alignment.
 
Adding a segment to an alignment works sometimes and other times the alignment style seems to get applied but station labels do not appear. If you have been using Civil 3D before then I am positive you have seen this.
 
So the concept is, just as an alignment has a direction, every component of an alignment: lines, curves and spirals have a direction, which is displayed by the arrow component of the alignment style. If the direction of this segment is against the main alignment direction, the labels do not appear even though the segment gets added to the alignment – evident because color changes: alignment style gets applied. Here is how it works.
 
When you click on the button “Convert AutoCAD Line and arc” to add the lines/arcs at the beginning or end of the alignment to the alignment as shown below:

1. Labels do not appear even though the segment got added to the alignment. In the figure below you can see the white AutoCAD line turn green.

2. Click on the button “Reverse Sub-entity Direction” which is one icon to the right of “Convert AutoCAD Line and arc” icon as shown below.

See the label -0+59 appears as below:

That’s it; you are done. Now go ahead and add other segments as necessary.
 
If the negative station number is unacceptable, change it via the Reference Point under the Station Control tab of Alignment Properties.

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Gaurav Bagga
Ideate Infrastructure Solutions Application Specialist


Gaurav is a well rounded Application Engineer and Project Manager for Infrastructure Solutions at Ideate based out of San Francisco. He has over 15 years experience in construction industry and has been helping numerous small, medium and ENR 500 firms maximize their CAD investment for the last ten years. Gaurav is an Autodesk Certified Instructor and Autodesk Civil 3D Implementation Certified Expert. He has taught at several conferences, CAD Camps and Autodesk University. He has taught AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Land Desktop and Map 3D to thousands of students and helps Ideate develop the Infrastructure Services curriculum and courses. With his extensive CAD technology background he helps Bay Area engineering and surveying firms analyze and improve their design and drawing production process thereby improving productivity and the bottom line. Follow Gaurav on Twitter: @BeGeez

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