Avoidance zones

You can use avoidance zones in the Siteworks software. To create the avoidance zone, use the Trimble Business Center software. In a CAD file, create closed polygons around the different zones and select them as avoidance zones in the site creation process. The Trimble Business Center software will place the CAD file called *.avoid.dxf in the Siteworks Project folder.

DWG and VCL files are also supported for use as avoidance zone files. Any closed polygon within the file will be treated as an avoidance zone. Simply place the file called *.avoid.dwg or *.avoid.vcl into the main project directory for it to be used. Any CAD program can also be used to create an avoidance zone file. Any closed polygons in the file will be treated as avoidance zones. Just name the file *.avoid.dxf or *.avoid.dwg and place it into the Project folder.

As you approach an avoidance zone, the software warns you audibly and visually:

  • Yellow = Inside the avoidance zone tolerance area

  • Red = Inside the avoidance zone

To adjust the tolerance for the avoidance zone, select Home / Settings / Avoidance Zone.

Incursions into an avoidance zone are recorded in the TaskLog.txt.

Siteworks v1.75 introduced the ability to create avoidance zones in the field. In v1.75 and later, it is possible to tap and hold on an existing closed measured line in the currently open work order or a closed polygon in the currently loaded DXF/DWG/VCL design and turn it into an avoidance zone. Tap and hold on any closed measured line or a closed polygon in the design, and select Create Avoidance Zone. This menu item is only available for closed lines; it is not displayed for non-closed lines.

An avoidance zone measured line type has also been added to the pulldown for the line type in the Measure Type screen in v1.75 and later. Avoidance zones created in this way are not composed of breaklines. They are treated the same as an Arealine type and are not included in the open work order’s measured surface.

COGO create line tools, including the line created in the Point at Bearing & Distance command, are able to create avoidance zones. The Create Avoidance Zone option is not available with the COGO Create Offset Line tool.

When an avoidance zone object is created in Siteworks, a field called Field.Avoid.dxf is created in the Project folder where the closed polygon objects are written to a DXF file. Multiple avoidance zone files in the project directory are supported in v1.75 and later. In earlier versions, only one avoidance zone file was supported; if multiple avoidance zone files were present, the Siteworks software would only use the first one that the operating system provided during a project load. Siteworks v1.75 and later will load any combination of multiple *.avoid.VCL, .DXF, or .DWG files in the Project folder.

The create avoidance zone functionality also supports curved portions of the closed design polygons so that any curved portions of the polygon are properly exported in the avoidance zone file. The software also supports editing avoidance zones created in the COGO and Measure feature. If you select to continue measuring the original avoidance zone line, the avoidance zone created from that line is removed and a new avoidance zone is saved when the measured line is closed. Deleting points from the measured avoidance zone line also updates the saved avoidance zone. Deleting the original avoidance line generates a prompt giving you the option to also delete the saved avoidance zone. This editing capability only applies to the avoidance zones created in the Measure Line and COGO feature, and does not apply to avoidance zones created using the tap-and-hold menu.

All these create avoidance zone capabilities introduced in v1.75 requires the Advanced Measurement module and are not available in the Siteworks SE Starter Edition.