Create and Edit a Volume Grid
Use the Create Volume Grid to rapidly compute the volume between two large surfaces. A volume grid displays in the Plan View showing the areas requiring cut or fill earthworks totransform the initial surface into the final surface. View the Properties of the volume grid to review the cut and fill volume calculations, or to edit the grid settings and recompute the volumes.
Prerequisites:
- Licensed model; See Licensed Features to determine if your license supports this feature.
- Two overlapping surfaces
To access the command:
- Select Create Volume Grid in Surfaces > View. The Create Volume Grid pane displays.
To compute the volume between two surfaces:
- In the Name field, enter a name for the volume grid. This name is used to identify the volume grid in the View Filter Manager and in the Project Explorer (under Stored Measurements).
- In the Surface group, enter the initial and final surface to compute cut and fill volumes.
- To place extents on the volume calculation, click in the Boundaries box, then in the Plan View, select the boundary. Click the Option button for more selection options. When the volume grid is created, if the center of the grid cell is within the boundary, the volume of the grid cell is included.
- In the Grid spacing box, enter the grid size to be used in the volume calculation. For example, if your project distance unit is configured to be meters, a value of 1.0 specifies a grid size of 1 square meter.
Enter a grid spacing that is suitable for the density of your surface points and the required volume accuracy. Smaller grid spacing will improve the accuracy of the volume only if the original surfaces are an accurate representation of the existing surface.
- To orient the grid, in the Rotation box, enter the rotation angle for the horizontal (x-axis) grid lines. Clockwise is positive. Or in the Plan View click two points to show the direction of the x-axis.
- Click to compute the cut and fill volume between the two surfaces.
- In the Results field, view the computed cut and fill volumes and areas, and the net volume.
- Click .
To View and Edit a Volume Grid:
- The volume grid is displayed in the Plan View and shows the cut and fill areas. To change the appearance of the volume grid, in the Project Settings navigate to Computations>Surfaces and in the Grid Label Settings edit the Shading cut color and Shading fill color.
- Manage the visibility of the volume grid in the View Filter Manager. The volume grid is identified by the name you entered when you created the volume grid and the boundary used (if applicable).
- To display the properties of the volume grid, in the View Filter Manager or the Plan View, right click the volume grid and select Properties from the menu.
In the Properties pane you can:
- view the cut and fill volume calculations.
- change the way the volume grid appears in the plan view.
- edit the properties of the volume grid and recompute the volumes. This includes editing the initial and final surface, the grid size and rotation and the coordinates of the volume grid origin. The cut and fill volumes are automatically recomputed.
Note: To add or remove a volume grid's boundary, right click the volume grid in the View Filter Manager or Plan View and select Add/Remove Surface Boundaries from the menu. In the Surface list select the volume grid you want to edit.
Important volume grid properties:
In the Properties pane [F11] for a selected volume grid, you can:
- Use these values to generate a specific cut or fill based on a target balance value:
- Approximate balance amount - Vertical distance to move either surface to balance the cut/fill volumes.
- Approximate volume delta per 0.1 unit - Approximate volumetric change if either surface is raised or lowered 0.1 of the project distance unit.
For example, if you know what is required to balance a site, but you need a 1000 yd export, use the balance amount to determine the design elevation adjustment you need to make to get to the export overage volume. The approximate volume delta is also shown in the Earthwork Summary Report as “Change Per 0.1”.
