Paydirt SiteWork

Tutorial

Version 5.23

F
Part Number 0320-0701-02
February 2009
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Contents
1 SiteWork Introduction
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Basic Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Mouse Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Screen Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Menu Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2 Getting Started
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Setting Program Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Default Surface Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Project Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Before Digitizing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Using the Digitizer's 16-Button Puck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Mouse Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Key Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Digitize Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3 Setting Up A SiteWork Project

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Setting Up A SiteWork Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Setting Up A SiteWork Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Setting the Drawing Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4 Entering Existing Surface Data

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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Contents

Entering Existing Surface Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Defining the Master Area of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Digitizing Reference Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Digitizing Existing Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Using the Automatic Contour Interval Method . . . . . . . . . 38
Using the +/- Contour Interval Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Stripping the Topsoil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Copying the AOI to a Topsoil Strip Subgrade Adjustment . . . 48

5 Entering Proposed Surface Data

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Opening the Proposed Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Digitizing Proposed Contours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Using Automatic Contour Interval Method . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Copy Enclosed Contour Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Using +/- Contour Interval Method (pre-SiteWork 4.0) . . . . . 59
Digitizing the Parking Lot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Exiting and Re-Opening SiteWork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Digitizing the Office Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Digitizing Pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Adjusting Finished Grade to Subgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Digitizing the Subgrade Adjustment for the Topsoil Respread . 75
Copying the Office Building Pad
to Create a Subgrade Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Copying the Parking Lot Sloping Line
to a Subgrade Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

6 Running Reports
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Generating a 3-D View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Creating a Cut/Fill Location Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Creating a Total Volumes Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
(SiteWork Advanced) Creating a Project Summary Report . . . . . . 97

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7 Using Terramodel to Import Data

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Opening SiteWork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Displaying the Desired Data in Terramodel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Sending the Data from Terramodel to SiteWork . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

8 General Information
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Showing and Hiding Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Excluding an Area from a Subgrade Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Entering Existing and Proposed Data
from Two Sheets at Different Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Exporting to Terramodel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Summary of Terramodel Menu Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

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Contents

viii Paydirt SiteWork Tutorial

 CHAPTER

1
SiteWork Introduction 1

In this chapter:

Q Introduction
Q Basic terminology
Q Mouse controls
Q Screen controls
Q Menu selection
1 SiteWork Introduction

1.1 Introduction
We designed this tutorial to show you how to perform a basic
SiteWork takeoff of a site that includes a building pad, parking lot, and
pond. We will show you how to:
• Set up a project to do an earthwork takeoff (including
configuring the project, drawing, and surfaces).
• Define a boundary for volume calculations (area of interest or
AOI).
• Digitize contour lines, sloping lines, and pads.
• Enter subgrade adjustments (layers) for topsoil stripping and
other materials.
• Use the 3-D, Cut/Fill, Total Volumes, and Project Summary
reports.
• Switch between surfaces.
• Open and close SiteWork.
• Import CAD data.
• Export to Terramodel to use with Roadway and Construction
Pak modules or to save in a different file format.
During the exercise, the instructions will always tell you how to select
commands from the pull-down menus. Many commands can also be
invoked by clicking a toolbar button.
We have written this tutorial to teach you the basics for performing a
takeoff. For additional information about specific features, please refer
to your SiteWork User Guide.
Make sure your computer meets the minimum requirements for
SiteWork that are listed in your SiteWork User Guide. To learn how to
turn on your computer, see the manuals that came with your computer.
To learn more about Microsoft Windows, see your Microsoft
Windows documentation.

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 SiteWork Introduction 1

1.2 Basic Terminology

We will be using the following terminology throughout the exercise.

1.2.1 Mouse Controls

Control Function
Click Move your mouse so the cursor
on the screen is on top of the
item you want to pick. Press and
release the left mouse button.
Right click Move your mouse so the cursor
on the screen is on top of the
item or area you want to pick.
Press and release the right
mouse button.
Double-click Move your mouse so the cursor
is on top of the item you want to
pick. Press (and release) the left
mouse button twice in quick
succession.
Click and Drag Move your mouse so the cursor
is on top of the item you want to
pick. Press and hold the left
mouse button as you drag the
item to a new location, then
release.

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1 SiteWork Introduction

1.2.2 Screen Controls

Control Example Function

Check box A box within a dialog box
that allows you to turn a
specified feature on or
off.
Dialog box A box that allows you to
make selections or
provide information to the
program.

Edit Box A control within a dialog

box into which you can
type information.

List box A box that contains a list

of selections. Many list
boxes have a cascading
feature where only the
first item in the list is
visible until you click the
down arrow next to the
item to open the list box.
Option button A circle in a dialog box
that lets you select only
one of the displayed
options.

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 SiteWork Introduction 1

Control Example Function

Message box A dialog box that appears
when SiteWork displays
information.
Warning box A message that appears
when SiteWork displays
important information
that can affect the
operation of the program.

1.3 Menu Selection

SiteWork menus follow standard Windows conventions. To simplify
the instructions for selecting a menu option, this tutorial uses the
syntax: Edit / Surface / Open to indicate that you are to select this
menu option:

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1 SiteWork Introduction

6 Paydirt SiteWork Tutorial

 CHAPTER

2
Getting Started 2

In this chapter:

Q Introduction
Q Setting program preferences
Q Using the digitizer’s 16-button puck
2 Getting Started

2.1 Introduction
Before starting SiteWork, make sure you have started your computer
and have the Windows desktop on the screen.
There are two ways to start SiteWork in Windows 95/98/2000. You
can start SiteWork from the Start menu, or from a shortcut icon. A
shortcut icon should have been created during the installation of
SiteWork. If it isn't on the desktop now, you can learn how to create a
shortcut icon on your desktop from the Windows online help (see the
Start menu).

To start SiteWork from the Windows Start menu:

Click the Start button to open the Start menu and select
Programs / Paydirt / SiteWork 5.2.

To start SiteWork from a shortcut icon:

Double-click the SiteWork icon on the desktop.

8 Padirt SiteWork Tutorial

 Getting Started 2

Title bar Menu bar

Toolbar

Figure 2.1 SiteWork screen

When you start SiteWork, the SiteWork project window appears. In

this window, you create or open projects, drawings and surfaces, enter
plan (surface) data, run reports and set program preferences.
Normally, the SiteWork window opens to the project, drawing and
surface you were last working in. (If you have never created a
SiteWork project before, SiteWork opens a sample project.) The title
bar on the SiteWork screen on your computer may show a different
current project, drawing and/or surface than Figure 2.1, above. The
menu bar lists SiteWork's menus in the order in which you are likely to
use them. The status bar at the bottom left corner of the screen shows
messages that describe the menu items or what SiteWork expects you
to do.

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2 Getting Started

2.2 Setting Program Preferences

This tutorial assumes that your Paydirt SiteWork program preference
settings are the same as the program defaults. If you have installed
Paydirt SiteWork as a new product on your computer, these default
settings are already configured. However, if Paydirt SiteWork is an
update to a previous version of Paydirt SiteWork then your settings
may need to be adjusted.

2.2.1 Default Surface Settings

1. Select Tools / Options / Surface Names Defaults.

2. Make sure Daylight final surface by default is checked, then

click OK.

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 Getting Started 2

2.2.2 Project Settings

1. Select Tools / Options / Project Settings.

2. Set the options on your system to the same as shown in the

Project Settings dialog box above, then click OK.
Table 2.1, below, describes the options in the Project Settings dialog
box.
Table 2.1 Project settings
Option Description
Coordinates Allows you to select the coordinate system for your
project.
XYZ (default) - X represents a horizontal position, Y
represents a vertical position, and Z represents an
elevation on the site.
YXZ - Use this when Y represents a horizontal
position and X represents a vertical position on the
site. This format is not typically used in North
America.
NEZ - Use this to represent coordinates that use N
as a north/south position and E as an east/west
position on the site. For most of you N represents the
same direction on the site as Y and E represents the
same direction as X.

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2 Getting Started

Table 2.1 Project settings (Continued)

Option Description
Relative - Automatically creates coordinates based
on the drawing scale and its location on the digitizer.
This tutorial uses Relative mode.
Field - Requires that you enter the coordinate values
of two reference points to establish a coordinate
system.
Confirm Allows you to tell SiteWork when to make you
confirm certain operations
Cancel - Confirms that you want to cancel the
operation, if canceling will cause you to loose data. It
is recommended that you leave this box checked.
Delete - Confirms that you want to delete the
selected item. You will only be asked for major items,
such as Projects, Drawing, Surfaces or Enclosed
Areas. We recommend that you leave this box
checked.
Overwrite - Confirms that you want to overwrite an
already existing project or archive when you are
archiving and restoring projects. We recommend
that you leave this box checked.
Grid Smoothing Sets the amount of smoothing the grid engine uses
on the surface model to make the model more
natural looking. Medium is a good setting. None
should never be checked.
Subgrade Determines whether the elevation under a pad can
Adjustments be adjusted by a subgrade adjustment. (Advanced
under Pads Feature)
Individually Protect Pads and Sloping Areas is
enabled and Affect Subgrade is selected even
thought it is disabled (default).
Units Establishes the units of the plan. You can choose
from feet or meters. NOTE: If you typically create
your project in feet and get a metric plan, you can do
the takeoff in metric and then change this setting
back to Feet and get your answers in cubic yards
instead of cubic meters.

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 Getting Started 2

2.3 Before Digitizing Data

Before you begin, make sure the plan sheet is laid smoothly on the
digitizer board and is taped down at the corners with masking tape.
Prepare the plan as you would if you were doing the takeoff manually
(i.e., highlighting contour elevations, hard to read contours,
boundaries for select materials such as the parking lot and entrance
drives). It is easier to define strip topsoil, concrete, respread, heavy
and light duty paving boundaries before you start digitizing. You are
more likely to make a digitizing mistake if you try to define these
boundaries on the fly.
The contours on the tutorial plan are pretty easy to read, but you still
may want to highlight the existing contours and elevations to make
them easier to trace. This will help you familiarize yourself with the
plan.

2.4 Using the Digitizer's 16-Button Puck

Your 16-button puck is a powerful device that can be used as a mouse,
as a digitizer, and to enter information as if you were using the
keyboard. To use the 16-button puck effectively, you need to
understand how to use it as a mouse, digitizer, and keypad. This
section will explain the three different modes.

2.4.1 Mouse Mode

The digitizer is in mouse mode if the mouse arrow moves when you
move the 16-button puck across the digitizer. When the digitizer is in
this mode the puck can be used as mouse in any Windows program.

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2 Getting Started

The 16-button puck has four rows with four buttons in each row.
When the digitizer is in mouse mode, the labels on the buttons do not
mean anything. There are only a few buttons that will function when
the puck is in Mouse mode, as shown in the picture below.

2.4.2 Key Mode

In SiteWork, when a dialog box appears on the screen the digitizer will
automatically be placed into key mode. This enables you to enter
elevation and thickness values from the 16-button puck, instead of
using the keyboard. SiteWork provides this functionality, so it will not
be available in all of your software programs.
Your 16-button puck may have one of several different button layouts,
depending on when and from whom you purchased your digitizer.
When you install SiteWork and choose the 16-button puck layout, a
button mapping is created so SiteWork will recognize the buttons as
represented by your button layout. If your puck is different from one
of the options shown in Table 2.2, please contact Technical Support
for help setting the mapping for your 16-button puck.

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 Getting Started 2

In key mode the labels on your 16-button puck represent their

functionality. Table 2.2, below, shows the two most common puck
layouts.
Table 2.2 Common puck layouts
Puck layout Example
Trimble Puck Layout (Most
common layout used in
SiteWork version 4.0 and
later.) Use the automatic
contour interval method with
this puck layout.

Pre-SiteWork 4.0 Puck Layout

Use the +/- contour interval
method with this puck layout.

2.4.3 Digitize Mode

When SiteWork asks you to digitize a point, line or enclosed area, the
digitizer will automatically be placed into digitize mode.
Points are digitized with the upper left button on the digitizer puck,
regardless of which puck you have. This is the same button you use to
select items when you are using the digitizer puck as a mouse. This
digitize button can be changed in the Digitizer Setup dialog box (Tools
/ Options / Digitizer Settings). See your SiteWork User Guide for more
information.
When you are digitizing points, other buttons such as , , ,
, and on the digitizer puck are also used for special functions.

Padirt SiteWork Tutorial 15

2 Getting Started

16 Padirt SiteWork Tutorial

 CHAPTER

3
Setting Up A SiteWork Project 3

In this chapter:

Q Introduction
Q Setting up a SiteWork project
Q Setting up a SiteWork drawing
Q Setting the drawing scale
3 Setting Up A SiteWork Project

3.1 Introduction
This chapter illustrates the methods for creating a new project, and
setting up drawings and a drawing scale for the project.

3.2 Setting Up A SiteWork Project

To create a new Project:

1. Select Project / New.

2. In the Project Id field, enter SAMPLE.

(Optional) Press [Tab] on your keyboard to move to the
Description field and type Paydirt SiteWork Sample Takeoff. Press [Tab]
to move to other fields and enter any other desired information.
3. Press [Enter] or click OK.
Note – The Project ID is the only information required when you
create a new project and cannot contain spaces. SiteWork uses this
name for the directory in which the project data is stored.

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 Setting Up A SiteWork Project 3

3.3 Setting Up A SiteWork Drawing

After entering the project information, SiteWork will automatically
open the New Drawing dialog box.

1. In the Drawing Name field, type D-1. (A drawing name can

contain up to 30 characters, including spaces.)
2. Press [Tab] to move to the Grid Spacing field and type 4. (We
suggest starting with grid spacing that is 1/10 of the drawing
scale).
3. Press [Tab] to move to the Minimum field in the Drawing
Elevations section and type 450.
4. Press [Tab] to move to the Maximum field and type 475.
5. Press [Enter] or click OK to close the dialog box. The Drawing
Scale dialog box will open.

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3 Setting Up A SiteWork Project

The Minimum and Maximum controls set a range of elevations for

SiteWork to check against when you enter elevations. If your
minimum/maximum range is 50/200 and you enter a data elevation of
1000 instead of 100, SiteWork will warn you that the elevation is
outside of the range and allow you to reenter the elevation or accept it.
The range does not need to fit the minimum and maximum range of
the drawing exactly.
The Minimum and Maximum controls in the Entity Thickness section
set a minimum and maximum range for material thickness. If you
accidentally type in a thickness of 5 feet instead of.5 feet SiteWork
will warn you. Leave these values at their defaults.

3.4 Setting the Drawing Scale

After entering the drawing information, SiteWork will automatically
open the Drawing Scale dialog box.

This dialog box is used to set the scale for the drawing. You can enter
the drawing scale with the Scale value option, or you can use the
Known distance option to digitize a line on the plan with a known
distance and SiteWork will calculate the scale.

To set the scale with Scale Value:

1. Scale value is selected by default. Enter 40 in the field. (Our
tutorial plan is at a scale of 40 feet per inch.)
2. Press [Enter] or click OK to accept the scale.

20 Paydirt SiteWork Tutorial

 Setting Up A SiteWork Project 3

Note – For metric scales, assume a 1: in the edit box. For example,
type 500 for a metric scale of 1:500.

To set the scale with Known Distance:

1. Choose a line with a known distance on the plan (the property
line on the tutorial plan is 650 feet).
2. Select the Known Distance option.
3. Digitize the first point of the known distance line. (The upper
left corner of the site property line on this project.)
4. Digitize the second point of the known distance line. (The upper
right corner of the site property line on this project.)
5. Type 650 (the distance between the digitized points) in the
Known Distance field. The calculated scale will display in the
Scale Value field.
6. Press [Enter] or click OK to accept the scale.
Note – It is always best to choose a long line when using Known
Distance rather than a short line. This will make the calculation of the
scale more accurate.

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3 Setting Up A SiteWork Project

After you enter the drawing scale, SiteWork opens a plan data
window, where you enter the plan data for the current drawing.
Current project name Current drawing name Current surface name

Menu bar Toolbar

Graphics
area

Status bar

Figure 3.1 Plan data window

SiteWork's title bar displays the current project name (SAMPLE), the
current drawing (D-1) and the current surface, Existing. SiteWork
automatically creates an existing and proposed surface for each
drawing.
The menu bar allows easy access to editing tasks and reports when
you are finished entering data. The Toolbar, directly below the menu
bar, contains a series of icon buttons to select specific menu
commands without having to open the menus. Moving your cursor
over each icon button reveals a tool tip identifying the function of the
button.

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 Setting Up A SiteWork Project 3

The plan data is displayed in the graphics area below the Toolbar.
Beneath the graphics area is the Status bar, which displays messages
about the commands you are using and gives elevation and coordinate
information. The Status bar also shows a brief description of each
menu item and icon tool button on the Toolbar as you place your
cursor over it.

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3 Setting Up A SiteWork Project

24 Paydirt SiteWork Tutorial

 CHAPTER

4
Entering Existing Surface
Data 4

In this chapter:

Q Introduction
Q Entering existing surface data
Q Defining the master area of interest
Q Digitizing reference points
Q Digitizing existing contours
Q Stripping the topsoil
4 Entering Existing Surface Data

4.1 Introduction
When you create a new drawing in SiteWork, you are placed on the
existing surface by default. Although it does not matter which surface
you enter first, we will begin with the existing surface.

4.2 Entering Existing Surface Data

To enter existing surface data, we'll perform the following steps:
• Digitize reference points, which tells SiteWork where the plan
sheet is located on the digitizing board.
• Digitize the master area of interest that defines the limits of
grading, which will be used for volume calculations.
• Digitize the existing contours.
• Define the topsoil stripping.

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Figure 4.1, below, shows the site plan and reference points.

Reference point #2

Reference point #1

Figure 4.1 Tutorial takeoff plan

4.3 Defining the Master Area of Interest

Areas of interest (AOIs) define boundaries for volume calculations.
The Master AOI is typically used to define the limits of grading for the
drawing and is the default boundary for volume calculations. It does
not have to be square, but remember to keep it simple.
You can create as many AOIs as you need to calculate cut and fill
volumes for different areas of the site. AOIs can be created at any
time, however we recommend inputting an AOI first so that you have
a boundary on the screen to use as a reference when digitizing other
data.

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To define an AOI:
1. Select Edit /Draw (Digitize) / Areas of Interest.

OR
Click and on the toolbar.

4.3.1 Digitizing Reference Points

Since this is the first piece of information to be entered for this
drawing, SiteWork prompts you to digitize the drawing reference
points. We have marked the reference points on the tutorial plan,
(Figure 4.1, page 27) as reference point #1 and reference point #2.
Reference points are the two most important points you create for a
drawing. Pick two points you can locate on any set of plans for this
drawing (property corners work well). It is typically best to pick two

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points on or inside the area of interest, but it is not required. The two
points must be at least 3 inches apart, but it is better if they are farther
apart.

1. Place the digitizer puck crosshair directly over reference point

#1 (the lower left corner of the plan, see Figure 4.1, page 27)
and press and release the digitize button on the 16-button puck.

2. Place the digitizer puck crosshair directly over reference point

#2 (the upper right corner of the plan, see Figure 4.1, page 27),
and press and release the digitize button on the 16-button puck.

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3. In the Name field, enter D-1 Limits for the name of this master
AOI. We are using a naming convention of the drawing name
followed by the word "Limits", which is a good convention to
use.
4. Check the Master check box to indicate we are digitizing a
master AOI.
5. Check the Daylight to check box. The daylight surface will
default to Existing.
Note – A Daylight AOI will tie the Proposed surface to the
elevation of the Existing surface at the AOI boundary.
6. Click Start or press [Enter].

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7. Place the digitizer puck crosshairs directly over the upper left
corner of the site boundary (the thick outline surrounding the
site on the grading plan, Figure 4.2, page 31). Press and release
the digitize button.
8. Digitize the other three corners of the site boundary.

First point on AOI Fourth point on AOI

Second point on AOI Third point on AOI

Figure 4.2 AOI boundary

9. After you have digitized the last corner, press the [Enter] key on
your digitizer puck. SiteWork will automatically close the AOI
and the Area of Interest Input dialog box will open.
10. Press the button on your digitizer puck and click [Cancel] to
close the Area of Interest Input dialog box.
Note – This dialog box opens automatically to give you an
opportunity to digitize additional areas of interest. You can add
as many areas of interest as you like to calculate volumes for
different sections or phases of a project.

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4.4 Digitizing Existing Contours

There are two methods of entering contours to accommodate different
16-button puck layouts. Two versions of digitizing contours have been
included in this tutorial to make the tutorial easier to follow. We have
written separate instructions for the two contour interval methods:
• Digitizing contours using the Automatic Contour Interval
Method, and
• Digitizing Contours Using the +/- Contour Interval Method
(pre-SiteWork 4.0).
Table 4.1 below describes the default contour interval methods under
different installation possibilities.
Table 4.1 Contour digitizing methods by program installation
Installation Contour Digitizing Method
New installations Automatic contour interval
method
Updates, if you uninstall your Automatic contour interval
current version of SiteWork method. If you uninstall SiteWork
before you install the new
version, the install procedure re-
initializes the digitizer set up and
defaults to the automatic contour
interval method.
Updates, if you do install over The contour interval method you
your current version of are using in the current version
SiteWork of SiteWork. When you install
SiteWork over a previous
version, the install procedure
uses your previous digitizer set
up information. If you have used
SiteWork for a long time (pre-
SiteWork 4.0) and you have not
changed your method of entering
contours, you are probably using
the +/- contour interval method.

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To choose the contour interval method:

1. Select Edit / Draw (Digitize) / Contour Lines.

2. Check or clear the Use enter key to end contour and bump
interval check box based on the digitizing puck layout you use
(see Table 2, page 34). If you are using the +/- contour interval
method (pre-SiteWork 4.0), go to page 39 for your digitizing

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4 Entering Existing Surface Data

instructions.
Table 4.2 Contour interval methods by digitizer puck layout
Puck Layout Contour Interval Method
Use Automatic Contour Interval
Method (see below)

Trimble digitizing
puck layout
Use +/- Contour Interval Method on
page 39

Pre-SiteWork 4.0
digitizing puck layout

4.4.1 Digitizing Contours Using the Automatic Contour Interval

Method

To digitize contours:
1. Select Edit / Draw (Digitize) / Contour Lines
OR

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Click and on the toolbar. The Digitize Contours dialog

box will open.

2. Using your digitizer puck, type 456 in the Elevation field.

3. Press the digitize button on your puck to move to the Interval
field and type 2.
Note – To move to the Interval field, you can also press the [Tab]
key on the keyboard or use your mouse to click in the Interval
field, but it is easier to use the 16-button puck.
4. Make sure Use enter key to end contour and bump interval is
cleared for the automatic contour interval method.
5. Press [Enter] on your 16-button puck or keyboard to begin
digitizing the first contour.
6. Place your digitizer crosshair at one end of the 456 contour, (see
Figure 4.3, page 36).
You can stream in the contour by pressing and holding the
digitize button while tracing the 456 contour. Streaming data
may appear to be faster and easier, but it is typically less
accurate and it takes up significantly more memory.
OR,
You can digitize points along the contour line by pressing and
releasing the digitize button for each point you want to digitize
along the contour. Entering data point by point allows you to
edit more easily. To enter a straight line, click a single point at
each end of the line.

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Note – If you digitize a bad point you can correct it (before

ending the contour) by pressing the button on the 16-button
puck to remove the unwanted points, and then continuing to
digitize the line.
Begin digitizing existing 456 contour here

Trace the contour while holding the digitize button down or digitize single
points along the contour

Stop digitizing contour 456 here

Figure 4.3 How to digitize contours

7. Press [Enter] on your 16-button puck to end the 456-contour. The

elevation for the next contour will automatically change to 458.
Review the Z value in the Status bar to verify.

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Note – The 456 contour will be partially off the screen. Click
the Toolbar icon ( ) with the mouse to reset the screen.
SiteWork will update the screen after digitizing the contours.

Current contour shown here

8. Place the digitizer crosshairs on the 458 contour just outside of

the Master AOI and digitize the 458 contour.
Note – Starting a contour adjacent to where the previous
contour ended makes input go faster.
9. Press [Enter] to end the 458 contour. The elevation for the next
contour will automatically change to 460. Look at the Z value in
the status bar to check.
10. Digitize contour 460, press [Enter] and repeat this process for
contours 462, 464, 466, 468, 470, and 472.

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11. After you digitize contour 472, press [Enter] to end the contour.
Press [Enter] again to return to the Digitize Contours dialog box.

12. Press on the digitizer puck and click [Cancel] in the Digitize
Contour dialog box to stop digitizing contours.

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The figure on the previous page shows the completed digitized

existing contours.
Note – Contours 456, 470 and 472 have a portion of the
contour line outside the area of interest. It is important to
digitize this information to create the most accurate surface
model. Volumes will be calculated within the area of interest,
but all the data is used to create the surface model. If the 456
contour was not digitized, the left edge of the existing surface
would be flat at elevation 458 instead of sloping from 458 down
to 456.
Proceed to Stripping the Topsoil, page 44.

4.4.2 Digitizing Contours Using the +/- Contour Interval Method

To digitize contours:
1. Select Edit / Draw (Digitize) / Contour Lines
OR
Click and on the toolbar. The Digitize Contours dialog
box will open.

2. Using your 16-button puck, type 456 in the Elevation field.

3. Press [Tab] on the keyboard to move to the Interval field or use
your mouse to click in the Interval field and enter 2.
4. Check the Use enter key to end contour and bump interval box.

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5. Press [Enter] on your 16-button puck or keyboard to begin

digitizing the first contour.
6. Place your digitizer crosshair at one end of the 456 contour, (see
figure, below).
You can stream in the contour by pressing and holding the
digitize button while tracing the 456 contour. Streaming data
may appear to be faster and easier, but it is typically less
accurate and it takes up significantly more memory.
OR
You can digitize points along the contour line by pressing and
releasing the digitize button for each point you want to digitize
along the contour. Entering data point by point allows you to
edit more easily. To enter a straight line, click a single point at
each end of the line.

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Note – If you digitize a bad point you can correct it by pressing

the button on the 16-button puck, before ending the
contour, to remove the unwanted points and then continue
digitizing the line.
Begin digitizing existing 456 contour here
Trace the contour while holding the digitize button down or digitize single
points along the contour

Stop digitizing contour 456 here

7. Press on the digitizer puck to end the 456 contour. The

elevation for the next contour will automatically change to 458.
Look at the Z value in the status bar to check.

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4 Entering Existing Surface Data

Note – The 456 contour will be partially off the screen. Click
the Toolbar icon ( ) with the mouse to reset the screen.
SiteWork will update the screen after digitizing the contours.

Current contour shown here

8. Place the digitizer crosshairs on the 458 contour just outside of

the master AOI and digitize contour 458.
Note – Starting a contour adjacent to where the previous
contour ended makes input go faster.
9. Press to end the 458 contour. The elevation for the next
contour will automatically change to 460. Look at the Z value in
the status bar to check.
10. Digitize contour 460, press [Enter] and repeat this process for
contours 462, 464, 466, 468, 470, and 472.

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11. After you digitize contour 472, press [Enter] to return to the
Digitize Contour dialog box.

12. Press the button on the digitizer puck and click Cancel in
the Digitize Contour dialog box to stop digitizing contours.

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4 Entering Existing Surface Data

Note contours 456, 470 and 472, where the majority or a major
portion of the contour is outside the area of interest. It is
important to digitize this information to create the most accurate
surface model. Volumes will be calculated within the area of
interest, but all the data is used to create the surface model. If
the 456 contour was not digitized then the left edge of the
Existing surface would be flat at elevation 458 instead of
sloping from 458 down to 456.

4.5 Stripping the Topsoil

We have completed digitizing the limits of grading (master area of
interest) and the contours of the existing surface area, but we still must
account for topsoil stripping. Since topsoil is unsuitable material,
SiteWork can keep the topsoil volume separate from the usable dirt cut
/ fill volumes. We will strip 6" of topsoil from the entire site.
SiteWork subgrade adjustments are used to adjust the site volumes to
account for unsuitable dirt and select materials. A subgrade
adjustment alters the elevation of an area on a surface by its thickness
without changing the slope of the surface. Subgrade adjustment
thickness should be entered as a positive value; a negative thickness
will raise the site instead of lowering it.
Subgrade adjustments that account for topsoil stripping or material
removals, such as removing an existing concrete pad, must be entered
on the existing surface.

4.5.1 Copying the AOI to a Topsoil Strip Subgrade Adjustment

We have already digitized the site boundary as the master area of
interest. Now we'll copy the master AOI to a subgrade adjustment for
topsoil stripping.

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To copy an AOI to a subgrade adjustment:

1. Select Edit / Copy / Areas of Interest
OR
Click and on the Toolbar. The Copy dialog box will
open, as shown in Figure 4.4, below.

Our only AOI

is the default
Copying an
AOI to a subgrade
adjustment is
selected by default.
Use the Name field
to represent a
location on the site

Use the Group field

to represent the
t ype of material. The thickness
represents how
much you want to
lower the site from
finished grade to
subgrade.

Figure 4.4 Copy dialog box

2. In the Name field, type D-1 Strip.

3. Press [Tab] to move to the Group field and type Topsoil Stripping.
4. Press [Tab] to move to the Thickness field and type .5 to strip 6"
of topsoil. Thickness is entered in feet (meters if using metric
units).

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4 Entering Existing Surface Data

5. Press [Enter] or click Copy. SiteWork copies the AOI boundary

to a subgrade adjustment boundary. The Name, Group and
Thickness fields are cleared in the Copy dialog box to give you
the opportunity to copy to another subgrade adjustment.
6. Click Done to close the dialog box.

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 CHAPTER

5
Entering Proposed Surface
Data 5

In this chapter:

Q Introduction
Q Opening the proposed surface
Q Digitizing proposed contours
Q Digitizing the parking lot
Q Exiting and re-opening SiteWork
Q Digitizing the office building
Q Adjusting finished grade to subgrade
5 Entering Proposed Surface Data

5.1 Introduction
Now that we have finished entering data for the existing surface, we
can begin entering the proposed surface data. SiteWork automatically
creates an existing and a proposed surface for every newly created
drawing. We can open the proposed surface to input the proposed data.

5.2 Opening the Proposed Surface

1. Select Edit / Surface / Open
OR
Click . The Open dialog box appears.

2. Click the down arrow next to the Surface Name list box to open
it and select Proposed.

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3. Click OK or press [Enter]. The plan data window will now

display a screen showing proposed data. The screen will be
blank except for the area of interest and the reference points.
The master AOIs and reference points appear because these
data types pertain to every surface in a drawing.

5.3 Digitizing Proposed Contours

We will begin entering data for the proposed surface by digitizing
contour lines for the proposed surface. As with the existing contours,
this tutorial has a section for each of the contour interval methods. If
you are using the +/- contour interval method (pre-SiteWork 4.0
method), go to page 55.

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5.3.1 Digitize Proposed Contours Using Automatic Contour

Interval Method
To digitize contours:
1. Select Edit / Draw (Digitize) / Contour Lines
OR
Click and . The Digitize Contours dialog box will open.

2. In the Elevation field, enter 470 from the digitizer puck. These
instructions tell you how to use the digitizer puck so you don't
have to jump back and forth between the keyboard, mouse and
digitizer.
3. Press on the digitizer puck to move to the Interval field and
type -2. Use the button to type a minus sign.
4. Make sure Use enter key to end contour and bump interval is
cleared.
5. Press [Enter] on the digitizer puck or click Start.

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6. Digitize contour 470 using the button on the digitizer puck.

You should start and finish the contours that cross the area of
interest boundary a little outside the area of interest.

These contours are

digitized correctly These contours are not
carried out far enough

Figure 5.1 Digitized proposed contours

Note – For the proposed surfaces on some drawings, you may want to
create a daylight AOI that outlines the area of disturbance. If that
case, you will want to digitize the contour lines for the proposed
surface such that they overlap the daylight AOI.
7. At the end of the contour, press [Enter] on the digitizer puck to
end the contour and change the elevation for the next contour to
468.
8. Digitize contour 468 and press [Enter] on the digitizer puck end
the contour and change the elevation to 466 for the next
contour.

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5 Entering Proposed Surface Data

9. Digitize contour 466 and press [Enter] on the digitizer puck. Do

not digitize this contour through the parking lot boundary like
you do at an AOI boundary.
10. Repeat this process for contours 464, 462, 460, 458, 456, 454,
452, and 450. If you are using SiteWork Advanced and want to
copy the pond contours - 454, 452 and 450 - instead of
digitizing them, continue on to steps 11 and 12 to end the
digitizing procedure after you have digitized 456. Then proceed
to page 53 for instructions on copying an enclosed contour.
11. After digitizing the last contour, press [Enter] twice on the
digitizer puck. The Digitize Contours dialog box will appear.
12. With the digitizer puck, press and click Cancel with the
button. You can also use your mouse to click Cancel to close
the Digitize Contours dialog box.
While digitizing contours you can change the current contour
elevation and interval value by pressing the and buttons on the
digitizer cursor. The elevation of the current contour is not committed
until [Enter] is pressed to end the contour.
Use the button to step the elevation value. If the interval is
positive this will raise the contour elevation by the interval value. If
the interval is negative this will lower the contour elevation by the
interval value.

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Use the button to change contour interval from positive to

negative and from negative to positive. If the contour interval is 2,
pressing will change the interval to -2. If the contour interval is -2,
pressing will change the interval to 2.

Notice that the contours that cross the area of interest are carried out to
or through the AOI and do not stop where they tie to the existing
contours.
Proceed to Digitizing the Parking Lot, page 59.

5.3.2 Copy Enclosed Contour Option

1. Select Edit / Mouse Edit
OR

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5 Entering Proposed Surface Data

click and select Edit / Copy / Contour Lines.

2. Select the 456 contour line and, when the Copy to dialog box
appears, select the Contours tab.

3. For the 454 contour, enter -10 in the Horizontal Offset field, and
enter -2 in the Vertical Offset field. Make sure the Delete
Selected Entity check box is cleared to keep the original contour
line. Click Copy.
4. For the 452 contour, enter -20 in the Horizontal Offset field,
enter -4 in the Vertical Offset field, and click Copy. Notice the
graphic inset in the Contours tab lets you know if your
horizontal offset is positive or negative.
5. For the 450 contour, enter -30 in the Horizontal Offset field,
enter -6 in the Vertical Offset field, and click Copy.

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6. To exit the dialog box, click Done. SiteWork's graphic display

appears with the three new contours.

7. Don't forget to press [Enter] to exit the Copy command.

5.3.3 Digitize Proposed Contours Using +/- Contour Interval

Method (pre-SiteWork 4.0)
1. Select Edit / Draw (Digitize) / Contour Lines
OR

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5 Entering Proposed Surface Data

Click and . The Digitize Contours dialog box will open.

2. In the Elevation field, type 470.

3. Click the Interval field and type 2.
4. Check the Use enter key to end contour and bump interval
check box.
5. Press [Enter] or click Start.

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6. Digitize contour 470 using the button on the digitizer puck.

You should start and finish the contours that cross the area of
interest boundary a little outside the area of interest.

These contours are

digitized correctly These contours are not
carried out far enough

Figure 5.2 Digitized proposed contours

7. When you reach the end of the contour, press the button on
the digitizer puck, do not press [Enter], to end the contour and
change the elevation to 468 for the next contour.
8. Digitize contour 468 and press on the digitizer puck end the
contour and change the elevation to 466 for the next contour.
9. Digitize contour 466 and press on the digitizer puck. Do not
digitize this contour through the parking lot boundary like you
do at an AOI boundary.

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5 Entering Proposed Surface Data

10. Repeat this process for contours 464, 462, 460, 458, 456, 454,
452 and 450. If you are using SiteWork Advanced and want to
copy the pond contours - 454, 452 and 450 - instead of
digitizing them, continue on to steps 11 and 12 to end the
digitizing procedure after you have digitized 456. Then proceed
to page 53 for instructions on copying an enclosed contour.
Note – Start and stop the pond contours at the same location.
11. Press [Enter] on the digitizer puck when you are finished
digitizing the proposed contours. The Digitize Contours dialog
box will appear.
Note – If you accidentally press [Enter] before you are finished
digitizing the contours just type the contour value and interval
again and press [Enter] or click Start. Then digitize the
remaining contours.
12. With the digitizer puck, press and click Cancel with the
button. Or, you can use your mouse to click Cancel to close the
Digitize Contours dialog box.
After each contour you digitize you have four options on how you
want to end the contour.
a. Press on your digitizer to close the contour and
increase the next contour value by the interval defined in
the Digitize Contours dialog box. The Digitize Contours
dialog box does not re-open. Press multiple times to
keep changing the contour elevation.
b. Press on your digitizer to close the contour and
decrease the next contour value by the interval defined in
the Digitize Contours dialog box. The Digitize Contours
dialog box does not re-open. Press multiple times to
keep changing the contour elevation.
c. Press on your digitizer to close the contour and keep
the same contour value as the previous contour. The
Digitize Contours dialog box does not re-open.

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d. Press [Enter] to close the contour and open the Digitize

Contours dialog box.

Notice that the contours that cross the area of interest are carried out to
or through the AOI and do not stop where they tie to the existing
contours.

5.4 Digitizing the Parking Lot

Parking lot elevations are frequently defined by spot elevations, but
SiteWork uses a data type called sloping lines in order to indicate that
the ground slopes uniformly from one elevation point to another. You
should digitize a sloping line around the boundary of a parking lot,
entering the values of the spot elevations and contours as you cross

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5 Entering Proposed Surface Data

them. (If the parking lot elevations are adequately defined by contour
lines, then it is not absolutely necessary to create a sloping line around
the parking lot boundary.)
We want the proposed ground to smoothly meet the edges of the
parking lot, but we don't want the proposed ground to influence the
parking lot itself. Pads and sloping areas are not flexible enough to
handle multiple elevations.
For this situation, we'll need to use a sloping line. A sloping line is
flexible enough to handle multiple elevations and influences the grid
calculations on either side of it, but does not let the data on one side of
it affect the data on the other side. Here's how to digitize a sloping line
around the parking lot:

To digitize a sloping line:

1. Select Edit / Draw (Digitize) / Sloping Lines
OR
Click and . The Digitize Sloping Lines dialog box will
open.

2. SiteWork gives you two methods for digitizing Sloping Lines:

Calculate between known points - With this method, you can
digitize points along a line, entering the known elevations, and
SiteWork will calculate the elevations of the points in between

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the points with known elevations. An elevation must be entered

for the first and last point of a sloping line. We'll use this
method for this example.
Known elevations - With this method, SiteWork prompts you
for an elevation for each point as you enter it. This method
saves keystrokes, but cannot handle a curve where you do not
know all the elevations. We suggest you learn how to use the
Calculate between known points method first.
3. Make sure the Calculate between known points option is
selected. In the Initial elevation field, enter 460.97.
4. Press [Enter] or click Start.
Note – Sloping lines can be entered entirely using the digitizer’s
16-button puck, and we recommend that you practice using this
method because it will help your takeoffs go faster. You will also
make fewer mistakes because you will not have to take your
eyes off the plan sheet every time you need to enter an elevation.
Digitize the boundary of the parking lot, entering the known elevations as you come to them.

Start Digitizing Parking Lot Here.

Figure 5.3 Digitizing the parking lot

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5 Entering Proposed Surface Data

5. Place your digitizer puck over the inside edge of the eastern
corner of the entrance drive for the parking lot next to elevation
460.97 and digitize the first point.
6. Digitize the entrance drive up to and including the point where
the 462 contour intersects the entrance drive and press [Enter] on
the digitizer puck.

7. The Sloping Line Elevation dialog box will open showing the
last elevation entered, 460.97. Type 462.0 on the digitizer puck
and press [Enter] to continue. The 462 elevation will be assigned
to the last point digitized.
8. Continue digitizing the entrance drive up to and including the
point where the 464 contour intersects the entrance drive and
press [Enter].
9. Type 464 and press [Enter] to continue.
10. Digitize around the curve to the corner at the end of the entrance
drive until you reach the next elevation point and press [Enter].
11. Type 465.97 and press [Enter] to continue.
12. Digitize around the drop off drive of the parking lot to the next
elevation point (466.5) and press [Enter].
13. Type 466.5 and press [Enter].
14. Continue digitizing to the next known elevation point (466.65)
and press [Enter].
15. Type 466.65 and press [Enter].
16. Continue digitizing the parking lot. Press [Enter] each time you
digitize a point with a known elevation, type the elevation and
press [Enter] to continue digitizing.

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17. When you digitize the last point at the southwest end of the
driveway, press [Enter] button on the digitizer puck. Type 460.65
in the Elevation field.
18. With the digitizer puck, press and click Done. Or use your
mouse to click Cancel to close the Sloping Line Elevation
dialog box.
19. The Digitize Sloping Lines dialog box will appear. Click Cancel
to exit Digitize Sloping Lines. Your screen should look similar
to the figure on the next page.
Note – If you press the [Enter] button instead of clicking Done,
simply press the [Enter] button again, press and click Done.

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Note – Pressing toggles the digitizer into Mouse mode so

you can use the digitizer as a mouse to click on the Done button
to end the sloping line.

5.5 Exiting and Re-Opening SiteWork

We realize that you won't finish every takeoff without having to exit
SiteWork. In SiteWork you never have to worry about saving your
work before you exit, because SiteWork saves it for you as you work.
In this section, we'll show you how to close and re-open SiteWork in
the middle of a takeoff.
We have just finished digitizing a sloping line for the parking lot.
Now, we'll close and re-open SiteWork and continue entering data in
the next section.

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To exit SiteWork:
1. Select Project / Exit. You will be asked to confirm this.

2. Press [Enter] or click Yes to exit SiteWork. Click No to return to

SiteWork window.
Note – If SiteWork displays a Message Box telling you that an
input has not been complete, press [Enter] or click Yes. Complete
the operation you were working on and then exit SiteWork. If
you have completed the operation, you probably just need to
press [Enter] to fully complete the operation.

To open SiteWork:
Double-click the icon on the desktop.
OR
Open the Start menu and select Programs / Paydirt / SiteWork
5.2.
SiteWork automatically opens the last project, drawing and surface
that you worked on. This is also a helpful feature when you need to
edit the data to correct any mistakes.

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Note – To digitize data we will have to re-digitize the drawing

reference points. Accurately digitizing the reference points is critical
for the accuracy of the takeoff. If we had only exited the plan data
window, but not SiteWork, we would not have to re-digitize the
reference points.

5.6 Digitizing the Office Building

According to the plan sheet, the concrete building slab has an
elevation of 467 and is six inches thick. The pad data type works best
for this situation. By definition, pads have a uniform elevation and the
elevation with a pad boundary cannot be altered by contours, sloping
lines or elevation points.

5.6.1 Digitizing Pads

To digitize the office building pad:

1. Select Edit / Draw (Digitize) / Pads
OR
Click and .

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a. Since we exited and restarted SiteWork, we must digitize

the drawing reference points again. Place the digitizer
crosshairs directly over reference point #1 and press and
release the digitize button.
b. Place the digitizer crosshair directly over reference point
#2 and press and release the digitize button. The Pad Input
dialog box will open.

2. Enter Building in the Name field.

3. Press [Tab] and enter Concrete in the Group field.
4. Press [Tab] and enter 467 in the Elevation field.
5. Press [Tab] and enter .5 in the Thickness field for a 6" thick
concrete pad.
6. Check Boundary Contour at Elevation to have SiteWork use the
office building outline as a contour at the 467 elevation.
Note – If the building elevation was for a basement or if the
building is being built into the side of a hill you should not
check the Boundary Contour at Elevation check box.
7. Press [Enter] or click Start to digitize the office building.

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8. Place the digitizer crosshair over the upper left corner of the
office building. Press and release the digitize button.

Start digitizing the office building here

Note – SiteWork labels all enclosed areas to the right and just
below the first point digitized. By starting in the upper left
corner of the building pad the label will appear inside the pad
boundary.
9. Digitize the corners of the office building and press [Enter] on
the digitizer puck after you digitize the last corner of the pad to
close the entity.

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10. The Pad Input dialog box appears and, instead of clicking
Cancel to exit pad input, we will setup to digitize the building
entrance.

To Input the Office Building Entrance:

11. Type Entry in the Name field.
Note – The Name field defaults to the name of the previous pad
with an incremented number appended to the end. The settings
from the previously entered pad are also remembered to save
time when entering several pads that have the same settings.
12. Click in the Thickness field or press [Tab] three times to advance
to the Thickness field and type .34 for a 4-inch concrete slab.
Note – The Group and Elevation fields default to the values
entered for the office building, which are the same settings we
want for the entry pad.
13. Clear the Boundary Contour at Elevation check box.
14. Press [Enter] or click Start to digitize the entry boundary.
15. Digitize the four corners of the building entrance and press
[Enter].

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16. The Pad Input dialog box appears. Click Cancel to exit pad
input.

Start digitizing the building entrance here

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5.7 Adjusting Finished Grade to Subgrade

To accurately calculate the volume of cut and fill, we must adjust the
site from finished grade to subgrade. Just as we want to keep the
unsuitable topsoil material separated from the usable dirt material, we
must also adjust the proposed surface to keep the volume of asphalt,
concrete, crushed stone, re-spread and other select materials separated
from the dirt cut and fill volumes.

5.7.1 Digitizing the Subgrade Adjustment for the Topsoil

Respread
We want to know how much of the topsoil we have can re-spread
across the site. We will digitize a subgrade adjustment, excluding the
parking lot and building, for this purpose. Review the figure below to
see the desired shape of this subgrade adjustment.

19 18

5 6 9 10

7 8

14 13

4 3 12 11
15

1 2 16 17

Figure 5.4 How to digitize the topsoil respread

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Note – Notice that the boundary of the subgrade adjustment outlines

the entire site, without crossing itself, while excluding the parking lot,
building and entry. It is a good idea to plan how to digitize this type of
subgrade adjustment before you begin digitizing it. Planning results in
fewer mistakes and a faster takeoff. The numbers indicate the
digitizing order of key points of the boundary.
1. SiteWork Advanced Users: If you have not already done so,
verify that the Mouse Edit feature is off. Mouse Edit should not
be checked in the Edit menu and the icon should not be
engaged.
2. Select Edit / Draw (Digitize) / Subgrade Adjustment (Layers)
OR
Click and . The Digitize Subgrade Adjustment dialog
box will open.

3. Type D-1 Landscape in the Name field.

4. Press [Tab] and enter Respread in the Group field.
5. Press [Tab] and enter .5 in the Thickness field for 6 inches of
topsoil respread.
6. Press [Enter] or click Start.
7. Digitize the first point on the landscape subgrade adjustment on
the lower left corner of the site boundary, indicated by point 1 in
Figure 5.4, page 71.
8. Digitize the next point (point 2) at the southwest corner of the
parking lot entrance drive.

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9. Digitize up and around the parking lot (points 3-7) until you
come to the building entry.
10. Digitize across the top part of the entry to the building and
digitize all the way around the building (points 8 through 13)
until you get back to the bottom section of the entry.
11. Digitize across the bottom of the entry back to the east side of
the parking lot and down the edge of the parking lot (points 14-
16) to the end of the entrance drive.
12. Digitize around the rest of the site boundary (points 17 through
19).
13. Press [Enter] on the digitizer puck to close the subgrade
adjustment. SiteWork will automatically connect the last point
to the first point to fully close the entity.
14. Press and click Cancel with the digitizer puck to exit the
Digitize Subgrade Adjustment dialog box.
Note – The Group field defaults to the last group entered, so
when you digitize multiple subgrade adjustments it's more
efficient to plan to enter all subgrade adjustments for one group
consecutively.

5.7.2 Copying the Office Building Pad to Create a Subgrade

Adjustment
When we entered the pad for the office building we accounted for the
thickness of the concrete slab, but we did not include the six inches of
crushed stone under the slab. Now we will copy the pad to a six- inch
subgrade adjustment to lower the subgrade elevation of the office
building, thereby accounting for the crushed stone subbase.

To copy a pad to a subgrade adjustment:

1. Select Edit / Copy / Pads
OR

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Click and .

2. Select Office Building from the Entity list box.

3. Click the Name field and type Building - SB.
Note – All enclosed entities must have a unique name.
4. Press [Tab] or click in the Group field and select or type Crushed
Stone in the group list box.

5. Press [Tab] or click in the Thickness field and type .5 for 6 inches
of crushed stone.
Note – Subgrade adjustment is the default data type to which
you can copy, but you can also copy pads to areas of interest.
6. Press [Enter] or click Copy to copy the subgrade adjustment.
7. The subgrade adjustment settings will clear, allowing you to
copy the pad to another subgrade adjustment. Click Done to
close the dialog box.

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5.7.3 Copying the Parking Lot Sloping Line to a Subgrade

Adjustment
In the parking lot, we must account for two inches of asphalt and six
inches of crushed stone. We defined the boundary of the parking lot
with a sloping line. We will copy this sloping line to a subgrade
adjustment for asphalt and to another subgrade adjustment for crushed
stone.

To copy a sloping line to a subgrade adjustment for

asphalt:
1. Select Edit / Mouse Edit, or click .
2. Select Edit / Copy / Sloping Lines, or click and .
Click on a corner of the parking lot sloping line to select it.

Figure 5.5 Copying a sloping line to a subgrade adjustment

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3. Using your mouse, click on a corner of the parking lot sloping

line. The Copy To dialog box appears:

4. Type Parking Lot in the Name field.

5. Press [Tab] and type Asphalt in the Group field.
6. (Optional) Check Conversion Factor to enter a conversion
factor to convert cubic yards of asphalt to tons. This
information is reported in the Material Summary Section of the
Project Summary Report.
7. Press [Tab] and type .17 in the Thickness field for two inches of
asphalt.
8. Press [Enter] or click Copy to copy the selected line to a
subgrade adjustment.

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9. (Optional) If Conversion Factor is checked, the Group

Conversion Factor Edit dialog box will appear.

a. Press [Tab] and type 1.98 in the Factor field.

b. Press [Tab] and type Tons in the Units field.
c. Click Update.
d. Click OK.

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To copy the sloping line to a subgrade adjustment for

crushed stone:

1. The settings entered for the parking lot asphalt subgrade

adjustment are cleared and the Copy To dialog box remains on
the screen. Type Parking Lot - SB in the Name field.
2. Press [Tab] and type Crushed Stone in the Group field.
3. Press [Tab] twice and type .5 in the Thickness field.
4. Press [Enter] or click Copy.
Note – If Conversion Factor is checked the Group Conversion
dialog box will appear.
5. Click Done to exit the Copy dialog box
6. SiteWork is still in select mode, allowing you to select another
sloping line to copy. Press [Enter], or right click your mouse and
select End Action from the right click menu.

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7. Select Edit / Mouse Edit, or click to turn Mouse Edit off.

The mouse edit option should be cleared and the icon
disengaged.

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 CHAPTER

6
Running Reports 6

In this chapter:

Q Introduction
Q Generating a 3-D view
Q Creating a cut/fill location report
Q Creating a total volumes report
Q (SiteWork Advanced) Creating a project summary report
6 Running Reports

6.1 Introduction
The ability to visually check your work is one of the most important
reasons for purchasing Paydirt SiteWork. After doing a takeoff, do not
run the Volume reports without checking the takeoff for mistakes.
While Paydirt SiteWork is very easy to use and very accurate,
mistakes still can and will be made.

6.2 Generating a 3-D View

The quickest and easiest way to verify the surface models is with 3-
dimensional views of each surface. With 3D views it is very easy to
see elevation mistakes.
1. Select Reports / 3D Views. The 3-D Views Setup dialog box will
open.

2. This dialog box displays tabs that we can select to configure

different aspects of our 3-D view. The Initial field lets us select
the surface we want to view from a list box. Make sure that
Existing appears in this field.

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Note – Checking the Difference Surface check box will create a

3-D representation of the cut and fill, which requires an initial
and final surface to be selected. Most users prefer the Cut/Fill
Location report to get a feel for the location and depth of the
cuts and fills.
3. Press [Enter] or click OK to draw the 3-D view of the existing
surface.

Note – The shape of your existing 3-D should look similar to the
figure above. Yours may be slightly different, but should show a
range of elevations from 455.5 to 472. If your 3D view does not
look like this, you may have some input errors.
4. Click . The 3-D Views Setup dialog box will open.
5. Click the down arrow next to the Initial field to open the list box
and select Proposed.

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6. Press [Enter] or click OK.

Note – This 3-D of the proposed surface shows the pond at

bottom left and the building pad at the upper right. Reference
the User Guide for more information on how to change the 3-D
view to rotate and zoom in on the 3-D model.

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To rotate the 3-D view:

e. Right-click the mouse to display the right-click menu and
select Rotate.

f. Click and drag the cursor to the right. You will see a frame
rectangle rotate on the screen as you move the mouse. The
small square in one corner of the rectangle represents the
lower left corner of the site. Release the button; the 3D
view redraws to the new orientation.

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To zoom in on the 3-D View:

a. Right-click the mouse to display the right-click menu and
select Zoom.
b. Click and drag the cursor to the right. You will see a frame
rectangle get larger indicating a larger 3-D view of the
surface. Move the mouse to the left and the rectangle gets
smaller. Release the button; the 3D redraws.
7. Select View / Options. The 3-D View Options dialog box
appears.
8. Select the Display Options tab along the top of the dialog box.

9. Click in the Exaggeration field and type 7.

Note – For most surfaces, the elevations need to be magnified
to enable you to see the differences in the surface on the 3-D
View. SiteWork does this automatically, but you may want to
adjust the exaggeration of the elevation yourself.

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10. Press [Enter] and the 3-D redraws with the elevations at an
exaggeration of 7.

11. To exit the 3-D Views Report, select Windows / Close Current.

6.3 Creating a Cut/Fill Location Report

The Cut / Fill Location Report provides a tremendous amount of
information about a site project, including location, depth, center of
mass, area and volume of cuts and fills. This information is critical for
putting an accurate bid together and planning the construction project.
It is also a great tool for checking the accuracy of the takeoff.
When you do a takeoff, you get a feel for the maximum depths of cut
and fill and where they are located. Make sure the Cut / Fill Location
report reflects your expectations. If it does not, look for possible input
mistakes in the problem areas.

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To Run the Cut / Fill Location Report:

1. Select Reports / Cut/Fill Location. The Cut/Fill Locations Setup
dialog box appears.

2. The Initial and Final fields default to Existing and Proposed.

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Check the Show box next to Proposed and press [Enter].

3. Look at the legend bar on the left to check the depth range of the
cut and fill. The legend bar displays depth from the maximum
cut to the maximum fill. This is your first sanity check for
takeoff accuracy.
Note – The Cut/Fill Location Report displays cuts and fills from
subgrade to subgrade, meaning after the topsoil has been
stripped to proposed subgrade elevations.

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6 Running Reports

4. Click to change the display settings for the report.

5. Select the Stakes tab to change the display options for Cut
Stakes.
6. Select Window / Close Current to exit the Cut/Fill Location
Report.
7. Review the User Guide for more information regarding the
Cut/Fill Location Report.

6.4 Creating a Total Volumes Report

The Total Volumes report will provide you a summary of the
excavation and stripping volumes for the project. SiteWork Advanced
Users will also see the total area of cut and the total area of fill for the
project.

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To run the Total Volumes Report:

1. Select Reports / Total Volumes. The Total Volume Setup dialog
box will open.

2. Make sure the check box next to D-1 is selected.

Note – If your project has multiple drawings, they will all be
listed in the Total Volumes dialog box and you will put a check
mark next to those you want included in the Total Volumes
report.
3. Double-click in the field beneath Shrink% and type 15 to adjust
the volumes for a 15% fill shrinkage percentage.
4. Press [Enter] or click OK to generate the report.

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Your volumes should be fairly close to (but probably not the same as)
those shown in the figure that follows. If not, return to the Plan Data
screen for each surface and review your takeoff.

– Excavation Volumes in the first section of the report shows

both the bank and adjusted volume for the cut and fill of
the drawing.
– Excavation Areas reports the square area of cut and fill, as
well as the total area for the selected area of interest.
(Available to SiteWork Advanced Users only.)

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– Removal Quantities reports the area and volume of the

topsoil stripping, as well as any other material removals
from the site. This is unsuitable material and is not
included in the excavation cut volume. If you need the total
excavation including topsoil strip, add this volume to the
excavation cut volume.
– Project Totals combines all selected drawings for a
multiple sheet takeoff reports the totals for the entire
project.
5. To close the Total Volumes report, select Window / Close
Current.

6.5 (SiteWork Advanced) Creating a Project Summary

Report
The Project Summary report provides information on the boundary,
area, and material volumes for all subgrade adjustments, pads and
sloping areas on a drawing or in an entire project. It also provides a
summary page, which includes totals for all group materials and the
excavation in one condensed report.

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1. Select Reports / Project Summary.

2. Make sure the check box next to D-1 is selected.

Note – If your project has multiple drawings, they will all be
listed in the Total Volumes dialog box and you will put a check
mark next to those you want included in the Total Volumes
report.
3. Double-click in the field beneath Shrink% and type 15 to adjust
the volumes for a 15% fill shrinkage percentage.
Note – On projects with multiple AOIs, click in the box beneath
the AOI heading and you can select the desired AOI for this
report.

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4. Press [Enter] or click OK to generate the report. The Material

Summary Tab of the Project Summary Report will be displayed.

Note – This report displays the area and volume for subgrade
adjustments, pads and sloping areas that have been input on the
existing surface. The information reported for the existing
surface represents quantities for material to be stripped from
the site before beginning the mass excavation. Stripped volume
is not included in the cut volume of usable dirt reported on the
Total Volumes report or the Summary Page Tab in the Project
Summary report.

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5. Select View / Options.

You can customize the Project Summary report to show the

information you want.
6. Show Detailed Report displays material group quantities and
quantities for the individual subgrade adjustments and pads that
are in each group. If you clear this option only group totals are
reported.
7. Show Conversion Information displays the Conversion Factor,
Conversion Volume and Conversion Units columns. If you are
not using conversion factors for your material groups, you
should clear this option.
8. Show Boundary displays the boundary column, which reports
the length of the perimeter around each reported area.
9. Show Elevation displays the elevation for reported pads. This
can be used to help you quickly check to make sure pad
elevations were entered correctly, but can be turned off to
reduce the amount of information printed on the report.

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10. Show Data Types reports the data type for each reported area.
This can be used to check how the information was entered, but
can be turned off to reduce the amount of information printed
on the report.
11. Display Units options allow you to choose the units for
displaying the area.
12. Clear the Show Data Types and Show Elevation check boxes.
13. Press [Enter] or click OK to close the dialog box and regenerate
the Project Summary report.

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14. Notice that the Data Type and Elevation columns have been
removed and the Conversion Factor and Converted Volumes
columns have been added. If you used the conversion factor
feature when entering subgrade adjustments for asphalt and
crushed stone, you will see the conversion factor and the cubic
yardage of asphalt and crushed stone converted to tons.
Note – Turning off the Elevation and Data Type columns also
helps keep this report narrow enough keep the report one page
wide.
15. The report on the previous page is displayed when the Material
Summary tab at the bottom of the report is selected. Click the
Summary Page tab at the bottom of the screen.

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The Summary Page Report gives a summary of the group material

totals for the project, followed by a report of the excavation volumes
for the selected area of interest. The summary page totals the materials
for all drawings on the project if consistent material names are used. It
also totals the cut and fill volumes.

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 CHAPTER

7
Using Terramodel to Import
Data 7

In this chapter:

Q Introduction
Q Opening SiteWork
Q Displaying the desired the data in Terramodel
Q Sending the data from Terramodel to SiteWork
7 Using Terramodel to Import Data

7.1 Introduction
You may be able to significantly reduce the digitizing effort by
importing an engineer's CAD file directly into SiteWork. As a feature
of SiteWork Advanced, you can use Terramodel CAD to import
AutoCAD (dwg,.dxf), MicroStation (.dgn) or Terramodel (.pro) data
into SiteWork. This section walks you through the steps required to
import, display and verify your data.

7.2 Opening SiteWork

1. Open SiteWork.
2. Select Project / New
OR
Select Project / Open to open the project into which you want to
enter data.
3. Select Tools / Import /Using Terramodel.

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4. To import an AutoCAD file, click the AutoCAD (dxf or dwg)

option on the Available import scripts dialog box. Click Run
script. The AutoCAD source file dialog box appears.

5. Click Browse next to Dwg/Dxf file(s) to select the

C:\Trimble\PaydirtData\Paydirt SiteWork Tutorial.dwg file. Click
Open. When you return to the AutoCAD source file dialog box,
the file name appears in the Dwg/Dxf file(s) field.
6. Click Import.

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7. Click OK in the Terramodel import dialog box. The Terramodel

window appears with data imported.

7.3 Displaying the Desired Data in Terramodel

The whole point of viewing the data in Terramodel is to allow you to
choose the information you need to import. Part of this process
includes turning off unnecessary information and identifying the
existing and proposed surface data.
There will probably be a lot of information that is not part of the
surface data. This step allows you to hide the data you don't need. You
don't have to turn everything off - just turn off enough to make the data
that you are interested in easy to see.
This process also allows you to make a note of reference point
coordinates if you will need them in SiteWork.

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First, let’s review information about layers. Layers in Terramodel are

not the same as layers (now called subgrade adjustments) in SiteWork
(and yes, that is why we changed what we call them in SiteWork).
Layers in Terramodel are more like surfaces in SiteWork. Each piece
of data in Terramodel is assigned to a layer. You can modify layers and
set layers to be visible or invisible. You can also isolate a layer (make
the data visible on that layer and only that layer) in order to verify the
data on a layer. You can also select data by layer, that is, you can select
one piece of data on a layer and Terramodel will select all data on that
layer.
Finally, Terramodel allows you to make the data on a layer invisible,
so that you can hide unnecessary information. When we edit the CAD
file data before sending it to SiteWork, we will take advantage of all
these features of a Terramodel layer.
1. Select Settings / Quick Layer Settings.
2. Click the Visible and Isolate check boxes on the command line.
The drawing disappears.
3. Highlight the Layer field. (If you click the arrow by mistake, a
dialog box appears; just click Cancel and try again.) Press the
down arrow on your keyboard. With each down arrow, a new
layer name appears in the Layer field and the data on that layer
is drawn in the Terramodel graphics area. If this data is part of
the existing surface or a proposed surface, check the Visible
check box. If this data is NOT part of a surface that you want to
send to SiteWork, clear the Visible check box.
4. When you are finished, clear the Isolate check box and all
visible data appears on the screen. If the screen is too cluttered,
repeat step 3 to turn off more layers.
5. Click OK to complete the command and update the visible
data's characteristics.
6. If necessary, you can also use this command to turn the
visibility of selected layers on.

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7. Click the icon on the toolbar to zoom to the extent of all

the visible data.
Here is the tutorial project with only the existing and proposed
contours visible. The existing contours are on a different layer from
the proposed contours.

Also notice that the site boundary is visible. When the data is sent to
SiteWork, you will use the corners of the site boundary as reference
points. Remember, you must choose reference points that you can
identify on the hard copy plans. Reference points are critical because
they are used to tie the plan data to the imported data.
8. (Optional) There are two more steps you can take to verify the
data before sending it to SiteWork. First, you can connect
contour lines if they have been broken to insert contour labels.
Second, you can check that each contour line has the correct
elevation. Sometimes in plan drawings, the lines are drawn
correctly, but never assigned elevation values.

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To connect broken contour lines:

a. Select Edit / Connect. The following command bar
appears.

b. In the graphics area, click the line on one side of the break,
then click the line on the other side of the break.
Terramodel connects the two lines.
c. Repeat these steps for each broken connection; click OK
when you have finished connecting all the broken lines.

To set the elevation of the contour lines:

a. Select Modify /Elevation / Elevation
OR
Type elevation at the command line. The following
command bar appears.

b. With the focus in the Objs field, pick a contour on the

screen.
c. Enter an elevation for the contour in the Elevation field.
d. Select the Absolute option to have the elevation assigned to
the contour. The Relative option adjusts the elevation of the
contour by the amount in the Elevation field.
e. Click OK.
f. Repeat these steps for each contour line on the surface.

7.4 Sending the Data from Terramodel to SiteWork

Now we can send the data that you want to a SiteWork surface.

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To send data to SiteWork:

1. Click at the end of the Terramodel toolbar
OR
Type export sitework at the Terramodel command line and press
[Enter]. The Send to SiteWork dialog box appears, below.

2. In the Export to surface field, select the SiteWork surface to

send the data to
OR
Enter a surface name that is not listed. SiteWork creates a
surface with the new name automatically.
3. Click Pick objects. This allows you to select the data directly
from the Terramodel graphical interface. You can select
individual objects or select all data on a layer simply by clicking
on an object on that layer.

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4. Right-click to open the selection menu and select the Layer

option. Since most of the data you want to export is probably on
one or two layers, selecting by layer is fastest option.
Note – Often contour lines and index (labeled) contour lines are
on two different layers.
5. Click on a data object on the layer that you want to export.
When you select one object, all the objects on that layer are
highlighted for selection. If the surface you are creating is
stored on more than one layer, you may need to click more than
one time. Continue clicking objects until all the data you want
to export is highlighted. Click OK on the command bar to return
to the Export dialog box. The Number of objects selected field
will contain the number of objects you selected. Remember that
it is OK to have text in the export layer because SiteWork
ignores any text during its import process.
6. Click Pick Reference Points. This allows you to select the
data directly from the Terramodel graphical interface.
Reference points do not have to be on an object that you are
exporting. However, they must refer to a constant physical
location from surface to surface. If you have created reference
points in the SiteWork project to which you are sending the
data, the reference points that you pick in Terramodel must refer
to the same physical location as the reference points in
SiteWork. The coordinate values of the reference points are not
important.

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When you select the two reference points and click OK on the
command bar, the dialog box appears with the X and Y values
for the points in the Reference Points fields.

7. Click Finish to transfer the data to the SiteWork surface.

8. Select File / Exit to close Terramodel.
9. When the SiteWork window is active again, press [F5] to refresh
your screen.
10. Check your data in SiteWork. Check for the following:
– Completely connected contour lines.
– Contour lines with the correct elevations.
– If you sent multiple surfaces, check the registration or
overlay of the surfaces.

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8
General Information 8

In this chapter:

Q Introduction
Q Showing and hiding objects
Q Excluding an area from a subgrade adjustment
Q Entering existing and proposed data from two sheets at different scales
Q Exporting to Terramodel
Q Summary of Terramodel menu commands
8 General Information

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Showing and Hiding Objects

When all the data for a surface is being displayed, it can sometimes be
difficult to see the information that is most important to you. In the
plan data window and in graphic reports, the Display Options tab
allows you to change the settings of the data types. These settings are
individually remembered for each graphic report and the data window.
This means that you can set data types to black for displaying on the
color-shaded Cut/Fill Location report and still display the data with
colors in the plan data window.

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To change the display settings for data types:

1. Select View / Options (or the Data Types menu option if the plan
data window is active) to open the Surface Data Options dialog
box.

2. Clear the checks from the Show check boxes for any data types
you do not want to display.
3. Check or clear the boxes in the Value column to show or hide
the elevation and thickness settings for each individual object.
4. Use the Color and Line Style columns to change the appearance
of each data type.
5. Press [Enter] or click OK to close the dialog box.
6. The data types displayed will be updated to reflect these
changes.

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8.3 Excluding an Area from a Subgrade Adjustment

Sometimes you need to exclude an area inside a subgrade adjustment.
This section explains how to digitize the subgrade adjustment when
you encounter this situation. We call this action digitizing a doughnut
hole.
A doughnut hole is an area that is inside another area and that you
want to exclude from volumes or other calculations.

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To setup to digitize a doughnut hole:

1. Draw a line from the subgrade adjustment boundary to the
boundary of the area you want to exclude.

Figure 8.1 Digitizing a doughnut hole, step 1

2. Start digitizing the subgrade adjustment boundary.

Figure 8.2 Digitizing a doughnut hole, step 2

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3. When you get to the line you drew from the outside boundary to
the area you want to exclude, digitize a point on the line.

Figure 8.3 Digitizing a doughnut hole, steps 3-5

4. Digitize a point on the drawn line where it meets the edge of the
area that you want to exclude.
5. Digitize around the perimeter of the area to exclude. This
creates the "doughnut hole". When you return to the line you
drew, digitize a point at the line where it intersects the edge of
the area to exclude. Digitize another point on the line where it
intersects the outside boundary of the subgrade adjustment.
6. Continue digitizing the outside boundary of the subgrade
adjustment and press [Enter] to close the area.
Note – It is very important that the lines connecting the area to
exclude to the outside boundary do not cross. Look at the next
two figures for better clarification.

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This: picture is correct:

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This picture is not correct:

8.4 Entering Existing and Proposed Data from Two

Sheets at Different Scales
If the existing and proposed data for your project are on two plan
sheets at different scales, it is still easy to digitize the surface data. The
drawing reference points you digitize are the key.

To digitize existing and proposed data from different plan

sheets:
1. Place the existing plan sheet on the digitizer and setup the
project as you normally would.
2. Set the scale to the existing plan sheet scale.
3. Choose two reference points that you can locate on both the
existing plan sheet and the proposed plan sheet, such as
property corners.

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4. Digitize the existing data as usual.

5. Change to the proposed surface by selecting Edit / Surface /
Open.
6. Place the proposed plan sheet on the digitizer.
7. Select Edit / Drawing / Locate Drawing.
8. When prompted, digitize the same reference points (the
property corners) as you did on the existing plan sheet.
Note – If the two plan sheets are at different scales, SiteWork
will automatically adjust to the scale of the proposed plan sheet.
What is important is that the reference points on both plan
sheets represent the same location in the field. You can switch
from sheet to sheet as long as you digitize the same physical
locations for the reference points for each sheet.

8.5 Exporting to Terramodel

You can export your plan data and cut/fill report information into
Terramodel (all data types except for sloping areas). Each SiteWork
surface that you select to export is assigned to a separate layer in
Terramodel. As with the other export features of SiteWork, you can
also select the specific data types to export.

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To export data into Terramodel:

1. With the plan data window or with the Cut/Fill Report window
active, select Tools / Export / To Terramodel. The Surface
selection dialog box appears:

2. Select each surface that you want to export. You can select
multiple layers by pressing and holding the [Ctrl] key as you
select.
OR
Click the All button.

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3. Click OK. The Export Data Options dialog box appears. If you
are exporting cut/fill data, the options in the Generated Data
section should be available to you also.

4. Check the box next to each type of input or generated data that
you want to export.
5. If you want SiteWork to close automatically, check the Close
SiteWork after Export box.
6. Click OK to perform the export. Terramodel automatically
starts, opens a project and displays the exported data in the
graphics area. (If you don't want to export anything at this time,
click Cancel and you will return to the SiteWork window.)

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8.6 Summary of Terramodel Menu Commands

Table 8.1 Terramodel File Menu commands

Command Function
New Creates a new Terramodel, Roadline or
Roadline 3D project
Open project Opens an existing Terramodel, Multi-Plane,
Roadline or Roadline 3D project
Save project Saves a Terramodel project
Save project as Saves a Terramodel project under another
name
Close project Closes a Terramodel project
Project Displays information about the current project
Information file
Measurement Establishes units of measure for the project
units
System
configuration
Autosave Automatically backs up a project
Change menus Changes the menu in current use. SiteWork
users can select the spcad.m to display the
menu with advanced CAD commands
System Opens the System Configuration dialog box,
where you establish project and Terramodel
environment settings
System setup Configures the system settings
Download/Import
Import script Creates, edits, or deletes a script to import
manager external data
[various scripts] Imports data using a previously created script
Export/Upload
Export script Creates, edits, or deletes a script to create an
manager external file of Terramodel data in another
format

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Table 8.1 Terramodel File Menu commands (Continued)

Command Function
[various scripts] Exports data using a previously created script.
Terramodel CAD ships with scripts that allow
you to effortlessly export the following formats:
ASCII, AutoCAD, Geodimeter, MicroStation
and Terramodel
Trimble Survey Runs TMLink command that imports or exports
Controller data to the Trimble Survey Controller
Import/Export
Command Line Brings up a command line
Plot Plots to a plotter or file
Plot setup Opens the Plot setup menu
Plot params Establishes pen mapping and plot resolutions
for plotting or printing
Plotter setup Configures the plotter or printer for plotting.
(Use the WinPal64 for color printers.)
Carousel setup Establishes plotter pen definitions
1:FileName.pro Opens a recently opened project
Exit Exits Terramodel

Table 8.2 Terramodel Edit Menu commands

Command Function
Undo Reverses the changes to objects by the last
command
Redo Restores changes made by Undo
Edit Object Selects an object and edit its properties
Break Breaks one polyline or set line into two lines
Clip Breaks lines to closed boundaries or text
CloseLines Closes the selected lines, that is, connects the
last point in the line to the first point in the line
creating a closed boundary
Connect Connects two pline or set objects into one line
by adding a line segment
Convert Creates sets from polylines and vice-versa

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Table 8.2 Terramodel Edit Menu commands (Continued)

Command Function
Draw Point Creates a point on the current layer
Elevation Selects one or several objects and change the
elevation
Explode Explodes selected objects into lines and text
Join Joins two or more lines, of the same type and
with a coincidental end point, into one line
Offset distance Create a new set or polyline offset by a user-
defined distance
Offset point Create a new set or polyline through a user-
selected point
Station Assigns a beginning station to a pline or set
Delete Deletes selected objects from the project

Table 8.3 Terramodel View Menu commands

Command Function
All Displays all of the visible objects in the active
view window
Redraw Refreshes the active view window
Pan Moves the project from one position in the view
window to another
Zoom Resizes a specific area of the view to a larger
view scale
Recenter Changes the center point of the view
Rotate view Rotates any plan view window
Previous view Displays the previous view
Recall view Recalls number views
Save view Saves numbered views

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Table 8.4 Terramodel Draw Menu commands

Command Function
Arc Draw an arc by defining start and end points
and a radius
Box Draw a box by defining the corners
Building Draw a rectangular building by defining an
origin, bearings and distances of each side
Line Draw a pline by defining the points on the line
Point Draw a point
Set Draw a set line by defining the points on the
line
Text Draw a text object by defining the insertion
point, properties, style and text or extended
attributes text (EAT code)

Table 8.5 Terramodel Reports Menu commands

Command Function
Identify object Displays information about a selected object
Area/Perimeter Determines the area inside of a selected
closed line and the perimeter of the line
Distance Displays the distance between selected points
List Lists database information to the printer or file
for selected objects
Identify Station Reports the station value of a coordinate from
a pline or a set

Table 8.6 Terramodel Modify Menu commands

Command Function
Color Changes the color of selected objects
Elevation Changes the elevation of selected objects
Linetype Changes the linetype of selected objects
Move Moves the location of selected objects
Relayer Changes the layer of selected objects

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Table 8.6 Terramodel Modify Menu commands (Continued)

Command Function
Rotate Rotates the selected objects
Scale Changes the scale of selected objects

Table 8.7 Terramodel Settings Menu commands

Command Function
Active Station Sets, clears and lists the active alignment and
station
Layer settings Creates, edits and deletes layers. Use this to
turn all layer visibility on or off
Quick layer Sets layer visibility and/or isolates a selected
settings layer. Use this to step through the layers
visually
Search settings Controls the objects that the user can select
Running snaps Controls the ability to snap to points, lines,
curves, and endpoints
Unit settings Controls the display and storage units,
numbers of decimals used in reports and
displays, and station format. Establishes chord
or arc definitions for arcs. Sets angle modes,
distance modes, unit labels and unit
conversion factors
Display settings Controls the display settings
View settings Controls the view name, coordinate labels,
ordering of X and Y, vertical exaggeration and
plot scale for each view
Cursor settings Changes the cursor movement to an
orthogonal or perpendicular direction, and
establishes cursor snap settings

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Table 8.8 Terramodel Window Menu commands

Command Function
Tile horizontal Arranges the open windows to fit next to each
other horizontally on the Terramodel graphics
screen
Tile vertical Arranges the open windows to fit next to each
other vertically on the Terramodel graphics
screen
Cascade Overlaps the open windows so that each title
bar is visible
Arrange icons Arranges minimized views along the lower
edge of the graphics screen
Clear message Clears the message display area below the
display graphics screen

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