Support
Geology and topsoil configuration of the segment
Summary
The Geology and topsoil configuration of the segment controls where and how topsoil removal is applied in the cross sections. This article gathers three advanced configurations documented by support: how to define an area where topsoil removal is not applied, how to make the cut terrain sit at a given depth below the topsoil, and how to account for a protective layer at the top of a pipe trench backfill. None of them is a program error: they are ways of configuring the geology to obtain the required result.
Applies to
MDT — applies to MDT 25 and MDT 26 (the versions of the documented cases), cross sections / segments module.
Segment files and pipe typical section files (.TUB)
Symptoms
You need topsoil removal not to be applied inside a region of the segment bounded by polylines.
You want the cut terrain not to be the stripped terrain, but a line at a given depth below the topsoil, so that the program directly calculates the fill volume up to that bearing elevation.
Working with a pipe trench, you need to account for a protective layer (for example, granular subbase) at the top of the backfill.
Cause
These are not errors but configuration needs: in all three cases the goal is to tell the program how to treat the geology and topsoil of the segment so that it reflects the real situation on site. The route documented by support goes, in every case, through the Cross Sections configuration and the Geology tab.
Solution
Case: defining an exclusion area where the segment topsoil removal is not applied
To delimit with polylines a region of the segment where topsoil removal is not applied:
Draw the polylines that delimit the region on a layer of their own (in the documented case, layer
PV).Run Cross Sections > Utilities > Insert Polylines and select those polylines. The resulting cross section is included in the segment.
Go to Utilities > Configuration > Cross Sections and, in Topsoil Code, enter the code of that layer (in the example,
PV).Regenerate the profiles: at the affected stations, topsoil removal will no longer be applied inside the region.
Case: making the cut terrain a line at a given depth below the topsoil
If you need the program to calculate directly the fill volume up to a bearing elevation located at a given depth below the topsoil (for example, 1.5 m), the route indicated by support is to treat that depth as topsoil, so that the program fills it in the embankment.
Case: how to assign a protective layer at the top of a pipe trench backfill
Working with a .TUB file (pipe trench), to account for a protective layer at the top (for example, granular subbase over the backfill at track crossings), the way to calculate that last layer is to use the Geology tab: a topsoil thickness is applied and that quantity value is equivalent to the backfill of the protective layer. You can indicate it in three ways:
Defining the topsoil removal for the whole route and discarding it afterwards from the list.
Indicating the station intervals of the stretches (for example, the track crossings) where you want this layer to be accounted for.
Generating the topsoil profiles and accounting for them in the geology.
If the problem persists
Contact APLITOP technical support attaching the segment (.SEG) —or the .TUB file in the case of the pipe trench—, the drawing (DWG) with the polylines involved and the specific stations where you need to apply the configuration: in these cases the diagnosis requires reviewing the project data.
If support needs to check the state of your installation, run MDT > About TCP, click Export and attach the generated file.
Category: Cross sections · Level: Intermediate