
	Applies To

	Product(s):	gINT Professional, gINT Professional Plus
	Version(s):	8.2 and later
	Environment:	N/A
	Area:	Report-Fence
	Subarea:
	Original Author:	Kathleen Holcomb, Bentley Technical Support Group

If you are doing road design, the alignment module lets you define, store and output the data for multiple alignments. However, alignments also benefit anyone who uses custom baselines in fence reports, since they enable you to save multiple baselines.

Note: to perform these exercises you will need the training.gpj and alignments.gpj projects, the training.glb library files, and the site map.dxf:communities.bentley.com/.../2234.using-alignments.zip.

Using Alignments

The Alignments Support Module (Tab)

To add alignments support, do the following:

Go to INPUT.
Ensure that your current library is training.glb and your current project is training.gpj.
Select Additional Modules -> Alignments Support. This adds the alignments support module, indicated with a checkmark next to the menu option.
Notice that there is now an Alignments tab in the Main group. Click this tab. The split screen for alignment data entry appears:

The upper grid is for the GINT_ALIGNMENTS table, captioned as Alignments. You create one parent record here for each road alignment or stored baseline.

The lower grid is for the GINT_ALIGNMENT_COORDS table, captioned as Alignment Coordinates. For each parent GINT_ALIGNMENTS record in the upper grid, this lower grid holds the coordinates that define the path of the alignment.

How to Store Baselines as Alignments

We’ll use the Alignment tab grids to create and use some stored baselines.

In the Alignment ID field in the upper grid, enter ‘1st Baseline’.
In the lower grid, if the East column is to the right of the North, drag the East column header to the left so that it is the first column.
Enter the following values in the lower grid:

East North
50 309
139 319
297 292

For baseline creation, you leave the other columns blank.
Click the Save icon. Notice that values appear in the Station column. Stationing or chainage is the distance along the alignment, and is automatically calculated when you save.

Note: If you do not have a Site Map tab, you will need to add Site Map support and import the tank farm site map. To do this, 1) select Additional Modules -> Site Map Support, 2) click the Site Map tab, 3) select File -> Import/Export -> DXF Import, 4) open ‘site map.dxf’, and 5) click the Input tab to close site map view.
Go to OUTPUT -> Fences.
Click the Browse button to the left of Use Alignment (under FENCE OPTIONS). Select ‘1st Baseline’ and click OK.

Notice that ‘1st Baseline’ appears in the Baseline field, indicating that this alignment is providing the baseline for the fence report.
Click the Site Layout button. Notice that the alignment/baseline is drawn just above the three lower points.
Click the Return to Output tab.
In the object selector, choose ‘STRATIGRAPHY & GW - A SIZE’.
Preview the report. The fence report appears, using the alignment you specified as a baseline.
Close the preview.

Drawing a Baseline/Alignment Interactively

This is the same process for drawing a baseline as was described in “Creating a Custom Baseline.” However, after we draw the baseline, we will copy the baseline points to the Alignments tab to save the baseline as an alignment.

Do the following:

Click the Site Layout button.
Zoom in on the tank farm area and its immediate surroundings using the Zoom Window tool.
Select Fence Spec -> Deselect Alignment for Baseline.
Select Fence Spec -> Draw Baseline.
Draw a custom baseline from the upper left corner of the tank farm to the lower right, following the tank farm boundary. Click OK.
Close the site layout view.
Click the Expand button to the right of the Baseline field.
Highlight the set of East and North values by dragging with the mouse. Press Ctrl+C (Copy).
Click OK. Go to INPUT -> Alignments.
Enter ‘2nd Baseline’ in the Alignment ID cell in the second row.
Click in the East cell in the lower grid. Press Ctrl+V (Paste). This creates an alignment from the points that you drew in OUTPUT.
Go to OUTPUT. Click the Browse button to the left of Use Alignment.
As you can see, you now have two stored baselines that you can choose between.
Click Cancel.

Displaying a Scale along Alignments

You can display a scale along each alignment in the site map. This shows the distance along the alignment (that is, chainage). The distance and number of tick marks between divisions, the size and offsetting of scale numbers, and similar features can be customized.

To demonstrate this, do the following:

Go to INPUT. Click the Site Map tab.
Zoom in on the alignment line just above the B-1, B-2 and B-3 boreholes. Notice that the alignment is represented with a simple series of line segments, with no scale markings.
Select Site Map -> Alignment Scale Display.
Enter the following values, then click OK:

Property Value
Major Division 50
Major Tick Length 10
Number of Minor Divisions 10
Minor Tick Length 5
Number Height 5

The length and height units are in distance units, not page units. For example, a Major Tick Length of ‘10’ means 10 feet or 10 meters long (whatever your units are), not some number of millimeters or inches on the page.
Notice that the two alignments in the site map now have scale markings.
You can make the scale numbers perpendicular (or angled) relative to the major tick marks by changing the Number Angle Offset value. Select Site Map -> Alignment Scale Display, and set Number Angle Offset to ‘90’. Click OK. Notice that the scale values are now perpendicular to the tick marks.
Close the Site Map view.

The Alignment Scale Display settings you entered only apply in Site Map view (in INPUT) and Site Layout view (in OUTPUT). They must be configured separately in REPORT DESIGN if you want to see the alignment scale included in printed or previewed reports, as follows:

For a site map entity in a log or fence:.

1. Open the report in REPORT DESIGN.
2. Double-click the site map entity.
3. Click the Alignment Scales tab in the SITE MAP PROPERTIES window.
4. Enter your specifications then click OK. The properties in this tab work exactly the same way as their counterpart in INPUT -> Site Map -> Alignment Scale Display.

For a site map report:

1. Open the report in REPORT DESIGN -> Site Maps.
2. Click the Properties icon.
3. Click the Alignment Scales tab (you may have to scroll the tabs to see it).
4. Enter your specifications then click OK. The properties in this tab work the same way as their counterparts in INPUT -> Site Map and log/fence reports.

Creating Alignments for Road Design

The Alignments Support module contains a robust set of features for road design. To demonstrate this, we’ll examine a project with the alignments data already entered.

Do the following:

Go to INPUT and open the alignments.gpj project.
Click the Point tab. Notice that there are 13 boreholes.
Click the Site Map tab. Notice that a site map of a hilly area has been included in the project, and the borehole locations are plotted.

The blue line between the boreholes is the alignment called ‘main road alignment’. Any alignments you define in the project will be plotted in Site Map view.
Click the Input tab to close the Site Map view. Click the Alignment tab.
Notice the following:

There is one parent alignment (GINT_ALIGNMENTS) record, with an Alignment ID of ‘main road alignment’.
The parent record has 20 child Alignment Coordinates (GINT_ALIGNMENT_COORDS) records in the lower grid, each defining a measuring point along the alignment.
The child Alignment Coordinates records have Z1 and Z2 values, which were not used in the previous “saved baseline” examples.
Station (chainage) values have been calculated for all of the child records.
The set of Z1 values in the child records has a corresponding Z1 Description (‘original ground surface’), Z1 Line Thickness, and Z1 Color in the parent record. The Z2 values also have a Z2 Description (‘final graded surface’) and line and color fields.

Go to OUTPUT -> Fences. Make sure that ‘STRATIGRAPHY & GW - A SIZE’ is selected in the object selector.
Click the Use Alignment Browse button. Select Main Road Alignment and click OK.
Preview the report.
Notice that the Z1 (‘original ground surface’) and Z2 (‘final graded surface’) curves are plotted for the ‘main road alignment’. The Z1 (original) curve is a blue dashed line, as specified in the GINT_ALIGNMENTS record. The Z2 (final) curve is a magenta solid line.
Close the preview.

Additional Points about Alignments

The Units property for the fields in an alignment is specified when you add Alignments Support. The Units properties of the Initial Station field in the parent table and all the fields in the child table are set to be the same as the Units property of the Depth (HoleDepth) field in POINT.
On save, the alignment coordinates are validated for the following:
- There must be at least 2 points.
- The lines connecting the alignment coordinates cannot cross.
- No two rows can have the same pair of North and East values.

Property	Value
Major Division	50
Major Tick Length	10
Number of Minor Divisions	10
Minor Tick Length	5
Number Height	5

East	North
50	309
139	319
297	292