The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Contents

The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module ....................................................................................................... 1

Contents.................................................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Videos and Tutorials ............................................................................................................................ 3
About Keynetix .................................................................................................................................... 3
Getting started ........................................................................................................................................ 4
User Interface...................................................................................................................................... 4
Data Management ........................................................................................................................... 4
Asset Management .......................................................................................................................... 4
Profile.............................................................................................................................................. 5
Help................................................................................................................................................. 5
Accessing and Importing Geotechnical Data ............................................................................................ 5
Connecting to a database .................................................................................................................... 5
Creating a Project ................................................................................................................................ 7
Import formats .................................................................................................................................... 7
AGS.................................................................................................................................................. 7
CSV .................................................................................................................................................. 8
CSV Default Mapping ....................................................................................................................... 8
CSV Geotechnical Module 2014/2015 Mapping ............................................................................. 10
Import Geotechnical Data .................................................................................................................. 12
Step 1: File Selection ...................................................................................................................... 12
Step 2: File Checks ......................................................................................................................... 13
Step 3: Locations Selected ............................................................................................................. 13
Step 4: Plan.................................................................................................................................... 14
Step 5: Import ................................................................................................................................ 14
Creating and Managing Database Connections .................................................................................. 15
Updates ............................................................................................................................................. 16
To check for Updates ..................................................................................................................... 16
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Create and Manage Locations ............................................................................................................... 17

Locations Manager ............................................................................................................................ 17
Create and Manage Strata Surfaces ....................................................................................................... 20
Strata Manager.................................................................................................................................. 20
Stratum Locations.............................................................................................................................. 21
Create Dynamic Geotechnical Profiles ................................................................................................... 22
Create Profile View ............................................................................................................................ 22
Step 1: Setup Profile: ..................................................................................................................... 22
Step 2: Select Locations ................................................................................................................. 23
Manage Profiles................................................................................................................................. 24
Geotechnical Hatch Styles ..................................................................................................................... 26
Geotechnical Hatch Manager............................................................................................................. 26
Hatch Editor................................................................................................................................... 27
Geotechnical Styles ............................................................................................................................... 28
Geotechnical Style Manager .............................................................................................................. 28
Style Editor .................................................................................................................................... 30
Plan Strip Editor ............................................................................................................................. 31
Profile Strip Editor ......................................................................................................................... 31
Creating a Point Style......................................................................................................................... 32
To create a point style ................................................................................................................... 32
Updating an AutoCAD Drawing Template .......................................................................................... 33
Help – Companion Products .................................................................................................................. 34

2
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Introduction
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module has been developed and licenced to Autodesk by Keynetix, it has
been designed to ease the task of creating and viewing geological and subsurface information.

Geotechnical design is like any other engineering practice, the designs need to be revised and refined. In
many respects this is more the case with geotechnics as the engineer with limited information tries to
interpret the data to best fit the site. To this end the tool has been designed to quickly display data in
AutoCAD® Civil 3D®to allow the user to start modelling and interpreting the site data.

The Geotechnical Module is designed to work with drill hole locations and geology data, this
functionality includes:

Importing and connecting to geotechnical data, both AGS and CSV formats

Creating and managing Boreholes in both plan and model space

Creating and managing sub strata surfaces

Producing dynamic profiles and projecting log strips on to them

Geotechnical hatch and style management

The module is designed to show you the geotechnical data as-is, it does not interpret the data, however
the surfaces that are created are a great aid and starting point in the interpretation, modelling and
visualisation process.

Videos and Tutorials

For video guidance and tutorials showing how the Autodesk Geotechnical Module can be used and
examples of workflows modelling the data, visit:

www.keynetix.com/fromTheGroundDown

About Keynetix
Keynetix, based in the UK, is an Autodesk Industry Partner and has been developing geotechnical data
management software for over two decades. The software ranges from on-site data entry tools for both
drillers and engineers, desktop data entry tools including Excel extensions and the world leading
geotechnical data management software HoleBASE SI. HoleBASE SI’s unique features allow you to
manage your data throughout the lifetime of a project and access historical information alongside your
current project, transforming the way you archive and manage site investigation. HoleBASE SI allows
you to rapidly produce logs, reports, charts and interpretations of your data within seconds.

Keynetix also develops the HoleBASE SI Extension for AutoCAD Civil 3D, an advanced companion product
to the Autodesk Geotechnical Module. This provides extra features to manipulate surfaces, view
additional down hole data in log strips and profiles plus lots of extra functionality.

3
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Keynetix Ltd
System House
Burnt Meadow Road
Redditch
Worcestershire
B98 9PA
Tel: +44 (0)1527 688888

Getting started
User Interface

The Geotechnical Module ribbon

Data Management
Connect: The module connects and accesses project data directly from the local Geotechnical Module
database installed on the local machine or it can connect to a central HoleBASE SI database. The
Connect command is also used to create projects in the local Geotechnical Module database

Import: Used to import geotechnical CSV or AGS data into the current project

Update: Checks for changes in the current project in the database and updates the geotechnical
features in the current drawing.

Asset Management
Location: Used to control what location elements are displayed and how they are presented including
control over the 3D borehole banding and vertical exaggeration

Strata: The Strata Manager is used to create and display strata surfaces, the surfaces created are
standard Civil 3D surfaces, they can be edited and manipulated using Civil 3D commands and are
displayed in the tool prospector like any other surface.

The Manager is designed to make it fast and easy to switch between strata surfaces, the display of each
surface can be checked on or off, there is no need to change the display style to hide the surface.

Hatches: The Geotechnical Hatch Manager defines geotechnical hatches to be created from multiple
Hatch overlays. The geotechnical hatches defined are used to render the log strips or profile areas of
matching banding terms

Traditionally complex hatch combinations may be used to represent different geologies; often the
standard AutoCAD hatch patterns are not flexible enough. A geotechnical hatch may be made up from
overlaid hatch patterns each with its own colour, scale and rotation.

4
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Styles: The Style Manager is used to define the way the borehole is display on Plan, in the Model and on
Profiles.

Profile
Create: Creates Civil 3D Profiles View overlaid with relevant boreholes logs stripes with strata bands
between profiles automatically hatched

Manage: Used to resynchronise boreholes logs stripes with Profiles Views if they go out of tally after
manipulation

Help
Help: Access the Help and Companion Products functions

About: Information on the Geotechnical Module

Accessing and Importing Geotechnical Data

The Autodesk Geotechnical Module uses projects to store and manage geotechnical data, these can
either be stored in the stand-alone database which is created when the Geotechnical Module is installed
or in a central HoleBASE SI database, a geotechnical data management system developed by Keynetix.

Functionality is included to manage projects including create, edit and delete, these projects are stored
in the local Geotechnical Module database.

To access or import geotechnical data a project must first be opened. If the project already contains
data it will automatically create the 3D borehole logs and plan symbols, if it’s a new project the data
must first be imported.

Three steps to importing data:

1. Connect to the appropriate database

2. Create or open a project
3. Import geotechnical data

Connecting to a database
Before geotechnical data can be imported a Project must be created or opened from an existing
geotechnical database.

Command: KNX_CONNECT

5
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

1. From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Connect to display the Login dialog box.

2. From the Database drop down list select the Geotechnical Module database to connect to.
The Username and Password can be ignored as these are only used when connecting to a
HoleBASE SI database.

For HoleBASE SI users, Manage Connections can be used to create

connections to existing HoleBASE SI databases

3. Click Login
4. The Projects dialog will all be displayed, listing all projects are available to you within the
database.

5. From the grid select the project and click OK

6
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

For projects containing existing geotechnical data the 3D boreholes and location symbols will be created
for all locations within the selected project.

Creating a Project
Before you can import data into a project you must first create a project.

1. Follow the instructions to Connect to a Database.

2. In the Projects dialog press Create, to display the Create Project dialog

3. Enter unique Project ID

4. Enter unique Name
5. Enter Status, the Manage command can be used to create new Status pick list values
6. Enter Category, the Manage command can be used to create new Category pick list values
7. The remaining fields are optional
8. Press Save to create the new project

The Projects dialog will be redisplayed listing the new project.

Import formats
Data can be imported from two main formats, AGS or CSV (Comma Separated Variable)

AGS
 Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists
 Used in UK, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, global usage is constantly increasing
 The module supports version 3.1 and 4
 Geotechnical Data transfer format
 Well established, 20+ years
For more info http://www.ags.org.uk

7
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Example of AGS 4

CSV
Two styles of CSV files, known as mappings, can be imported into the geotechnical module, one being
the new Default format and the second being the traditional Geotechnical Module 2014/2015 format.

Both will be explained below.

PLEASE NOTE: the filenames, column headings and case must be identical to that shown, failure to use
identical names and case will result in errors and warnings.

CSV Default Mapping

This mapping requires two or three files and follows the same format as used to import and export from
HoleBASE SI.

Filename Requirement Description

Location Details.csv Mandatory Bore hole type and position information
Field Geological Descriptions.csv Mandatory Strata and banding information
Orientation and Inclination.csv Optional Used for inclined bore holes

Location Details.csv

This file contains a row for each individual hole location, the table below gives details of the individual
column headings and which fields are mandatory or not

Column Heading Description Mandatory Example

Location ID Location unique ID Yes BH0001

8
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Location Type Type of activity at location Yes RC

Easting Easting or longitude of the location of hole Yes 123456.4
Northing Northing or latitude of the location Yes 232467.3
Ground Level Ground level relative to datum of location Yes 35.43
or start of traverse
Final Depth Final Depth 8.37

Below is an example of the Location Details.csv, note the case and spacing in the column headers.

Field Geological Descriptions.csv

Contains the strata or banding data per location, the four columns Legend Code, Geology Code, Geology
Code2 and BGS Lexicon are not all mandatory, but at least one should be fully populated to allow the
software to correctly band the boreholes and strata.

Column Heading Description Mandatory Example

Location ID Location identifier Yes BH001
Depth Top Depth to the TOP of stratum Yes 7.43
Depth Base Depth to the BASE of description Yes 8.12
Legend Code Legend code 102
Geology Code Geology code LC
Geology Code2 Second geology code SAND
BGS Lexicon BGS Lexicon GOG
Description General description of stratum Stiff grey silty CLAY

Additional banding columns can also be imported for instance, colour, shape or Angularity, by editing
the Mapping when importing.

Below is an example of the Field Geological Descriptions.csv, note the case and spacing in the column
headers.

9
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Orientation and Inclination.csv

The third file, Orientation and Inclination.csv, is optional and contains information on the direction of
the borehole.

Only entries for when the borehole is not vertically down need to be included.

Note: the inclination for a standard vertical hole is 90°, and inclination of the 0° would create a
horizontal borehole, and inclination of -90° would create a vertical hole going upwards.

Column Heading Description Mandatory Example

Location ID Location identifier Yes BH001
Orientation of hole (degrees Clockwise from
Orientation 135
north)
Inclination of hole (measured positively
Inclination 75
down from horizontal in deg)

Below is an example of the Orientation and Inclination.CSV file

CSV Geotechnical Module 2014/2015 Mapping

This is the format used in the previous version of the Geotechnical Module. This version of the mapping
requires two files

Filename Requirement Description

HOLE.csv Mandatory Bore hole type and position information
GEOL.csv Mandatory Strata and banding information

HOLE.csv (Location Details.csv)

Column Heading Description Mandatory Example

LocationID Location unique ID Yes BH0001
LocationType Type of activity at location Yes RC

10
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Easting Easting or longitude of the location of hole Yes 123456.4

Northing Northing or latitude of the location Yes 232467.3
GroundLevel Ground level relative to datum of location or start Yes 35.43
of traverse
FinalDepth Final Depth Yes 8.37
Orientation Orientation of hole (degrees Clockwise from north) 87
Inclination Inclination of hole (measured positively down from 56.3
horizontal in deg)

This file contains a row for each individual hole location.

Below is an example of a HOLE.csv file, note the CPT (Cone penetration test) location has an orientation
and information

GEOL.csv (Field Geological Descriptions.csv)

This file contains the strata data per location of stratum, the four columns GeologyCode, GeologyCode2,
LegCode and BGSLexicon are not all mandatory, but at least one should be fully populated to allow the
software to correctly band the boreholes and strata.

Column Heading Description Mandatory Example

LocationID Location identifier Yes BH001
DepthTop Depth to the TOP of stratum Yes 7.43
DepthBase Depth to the BASE of description Yes 8.12
GeologyCode Geology code LC
GeologyCode2 Second geology code SAND
LegCode Legend code 102
BGSLexicon British Geological Survey Lexicon reference GOG
Description General description of stratum Stiff grey silty
CLAY
Below is an example of geol.csv file.

11
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Import Geotechnical Data

Once a project has been created and opened the Import command, on the Geotechnical ribbon, is used
to bring in the geotechnical data. Once imported the other geotechnical commands can be used to
manipulate the data. By default the plan locations and 3D boreholes will be drawn for every hole
location.

Command: KNX_IMPORT

The import process uses a multi-step wizard as described below

Step 1: File Selection

The first step in the wizard is selecting the files to import.

From this step, select the File Type to import, select either: AGS 4, AGS 3.1 or CSV.

For CSV files, Mapping, Delimiter and Quote Character should be specified to match the files selected
for import.
For definition of the formats see Import Formats

12
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Click Add to browse and select the files to import, click close when selected, to remove the selected files
click Clear.

Overwrite empty values checkbox, is used when re-importing data, if checked on, any blank fields in the
new imported files will replace the existing data, if checked off the existing data will stay the same
unless none blank values exist in the file for the corresponding fields in the database.

Next: will proceed to the next step in the import wizard.

Step 2: File Checks

The second step of the wizard validates that the filenames and format are correct, if problems are found
with the files errors and/or warnings will be displayed, which appear as hyperlinks next to each file.
Clicking on each link will open a dialog giving you details of the encountered problem.

Manage: the Manage dialog may be used to add an unrecognised column to the mapping description,
this functionality can only be used to add new banding columns from the Field Geology Descriptions file.

In most cases the wizard should be cancelled at the stage and the problems reported corrected before
attempting to reimport the data.

Step 3: Locations Selected

Step 3 is used to confirm the borehole locations to import.

13
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Using the checkboxes, Select All and Clear options, select the locations to import.

Step 4: Plan
Step 4 displays a summary of the geotechnical data to be imported, press Next to proceed and Import

Step 5: Import
The geotechnical data will now be imported, press Finish when complete.

Newly created boreholes in plan

14
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

At the end of the import the display will be zoomed to the extents of the new data. You will see the
hole locations drawn on the plan view. Changing the view to 3D will display cylinders representing the
3D boreholes, together with the strata levels.

Creating and Managing Database Connections

This section is only relevant if you are connecting through to HoleBASE SI.

To connect to HoleBASE SI you must first create a connection through to the HoleBASE SI SQL Server
database.

1. From the HoleBASE SI ribbon click Connect to display the Login dialog box and click Manage
Connections to show the Connection manager dialog.

2. From the Connection Manager dialog click New Connection, the Edit Connection dialog will be
displayed.

3. Enter the Name for the connection; this should be a descriptive name so you can easily identify
the database in the future.
4. Enter the Database Name, this is the name of the HoleBASE SI database and would normally be
supplied by your HoleBASE SI Administrator.
5. Enter the Server name, this is the name of the Microsoft SQL Server instance and would
normally be supplied by your HoleBASE SI Administrator
6. Enter your HoleBASE SI database credentials, again, the HoleBASE SI Administrator may need to
supply these details.

15
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

7. Click Test Connection to ensure the database connection is working.

8. If the test is successful, Click Save to save the connection settings.

Updates
Within the The Update command is used to recreate deleted geotechnical objects for the current
project. If connected to a HoleBASE SI database the Update command will synchronise the drawing with
any changes in the central HoleBASE SI project database. The 3D boreholes will be updated with the
latest data from HoleBASE SI with the changes in geology being reflected in any strata surfaces
previously created. The update merges the changes with the any existing strata surfaces, so any manual
edits made to the surface will be maintained.

Command: KNX_UPDATE

To check for Updates

1. From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Update
2. The command displays the numbers of changes the update will make.

3. Click Update to update the geotechnical data in the drawing.

The boreholes will be updated, inserted or deleted as part of the update process, any strata surfaces
will also be updated.

16
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Create and Manage Locations

Hole locations are automatically generated when connecting to an existing project with data imported
and are represented by two main elements in the AutoCAD drawing.

Plan symbol: The marker representing the hole location on plan, this is made up from a Civil 3D Point
and a Civil 3D Point label

3D Borehole: A number of cylinders representing the borehole in 3D; each cylinder represents different
strata/banding down the borehole.

The way the elements look are defined by styles and are covered elsewhere in this guide.

3D Boreholes rendered

The location plan symbol is placed on one layer, the 3D borehole cylinders are all in different layers
dependent on their strata/banding name. All layers created are placed under the KNX group in the
AutoCAD Layer properties

Locations Manager

Command: KNX_LocationManager

From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Locations to display the dialog box.

17
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Use the Location Manager to specify which hole locations and elements to display. For each location the
plan symbol, plan strip and 3D borehole can be displayed or hidden.

The Location Manager

The Location Manager displays all locations from the current project connection in a grid with each row
representing a borehole.

The grid can be sorted by clicking on the header of any column, clicking again will change the sort order,
or the filtered via the Filter icon

It is possible to sort data by more than one column. Simply hold down the
shift key while selecting the first sort column, and then select a second
column to order the data primarily by the first column followed by the second.

Include: The Include toggle can be unchecked to prevent the hole data being used in any surface
created. Toggled on: the hole will be used, toggled off: it will not be used. This may be required for
holes where the data is not reliable. Using this method will exclude the use of data from the borehole in
any strata surface created. The toggle in the column header can be used to include or exclude all filtered
boreholes.

Plan: The toggle controls the display of the location Plan symbol.

Strip: The toggle controls the display of the location Plan Strip.

Model: The toggle controls the display of the 3D Borehole.

Zoom: Zooms to the borehole location.

Band by: Specifies the type of geotechnical data to use to create the 3D Boreholes cylinders, the options
are:

 BGS Lexicon
 Geology Code
 Geology Code 2
 Legend Code
 Or any additional pick list information imported from the Field Geological Descriptions file

18
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Banded by Geology Code Banded by Legend Code

Changing the option will force the update of the 3D Boreholes with the cylinders now representing the
new geology banding type.

The cylinder strata colour is given by the geotechnical hatch for the stratum, the hatch styles are defined
in the geotechnical Hatch Manager. The individual cylinder elements are placed on layers specified by
their stratum name.

Geotechnical objects are placed on layers dependent on their strata name;

this includes the individual cylinder elements in boreholes and the geology
surfaces. The layers can be found in the standard AutoCAD Layers
Properties Manager, the layers are in a group called KNX
3D Sticks Vertical exaggeration: Specifies the vertical scale to use to display the 3D geotechnical objects
in model space. By changing the exaggeration, the 3D Boreholes and strata surfaces created by the
Geotechnical Module will all have their vertical scale updated.

2D Strips Vertical exaggeration: Specifies the vertical scale to use to display the 2D look strips on plan.
By changing the exaggeration, the 2D Log Strips will be redrawn at with the new vertical scale.

19
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Create and Manage Strata Surfaces

Strata surfaces can be created with a single click of a button, the surfaces created are standard Civil 3D
surfaces, they can be edited and manipulated using Civil 3D commands and are displayed in the tool
prospector like any other surface.

The Civil 3D surface will be created using the Style “KNX_Geotechnical Surface”; if this surface style is
not present it will be created. The styles associated to the strata surfaces can be changed or edited.

For more information on editing surface styles please refer to the AutoCAD
Civil 3D user help “Surface Styles and Visualization”

Strata Manager

Command: KNX_StrataManager

From the Geotechnical Module ribbon, click Strata to display the dialog box.

The Strata Manager is used to create and display strata surfaces based on the Band by selection.

The manager is designed to make it fast and easy to switch between strata surfaces, the display of each
surface can be checked On or Off; there is no need to change the surface style to hide the surface.

The surfaces are displayed with the vertical exaggeration specified in the
Location manager.

The grid lists all strata as specified by the band by option in the project and gives summary information
for the strata.

The grid can be sorted by clicking on the header of any column, clicking again will change the sort order.

The grid contents can be filtered by using the filter icon in the column header.

20
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Band by: The banding option is used to specify the type of geotechnical data to be used to create the
surfaces. Changing the banding will not affect the current surfaces but will allow new surfaces to be
created using the selected banding.

State: The state icon indicates if the data in the project from which the surface was created has altered;
if the surfaces are using the latest data the icon will be a green tick, if the surface needs re-synchronising
with the database a red cross will be displayed.

Top: Toggles on to rapidly show or hide the top surface of the stratum, the surface will be created if it
does not already exist in the drawing.

Base: Toggles on to rapidly show or hide the bottom surface of the stratum, the surface will be created
if it does not already exist in the drawing.

Strata name: The column name will change to reflect the current Band by option, the value displayed is
the unique name for the stratum. The value is dependent on the band by option.

View: Click the button to display the Stratum Locations dialog. The dialog will display a list of all the
locations used in creating the surface. The top and base of individual locations can be toggled on and off
so that their data is not used when creating the surface.

Stratum Locations
The dialog is displayed by clicking View in the Strata Manager.

It lists all the boreholes used in the creation of the stated stratum, the top or base surface can be
refined by including or excluding individual location data.

Top: Toggled On indicates the location is being used to create the stratum Top surface. By toggling off,
the surface is updated without using the data from the selected hole location.

Base: Toggled Off indicates the location is not being used to create the stratum Base surface. By
toggling On, the surface is updated with the data from the selected hole location.

21
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Create Dynamic Geotechnical Profiles

The aim of the geotechnical module is to quickly see and understand the site geology; creating dynamic
profiles of the geology strata. Being able to see log strips projected on to Profile View is an excellent aid
in understanding the geology of the site.

For Geotechnical Profiles to work, the current drawing must be connected to a project and have strata
surfaces created.

Create Profile View

Command: KNX_CreateProfileView

From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Create to display the Create Profile wizard

Create Profile View works in the same way as the standard AutoCAD Civil 3D profiles; however they
have the extra ability to project the required borehole log strips on to the Profile View and automatically
hatch the strata areas.

The command uses a wizard to create the Geotechnical Profile.

Step 1: Setup Profile:

Specifies how and what Geotechnical Profile to create.

22
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Profile View

Name: The name for the profile

Style: Select the Profile Style to be used to create the Geotechnical Profile; these are the standard
AutoCAD Civil 3D Profile Styles.

Profile styles can be edited using the standard AutoCAD Civil 3D

functionality, refer to Profile View Styles in the AutoCAD Civil 3D help

Alignment: Select the alignment to be used from the drop-down list or either select the alignment from
the drawing or create a new alignment

Select from Drawing: Select the alignment to use in the profile from the drawing
Create Alignment: Follow the prompts to draw the alignment line press Enter when done. An
alignment will be created and used within the Geotechnical Profile.
Geotechnical Surfaces

The grid lists all of the geotechnical surfaces currently created in the drawing. If a stratum surface is not
present it means the surface has not been created, cancel the command and use the Strata Manager to
create the required surface.

At least one geotechnical surface must be created and included to create a

geotechnical profile.

The rows can be sorted and filtered by clicking on the column headings.

Each stratum is represented by a single row in the grid.

Include: Toggled On or Off to display or hide each pair of stratum surfaces in the new geotechnical
profile.

Hatch: If both top and base surfaces have been created for a stratum, then the Hatch checkbox will be
active, toggle On to Hatch the stratum in the profile, toggle Off for no Hatch. Hatch styles are defined in
the Geotechnical Hatch manager

Step 2: Select Locations

The Select Locations page is used for two functions, selecting the Geotechnical Style Set to use for the
borehole logs and picking the locations to use in the profile.

23
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Style: Select from the predefined list of styles to use when creating the borehole log strips on the
profile. Refer to the Geotechnical Style Manager to see how to create styles.

Filter locations

By Buffer: Enter a distance to use to find all borehole locations within the specified distance from the
alignment.

Dynamic: Toggle On dynamic for the Geotechnical Module to search for new borehole locations within
the buffer distance to project onto the Profile View when the alignment is modified.

From drawing: Press Select, to be prompted to select locations from the drawing, pick the borehole
locations to project onto the alignment and press enter.

Finish: Clicking Finish will prompt the user to locate the bottom left corner of the Geotechnical Profile,
the Strata profiles with the borehole log strips projected onto the Profile View will be created.

Manage Profiles

Command: KNX_ProfileManager

From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Manage to display the Manage Profile dialog

If hatch styles or Profile Views are modified it is possible for the profile strips on Geotechnical Profile
Views to go out of position or display out of date hatch styles. The Manage Geotechnical Profile dialog is
used to rebuild and refresh the Geotechnical Profile Views

24
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Geotechnical Profiles

The geotechnical profiles grid lists all of the Geotechnical Profiles Views created in the current drawing.

Rebuild: Click Rebuild to regenerate the specific Geotechnical Profile View

Rebuild All: Click Rebuild All to regenerate all Geotechnical Profile Views in the drawing

25
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Geotechnical Hatch Styles

Traditionally complex hatch combinations may be used to represent different geologies; often the
standard AutoCAD hatch patterns are not flexible enough. A geotechnical hatch may be made up from
multiple overlaid hatch patterns each with its own colour, scale and rotation.

The Geotechnical Hatch Manager allows precise geotechnical hatches to be created from multiple
hatch overlays. When rendering log strips or profile areas the geotechnical hatch that matches the
stratum banding will be used.

The Hatch Manager also controls the colour of the 3D borehole cylinders and strata surfaces for each
banding.

The Geotechnical Module is shipped with a number of AutoCAD patterns for geology together with the
standard geotechnical hatch styles for AGS legend codes. New geotechnical hatch styles are
automatically created when accessing a project with new stratum codes not encountered before. The
Geotechnical Hatch Manager can be used to edit and refine these automatically created styles.

Geotechnical Hatch Manager

Command: KNX_HatchManager

From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Hatches to display the Geotechnical Hatch Manager

The Geotechnical Hatch Manager is divided into two elements, at the top is the Geotechnical Hatches
grid, at the bottom is the Hatch Editor.

26
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

The Geotechnical Hatch grid lists all of the geotechnical hatches defined and works like any standard
grid with the column headers being used for sorting and filtering the data.

Add: Click Add to create a new geotechnical hatch style, the Hatch Editor can then be used to create the
new style

Over a period of time a large number of hatch styles may be defined, it is

recommended to use the filter to find particular styles.

Copy: Select a geotechnical hatch style and then click Copy to make a complete duplicate of the selected
style, the Hatch Editor will be updated with the copied information enabling modifications where
necessary.

Remove: Select a Geotechnical Hatch from the grid and click Remove to delete the Geotechnical Hatch.

Hatch Editor
Name: Enter the name for the geotechnical hatch style; any strata with the matching name will be
hatched using the style.

Category: Enter a category for the style, categories can be used to find and filter on.

Colour: Pick a colour to use for the strata in 3D borehole and strata surfaces

Protected: Toggle On Protected to ensure only the creator of the Hatch or the System Administrator can
edit the geotechnical hatch style; unprotected styles can be edited by any user.

Description: Enter a description for the geotechnical hatch style.

Hatch Editor Grid: The Hatch Editor Grid is used to add hatch overlays to the geotechnical hatch style,
each overlay will be represented as a separate row in the grid.

Hatch: Select the AutoCAD hatch pattern to use for the overlay hatch

Colour: Pick the colour to use for the overlay hatch

Scale: Set the scale for the overlay hatch

Rotation: Set the rotation for the overlay hatch

Add: Click Add to add an additional overlay to the current geotechnical hatch style

Remove: Click Remove to delete the selected overlay from the current geotechnical hatch style

Order arrows: The icons can be used to change the display order for the hatch overlays. Hatches at
the top of the list will be displayed first.

27
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Geotechnical Styles
Geotechnical Styles control the way geotechnical features appear in AutoCAD Civil 3D. They are called
geotechnical style sets as each location type can use a different style settings, for instance a trial pit may
use a different plan symbol and label compared to a rotary core hole.

Geotechnical Style definitions are saved at system level in the project database, the styles themselves
are made up from a number of components, the log strip template and various settings are also stored
in the database however there are a number of AutoCAD based items including Point styles and blocks
which must be saved in a drawing template.

Refer to Updating an AutoCAD Drawing Template in this user guide.

Geotechnical Style Manager

Command: HBSI_StyleManager

From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Styles to display the Geotechnical Style Manager.

The Geotechnical Style Manager is divided into two elements, at the top is the Geotechnical Styles Grid,
at the bottom is the Styles Editor.

The Geotechnical Style Grid lists all of the geotechnical styles defined and works like any standard grid,
with the column headers being used for sorting and filtering the data. Selecting a style by clicking on it in
the grid will populate the Style Editor.

28
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Create: Click Create to generate a new style, the Style Editor is populated with default settings ready to
be updated.

Copy: Click Copy to make a duplicate of the selected geotechnical style set, the Style Editor is populated
with the copied style.

Delete: Deletes the selected Style.

Set Current: Makes the selected style Current and refreshes the Geotechnical features in the drawing
using the selected style definitions.

Templates: The template screen is used to manage the log strip templates available in the application.
The templates are stored in the database, the Template Manager can be used to import new template
components when they become available from Keynetix.

Import: Imports new log strip templates component file (.hbc) into the module.

Delete: Deletes the selected templates from the Style Manager

29
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Style Editor

The Style Editor lists the Hole Type Styles making up the geotechnical style set, the <Default> Hole Type
Style is compulsory and is used to define the style of all hole types without a specific hole type style
listed.

Name: The name for the Geotechnical Style set.

Protected: Toggle on Protected to ensure only the style creator or the System Administrator can edit the
geotechnical style set, unprotected styles can be edited by any user.

Hole Type Styles are made up from five elements:

Type: The matching Hole Type to apply the style to, for instance if the location has a type of CP, then the
Hole Type Style with type CP will be used, if no matching Hole Type Style is defined then the default style
will be used.

Plan Point: The AutoCAD Civil 3D point style to use to display the location symbol on plan. By default the
Geotechnical Module creates the KNX_Location Point Style; the style can be edited, although it is
recommended that a copied version is updated. The module is also supplied with a range of Point Styles
for specific hole types; these include CP, TP, TC, SPT and others.

For information on creating and editing point styles refer to Point Styles in
the AutoCAD Civil 3D User help

Plan Label: The AutoCAD Civil 3D Point Label style to use to display the location text on plan. By default
the module creates the KNX_Location Point Label style; the style can be edited although it is
recommended a copied version should be updated.

3D Stick: Defines the appearance of the 3D borehole cylinders. It uses 3D Stick styles saved in the
database. Select the 3D Stick style to use or click the down arrow to see the three options: Create new,
Copy Current Selection and Edit Current Selection, to create new, copy or edit the 3D Stick styles.

30
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Plan Strip: Defines the appearance of the borehole log Strip on plan. It uses Plan Strip styles and Strip
templates stored in the database. Select the Plan Strip style to use or click the down arrow to see the
three options: Create new, Copy Current Selection and Edit Current Selection, to create new, copy or
edit the Plan Strip styles.

Plan Strip Editor

Creates and updates Profile Strip styles

Name: Enter a name for the style

Header: The AutoCAD Civil 3D point label style used to locate the location on the Plan View, <Auto>
refers to KNX_Strip_Header, the default point label style created by the Geotechnical Module. The style
can be edited although it is recommended a copied version should be updated.

Template: Select the strip template to use.

X Offset: The distance the plan strip is drawn away from the borehole location.

Y Offset: The distance the plan strip is drawn away from the borehole location.

Template: Select the strip template to use.

Save: Click Save to store the Plan Strip style definition

Profile Strip Editor

Creates and updates Profile Strip styles

31
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Name: Enter a name for the style

Header: The AutoCAD Civil 3D point label style used to locate the location on the Profile View, <Auto>
refers to KNX_Strip_Header, the default point label style created by the Geotechnical Module. The style
can be edited although it is recommended that a copied version is updated.

Template: Select the profile strip template to use.

Save: Click Save to store the Profile Strip style definition

Profile Strip: Defines the appearance of the borehole Profile Strips. It uses Profile Strip styles and profile
strip templates saved in the database. Select the Profile Strip style to use or click the down arrow to see
the three options: Create new, Copy Current Selection and Edit Current Selection, to create new, copy
or edit the Profile Strip styles.

Creating a Point Style

For detailed information on creating AutoCAD Civil 3D point and a point label style please refer to the
AutoCAD Civil 3D user documentation.

Below are the basic steps for creating a new point style.

A point style specifies the symbol that displays at the X Y location for the point in the drawing. The style
can also specify scaling for the symbol and its appearance in 3D views.

To create a point style

1. In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, right-click the Point Styles collection and pick New.
2. In the Point Style dialog box, click the Information tab. Enter a name and description for the
point style.
3. To define the symbol used to display the point, click the Marker tab. Specify the symbol type
and options for size, scaling, and rotation.
4. To define how the point displays in 3D views, click the 3D Geometry tab. Specify the 3D
Geometry settings.
5. To define the display properties for the point style, click the Display tab. Specify the display
properties for the symbol.
6. To view summary information about the style, click the Summary tab.
7. Click OK.

32
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Updating an AutoCAD Drawing Template

As with any AutoCAD work, having a configured drawing template can save considerable time.
Customised geotechnical styles can be saved within a drawing template follow these simple steps:

8. Either from an existing drawing or create a new drawing using your standard drawing template
containing the AutoCAD Civil 3D style you would normally use, click Connect in the Geotechnical
Module ribbon and connect to a sample project to work with.
9. Create and configure both AutoCAD Civil 3D styles and geotechnical styles in the normal way.
10. Save and exit the drawing
11. Open the drawing template to update

12. From the AutoCAD Civil 3D menu Manage ribbon panel Styles, click Import
13. Select the drawing saved in step three above; the AutoCAD Civil 3D Import Styles dialog will be
displayed.

14. Select the styles to import and click OK

15. Save the current drawing template .dwt
New drawings can then be created based on the saved drawing template.

33
The Autodesk® Geotechnical Module

Help – Companion Products

This link will take you to the Keynetix web page where you can read up to date information about
products developed for advanced and compatible functionality with the geotechnical workflows you
have access to in AutoCAD Civil 3D with the Autodesk Geotechnical Module.

34