WF20912-L

An Introduction to the Geotechnical Module

Gary Morin
Keynetix

Learning Objectives
 Understand the fundamentals of the Geotechnical Module
 Create a project and import geotechnical data into AutoCAD Civil 3D
 Create and visualize 3D boreholes and geology strata surfaces
 Create dynamic Geotechnical profile views which display borehole log strips

Description
The Geotechnical Module 2017 is now available to all AutoCAD Civil 3D subscription orders.
This hands-on lab will show you the basis of getting started with the Geotechnical Module in
AutoCAD Civil 3D 17. Within minutes of starting the class you will see how to access and
import subsurface geology data in AutoCAD Civil 3D. The class will go on to show you how
quickly you can visualize boreholes in context of your site, create multiple strata surfaces and
even generate geotechnical profile views containing borehole log strips all in a few minutes, this
is work which would normally take many hours. By the end of the session you will have a great
understanding of how the Geotechnical Module works, allowing you to incorporate geotechnical
subsurface data in your infrastructure designs using AutoCAD Civil 3D.

Your AU Expert(s)
Gary Morin originally trained as a civil engineer and has over 30 years of experience working in
the production and support of a range of geographic information and CAD software systems. He
is now the Technical Director of Keynetix, which he co-founded in 2000 to specialize in
geotechnical data management software. He heads up the geotechnical Building Information
Modeling (BIM) development, and is responsible for the design and support services for a range
of products designed to manage geotechnical data in the BIM process, including the HoleBASE
SI Extension, the Geotechnical Module from Autodesk, Inc., and the advance HoleBASE SI
Extension for AutoCAD Civil 3D software. In recent years Morin has been at the forefront of
geotechnical BIM and how it can change working practices to enable a better understanding
and integration of geotechnical data into the wider construction process

Gary.morin@keynetix.com
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/garymorin63

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Understand the fundamentals of the Geotechnical Module
The aim of this class is an introduction to the Geotechnical Module to enable you to understand
the fundamentals of the module to enable the creation and visualization of sub surface geology
in AutoCAD Civil 3D.

GEOTECHNICAL MODULE IN ACTION

What is the Geotechnical Module?
It is an extension to the AutoCAD Civil 3D to display subsurface materials, it is available to
AutoCAD Civil 3D subscription holders.
The Geotechnical extension is designed to work with boreholes locations and geology data, the
functionality includes:
 Project management and importing geotechnical data in both CSV and AGS formats
 Creating and managing Boreholes in both plan and model space
 Creating and managing sub strata surfaces
 Production of geotechnical Profiles Views with borehole logs strips
 Geotechnical hatch and style management.

What are its limitations?

The geotechnical module is not a magic wand to automatically model geology, but it is a great
starting point.
It is not a replacement for geotechnical knowledge and experience; to interpret and model
geology you will need geotechnical knowledge and access to additional data sources for
reference, these sources may include:

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 GEOLOGY MAPS, PAPER, SCANNED AND/OR DIGITAL
 Geology Maps, Paper, Scanned and/or digital
 Web Mapping Services
 Photos
 Aerial photography
 Local knowledge
 Geophysics
 Additional down borehole information
Interface Quick Tour

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

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 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 color, scale and
rotation.
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 resynchronize boreholes logs stripes with Profiles Views if they go out
of tally after manipulation

Create a project and import geotechnical data into AutoCAD Civil 3D

In this session we are going to look at how to create a project and import data into the
Geotechnical Module.
The basics
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 any geotechnical data can be imported into the Geotechnical Module a connection to a
database must first be made, by default the installation process will install a database on your
local computer named: Geotechnical Module.

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Exercise 1

Command: KNX_CONNECT
1. Run AutoCAD Civil 3D 2017
2. Open drawing Exercise 1.dwg from
C:\Datasets\Lab06 San Polo 3505\WF20912-L An Introduction to the Geotechnical
Module\Data
3. From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Connect to display the Login dialog box.

FIGURE 1: THE CONNECT LOGIN DIALOG

4. 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

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

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 FIGURE 2: THE PROJECT LIST DIALOG
For existing projects already setup containing geotechnical data, pressing OK will create the 3D
boreholes and location symbols for all locations within the selected project.
Create a project
In our example we are going to create a new project to contain our geotechnical data.
In the Projects List dialog press Create, to display the Create Project dialog

FIGURE 3: CREATING A PROJECT

1. Enter a unique Project ID: AU2016 001

2. Enter a unique Name: Example Project item

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 3. Enter a Status, pick Open
4. Enter a Category, pick Default
5. The remaining fields are optional, but can be used in the Project List to help filter and
search projects
6. Press Save to create the new project.
The Projects dialog will be redisplayed listing the new project.
7. Select the new AU2015001 project and press Okay
This will connect the current drawing to the selected project.

Note: Once a drawing has been connected to a project the connection cannot be cut, a new
drawing will have to be created.

Geotechnical Data Import formats

Data can be imported from two main formats, AGS or CSV (Comma Separated Variable)
AGS
 Association of Geotechnical and Geo-Environmental 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

CSV
The Geotechnical Module supports two styles of CSV files, known as mappings. I strongly
suggest you use the later Default mapping, detailed 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:
 Location Details.csv : this is required and it contains the hole location details
 Field Geological Descriptions.csv : this is also required and contains the
geological Strata information
 Orientation and Inclination.csv: this file is optional and is used for inclined 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
Location Type Type of activity at location Yes RC

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

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 of stratum, the four columns Legend
Code, Geology Code, and Geology Code2 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

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

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 Orientation and Inclination.csv
The third file, Orientation and Inclination.csv, is optional and contains information on the
direction of the bore hole.
Only entries for when the borehole is not vertical down need to be added

Column Heading Description Mandatory Example

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

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.

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

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Import Geotechnical Data
With a project created and connected the geotechnical data can now be imported.
Exercise 2

Command: KNX_IMPORT
1. Continue with the Exercise 1.dwg
2. From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Import to display the Import wizard.

THE IMPORT WIZARD STEP ONE

3. Ensure the file format selected is CSV

4. Mapping format should be set to Default
5. Delimiter should be set to Comma (,)
6. Quote Character should be Double Quote (“)
7. Press Add and navigate to the data folder and select the three CSV files
C:\Datasets\Lab06 San Polo 3505\WF20912-L An Introduction to the Geotechnical
Module\Data
Field Geological Descriptions.csv
Location Details.csv
Orientation and Inclination.csv
8. Press Open
9. The File Checks step is displayed, in this example there should be no errors.
.

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 IMPORT WIZARD FILE CHECKS STEP
10. The Import Wizard now displays Location Selection step, this gives control over which
boreholes to import.

IMPORT WIZARD LOCATION SELECTION STEP

a. Press Select All to ensure all boreholes are checked On
11. Press Next to display the Plan step, this displays what changes are going to be made to
the current drawing, this is useful for when importing additional data to an existing
project.

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 IMPORT WIZARD PLAN STEP
12. Press Next to continue
13. Finally press Finish to complete the import process
The display will be zoomed to the extents of the newly imported data. The hole locations will be
drawn on the plan view.

THE IMPORTED BOREHOLES

Changing the view to 3D will display cylinders representing the 3D boreholes together with the
strata banding.

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Create and visualize 3D boreholes and geology strata surfaces

The Location Manager is used to control what location elements are displayed and how they
are presented including control over the 3D borehole banding and vertical exaggeration.
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.

Controlling the display of the Borehole Locations

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

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
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

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  Geology Code
 Geology Code 2
 Legend Code
 Or any additional pick list information imported

BANDED BY GEOLOGY CODEBANDED 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 color 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 with the new
vertical scale.
Select from Drawing: Used to refine which locations are displayed in the location grid, Press
Select from Drawing and select the boreholes either by clicking the borehole texts, the
borehole plan symbols or using the mouse to select the locations then press enter. The location
grid will be redisplayed with just the selected locations.
Clear all filters: The location grid will be redisplayed listing all locations in the drawing for the
current project.

Exercise 3: Visualising the Borehole Locations

1. Create a new blank drawing
2. From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Connect to display the Projects dialog box.

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 3. Select project AU2016001 and press Okay
The dialog box will be closed and the borehole locations for the project will be drawn.
4. From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Location to display the Location Manager.
Initially we only want to work with the boreholes on the east of the site, so within the location
manager we will exclude boreholes to the west.

5. Press Select from Drawing and select the six borehole locations to the north west of
the site.

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 6. Press Enter to update the Location Manager

Only the selected locations should be displayed in the grid.

7. Toggle Off the checkbox in the Include column header and close the Location
Manager

BOREHOLES EXCLUDED FROM DRAWING

8. Save the AutoCAD drawing as Exercise 3
Create and display strata surfaces with the Strata Manager
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.

Command: KNX_StrataManager
From the Geotechnical Module ribbon, click Strata to display the Strata Manager.
The Strata Manager is used to create and display strata surfaces based on the Band By
selection.

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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 STRATA 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.
Band By: The banding option is used to specify the type of geotechnical data to be used to
create the surfaces on. Changing the banding will not affect the current surfaces but will allow
new surfaces to be created using the selected banding.
Include Base of Locations: Indicates if the last depth value from a location should be used in
creating the strata surfaces, including the last value from a hole that may create inaccurate
surfaces. The last value from the hole, highlights the depth of the hole and not the depth of the
base of the strata. For instance, in Trial Pits the geology will continue past the bottom of the
Trial Pit. Toggle On Include Base of Locations will force the last value from the bottom of the
borehole to be used in creating surfaces.
State: The state icon indicates if the data in HoleBASE SI 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 updating the icon will be a red cross.
Visible: When toggled ON will create both the Top and Base surfaces representing the stratum
if they are not already created, and automatically display the Top surface. Toggling off will hide
the surfaces.

Use the down arrow to control the display of both top and base surfaces independently.
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 in creating the surface.

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Exercise 4: Creating the strata surfaces
1. Open or continuing on with the drawing saved in exercise 3
2. From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Strata to display the Strata Manager.

3. In the Visible column toggle On all strata surfaces

AutoCAD Civil 3D services will be created for the top and base of every strata toggled on.

4. Change the Visual style to Shaded by clicking on Wireframe

and selecting Shaded from the list

5. Use shift and middle button on the mouse to do a constrained orbit to view the surfaces
6. Save the drawing as Exercise 4

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Create dynamic Geotechnical profile views with borehole log strips
The Geotechnical Module can be used 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.
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.

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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.

Style: Select from the predefined list the Style to use when creating the borehole log strips on
the profile. The borehole log strip styles can be modified with the Geotechnical Style Manager

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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 Extension to search for new borehole
locations within the buffer distance to project onto the Profile View when the alignment is
modified.
Show Buffer: Draws a polyline to highlight the extents of the buffer.
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 specify the insertion point for the Geotechnical
Profile with a mouse click. 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

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

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Exercise 5: Creating a Geotechnical Profile View
1. Open or continue with the drawing saved in exercise 4

2. Change the view back to top and visual style to 2D Wireframe

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

STEP ONE OF THE CREATE PROFILE WIZARD

4. Enter a Profile View name: Profile on AA
5. Select a Profile View style: Major Grids and HGP
6. Click on Create Alignment and draw the alignment below from point 1 to point to 2 and
press Enter to finished

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Note it is important that the alignment passes close to a borehole location to enable the second
step of the wizard to become active.

7. Press Next on the Create Profile Wizard to go to the second step.

8. Set the Style to Legend Code

STEP TWO OF THE CREATE PROFILE WIZARD

9. Set the by Buffer distance to 40, to ensure boreholes are found and displayed in the
selected locations grid
10. Press Finish to continue
11. In the AutoCAD drawing position and click the bottom left corner for the Profile View

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The profile view is created containing profiles and hatches for the strata selected in the wizard
overlaid with the legend borehole log strips.
12. Save the drawing as Exercise 5
13. The Profile View may display Bands, if so these can easily be removed.

14. Press Esc to ensure no AutoCAD objects are selected

15. Select the Profile View and from context ribbon, press Profile View Properties

16. The Profile View properties dialog is displayed

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 17. Select the Bands tab
18. Click on Import Band Sets… to display the band sets
19. Select _No Bands and press OK
20. Press OK to complete
Exercise 6: Update strata surfaces and profiles
In this exercise we're going to go back to the Location Manager and include the excluded
boreholes at the start of the session. You should see both the Surfaces and the Profile View
update with the included data.
1. Open or continue with the drawing saved in exercise 5
2. From the Geotechnical Module ribbon click Location to display the Location Manager.
3. Ensure Include is toggled On for all borehole locations
The boreholes will be displayed and the strata surfaces updated

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The Profile View may be out of date, if this is the case tweak the alignment line.

TWEAK THE ALIGNMENT TO UPDATE THE PROFILE VIEW

4. Ensure the Alignment is selected and not the Alignment labels, using the grabs adjust
the end of the alignment, it can be moved back afterwards.
5. Press the Esc button to ensure the borehole log strips are updated on the Profile View.

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THE UPDATED PROFILE VIEW

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