This routine will report a cut/fill in comparison to a design surface at any location within a project.  The Elevation Difference command will save cutsheet data if cutsheet files are named and made active within Job Settings, Stake tab.  For any surface where a centerline is defined (Road Design and Section, or Grid/Triangulation/Elevation with centerline defined), the routine will not only report, but optionally store cuts, fills and centerline position data into an alignment-style cutsheet file.  With no centerline defined, the Road, Grid and Elevation methods will store cut and fill data into a point-style cutsheet file.  Elevation Difference can also be used with a light bar.


Prerequisites and Procedures

There are five types of data that can be used to define the design surface.





The program will then show the grid point nearest to your GPS position.





Pressing OK from the main Elevation Difference dialog will first prompt the user to load the surface files involved (unless elevation method was selected).  Then, when OK is pressed again, the ELEV DIFF screen in the following figure will appear. This screen provides the user with a plan view of the project.  When a shot is taken, cut or fill from the current vertical location to the design surface is reported in the lower left portion of the screen.  The computed design surface elevation for your current location is also reported.



When Road Design Files are selected, there is an extra Settings option at the top of the screen that is used for setting the location of the Profile position on the template.

  


In road design, the position of the profile is sometimes placed on an inside edge-of-pavement or at some other offset from centerline, as defined by a fixed offset, a template ID or even a completely distinct reference horizontal alignment.  Even when specified, the application of the special profile can be turned off and on.  Note that the "Off" status is equivalent to the default condition of profile grade at Template ID "Center".  If the Profile positioning is set to "On" in Settings, you will always be promped with the Settings dialog after loading the Roading files, so that you are reminded of any unusual, active profile offset before continuing by pressing Enter (OK) or changing a setting.


If you click the helmet icon in the upper left of the screen and select View Data from the Help options, or enter Alt V, you can select Cutsheets and the Edit File option to review the stored cut and fill data at any time, assuming a "cutsheet" file has been named and set active.   The data might appear as follows:



The order of the columns in the cutsheet is set by the user when the cutsheet file is named.  In this case, the "Use Centerline for Station-Offset" was clicked on, and the shots were stored to the "alignment-based" cutsheet because a centerline was active.  All shots were cut, so if you scrolled right to the fill column, it would be blank. Columns can be extended and compressed by moving the vertical bar between columns.   In addition, cut and fill data is also stored to the Raw File associated with the job name.  Then when a new cutsheet file is named, you can choose, "Cutsheets from Raw File".  For those users who always want a cutsheet file to be made in commands such as Elevation Difference, you can auto-create a new cutsheet with the job name as the prefix, whenever you start a new job, by the following selection within Job Settings, New Job tab: