Irrigation Bay Design - User’s Guide & Reference Manual 1

GEOCOMP SYSTEMS

TERRAMODEL
IRRIGATION
BAY DESIGN

User’s Guide
&
Reference Manual
Geocomp Systems Pty Ltd
2-6 Albert St
Blackburn
Vic 3123
Australia
www.geocomp.com.au
©2001 Geocomp Systems (11/03/04)
2 Irrigation Bay Design : User’s Guide & Reference Manual

OVERVIEW OF THE IRRIGATION BAY DESIGN PROCESS

By the use of Terramodel software and the options specifically written for the bay / field
designs the user can input, process, design and draft field bays all within the one software
package.

Other Terramodel options allow for the design of channels and drains (by the method of
template fitting or by the SIDESLOPE.tml) and the complete drafting of all final drawings.
There is no need for any third party drafting package to finish the drawings. Drawings in
most instances are dynamic in that if the design is altered the resulting drawings are
updated at the same time.

To use the Irrigation Bay Design options in Terramodel you need to have a working
knowledge of the powerful capabilities of the Terramodel software. Without an
understanding of the survey editing, design editing and drafting capabilities of Terramodel
the design of irrigation bays is difficult.

Once the software has been set up as described below, the first step is to import or
manually enter any existing surface survey information into Terramodel.

All existing surface DTM points and breaklines must be on one layer. IR_BGRID.TML and
IR_BENT.TML are useful options for manually entering existing surface data. Once the
data has been entered, check the existing surface by contouring (DTM…Generate
Contours…). In most cases existing data would be collected and imported from survey
instruments or GPS.

Secondly, you can create a separate layer (typically called GRID) to set the location of the
cut/fill, existing and finished surface labelling text on the final drawings. Note that these
points do not need to be on any regular grid. The designer can randomly or specifically
locate them. Alternatively you can use the surveyed existing surface to determine the
location of this labelling.

Next define the outlines of the fields or bays. The easiest way to do this is to firstly define
a unique layer for each bay eg BAY1, BAY2 etc. Create each bay as a single closed pline
on this unique layer. The bay can have as many straight sides as you want, and can have
common edges along the same lines as other bays. Each bay will have a single main
slope, cross slope and design height at a defined location. Note that the IR_BAY tml
automatically converts all the bay plines to sets for design and modelling purposes.

IR_BAY.TML is then used to set the design elevations and slopes or allow the software to
determine (by least squares plane of best fit) the optimum heights and slopes for each bay
to minimise the earthworks and determine the volumes and stripping areas. Once
designed the bay can be labelled with cut/fill, existing and design surface levels. Callout
text can be used to show the attributes of each bay. A table showing the properties and
volumes of each bay can be generated. A text report can also be made.

The 3D view and quick profile options are also very useful for getting a feel for the design
in relation to the existing surface.

The method used to determining the plane of best fit is to generate a ‘virtual’ temporary
grid of points over the bay at a predefined grid interval (the smaller the grid interval the

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more accurate is the plane of best fit). These points are given the height difference
between the existing and design. The plane of best fit is computed from these differences.
Once the bay is designed, cut/fill volumes (considering compaction factors) are determined
by comparing the bay DTM to the original surface DTM. The grid interval for determining
the plane of best fit has no effect on the determination of the volumes.

Terramodel dynaview objects control the format and content of the final drawings
generated and placed in the sheet view.

By the use of the text callouts a box containing the design parameters can be generated
with a leader line pointing to each bay.

In addition to the design of bays, storages channels and drains can be designed and
drafted. Volumes of earthworks and water storages can be computed.

Standard structures such as culverts and headwalls used for the overall farm plan can be
drafted in their own views using their own scale and included (DynaViewed) in the final
drawings.
4 Irrigation Bay Design : User’s Guide & Reference Manual

SOFTWARE SETUP...

Before entering any data, setup the Irrigation Bay Design options in Terramodel as follows:

Place the following supplied files in your data directory

IR_PROT.PRO Irrigation prototype file See System options

IR_BAY.WS Toolbox and buttons See Toolbox options
IR_BAY.COS Text Callouts See Callout Text

These files can be customised to the individual designer’s requirements.

They can simply be copied and renamed to cater for different projects.

The options for Irrigation Design have been included in a Toolbox that should be used for
the design process. The name of the workspace file that contains the toolbox and buttons
is IR_BAY.WS. This toolbox places the options in a logical order.

IR_SAMP.PRO Designed sample file

Place the following supplied files in C:\Program Files\Trimble\Terramodel\Tmls

IR_BAY .RX IR_BAY .TML

IR_BENT .RX IR_BENT .TML
IR_BGRID.RX IR_BGRID.TML
IR_BTAB .RX IR_BTAB .TML
IR_DTMS.RX IR_DTMS.TML
IR_SUMTX.RX IR_SUMTX.TML
IR_UTILS.TML
IR_BAY. ADF
IR_BAY. COS

Load the following supplied prototype file

IR_PROT.PRO
Please refer to the Terramodel User’s Guide Chapter 3 for prototype files.

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SAMPLE FORMS

IR_BAY.TML Project Settings

IR_BAY.TML Individual Bay Settings

6 Irrigation Bay Design : User’s Guide & Reference Manual

PRJINFO.TML DEFINE INFORMATION TO BE USED IN REPORTS

Introduction This option sets up the ‘Project Variables’ that are related to the
name of the project. These values are used in the bay reports
and can be used in the drawing title blocks. See the Help for the
PRJINFO option for further details.

IR_BGRID.TML GENERATE GRID OF POINTS FOR LABELLING

Introduction Generates a grid of points for manual entry of elevations or

locating cut/fill labelling text values.

IR_BENT.TML MANUAL ENTRY OF SURFACE LEVELS

Introduction Enter existing surface elevations of a series of points.

IR_BAY.TML BAY DESIGN

Introduction This is a form to record settings and optimise the design for
each bay.

SETTINGS Define settings for layers, text and design.

Existing DTM: The existing surface.

Label Grid Layer: The layer of points for locating the Cut/Fill labelling text.
Cut / Fill Style: The text style used for the labelling (See Settings..TextStyle
Settings..).
Cut / Fill text Angle: The angle, relative to North, for the labels.
Arrow Layer: The layer for the bay direction and slopes.
Arrow text Style: The text style used for the Arrow labelling (See
Settings..TextStyle Settings..).
Cut Trigger Layer: The layer for showing the topsoil stripping areas.
Fill Trigger Layer: The layer for showing the topsoil fill areas.
C/F Trigger Layer: The layer for showing the cut / fill line.
Computation Grid The smaller the value, the more accurate the result of the plane
Size: of best fit but the longer the plane of best fit takes to compute.
Note that this does not affect the accuracy of the resulting
volumes. It only controls the accuracy of the fitting.

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 Irrigation Bay Design - User’s Guide & Reference Manual 7

DESIGN Design and optimise each bay.

Bay Record: The Terramodel Object No (record) of the bay boundary.

Bay Dirn: The assumed direction of the bay. This is the direction of the
Main Slope. The Cross Slope is perpendicular to this.
Hinge Pt: The Terramodel Point Number that defines the location of the
height of the bay. Changes of bay slopes do not change the
height of the bay at this location. This is the rotation point.
H Pt RL: The initial elevation of the Hinge Point.
L & W: The assumed dimensions of the bay (used only for reports).
Hinge RL: The design or controlling elevation of the bay from which the
slopes are computed. Use the Hold tick box to hold the selected
value.
Main Slope: The bay slope in the bay direction. For a grade that rises from
the Hinge Pt, the slopes are positive. Use the tick box to hold
the selected value. The slope can be defined as 1: or as a %. A
value of zero implies a horizontal bay.
Cross Slope: The bay cross slope that is perpendicular to the Slope direction.
For a grade that rises to the right of the main Slope the slope is
+ve. Use the tick box to force a hold on the selected value. The
cross slope can be defined as 1: or as a %. A value of zero
implies a horizontal cross slope.
Cut/Fill Ratio: Used for balancing earthworks. For example, a ratio of 1.5
implies that a cut void of 150m3 will occupy a fill void of 100m3.
Topsoil: The assumed thickness of topsoil.
Zoom: This allows you to invoke other options whilst in this option. It is
useful for doing DTM Quick Profiles, Panning and Zooming to
see the results of a design. Ensure you select Cancel Pick when
finished.
Triggers: Tick this box to have the trigger lines (lines of set cut and fill
depths) plotted across the bay.
Cut/Fill Labelling: Tick this box to have the cut / fill labels plotted across the bay
when the Calc Button is pressed.
FS labels: Tick this box to have the finished or design surface labels
plotted across the bay when the Calc Button is pressed.
ES Labels: Tick this box to have the existing surface labels plotted across
the bay when the Calc Button is pressed.
Arrow: Tick this box to have the bay slope labels plotted across the bay
when the Calc Button is pressed.
Calc Haul Dist: Tick this box to have the trucking haul distance calculated.
Fine Tune RLs: Tick this box to have the height of the bay adjusted to remove
any residual volume and consider the ‘Added Volume’. Button is
pressed to make the Nett result exactly 0.00.
Cut Trigger Depth: Create sets where the cut depth is this value. The areas inside
these sets have greater cut depths.
Fill Trigger Depth: Create sets where the fill depth is this value. The areas inside
these sets have greater fill depths.
Added Volume: The Nett volume includes this value.
Calc: Reads input values and computes the design plane for the bay.
Results: Displays the results of the design, computed by the Calc button.
8 Irrigation Bay Design : User’s Guide & Reference Manual

These include:
Max Slope: The direction of the water runoff and its slope.
Nett: The result of (CUT – FILL x Cut/Fill Ratio + Added Vol).

IR_BTAB.TML GENERATE TABLE OF RESULTS

Introduction Select sets defining boundaries of bays and generate of a table

in the Plan View showing all the design parameters of the bays.

IR_SUMTX.TML SUM COLUMNS IN TABLE

Introduction Because the table generated by the IR_BTAB option is now

dynamic (ie change the bay design and the table is
automatically updated) we need this option to update the totals.
Because all the text values in each columns (eg bay areas) are
now all given the same ‘Group’ (Col 1 = Group 1 etc) then you
can use the Right Mouse Button to collect all the values. This is
most easily done by RMB ‘Group’ and click on the heading of
the column to get all the values.Note that if you have more than
one table then you will also need to select by area. Use this
option only after you have completed all the bay designs.

IR_DTMS.TML GENERATE ONE LAYER OF ALL BAYS

Introduction Use this if you want to get t 3D model of all of the Bays into the
one layer. Because most bays are ‘edge matched’ then they
need to be separated to all for correct dtm formation. This
option separates the bays by the nominated value.

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 Irrigation Bay Design - User’s Guide & Reference Manual 9

Part of an example of final design showing labelling, results table and callout text.