Cadics - Roads

ics

Cadics-roads is a complete system for road or railway design. It is completely integrated into CADICS and, combined with the Ground Modeling, Surveying, Drainage and Finite-element analysis modules forms a complete Civil engineering package and is designed to be able to plan simple roads as well as complex highway junctions.
stradis1
Cadics’ intuitive environment simplifies project design. Icons associated to each element show their properties and transition curves are represented in red. The horizontal situation and long section can be modified simultaneously. Cross-sections are recalculated each time and are displayed automatically. Cross-sections can be edited at any chainage point. The toolbox on the left hand side stores frequently used commands.
Cadics is a very easy to learn program. Users simply define rules and preferences (for example, profile type, slope characteristics, height of walls, etc.) and CADICS adapts the road to its environment (ground, fixed points, other axes...). As the road is described, rather than simply drawn, it is very easy to try out variants and to exchange data with other programs or database management systems.

Easy to learn

Cadics’ intuitive environment, and its ease of use make learning extremely simple. The emphasis is also placed on maintaining similar concepts as in an engineering environment. Reference manuals, tutorials and an on-line help system make the system ideal to manage projects of any level of complexity. It is also ideal for occasional use by staff who do not work full-time on the software.

Alignment design

A large quantity of geometric elements (straights, circles, transition curves, parabolae) allow any project to be defined. A dynamic mode option allows objects such as points, radii or distances to be modified progressively and to watch the effect on the whole alignment on the screen. Multiple windows allow different options to be viewed simultaneously, and to see the effects of a change of one aspect of the project on all others. Various snap-modes allow the project to be defined with maximum precision.
stradis2

Cross-sections

One of the main differences between CADICS and other systems is that it builds a complete three-dimensional model of the project. This allows cross-sections, perspective views or quantities to be obtained whatever the complexity of the project (complex junctions, roundabouts).
Templates (carriageway, slope, formation) stored in a library or created specifically for a project define the structure of the road segment by segment. Changes between templates can be immediate or gradual. Superelevations can be calculated automatically or modified by hand. They are treated separately from cross-section templates, as are extra widths.
Limits or local exceptions to templates allow the most complex junctions to be treated simply, as well as slope junctions between axes guaranteeing three dimensional coherence of the project. A drainage system associated with the road may be designed and calculated by Hydrics.

Ground Model

A digital ground model is used to ensure that the road is correctly integrated in its environment. It can be generated by a points’ coordinate file or by other means such as aerial survey. It is used to create long sections, cross-sections and the three dimensional model of the project, which can be combined with the ground model to obtain the project after completion (to draw contour lines, produce photorealistic views or to serve as the basic ground model for another project).

Quantities

Volumes, surfaces and lengths of the elements of the road are calculated automatically and serve as the basis for estimates.

Setting out

All detail points of a project can be ex-ported with their coordinates and natures in ASCII files. Setting out tables (polar or orthogonal) can also be produced.

Plans and documents

A complete set of plans as well as various lists can be produced at any one time. The plans can be produced directly or modified manually beforehand. Graphical parameters of the output can be defined by the user (size of characters, colours, distances, etc...). They can be reused for new projects.
stradis3

Principal documents

Interfaces

Apart from internal links with the ground model and surveying modules, CADICS contains many interfaces to normalised data formats:

Standards

Numerous national and international standards have been integrated into CADICS which has been used for projects in Switzerland, France, Germany, Great Britain and Croatia.

image_cadics

Perspectives and animation

All information concerning the project can be generated in three dimensions for quick perspective viewing or to generate an output file for a rendering package such as 3D Studio. Tools exist to place objects, for example lamps, trees and bushes, either randomly or along the alignments. Trajectories can be defined for cameras to generate animations and films. An integrated macro-language can be used to generate complex bridges or tunnels.

top

ICS Computer Services