Takeoff Structures
You can create structures in MudShark to be demolished or built. Structures are created with enclosed boundaries and have their own volumes.
Understanding Structures
Structures are designed to be flexible and can be used in a number of ways to simplify your takeoff and provide greater accuracy.
Structures can be used to takeoff:
- Building slabs
- Footpaths and driveways
- Landscaping
- Roads
- Carparks
- Sports fields
- Banking and batter
- Retaining Walls
Any structure created for the Existing Site is categorised as a Demolished Structure, and any materials detailed in these structures will require to be removed from the site.
Any structure created for the Proposed Site is categorised as a Built Structure, and any materials detailed in these structures will require to be reused from cut materials or imported onto the site.
Tip: If a structure in your project won’t change or affect your earthworks, instead of creating a structure, you can exclude that area from the Working Area.
Create a New Structure
You can create as many structures as you need for a project.
To create a new structure:
1. From the Home tab in the ribbon, select Existing or Proposed to determine the site your structure will be added to.
Tip: Structures in the Existing Site are Demolished Structures, in the Proposed Site are Built Structures.
2. From the Earthworks group in the ribbon, click the dropdown arrow under Structure.
Tip: Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N to create a new structure.
3. The New Structure window will open.
4. Enter a Name for your structure.
5. You can select Overlay options and the direction of your Surface Definition.
6. Click Advanced for additional structure options.
7. You can set the Area type, Colour, and Line width to affect the structure’s appearance.
8. Enter a Starting Altitude for your structure .
Tip: Structure boundaries can have different altitudes, which can be defined when performing takeoff.
9. Enter any materials for your structure, you can select or create a new material in the Material column and set a thickness in the Thickness
10. Click Create.
Trace Structure Boundary
There are multiple ways to takeoff boundaries for a structure, including tracing the boundary from a plan.
To trace a boundary for a structure:
1. From the Home tab in the ribbon, select Existing or Proposed, depending on where the Structure was created.
2. From the Earthworks group in the ribbon, click the arrow in Structure.
3. Select the structure you want to takeoff the boundary for.
4. From the Drawing group in the ribbon, click Polyline.
5. From the Task panel, enter your Next altitude, which will be the altitude you will draw first. You can change the altitudes at each point, or leave it the same depending on the structure you’re drawing.
6. From the Viewport, click at the corner of the structure you’re tracing.
Tip: If you are tracing a DWG, DFX or vectorised PDF, you can hold Shift to snap to the corner for greater accuracy.
7. If a part of the structure is curved, click at where the line begins to arc, then click and hold the left-mouse button at the end of the curve, then drag your cursor towards to curve the line.
Tip: If you’re having trouble with a curve, try breaking it into smaller arcs.
8. Mouse click the end of the line, then right-mouse click to complete the contour to your last left-mouse click.
Tip: To close the boundaries, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + J to join the last drawn point to the first.
Trace Structure from an Area
There are multiple ways to takeoff boundaries for a structure, including finding the area for a structure.
To takeoff a structure from an area:
1. From the Home tab in the ribbon, select Existing or Proposed, depending on where the Structure was created.
2. From the Earthworks group in the ribbon, click the arrow in Structure.
3. Select the structure you want to takeoff the boundary for.
4. From the Drawing group in the ribbon, click the arrow in
5. Select Transmute Area.
6. From the Task panel, enter your Next altitude, which will be the altitude your structure uses
7. From the Viewport, move your mouse into the are of the structure you’re trying to takeoff.
Tip: You can move your mouse around until the area preview displays the area you want to use.
8. Use your mouse to click, and the boundary of the area will be used to create a takeoff for the structure.
Tip: Transmute Area is the fastest way to takeoff a boundary, but if the boundary uses changing altitude points it has to be edited after you have created your structure. Alternatively, you can use Polyline to takeoff the structure for more control as you takeoff.