Forums >> Revit Building >> Technical Support >> Advanced Site Plans

toddmk77

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Joined: Tue, Nov 8, 2011
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Hi everyone. I'm currently working with Revit 2017 and have been making great progress at with using Revit in the building design area. The spot I'm running into issues is Site Plans. I have absolutely no problem on linking a cad file and getting the topo. I understand what pads, split surfaces and subregions do. The jobs I'm working on are mostly remodels/additions where grading won't be occurring. However, due to my typically detailed nature, I'm trying to figure out what the best practice is in order to get specific site information on the site plan. The area I live in has many hills and sloped lots. That brings on items such as stepped paths/walkways and retaining walls. What is the best way get this info into the plans? I've tried splitting surfaces to add stairs, but then when I go to split the next surface it creates 2 smaller surfaces within 1 large surface and I get an error saying it can only be split in 2. A subregion looks particularly flat, but I'd like to get some kind of acknowledgement that there are stairs there. Retaining walls get cut off because the topo surface doesn't get cut the same way real grade gets cut in the field... Every video I try to find on youtube just shows me how to make a surface and I'm very well beyond that. Ideate's video deals with a fairly flat and simple lot. Every example I can find anywhere are all based on fairly flat lots or have been drawn on flat lots. I've attached a pdf of a lot that I'm worknig on now. It's a pretty good example of the amount of "stuff" I usually have to deal with on sites. Any help or recommendations is greatly appreciated and anyone has any video links that are helpful with the processes, I'm more than happy to take the time and watch and learn. Thank you all in advance!

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WWHub

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Joined: Tue, May 16, 2006
13079 Posts

Working with Revit site takes awhile to lear but there is a lot of just plain common sense needed as well.

• When you split surfaces, you are always adding a new area  - in essance another topo area that has an edge and can host a different material.  You can take this entire area and move it up or down but it is not connected to anything at the edges so you would create a 'slot' along the edge.  Obviously you can split this surface and create yet another, which is what I think you are doing.
• Think about this.   At any 'curb', step, (railroad retainer tie), you have a top of curb elevation at the vary edge but immediately beside that, you have another top of site elevation.  So if you add topo points along the edge, always add two.

HHere is the best solution I have seen for doing what you want.  Use this method on your step edges and maybe a family for your railroad ties.

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Beaucoupnice

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Joined: Mon, Nov 19, 2007
93 Posts

I tend to show any flat, sloped or ramped surface as a single toposurface, adding subregions to differentiate surface finishes.I use pads below my buildings and place floors on top of them and build my buildings up from them.For retaining walls, I use pads to flatten where the foundation of the retaining wall is and then add a wall on top of the foundations. As an alternative I also sometimes place spot levels in a line along the lower level of the retained earth and then select these multiple spot levels at one time and copy them all and paste them about 2" away but parallel to them, then for the new copied spot levels I change the height to the upper finishes ground level. This provides a steep drop. Now where the toposurface slopes sharpely down the steep drop,  I place the retaining wall over it and it hides it.For steps, I use pads to flatten the foundations and place either floors and walls or stairs with railings or use an in-place family.I try to avoid splitting the toposurface where possible as it sometimes causes spot levels to glitch when Revit struggles to compute the geometry.

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__________I'm the guy they come to when they didn't follow my recommended workflows.__________

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