VectorExpertIrrigation canals
Bed cut and both banks as separate layers, each with its own quantity.
Canals →CH 0+000
Home · Profile survey
From the level book to sections, earthwork and setting out.
Book levels in a spreadsheet or bring in total station and GNSS points. CivilSurvey Expert draws the cross and long sections with every layer the job needs, lets you adjust them by hand or to a target area, works out the volume abstract, and back-calculates staff readings for setting out. CAD is built in.
InputLevel book, Excel, or total station and GNSS points
SectionsAny number of layers, from templates
OutputAbstract · printed sheets · PDF · DWG
CH 0+050
Try it
One chainage, from the level book to the final quantity, and back
Follow chainage 0+030 of the sample canal through the six stages of a job. Each stage runs the same calculation as CivilSurvey Expert. Changes you make while adjusting carry through to the field book generated at the end.
In CivilSurvey Expert
CH 0+100
Stage by stage
Six stages, one page each
Every stage in full: the steps in the program, everything it does, the 2027 screens and the user guide pages.
- 01
Book the levels
A spreadsheet level book with a bench mark row, R.L.s by the height-of-instrument method, the arithmetic check, sorting and Excel import from other programs.
- 02
Generate sections
L-section and cross section software (LS/CS) for canals, roads, bunds, railways and drains: every layer from templates, toe points, cut and fill per chainage.
- 03
Adjust by hand
Edit cross-sections in built-in CAD: drag points, move levels or offsets only, shift and round levels, keep a history of changes. No AutoCAD needed.
- 04
Adjust to a target
Give the cut or fill area a cross-section must carry and CivilSurvey Expert moves the levels in steps until it is met, with a preview and points kept fixed.
- 05
Reverse field book
Turn levels into staff readings: B.S., I.S. and F.S. from your bench mark, change points at the staff limits, and the arithmetic check. For setting out a layer.
- 06
Deliver
Earthwork calculation from cross sections: volume abstract by average end area or prismoidal, mass haul, area statements, and sheets to paper, PDF or DWG.
CH 0+200
Built-in CAD
No AutoCAD licence. No obligations.
Every section is drawn, edited, printed and exported inside CivilSurvey Expert. You don't buy, renew or audit a separate CAD seat to do survey work, and nobody on the team has to learn a second program.
| Job | CivilSurvey Expert | A CAD-dependent workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Draw and edit sections | Built in: drag points, levels or offsets only, snap, measure | Needs a CAD licence on every PC |
| Print section sheets | Built in: A0–A5, Letter or PDF, batch, your title block | Plot from the CAD program |
| Typical sections | Template Designer for canals, roads, bunds, railways and drains, with presets | Draw each one in CAD |
| Hand drawings to others | Export DWG or DXF; opens in AutoCAD or any DWG program | Native |
| Licences to keep | One, paid once | Two, often on subscription |
CH 0+300
Capabilities
Everything else that makes a long job quick
| Capability | What it does for you | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Input | ||
| Field book as a spreadsheet | Every field book and design is a sheet in one project workbook, with formulas, formatting, your own columns and your own sheets. | Ch · Offset · B.S. · I.S. · F.S. · H.I. · R.L. · Remark; chainage only on the first row of each group |
| Excel in and out | Bring in field books from other programs. Columns are recognised by their headings, and a safety copy of the project is kept first. Export the whole project as one workbook. | Ch / station · offset · BS · IS · FS · HI · RL / level · remark; per sheet: new route, replace route, add as a sheet, skip |
| Total station and GNSS points | Bring in a points file, draw the alignment from a code, group the points into sections and work out the chainages. Or take sections every N metres from the surveyed surface. | CSV · TXT · XYZ · PTS · ASC; columns matched by heading; Plan window |
| Interpolate and check | Add readings at chainages between the surveyed ones, and check every route for anything that would draw a section wrong before you build. | Interpolated rows shaded and remarked; Home › Routes › Check Data… |
| Sort, change sign, find | Order each chainage the way your book is written, flip offset signs, and find or replace across all sheets. | Asc · C-L-R · C-R-L; find all; replace is one undo step |
| Layers and templates | ||
| Multiple series | Ground plus as many layers as the job needs, such as banks and bed cut, or a road's subgrade, GSB, WMM and bituminous courses, each from a field book, a design or a template's own layers. | NSL · SERIES2, SERIES3 …; alias, layer, colour and line type per layer |
| Side slopes and toe points | Each layer slopes out to the layer you choose, up or down, and the toe is found where they meet. Keep named slope sets and switch them per chainage. | Left and right slope per layer, "1 V : x H"; Ver = vertical |
| Template Designer | Pick the type, start from a preset and set the values, with checks such as freeboard and test chainages on your own ground; or draw a custom template point by point. Then place it along a chainage range. | Canal · road · bund · railway · drain · custom; save in the project or as .cst; place by height, gradient (%, 1 in N, start/end) or level |
| Sections and CAD | ||
| Built-in CAD | Sections are real CAD drawings: zoom, pan, snap, measure distances and areas, and drag points freely or with only the level or the offset moving. No AutoCAD licence, no obligations. | Move levels only · Move offsets only · Shift Levels · Round · Measure · Full screen |
| Drawing standard per project | Scales, datum band rows, fonts, line weights, cut and fill hatching and precision are saved in the project, so every job keeps its own look. | Cross and long section scales; CAD fonts; hatching; As entered or 1–3 decimals |
| Review long routes | Move through hundreds of sections from the chainage list, mark each one reviewed, and see at a glance which have changed since; every save keeps a reason in the section's history. | ↑ ↓ PgUp PgDn · Enter reviewed, next · notes and history |
| Quantities and output | ||
| Recalculate all sections | Cut and fill areas and both toe points for every chainage and every layer in one go. | Stored with the project for the abstract and prints |
| Volume abstract | The abstract of quantities with factors and borrow or surplus, a chainage-wise statement and a mass haul sheet, with stretches such as culverts left out. | Average end area or prismoidal; .xlsx with formulas; print or PDF |
| Print Sections | Batch-print sections, sections with area statements, or long sections, on paper or straight to PDF, with your title block on every sheet. | A0–A5, Letter; portrait or landscape; PDF one file or per sheet |
| AutoCAD export | Send one section to a drawing, or lay every section out in columns on one drawing, for the drafting team. | DWG or DXF · Ctrl+E |
| Project and workspace | ||
| Portable project file | Field books, designs, templates, section edits, settings and your own sheets travel in a single .CSF file. Email it, back it up, open it on another PC. | Older files are upgraded automatically, with a backup copy taken first |
| Reuse your standards | Copy section settings, layer settings and slope sets from any earlier project in one step. | File › Info › Import settings |
| A modern Windows app | Office-style ribbon, dockable panels, light and dark themes, a Start page with recent and pinned projects, sample projects and how-to videos, guided tours, and F1 for the user guide page of the screen in front. | Light · Silver · Blue · Dark Grey · Dark · Follow Windows |
CH 0+400
Projects
The same workflow for every linear job
Design a template once for each typical section. Sample projects for a canal, a highway, a flood bund and a railway come with it to learn from.
Roads and pavements
Subgrade, GSB, WMM and bituminous courses as layers from one template, placed by gradient.
Roads →Bunds and embankments
Fill volumes with side slopes and toe points worked out at every chainage.
Bunds and embankments →Railways
Subgrade, blanket and ballast as layers from one template, along long L-sections.
Railways →Drains and sewers
Trench sections drawn as templates, with quantities per chainage.
Drains and sewers →CH 0+500
Common questions
Does it use rise and fall?
No. R.L.s are reduced by the height-of-instrument method, and the arithmetic check compares ΣB.S. − ΣF.S. with the difference between the first and last R.L.
How many layers can a section have?
As many as the job needs: the natural surface (NSL) plus a series for each surveyed or designed layer. Road and railway templates add their courses, such as subgrade, GSB, WMM and bituminous, or blanket and ballast, as layers of their own.
Do edits change the original field book?
No. Section edits are saved as section data in the project. To turn the final sections into a field book, use Reverse field book.
Does it change offsets?
No. Only levels move, in steps of the size you set.
Why would I need a reverse field book?
To get staff readings for setting out a layer: import its levels, back calculate, and the leveller raises or lowers each peg until the staff shows the computed reading. It also turns a field book of levels only into one with readings that reduce to exactly those levels.
Can I print the whole route at once?
Yes. Pick all the chainages in Print Sections (or only those reviewed or changed), Generate, then print every sheet or save them as a PDF.
CH 0+600