Road Maker is a design package for the design of rural and township roads. However, it can be used wherever cross-sectional profile data is manipulated. The data consists of crosssection groups and a design profile. Up to 8 cross-section groups can be loaded and displayed simultaneously.

Road Maker is a roads program catering for the needs of design engineers and contractors. Data can be extracted from a tachometric survey within Model Maker and can be exported to Road Maker or it can be typed in manually.

The vertical alignment and road cross-sectional profile is defined using easy-to-use built-in functions. Volumes can be calculated between a ground cross-section group and the design profile or between any two ground cross-section groups. Final cross-section and longsection drawings can be plotted directly to a plotter or various CAD data exchange ASCII
formats.

Complete setting-out information can be obtained for setting out the design on site, e.g. layer profiles and batter boards. The design profile or ground cross-sections can be converted into DTM format for further manipulation with Model Maker. The seven modules available also include mass haul diagram plotting and determination of sight distances and speed profiles.

What is Road Maker?

Road Maker is a design package for the design of rural and township roads. It offers a full range of capabilities, which will be of enormous help to the professions involved with road design and construction, e.g. surveyors, contractors, mine engineers, civil engineers and landscaping designers.

The user-friendly menus interact with you to function as an extension to your own thoughts. Road Maker may not only be used for roads but for any requirement where cross- and long-section are used to represent numerical data.

How can data be entered?

You can enter data into the system by using the following methods:

  • ASCII files with specific data structures.
  • Data obtained from Model Maker.
  • Data is manually entered using a data editor.

How can data be plotted?

A set of CAD-type functions enables you to fully manipulate the screen plot.

  • Zoom, magnify, replot and manipulation of individual points options give you full control of the output.
  • The plot parameters allow a flexible user definable definition for final drawings.
  • Plans can be produced to any vertical and horizontal scale.
  • Plots may be taken directly to the plotter, to a DXF file, to other ASCII formats or to a plot file.

Extracting Information

From ROAD MAKER, you may obtain the following information.

  • Long-section and cross-section drawings.
  • Mass-earthworks areas and volumes.
  • Road foundation areas and volumes.
  • Topsoil stripping volumes.
  • Setting out data for layers and batters.
  • Printouts of various design components and results.
  • Convert road design to DTM format.
  • Check layer levels against actual constructed levels.

Terminology and Design Concepts

  • Horizontal Alignment
  • Cross-section
  • Long Section
  • Road Profile
  • Vertical Alignment
  • Speed Profile

Entry Format

The format of an angle entry is always in degrees, minutes and seconds; e.g. 181.4536 – not 181.45.36. The format of distance entry is always in meters.

Shows which program Modules are active. This is determined by the modules purchased.
Only the functions for the active modules will be available.

Module 1

Single cross-section group manipulation

This module forms the basis of Road Maker and data for a single cross-section group can be imported from various file formats or entered manually. A long section can be loaded or extracted from the cross sections.
Long and cross sections can be plotted directly to an on-line plotter.

Network Design of roads allows you to load a .bot or a .tot file.

Multiple Cross and Long Sections

With this module, up to eight cross-section and longsection groups can be loaded. If only cross sections are loaded, the long section for each cross-section group will be extracted automatically. Earthwork volume calculations can be done between any two groups.

Module 2
Module 3

Single Carriageway Road Design

This module provides the user with user-friendly and very flexible road design functions. The vertical alignment design may be done directly on screen or it may be entered from external design results. It allows for non-symmetrical vertical curves and the checking of design limits. The cross-sectional profile is defined using the most advanced techniques in manipulating individual components independent from others for example: – road width and batter slope changes. An extensive verge design function supplements the basic design profile.

Variable drains, batter parameters and topsoil stripping may be specified. Calculation results include volume calculations for mass-earthworks, foundation layers, layers on shoulders, setting-out data, layer level and thickness checks and conversion of the final profile to DTM format.

For construction, the contractor may enter design data from drawings or ASCII files.

Edit Ground Cross-Sections Graphically

The offsets and elevations forming the cross-section profile at each peg distance may be edited on the graphic screen. This may typically be used to create a rehabilitation profile for quarries or mine dumps or for the definition of a benching profile in road cuttings.

Module 4
Module 5

Dual Carriageway Road Design

Two single carriageway profiles may be defined independently with an offset between each other to define a dual carriageway road. All the functions for a single carriageway are used and each carriageway may have its own vertical alignment. Cross-section drawings will show both carriageways. Earthworks calculations may be done for separate carriageways.

Road Geometry Analysis

The horizontal and vertical alignment design is used to determine various design criteria.

Calculate the RISE/FALL and curvature factors as required by HDM (Highway design and maintenance) document for the construction of main roads.

Calculate horizontal and vertical alignment sight distances in both directions along the road.

Calculate the 85-percentile speed profile in both directions to determine climbing lanes.

Module 7
Module 3

Single Carriageway Road Design

This module provides the user with user-friendly and very flexible road design functions. The vertical alignment design may be done directly on screen or it may be entered from external design results. It allows for non-symmetrical vertical curves and the checking of design limits. The cross-sectional profile is defined using the most advanced techniques in manipulating individual components independent from others for example: – road width and batter slope changes. An extensive verge design function supplements the basic design profile.

Variable drains, batter parameters and topsoil stripping may be specified. Calculation results include volume calculations for mass-earthworks, foundation layers, layers on shoulders, setting-out data, layer level and thickness checks and conversion of the final profile to DTM format.

For construction, the contractor may enter design data from drawings or ASCII files.