Learning Center

Plan ditch and tile routes in the owner portal

Step 5 in the Geo-Surface™ owner portal, one click at a time: draw a route along the flow, read its profile as a ditch or a tile line, adjust grade, width and cover, and build a layout of routes to take to the tablet.

Step 5 lets you try a ditch or a tile line on the LiDAR before you hitch up. Draw it along the flow line you want to drain, and the portal shows the ground along it, the fall, the grade and how deep you would have to cut. Keep the routes that work: they are drawn on the map picture you take to the tablet.

Before you start

How long it takes: a minute or two per route.

Draw a route, click by click

Click Draw a route

In the left panel, step 5 Plan routes is open. Click its orange Draw a route button.

A dark bar appears across the top of the map: Click along your route, starting at either end. Double-click or press Enter to finish. You choose Ditch or Tile next.

The water map over the satellite photo: dark flow lines and red ponding patches, the main flow line running from bottom left to top right; in the left panel step 5 Plan routes with an orange Draw a route button and No routes in your layout yet
  1. Draw a route. Orange button in step 5.

Click where the route starts

Click once on the flow line where you want the route to start. Start at either end: the outlet, or the high end. A blue dot marks the spot.

Whichever end you start from, the portal makes the lower end the outlet.

Drawing a route: the dark instruction bar with a Cancel button across the top of the map, and a blue dot on the main flow line below a ponding patch
  1. The first point. On the flow line.
  2. Cancel. Right end of the dark bar. Stops drawing.

Click along the flow line

Click once at each bend in the flow line, working toward the other end. A blue line follows your clicks, with a dot on the latest point.

Place the points with care: they can't be moved after you finish.

The route being drawn: a blue line follows the main flow line from the bottom left up past the middle of the field, with a dot on the latest point
  1. The latest point. One click at each bend.

Double-click the last point

At the far end, double-click to place the last point and finish. (Or click it once and press Enter.)

The route profile opens along the bottom of the map.

The blue route line reaching the top right corner of the field, where the main flow line leaves it
  1. The end of the route. Double-click where the flow line meets the edge of the field.

Read the profile

The panel along the bottom of the map is the route profile. The brown fill is the ground along your route, from the high end (left) to the outlet (right). The red dashed line is the ditch bottom. Arrows on the map line point downstream.

The line under the chart sums it up, for example Length 2,652 ft · Fall 6.1 ft · Grade 0.23 % · Deepest cut 1 ft 2 in at 817 ft · Excavation 376 cu yd.

  • Fall and grade tell you whether the route drains at all.
  • Deepest cut and excavation tell you how much work it is. A deep cut shows where the route crosses higher ground: move the route along the flow, or end it at a different outlet.
  • The −1 ft, −3 ft and −5 ft chips above the chart show or hide dotted lines that far below the ground.
The new route drawn in purple on the map, and the route profile panel along the bottom: New route, This route is a Ditch or Tile, Flip outlet, Add ditch to layout, Discard; a brown ground profile with a red dashed ditch bottom; the summary line under the chart
  1. Fall and Grade. Does it drain?
  2. Deepest cut. How deep, and how far from the high end.

Click Tile to try a tile line

A new route starts as a ditch. To see it as a tile line, click Tile after This route is a: at the top right of the profile. Click Ditch to switch back.

The red ditch bottom becomes a green dashed Tile line, set by the tile minimum cover and grade. The route turns orange on the map, and the summary ends with the deepest tile depth, for example Deepest tile depth 3 ft 5 in.

The same route set to Tile: the route orange on the map, a green dashed tile line under the brown ground in the profile, and the summary ending in Deepest tile depth 3 ft 5 in
  1. Ditch | Tile. Tile is picked (dark).
  2. Deepest tile depth. Replaces cut and excavation.

Click Adjust (optional)

To change the design settings, click the blue word Adjust at the end of the summary line. Four settings open under it.

The summary line under the profile chart, ending in the blue word Adjust
  1. Adjust. End of the summary line.

Change a setting

Click in a box, delete the number and type a new one. The profile redraws straight away, and the portal keeps your numbers for the next route. Reset puts the starting values back. Click Adjust again to fold the settings away.

Adjust settings: Ditch minimum grade 0.05 %, Ditch bottom width 8 ft, Tile minimum grade 0.1 %, Tile minimum cover 24 in, each with its allowed range, and Reset 1 2 3 4 5
  1. Ditch minimum grade. 0.05 % to start (0.01–5 %).
  2. Ditch bottom width. 8 ft to start (1–60 ft). Used for the excavation volume.
  3. Tile minimum grade. 0.1 % to start (0.01–5 %).
  4. Tile minimum cover. 24 in to start (0–120 in), ground to top of tile.
  5. Reset. Back to the starting values.

Click Add ditch to layout

Happy with the route? Click the blue Add ditch to layout button at the top right of the profile. For a tile line it reads Add tile to layout.

Don't want it? Click Discard, next to it, to throw the route away.

The route profile panel with its buttons along the top right: Ditch, Tile, Flip outlet, a blue Add ditch to layout button and Discard
  1. Add ditch to layout. Blue button, top right of the profile.

Check the route is in your layout

The profile closes. The route gets a name, Ditch 1 (or Tile 1), and a row in step 5 with its length and fall: Ditch 1 · 2,652 ft · fall 6.1 ft. On the map, ditches are purple and tiles orange, each with its name.

Step 5 ticks green and step 6 opens. The yellow line reads Save your map for Ditch Assist, or back up your project.

Ditch 1 drawn in purple with arrows along the main flow line and labelled Ditch 1 on the map; in the left panel, step 5 ticked green with 1 route in your layout and the row Ditch 1 · 2,652 ft · fall 6.1 ft
  1. The route's row. Name, length and fall.
  2. The name on the map. It is drawn on the picture you take to the tablet.

Draw the next route

Click Draw a route again for each route you want. A tile line does not need to touch the ditch.

Two routes on the map: Ditch 1 in purple along the main flow line and Tile 1 in orange through a big ponding patch; the left panel lists 2 routes in your layout, Ditch 1 · 2,652 ft · fall 6.1 ft and Tile 1 · 821 ft · fall 2.6 ft
  1. The route rows, one per route.
  2. Tile 1, in orange.

Change a route

  1. Click the route's row

    In step 5, click the row of the route you want to change. Four blue words open under it, and its profile opens along the bottom of the map.

    Step 5 with the Ditch 1 row opened: Rename, Change to tile, Flip outlet and Delete under it, and the Tile 1 row below 1 2 3 4
    1. Rename. The name is drawn on the map picture, so use one the operator will recognise.
    2. Change to tile (or Change to ditch).
    3. Flip outlet. The water leaves at the other end.
    4. Delete. An Undo stays on screen for 8 seconds.

  2. Click what you want to do

    Click Rename, Change to tile, Flip outlet or Delete.

  3. Click the row again to close it

    The row folds back to one line.

You can't move the points of a route you have added. To change its line, delete it and draw it again.

Take it to the field

  1. Save the map for Ditch Assist

    Step 6 saves the picture with your routes drawn on it. See Save the portal map and load it on the tablet.

  2. Survey the route in the app

    With the picture under the map, drive the survey along the purple line, from the outlet or the high end. See Survey a route.

  3. Design and grade from your survey

    The app designs the ditch from your RTK survey. See Ditching, or Tiling for a tile line.

If it doesn't work

  • The profile shows deep cuts. The route crosses a rise. Draw it again along the flow line, or end it at a different outlet.
  • The outlet is at the wrong end. The portal picks the lower end. Click Flip outlet if the water must leave at the other end.
  • The route ends in the wrong place. Points can't be moved. Delete the route and draw it again.
  • The Draw a route button is pale and does nothing. Finish steps 3 and 4 first; the profile needs the LiDAR.
  • The profiles are gone after changing the outline. Changing the outline keeps your routes but clears the LiDAR. Run steps 3 and 4 again.

Related

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