Curved ramp documentation

[damon.sidel]

My project manager is insisting that we draw an unfolded section of a parking ramp to verify that the ramp works and is the minimum length. The ramp is a "J" shape, so Revit can't draw the section automatically. So two related questions:

1. Any clever ways of drawing the "unfolded" section?

2. What would you say to convince somebody that Revit can calculate the ramp correctly?

[mthurnauer]

The unfolded section is not really very useful. What you need to do is to have the necessary plan view with spot elevations, slope and arc dimensions. I might use a ramp to originally create it, but I think I would then end up creating the ramp out of structural floors. Using floors and modifying sub-elements will create a more useful model: It can host the spot elevations, spot slopes, you can attach beams to it, etc.

[Alfredo Medina]

Find out the true arc length of the curved part of the "j". Draw a line with that length in an elevation view, from elevation at the bottom to elevation at the top, and measure the slope.

[damon.sidel]

The unfolded section is not really very useful. What you need to do is to have the necessary plan view with spot elevations, slope and arc dimensions. I might use a ramp to originally create it, but I think I would then end up creating the ramp out of structural floors. Using floors and modifying sub-elements will create a more useful model: It can host the spot elevations, spot slopes, you can attach beams to it, etc.

Thanks, this is a more thorough description of basically what I was already thinking was necessary. My manager just has it stuck in her head that one has to draw a section to know if it works. I'll try creating the necessary plan view with those annotations and see if she buys it.


Find out the true arc length of the curved part of the "j". Draw a line with that length in an elevation view, from elevation at the bottom to elevation at the top, and measure the slope.

Yes, that's the simplistic way we were going to do it. I was hoping there was a more clever Revit-y way of doing it. :)