Grading to Targets

This section presents some best practices for different target types.

Grading to a Surface or Absolute Elevation

Grading to an absolute elevation is treated as though you were grading to a flat surface at that elevation. If you are unsure of a grading’s ability to intersect with the surface, start with a steeper slope, then edit to a flatter slope.

Grading to Distance, Relative Elevation, or Stepped Offset

Grading design often makes use of offset feature lines for features such as curbs and ditches. You can create these in two general ways, depending on whether you want the secondary line to be dependent or independent of the footprint:

• Grading to a distance or to a relative elevation creates a dependent parallel line linked to the footprint. In this case, editing the footprint also updates the offset line.
• Using the Stepped Offset command creates an independent parallel line that you can edit separately from the footprint.