To add Autodesk Civil 3D data to an InfraWorks Model
Bring detailed designs from an Autodesk Civil 3D DWG drawing into your InfraWorks model using an Autodesk Civil 3D DWG drawing or IMX file as a data source.
Important: Local import is not available unless Autodesk Civil 3D 2021 or an Autodesk Civil 3D 2021 update release is installed on your local system.
Note: When you open Autodesk Civil 3D drawings that contain alignments and profiles in InfraWorks, the component roads that are created in InfraWorks may be read-only. If a road that you bring into InfraWorks is not editable, fields in the Stack are read-only. In most cases, if the geometry is not graphically editable, grips or gizmos will not be displayed on the road. Autodesk Civil 3D alignment and its associated profile must be comprised of editable entities for the road to be editable in InfraWorks. See About Exchanging Data Between Autodesk Civil 3D and InfraWorks for information about the types of Autodesk Civil 3D alignment entity/constraint types that are editable in Autodesk Civil 3D.
- Click Manage
Content 
(Data Sources). - Click
in the Data Sources panel. - Do either:
- Click Autodesk IMX and select the desired IMX file, then click Open.
- Click Autodesk Civil 3D DWG and select the desired Autodesk Civil 3D drawing, then click Open. Note: A local installation of Autodesk Civil 3D that matches your version of Autodesk InfraWorks is required before you can import an Autodesk Civil 3D DWG drawing.
- The Choose Data Sources panels appears and lists which data can be brought in as InfraWorks model objects. (InfraWorks will perform a conversion on Autodesk Civil 3D drawing objects when you bring Autodesk Civil 3D data into InfraWorks.) By default, the data you bring in from Autodesk Civil 3D is sorted by Feature class, unless you chose to sort by Source Type in the Data Sources panel.
- Choose the data source types to bring into the model at this time and click OK.
- Refresh the selected data sources from the right-click menu or click .
- Click OK. InfraWorks displays the added data as InfraWorks features. Note: Consult the table below for more information.
| Autodesk Civil 3D drawing object becomes... | InfraWorks model object | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TIN surfaces | Terrain surfaces | Each surface is listed in the Data Sources panel. Click Manage Content  (Surface Layers) to adjust the order of terrain surface layers. |
| Alignments and profiles | Component roads (horizontal and vertical geometry). | Only Centerline type alignments can be brought in as component roads. A single profile is used for each component road, based upon the first finished ground profile that was created in the Autodesk Civil 3D drawing. Use Profile View to review the profile geometry.Best fit profile entities are not brought into InfraWorks. |
| Corridors and Corridor surfaces | Coverages and terrain surfaces | We recommended that you create one or more corridor surfaces in Autodesk Civil 3D to bring into InfraWorks. Autodesk Civil 3D link styles are used to create coverages in InfraWorks which show the materials of the corridor. The coverages allow you to stylize the different corridor components like pavement. Important: Coverage areas are only created in InfraWorks for link codes within a code set style that have a render material assigned in Autodesk Civil 3D. The link styles are used as TAG expressions when imported to InfraWorks. |
| Pipe Networks | Pipelines with inlets and manholes or pipeline connectors | If a structure in the Autodesk Civil 3D drawing has a Drainage Utility Type specified and is using the new default parts catalog with component object parts for pipeline connectors, InfraWorks will use the same component object parts. When there is no match of pipeline connector parts, generic objects are displayed. |
Additional information
Before refreshing newly linked road data, avoid bringing in duplicate roads. If an Autodesk Civil 3D drawing was created by opening the current InfraWorks model in Autodesk Civil 3D, when you bring the road data back into the model, InfraWorks brings in ALL of the alignments present in the DWG drawing, which results in duplicates of the roads already present in the current model.
To avoid duplicate roads, before you refresh the sourced data:
Create a new proposal.
In the new proposal, delete the component roads you plan to bring in from the Autodesk Civil 3D drawing.
Right-click Roads in the Data Sources panel and select Configure to open the list of roads being added.
Turn on only the design roads you want to bring back in from Autodesk Civil 3D.
Note: InfraWorks uses predefined style rules to style the display of Autodesk Civil 3D data that translates into component roads, centerlines, and associated coverage areas. You can edit or define new styles and style rules to customize the display of corridor data in InfraWorks. See About Using Styles to Display Civil 3D Corridor Data.