About Exchanging Data Between Autodesk Civil 3D and Autodesk InfraWorks

Component road created in InfraWorks

Corridor created when the InfraWorks component road is brought into Civil 3D

Assembly created when the InfraWorks component road is brought into Civil 3D

• Terrain surfaces are brought into Civil 3D as AIW_Existing_Ground, AIW_Existing_Transportation, and AIW_Proposed_Ground.

• Planning utilities in InfraWorks are pipelines with generic pipeline connectors (instead of inlets or manholes) and have an undefined Utility Type.
• A property called Utility Type has been added to pipe networks in Civil 3D and this property is set to Undefined for planning utilities that are brought into Civil 3D from InfraWorks.
• All pipes are created using the first part in the selected pipe catalog.
• All structures are created as null structures.

• Planning roads are roads that are created with the Add Roads tool in InfraWorks, or are created when data that reflects existing conditions is brought into a model.

• The option to create existing ground surface profiles is specified in the object settings file.

Component roads and corridor component roads are exported from InfraWorks in the same way.

InfraWorks component assemblies are mapped to the following subassemblies when the InfraWorks model is opened in Civil 3D.

• InfraWorks intersections are converted into static curb return alignments in Civil 3D instead of intersections in the following situations:
  • If the intersection contains more than four legs
  • If the intersection uses the Simple Curve with Taper curb return
  • If the centerlines of a T-shaped intersection do not actually intersect
  • If the offsets that are on the same side of a road in the intersection are not equal, such as in the following illustration, where offset 1 is wider than offset 2:

    

• Drainage networks in InfraWorks are pipelines with inlets and manholes instead of generic pipeline connectors and have a Utility Type of Drainage.
• A property called Utility Type has been added to pipe networks in Civil 3D and this property is set to Drainage for drainage networks that are brought into Civil 3D from InfraWorks.
• Manholes are assigned a Cover property and inlets are assigned a Grate property in the Civil 3D structure properties.
• Part catalogs (Generic Drainage Catalog - Imperial and Generic Drainage Catalog - Metric) have been included in Civil 3D for use when you bring InfraWorks inlets and manholes into Civil 3D. Inlet and manhole structures will use the equivalent parts in the imperial or metric catalog.
• Pipes will use the closest matching pipe shape, material, and size from the specified pipe catalog.
• A pipe network part list named Import is created when the InfraWorks model is opened in Civil 3D. This parts list contains only the parts that are needed.

• Only the coverages that modify the InfraWorks terrain are included.

• Bridges are brought into Civil 3D as the new type of bridge object introduced in Autodesk Civil 3D 2021.
• Bridge components are also created as objects in Civil 3D (for example, abutment, girder, deck).
• If the bridge dataset is republished from InfraWorks, you can reload it into Civil 3D using the Manage InfraWorks Datasets command.
• The appearance of bridges in plan view is controlled using the Bridges to Civil 3D layer settings, which you can set up from the Configure InfraWorks - Civil 3D Exchange Settings dialog box.
• You can project bridges to profile view and control their appearance using bridge projection styles.

For more information, see About Working With InfraWorks Bridges in Civil 3D.

• Roundabouts are brought into Civil 3D as the new type of roundabout object introduced in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2017 with the integration of the Autodesk Vehicle Tracking roundabout features.
• Roundabouts that you bring into or create in Civil 3D cannot be brought back into InfraWorks.

• Each surface will be listed in the Data Sources panel in InfraWorks. If a surface that you bring into InfraWorks obscures other surfaces, you can adjust the order of the terrain surface layers by using the Surface Layers dialog box, which you can access from the Data Sources panel.

• Any alignment type that is used as a corridor baseline can be brought into InfraWorks as a corridor component road.
• If the alignment is not associated with a corridor, it must be a centerline alignment type or a rail alignment, and the rail feature settings in Civil 3D must be configured to export the rail alignment as a centerline alignment type.
• A single profile is used in InfraWorks for each component road or corridor component road. You can use the Profile View tool in InfraWorks to review the profile geometry.
• Rail alignments can be brought into InfraWorks as either component roads or railways. A component road representation will maintain the accuracy of the source rail alignment.
• Some pieces of component roads that are created in InfraWorks from Civil 3D objects may be read-only. In most cases if the geometry is not graphically editable, grips or gizmos are not displayed on the road or they are grayed out.

• In InfraWorks, you can specify whether to create corridor component roads or component roads with coverages in the Data Source Configuration dialog box.
• When you bring a corridor into InfraWorks as a corridor component road, geometry for the shapes and links is created in the InfraWorks model. Corridor component roads are read-only in InfraWorks.
• When creating corridor component roads in InfraWorks, you can use corridor mapping rules to configure the category and materials used for visualization.
• When creating component roads with coverages in InfraWorks, Civil 3D link styles are used to create coverages in InfraWorks, which show the materials of the corridor.

• If a structure in the Civil 3D drawing has a Utility Type of Drainage specified, and it uses a part from the Generic Drainage Catalog - Imperial or the Generic Drainage Catalog - Metric part catalog, then it will be assigned a part from the part catalog when it is brought back into InfraWorks.
  • If the Part Family and Size IDs match a part within the InfraWorks part catalog, then the same exact part will be used. 
  • If the Part Family and Size IDs do not match a part within the InfraWorks part catalog, then a default part will be used (the first manhole part found).
  Important: If you are using parts from the Generic Drainage Catalog - Imperial or the Generic Drainage Catalog - Metric catalog in both InfraWorks and Civil 3D for pipeline connectors/structures, and the network has a Utility Type of Drainage, the same part will be used in both applications.
• If a structure in the Civil 3D drawing does not have a Utility Type of Drainage specified, then the part will be created as a generic pipeline connector.