Use a profile view to display profiles as graphed lines on a grid.
When you create a profile view, you specify which existing profiles to display on the grid. Use these profiles as a reference for drawing new layout profiles on the grid.
A profile view can include one or more related profiles, along with multiple data bands along the X-axis, above or below the grid. Data bands annotate the profiles with stationing, elevation, horizontal geometry, and other data that assists engineering analysis.
Profile view displaying surface and layout profiles
Closer view of surface and layout profiles
You typically use a profile view to display several profiles along a proposed route for a road, pipe, fence, or a similar structure. Use profile views to compare elevations of several surfaces or design profiles along the alignment.
Within a profile view, you can superimpose the profile of another alignment. For example, in the profile view for a road, you can superimpose the profile of a culvert that occupies the same corridor. By superimposing a profile, you can analyze culvert elevations in relation to the same alignment stations used for the road surfaces.
A profile view can include projected objects from the drawing that you want to see in relation to a profile. See Adding Projected Objects to a Profile View for more information.
If you design a road, pipeline, or a similar structure across the landscape, and you want to compare the feasibility of several possible routes, a profile view of each route can help with the comparison.
AutoCAD Civil 3D allows profiles to split to fit within a specified profile view height and displayed in either single or multiple profile views. See Working with Profile Views for more information.