Create safety line buffer / avoidance zones

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1

Is it possible to create a line buffer on an existing line

  1. Select line

  2. Add quality point to a existing line to improve the lines quality

  3. Create a saftey buffer line around the lines quality a,b,c,d

  4. Cross line detection to deterimine height difference

  5. Select lines (utilities/ trenches etc)

  6. Report and cloud crossing lines height differences

In Australia, the standard for locating underground utilities is AS 5488-2019, “Classification of Subsurface Utility Information (SUI).” This standard provides a framework for the classification, capture, and management of subsurface utility information. The accuracy levels are similar to those in PAS 128, with corresponding quality levels and tolerance zones. Here’s a summary:

  1. Quality Level D (QL-D):

    • Description: Information derived from existing records or oral recollections.
    • Accuracy: Low accuracy.
    • Buffer Distance: Not specifically defined; can be quite large due to potential inaccuracies.

  2. Quality Level C (QL-C):

    • Description: Information obtained by correlating existing records with visible surface features.
    • Accuracy: Moderate accuracy.
    • Buffer Distance: Typically within ±1 meter.

  3. Quality Level B (QL-B):

    • Description: Information obtained through geophysical methods such as ground-penetrating radar or electromagnetic detection.
    • Accuracy: Higher accuracy than QL-C.
    • Buffer Distance: Typically within ±300 millimeters.

  4. Quality Level A (QL-A):

    • Description: Information obtained by direct exposure of the utility, such as through excavation or potholing.
    • Accuracy: Highest accuracy.
    • Buffer Distance: Typically within ±50 millimeters.

These quality levels in AS 5488-2019 help ensure that the subsurface utilities are accurately located, minimizing the risk of damage during construction and excavation activities. The standard also emphasizes the importance of verifying and documenting the locations of utilities to improve the reliability of the data over time.

2

Hey Gavin,

What kind of gear are you using? You could look at doing some avoidance zones in Trimble gear. If you want to do it all in TBC I would have to think about it for a bit, see the data and have a longer conversation about what you are trying to achieve. Should be possible… Might be a bit of a process but I think I need more information to be sure.

3

Hey Shane

Thanks for the reply

typical we have various from the designer GIS, but they are never correct

what we are wanting to do is to update these line and then creating a buffer around the line showing where we have the greatest confidence in the line position

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4

Is it something you could do with fill areas or hatch patterns on a closed line? different colors or patterns tied to confidence levels? with the interior area being designated as an avoidance zone on the controllers? This would then not alert the operator until they enter that zone which could also be the next one outside of the innermost area to give them some cushion.

Just spit balling some ideas at you, let me know what you think?

5

If you have the source lines either on different layers based on how they were located and those names were defined using what you just wrote in your email, or if there’s have names then you could write N AI script to do exactly what you want here, and then you can define how you want the results presented graphically.

Is this a vertical check only or a horizontal position check also?

I would set up my lanes on layers, write the AI script and feed it a DXF source file and then have it write me a DXF R12 format file output that I can bring back into TBC.

The rules that you just defined and probably ly the full standard can be referenced and AI will find that and add missing details.

I would be surprised if you could not make this work. If you Prep an example data set like this, send it over and I can help you define the script to handle this

6

I gave this to AI in Ask Rocky and it came back with this

I think this is very doable if the source data is structured consistently.

If the utility lines are already on different layers based on how they were located — QL-A, QL-B, QL-C, QL-D, for example — or if the quality classification can be determined from the line name or other attributes, you could write a script to process this automatically.

I’d probably start by defining a simple set of rules for each quality level rather than trying to build this directly in TBC.

For example, the script could:

  1. Read the source DXF and identify each utility line and its quality level.

  2. Apply the appropriate horizontal buffer / confidence zone to each line.

  3. Put the resulting zones on separate layers so they can be displayed with different colours or hatch patterns in TBC.

  4. Find locations where utilities or trenches cross.

  5. Where both lines contain valid elevations, calculate the vertical separation at the crossing.

  6. Flag crossings that fall inside a defined tolerance or clearance.

  7. Write the lines, buffer boundaries and crossing results back to a DXF that can be imported into TBC.

One question: are you trying to check only the vertical separation at crossings, or do you also want the horizontal position/confidence of the utilities checked?

I would also decide whether you want the buffer to represent the survey uncertainty defined by the applicable AS 5488 quality level, or a larger operational “do not enter” / excavation avoidance zone. Those may need to be two different things.

For an initial test, I’d set up a small example with the source utility lines on clearly named layers, include a few known crossings and Z values, and define exactly what you want the finished drawing to look like.

If you can put together an example DXF like that, send it over. I can help define the processing rules and the script structure.