Editing an Existing Pipe Network in Civil 3D: Placing Pipes and Structures

Modifying and Placing Pipes and Structures in an Existing Pipe Network

Discover how to modify an existing pipe network in a drawing, without creating a new network. This article provides comprehensive instructions on how to add pieces and parts to a pipe network using the pipe network creation toolbar, place structures and pipes based on selected locations, and perform grip editing on pipe network pieces.

Key Insights

  • The article explains how to modify an existing pipe network by selecting a piece from the network and choosing the edit pipe network option from the contextual ribbon bar. This action opens the network layout toolbar without requiring the creation of a new network.
  • Instructions are provided on how to place structures and pipes in the network by selecting the desired type and location for each component. This includes guidance on connecting pipes into structures at specific locations, and how to place a pipe to another pipe without a structure.
  • The article also details how to perform grip editing on pipe network pieces. This involves selecting a pipe, and using either the square grips to change the location and shift the line, or the triangular grips to elongate the pipe from either end or change its diameter. The structures have a location grip and a rotation grip to adjust their alignment with the pipe.

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Now that we've created the first branch of our pipe network, we're ready to go ahead and add in some more pieces and parts to that pipe network. So in order to bring up the pipe network creation toolbar, you would think you would need to go back up to the home tab of the ribbon bar, go to pipe networks, drop down and select pipe network creation tools.

Now, while this will open up the pipe network creation toolbar, it will require that we create a new network. So I don't want to create a new pipe network. I want to be working with the existing pipe network that's in the drawing.

So I'm going to go ahead and open up my pipe network creation toolbar in a different manner. I'm going to go ahead and hit cancel. And I'm going to go ahead and select any piece from the pipe network that I want to start working with.

I'm going to select that piece. I'm going to go up to the contextual ribbon bar, and I'm going to select this option of edit pipe network. When I do that, the network layout toolbar shows up and it shows me that I'm in my dev branch storm drain network.

So from here, I can go ahead and start modifying my network by choosing the structures and the pipes I want to work with. So I'm going to go ahead and drop down. I'm going to go ahead and make sure that I'm still working with my rectangular structure slab top rectangular frame 15 × 15.

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And I'm going to make sure that I'm still working with my concrete pipe 12 inch. So from here, I'm going to go ahead and drop down and start placing based on pipes and structures. And I'm going to go ahead and select that option and go into civil 3D to start picking locations.

So I'm going to pick a structural location for lot 10. I'm going to place it right here. And then I'm going to come out here into this section over here.

I'm going to place another structure, and then I'm going to come over to this existing structure. When I get close to this existing structure, you're going to notice a glyph that shows up above my crosshairs. And this glyph means that I can connect the pipe into this structure at that location.

So I'm going to go ahead and place that pipe. And then what you're going to see is that I can now move on from this structure to the next location. The only problem here is that I'm done going downstream, and I'm currently set to draw mine as downstream.

So I'm going to go ahead and escape out. And then I am going to start working from my furthest network point over here at lot six, I'm going to go ahead and draw in my pipes and structures. I'm going to go ahead and place a structure at this location here, I'm going to come out, and I'm going to click out here, I'm going to come around to lot seven, where I'm going to place a structure to be connected into later, I'm going to come around to lot eight, where I'm also going to place another structure, I'm going to come around to lot nine, where I want to place a last structure before I connect into the rest of my network.

So I'm going to place that structure, I'm going to come over here, I'm going to hover close to this structure, so that the glyph changes, and I'm going to go ahead and click to connect in, I'm going to hit escape to get done with that command. And I'm going to go up to these additional lots here, I'm going to go ahead and change the manner in which I'm placing the pipe network. And I'm going to switch just to structures only want to place the structure for the remaining three sites.

So I'm going to go ahead and place a structure here for lot seven, I'm going to change the structure here for eight, and I'm going to go ahead and change a structure here for nine. So once I've done that, I'm going to go ahead and switch over to pipes only, I'm going to hover near this structure here, and the glyph will change to allow me to connect in, I'm going to go ahead and go over to this structure here, and click to connect in, hit escape, I'm going to go on to the next lot, I'm going to select my pipe placement method, I'm going to connect into my structure, I'm going to connect into my other structure, and then I'm going to hit escape, I'm going to go ahead and do that again, I'm going to select this pipe, I'm going to connect into the structure. And then I'm going to come over here and connect into this structure.

Now, as you may have seen, as I was floating around, getting close to these structures, if I got close to one of these pipes, you're going to see a different glyph. And so what this means is this means that I can connect this pipe to another pipe without a structure. If I did that, I would connect this pipe into that pipe with no structure placed in.

So I'm going to go ahead and connect into my structure. So I'm going to go ahead and escape out. And the last thing that we need to talk about is grip editing of these pipe network pieces.

If I select a pipe, what you're going to see here is two different types of grips, I have triangular grips and square grips. Square grips function just like any other grip of a line or polyline, it's changing the location, it's shifting the whole line. Now the triangular grips are something where I'm elongating the pipe from either end, or I'm changing the diameter of the pipe.

So you can see I can change the diameter of the pipe based on gripping this triangle right here. Now the structures are different. I have a location grip, and then I have a rotation grip.

If I grip this, I can then rotate this to be more in line with my pipe. So I'm going to go ahead and do that for all of these lots, because these structures are placed in a little cockeyed. So I'm going to go ahead and put this in here.

I'm going to go ahead and select this structure here, rotate it so that it's in line with the pipe. I'm going to go ahead and grab this structure here, rotate it so it's in line with the pipe. And then I'm going to go to the last two.

I'm going to grab it. I'm going to grip edit. I'm going to grab this one.

I'm going to grip edit, and then I'm going to zoom out. I'm going to close out my layout toolbar, and then I'm going to save this drawing, and I'll meet you in the next video.

photo of Michael Kinnear

Michael Kinnear

Civil 3D Instructor

Mike is a Civil Engineer and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He brings a wealth of experience working on transportation engineering and site development projects that involve working with Civil 3D, AutoCAD, and MicroStation. Mike is an avid hiker and enjoys spending time with his family in the local Cuyamaca and Laguna mountains.

  • Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI)
  • Autodesk Certified AutoCAD Civil 3D Professional
  • Civil 3D
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