Creating a Microstation Alignment

Some projects do not have survey detail and do not utilize MX.  For these types of projects the alignment can be created in MicroStation.   There are 2 different approaches to these types of projects.  1.  Create a straight alignment to represent the road and hand plot field information to represent the project or 2.  use Aerial Photography for detail and create an alignment to best fit the road.  

1. In MicroStation, Open the drawing "prjctALI.dgn".
2. Use the NHREF macro to attach all the project reference files.
3. Using Tools>Attach (in the Reference File dialog box) attach the prjctPXH.dgn drawing if working off Aerial photography information.  See Raster image documentation for attaching Aerial's to the PXH if needed.
4. Use the Task list to draw the type of alignment you need.  The Mainline alignment task issues the smartline command.  This can be used to draw tangents and using the ~ allows you to switch between drawing curves and tangents.  This allow you to draw a continuous complex chain which can be stationed along its whole length.  Care (and accudraw) is used to make the arcs tangent.
5. Use the Mainline sta & tick Task next.  This Task opens a cell selector that has cells for alignments with a single digit stationing up to 4 digit stations.  The task also turns on the display of Data fields, opens Cell Tools, and sets all the element attributes for placing station elements.
6. Select the station cell you want to use.  Then select the place cell along tool from the cell tools tool box, set spacing to 50,  and hit on the very beginning of your alignment and accept it.  This will place a station tick and data field every 50 feet along your alignment.
7. The next step is to add the station values.  Hit on the tool Fill in Single Enter_Data Field on the Text Tool box.  Identify the first station cell's data field to select it.  Type in the value of your first station on the alignment and then left click to accept it.
8. To station the rest of the cells you need to use the Copy/Increment Enter_Data Field tool.  Set the Tag Increment to 1, hit on the first station value to define the starting field to copy and then select every other cell's Data Field to be filled in.  Remembering that the cells are every 50 feet and we only want stations every 100 feet.  Continue clicking until all a station values are complete.
9. Tag Data can be added to the alignment so the station offset macro can be used on it.  See http://dotweb/cadd/msv8/sta-off.htm for how to do this.

Links to related documentation include Straight Line Projects as well as Generating Cut Sheets Part I .