How to set up Areas and Structures

In this article, you will learn how to set up areas and structures in InfraField.

Large-scale infrastructure projects typically consist of linear corridors, such as roads or railway alignments, combined with fixed structures located along the corridor, such as stations, technical buildings, bridges, or access shafts.

Although these elements may contain similar types of data (models, terrain, and drawings)  they are structured and navigated differently in Dalux InfraField.

Linear elements should be configured as Areas, while building-like or fixed structural elements should be configured as Structures. This article explains the differences and how to set them up correctly.

Areas

Areas are used to organize linear infrastructure projects. An area represents a continuous geographical extent, such as a road or railway alignment.

Areas:

• Do not contain levels
• Can span up to 50 km
• Support terrain models, design models, and mapped drawings
• Can be segmented using alignments

Areas are displayed in the map view when at least one BIM file with coordinates has been uploaded.

You can read more about support formats in this article: Supported data formats in InfraField.

Create a new area

To create a new area, go to:

Settings Locations AreasAddEnter a name'Add area'

You can then upload models and drawings to this area from your computer or Dalux Box.

Uploading model files

Model files in an area are automatically positioned according to the coordinates embedded in the model and the coordinate system defined for the project. You can more about coordinates systems in this article: How to set up Coordinate systems.

To upload model files, open the area and select AddUpload from computer or From Box.

Select your model files and fill out the related metadata if you upload new files from your computer.

When uploading, select the file type:

• '3D model' for design models
• 'Terrain' for terrain models

Uploading terrain models

Terrain models are uploaded in the same way as design models, but must be categorized as 'Terrain'.

Terrain models are not shown in the map view and can be toggled on or off in 3D view.

Uploading and mapping drawings

Drawings are uploaded in the same way as models. Their placement depends on whether coordinate data is embedded in the file.

Disciplines help structure your designs better, so teams find the relevant drawings instantly.

• Drawings with coordinates (e.g. certain DWG files) are placed automatically and cannot be manually repositioned.
• Drawings without coordinates must be mapped manually to the model.

Plan drawings can be mapped to the Top down view.

In the drawing's metadata, you can specify its elevation. You can either

• Leave drawing elevation empty: Drawing height will be dynamically adjusted in split view, based on your position.
• Define a fixed drawing elevation: Drawing height is static.

Note that once you have added an elevation, the behavior will never return to the dynamic display, even if you remove the elevation from this drawing.

Mapping section drawings

In linear infrastructure projects, section drawings represent cross-sections taken along a corridor alignment. Unlike buildings (or structures), where drawings are mapped to predefined levels, section drawings in areas are mapped to a position along an alignment.

When alignments are available in the project, they should be used as the reference for mapping section drawings. The selected alignment is displayed in the top-down view, allowing you to define:

• The chainage (position) along the alignment
• The direction of the section cut
• The exact location of the cross-section

This ensures that the drawing corresponds precisely to the corridor geometry and can be navigated consistently in relation to the alignment.

Hover over the drawing and click Map vertically.

If no alignment is available, click on '3D' and follow the process from this article: Map drawings vertically. 

Note that this approach is significantly more tedious. If you have alignment files available, we recommend uploading them first and mapping section drawings afterwards. 

For corridor-based projects, uploading alignments before mapping section drawings is therefore strongly recommended.

Resulting area setup

When files are uploaded and processed, they are organized by type and discipline. A 3D preview of the combined models is available.

An area must contain at least one BIM model with coordinates to be displayed in the map view. Areas containing only PDFs or images cannot be placed geographically.

The maximum distance between objects is 50 km per area.

More options

In the More menu, you can access the Area log or see a Preview of the model.

For each drawing, you can click the -icon to get the following options:

• Edit: Open the file to edit the metadata, folder, or upload a new version
• Delete: Delete this file from Locations and Box.
• Add to Box: If this file was uploaded from the computer, you can add this file to a folder in Dalux Box.
• Remove from area: If this file was also uploaded to Box, you can remove it from the area without deleting it.
• Discipline: Set a discipline/subdiscipline.
• Locations: This lets you decide if the drawing should be visible in Locations or not.

For model files uploaded as 3D models, you can Change to terrain model. For model files uploaded as terrain models, you can Change to 3D model.

The default view is the folder view, but you can change it by clicking on the icon in the top-right corner. This will display the files in a standard list view where you can search and filter the contents. You can select multiple files to edit or delete them at the same time.

Structures

Structures are used for vertical or building-like elements that are positioned along or within linear infrastructure projects, such as stations or technical buildings.

Unlike areas, structures:

• Contain levels
• Are limited to a maximum length of 2 km
• Have drawings mapped to individual levels

Structures are placed according to the coordinates in their BIM files and cannot be manually positioned.

In the map view, only an automatically generated top view of the model footprint. Drawings attached to a structure are not displayed directly on the map.

Activate structures

Structures must be activated before use. To activate structures, go to:

Settings Locations 'Structures''Activate'

Create a new structure

To create a new structure, go to:

Settings Locations Areas Add 'Structure'

Models and drawings are uploaded in the same way as in buildings. Since they behave the same, levels can be created and drawings can be mapped to specific levels. Read about this in more detail in this article: Upload IFC model files and 2D drawings.

Key differences