How to Unlock the Data in your CAD Drawings

Are you using AutoCAD to help plan and manage your infrastructure network? Are you wondering how you can access and better use the information in your AutoCAD drawings? Do you want to be able to analyze your AutoCAD drawings, generate material lists and reports, or reveal new patterns in the data? If so, there is a way with AutoCAD Map 3D – the better AutoCAD for working with your infrastructure data.

With AutoCAD Map 3D you can query your AutoCAD drawings in much the same way that a spreadsheet or database can be queried. For example, with AutoCAD Map 3D, you can query by CAD properties such as color and layer, as well as, by location.

Consider a scenario in which a water utility or municipality is reviewing their watermain replacement program. Cast iron watermains are considered a priority. The AutoCAD drawing containing information about the watermain network must be analyzed to determine the location of the cast iron watermains, as well as, their corresponding lengths and diameters.

To see how this type of analysis can be done, please review the following short video which demonstrates the use of CAD queries in AutoCAD Map 3D.

Los Angeles Water Goes Digital

My last post highlighted a series of webcasts aimed at the water and wastewater industry for improving data access, data confidence and utility. Well, on a similar topic, check out the August 2009 Issue of WaterWorld which highlights the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's (LADWP) implementation of Autodesk’s geospatial software for its water system.

Read how LADWP was able to use AutoCAD Map 3D and AutoCAD Raster Design to complete work faster, with fewer employees; reduce data errors; decrease time and money spent on training staff; and bring 100 years of detailed paper maps into a massive digital data system.

"We accept and deliver municipal data in its native ESRI format with no need for conversion. Previously, data conversion often resulted in errors or lost information. The new technology eliminated that risk.”

Kien Hoang, Manager, LADWP’s Water GIS group