Softree Optimal Reviews

It improves designers guess and works with it.

It doesn't create and generate note sheets and title sheets.

One must purchase a CAD product to produce plan note sheets and title sheets.

It replicate issues for tender drawings and attempts to replicate the proposed design.

The RoadEng package already includes some very precise calculations that, once the context is understand, can be easily laid out to display a "best practice" design. When Optimal kicks in, the same presentation is improved upon seamlessly. The various options are therefore an additional improvement to something that has meat to it, with a final alignment that is provided with the confidence necessary to proceed with construction. The next flip is to download the final version into a DTM file and the survey crew proceed, within a 2 cm accuracy, to deliver the model which for all extensive purposes is the best possible vertical alignment, a field engineer's dream.

With everything considered, most laptops and boxes need to be boosted to the max to make the duties move along reasonably quick. Best excuse I have ever had to buy a boosted box.

It is a sphere of learning, and needs to be appreciated. There is serious continued impact as you progress up the learning curve, borderline excitement as simple techniques of adding constraints, increasing the difficulty of multiple costs (materials), is something that makes me love my job.

I continually replicate Issued for Tender drawings and attempt to replicate the proposed design. By performing a simple and quick Optimal analysis of the design to see if costs can be saved with an improved alignment. As well, there is the beauty of performing high level analysis, that is at least 15% more accurate than your best guess. That is very significant on a $100m job, never mind $1b.

works with designer's best guess, then improves on it

no problems with it, it works well enough for me

Mining haul roads. Have not had occasion to use it "for real" yet, because all the recent projects have been for roads in permafrost. In permafrost, we avoid cuts, because of the degradation they generate, so optimizing the balancing of cuts and fills is not helpful.

Functionality to adjust grades and alignments and having the quantities recalculated automatically.

Lack of the ability of the system to create and generate note sheets, title sheets, etc.

Currently must also purchase a CAD product to produce plan note sheets and title sheets.

Ability to create/generate plan/profile sheets with valid reproducible quantities.