Adding a Retaining Wall

Adding a retaining wall helps create a flat building pad for the house. For more information about retaining walls, see "Retaining Walls".

Return to floor plan view. Note the generated contours.

If you prefer, you can turn off the display of primary contours in 2D. Select Tools> Display Settings> Display Options to open the Layer Display Options dialog. Remove the check from the Disp column for the layer "Terrain, Primary Contours". See "Layer Display Options Dialog" for more information.

Open 3D views are redrawn whenever changes are made to the plan, even if the 3D views are not active. Closing 3D views when they are not needed will help maximize your computer's performance.

Select Terrain> Walls and Curbs> Straight Retaining Wall

. Draw two straight wall sections as shown in the following image.

Select Terrain> Walls and Curbs> Curved Retaining Wall

and draw a curved retaining wall that connects at both ends to the two straight sections. Don't worry about the angle just yet, we'll make the curved section tangent in the next step.

Select the curved section then click the Make Arc Tangent

edit button to open the Radius of Tangent Curved Wall dialog. This dialog gives you a few alignment options. For more information, see "Make Arc Tangent". Click OK to make the curved wall section tangent to both straight sections.

Now add two more elevation lines just inside the retaining wall. This helps designate the height of this area when terrain is generated. This elevation line can stay at its default height of 0' 0".

Take a look in a Render Full Overview

. Your plan should look like this.

Adding a Retaining Wall

To draw a retaining wall