According to the McKinsey Global Institute, roads are the world’s top infrastructure segment in terms of investment. Here in the U.S. increasing traffic and an aging infrastructure is making it more important than ever to build new or rehabilitate existing transportation systems. These projects are becoming increasingly larger and complex, yet funding levels have continued to drop and traditional design methods aren’t cutting it anymore.

CAD News & Tips for Govies is a weekly feature on Acronym that scans thousands of industry articles to present you with a regular source of CAD and GIS news, tips, events, and ideas that impact the public sector. Here’s the latest round-up:

First City in the World To Manage Its Water Systems In The Cloud

One of our favorite tools for conceptual civil/infrastructure design exploration is undoubtedly Autodesk InfraWorks (formerly Autodesk Infrastructure Modeler). Using Road Styles in tandem with the built-in proposals feature, it’s incredibly easy to explore the differences between several typical sections or even alignment options. Although typical sections are easily created as Road Styles within Autodesk InfraWorks, nowhere does the software provide an option to set daylight slopes. So how does Autodesk InfraWorks determine the slopes used to tie back into your existing ground surface?