Learn Geo-Surface Pro, one chapter at a time

Step 1 of 28

Geo-Surface Pro opens in the region you used last or, the first time, in your own country, read from your browser. When it cannot tell, it asks: Choose your region. Each row names the country, the public elevation it downloads there and how fine it is, for example United States: 1 m LiDAR where published, 10 m national DEM elsewhere, and Canada: 1 m LiDAR where published. Click yours. It sets where elevation and soil maps come from and what the location search looks in. The region button at the top of the window switches region at any time. Fields somewhere else? Pick Elsewhere at the foot of the list and bring your own elevation.

Where to find it: First start > Choose your region

Step 2 of 28

The Region card at the foot of the Project tab shows the country the app is working in (USA here). Pick another country in it and the app reloads in that country, so save or back up the project you have open first. You rarely need it: each project remembers its country, and opening a backup made in another country switches the app over for you.

Where to find it: Project tab > Region

Step 3 of 28

To keep your projects in a folder on your computer, saved again automatically as you work, turn on folder storage: Geo-Surface offers it with Store projects in a folder? after you save your first project backup, or tick Store projects in a folder on this computer on the Project Folder Storage card of the Deliver tab. The Projects dialog then asks for the folder: click Choose projects folder… and pick one. Each project is saved there in its own folder. Prefer not to? Continue without a project, and Backup Project on the Deliver tab still saves everything in one ZIP.

Where to find it: Deliver tab > Project Folder Storage (or the Store projects in a folder? offer after your first backup) > the Projects dialog

Step 4 of 28

Click New project, type a name you will recognise later (the farm and field are a good choice) and click Create. The name shows at the top left of the window. Anything already on the map, such as a boundary you drew first, goes into the new project; only Start the new project empty instead clears it. Restore backup ZIP… in the same dialog opens a project someone sent you.

Where to find it: Projects dialog > New project

Step 5 of 28

Zoom to the field with the mouse wheel, or type a place in Search locations at the top and press Enter (or click the magnifier); it searches the country or region your app is set to. In Quebec, turn on Declared field outlines (FADQ) in Map Layers, click your field and choose Use as field boundary. The Project tab walks you through three steps: Define Your Field, Get Elevation Data and Create Analysis Layers. You can upload a boundary you already have (a zipped shapefile with its .prj, in any coordinate system its .prj names, such as latitude/longitude, UTM, State Plane or MTM, or a KML / KMZ file) or draw one. Have your own RTK survey (elevations measured with your own GPS)? Use it instead of LiDAR: open Other elevation sources, or an existing design on the Project tab and choose Use an RTK survey as the ground.

Where to find it: Project tab > Define Your Field

Step 6 of 28

Click Draw field boundary, then click each corner of the field in turn, following the edge of the crop. Click the first corner again, press Enter or double-click to finish; Backspace removes the last corner and Esc cancels. To help find the field edges, Map Layers can draw the land survey grid: PLSS Overlay (townships and sections) in the US, Land Parcels in Canada (quarter sections in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta; lots and concessions in Ontario).

Where to find it: Project tab > Define Your Field > Draw field boundary

Step 7 of 28

The outline closes and the field area appears (82.2 ac (33.3 ha) here). If a corner is off, open Edit Boundary to fix it. Soil information for the field is fetched on its own once the boundary is in.

Where to find it: Project tab > Edit Boundary

Step 8 of 28

Click Download elevation for this field (Recommended). A dialog asks for the resolution: 1 m (marked Recommended) gives the most detail and is what you want for designing; coarser cells are smaller and faster on very large areas. Click Fetch. To check that 1 m LiDAR exists before you fetch, set Base Layer in Map Layers to LiDAR Coverage in the US or LiDAR Terrain in Canada. A big field is not a problem: in the US, wherever the field lies inside a published 1 m LiDAR project the app reads the 1 m tiles directly, so even a full 640 acre section comes in at 1 m.

Where to find it: Project tab > Get Elevation Data > Download elevation for this field

Step 9 of 28

In a few seconds the field turns into a colour elevation map, purple low and yellow high, with the heights in the legend at the top right. The line under Create Analysis Layers says what ground you are designing on: here 1 m LiDAR (laser-measured elevation) from the IL 10CountyNRCS project. In the US the elevation comes from USGS 3DEP and this line names the 1 m LiDAR project, or says "USGS … national DEM" where no 1 m LiDAR has been published yet; in Canada it comes from NRCan’s HRDEM, and where there is no LiDAR the app says so instead of loading coarser ground.

Where to find it: Project tab > Get Elevation Data

Step 10 of 28

Click Create Drainage Layers. The app works out where water flows, where it collects and how wet each part of the field stays, right in your browser (usually 5 to 30 seconds). Flow lines and the Ponding Predictor come on straight away; the other layers are one click away in Map Layers.

Where to find it: Project tab > Create Analysis Layers > Create Drainage Layers

Step 11 of 28

Click Contours on the map toolbar and pick a Contour interval (1 foot here). The lines are drawn from the elevation you downloaded, with their heights written along them, in white or black. Export KML and Export SHP save them as files.

Where to find it: Map toolbar (bottom left of the map) > Contours

Step 12 of 28

Every layer is in Map Layers. Tick a layer to show it; its options (colours, a slider, a legend) open under it while it is on, and the slider beside each one sets how see-through it is. The (i) buttons explain how to read a layer. Base Layer at the top changes the background map.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers

Step 13 of 28

Base Layer at the top of Map Layers sets the map under everything else. In the US the choices are Satellite Imagery (the default, with place names and roads), Hi-Res Imagery (the USGS NAIP aerial photo), Topo Imagery (USGS), LiDAR Terrain (shaded relief that shows every draw and rise, here) and LiDAR Coverage (where 1 m elevation is published). In Canada the list is Satellite Imagery Only, LiDAR Terrain and Coarse Terrain. Changing it never touches your field or your design.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Map foundation > Base Layer

Step 14 of 28

Tick a layer's box to show it and untick it to hide it; you can have several on at once. While a layer is on, its own settings open right under it (here Depressions, with its Show under 3 in box) and fold away again when you turn it off. Click a section heading, such as Soil Data, to fold the whole section away; the panel remembers which ones you folded. The small i beside a setting explains it.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers

Step 15 of 28

The slider at the right of each layer sets how see-through it is, with the percentage beside it. Here HD Elevation is down to 40%, so the crop rows and field edges in the photo show through the elevation colours. Slide it back up when you want the colours strong again; the setting changes only how the map looks.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > the slider beside a layer

Step 16 of 28

Under HD Elevation, the Color Ramp menu picks the colours for the heights; here Terrain (Green→Brown) instead of the usual Spectral (Purple→Yellow), and Viridis is the one to choose if you find some colours hard to tell apart. The Elevation legend at the top right of the map always matches: it gives the height each colour stands for, in your units (646.2 to 692.4 ft on this field). The colours only change the look, never the elevation.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Elevation Data > HD Elevation > Color Ramp

Step 17 of 28

Once your design has runs, Color under Drainage Design sets how they are drawn. By Drainage Type gives each kind of run its own colour. By Pipe Size, shown here on a finished tile plan, colours each pipe by its size and lists only the sizes used (here 4, 6, 8 and 10 in), each with its swatch; click a swatch to pick your own colour. Dual-wall pipe is drawn dashed and single-wall pipe solid, so you can tell them apart at a glance, and surface ditches always stay purple.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Drainage Design > Color

Step 18 of 28

Flow lines trace where surface water runs across the field. They follow the draws and swales, which is where mains usually belong. The Show drains slider under the layer hides the smaller ones.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Flow lines

Step 19 of 28

The wetness index colours the ground by how likely it is to stay wet, from tan on the slopes and rises to deep blue where water gathers on flat ground. The blue areas are the wettest.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Wetness index

Step 20 of 28

Depressions shows the hollows that hold water, coloured by how deep they fill: under 3 in, 3-6 in, 6-12 in and over 12 in. Hold the mouse over one to read its depth. Tick Show under 3 in to see the shallowest too.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Depressions by depth

Step 21 of 28

The Ponding Predictor marks the places that get wet first in a big rain: the bottoms of the hollows and the flat ground water is slow to leave. Move its slider towards Wet first to show only the wettest spots, or towards Wet last to see how far the wet ground spreads.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Ponding Predictor

Step 22 of 28

Ponding after rain shows where water stands after a rain of the size you set on its Rain slider, and how deep, using the share of the rain that runs off. Full hollows spill into the next one down. This field drains well, so even 2 in of rain leaves only a few small ponds.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Ponding after rain

Step 23 of 28

Drainage basins split the field by where its water leaves. Each outlet group has its own colours, with smaller areas inside it for the branches that feed it, labelled in acres. Click a basin for its card: the acres of the outlet group and of this sub-basin, its relief, its mean slope and the elevation where you clicked.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Drainage basins

Step 24 of 28

In the US the soil map units come from SSURGO, the US soil survey. The Soil Survey (SSURGO) layer draws them on the map, and Soil Information on the Project tab lists each one with its share of the field and its drainage class. They drive the suggested depth, spacing, drainage coefficient and envelope you will see in Drainage settings > Tile design (Area-weighted soil suggestion). In Canada the soils come from the provincial soil survey where there is one, and from the national soil landscape map elsewhere: see the next step.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Soil Survey (SSURGO)

Step 25 of 28

In Canada the soils now come from the provincial soil survey where there is one (Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan), as series on the map just like the US soil survey. Here is a 107 ac clay field in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Switch on Soil Survey (Canada) in Map Layers and click the field: the card reads 100% Brookston, clay, poorly drained, 51% clay in the subsoil, class 2W, with each layer's texture and Ksat (how fast water moves through it). Soil Information on the Project tab lists the same series with its Suggested Parameters: spacing 30–50 ft, depth 36–42 in and Envelope: No envelope needed - regular perforated, because a soil with that much clay holds together and does not wash into the pipe. Where no provincial survey covers the field, the app uses the national soil landscape map instead and says so.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Soil Survey (Canada); Project tab > Soil Information

Step 26 of 28

With Soil Survey (Canada) ticked in Map Layers, a Labels switch sits under it: Series (the default) writes each soil area's series code on the map, BKN for Brookston here, and Capability writes its agricultural capability class instead, 2W here (class 2, limited by excess water). Switch back and forth as you need; it changes only the labels on the map. The Soil Information card on the Project tab lists each series on two lines, its name and share of the field on the first, its drainage class on the second.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Soil Data > Soil Survey (Canada) > Labels: Series | Capability

Step 27 of 28

Click 3D View (bottom right of the map) to see the field as a model: drag to turn it, right-drag to move it, scroll to zoom. Exag stretches the heights so gentle slopes show (10x here). Close returns to the map.

Where to find it: Map, bottom right > 3D View

Step 28 of 28

Once you have drawn drains, switch on Drainage coverage in Map Layers. It shades the ground inside the boundary that no drain covers and leaves the drained strips clear, and its note gives the acres. On the finished design here 58.5 of 82.2 ac are covered and 23.7 ac are not; 87% of the 13.7 ac the soil survey marks as needing drainage (very poorly, poorly and somewhat poorly drained) is covered. Most of what is left (21.8 ac) is well or moderately well drained: the crests between the draws, the high ground where the laterals stop, the ends of the laterals and the strip just inside the boundary. The 1.8 ac of wetter soil left over is listed under Largest uncovered patches with its height; check those spots before you call the plan done. The split into ground that needs drainage comes from the drainage classes of the field’s soil map (the US soil survey, or the provincial or national soil map in Canada); where no soil map covers the field, the note counts all ground inside the boundary. Next: lay out your first tile plan.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Drainage Design > Drainage coverage

Step 1 of 28

Every new run you draw takes its depths, grade and pipe from Drainage settings, so set them once before you draw. Open the Design tab on the left. At the top of the Active Design card, beside its name, is a small button with three sliders: that button opens Drainage settings.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button

Step 2 of 28

Here is the spot up close: the sliders button sits at the right end of the Active Design heading, above Designing against. Click it once. If you cannot find it, press Ctrl+K, type “drainage settings” and press Enter: the tool finder opens the same dialog.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design

Step 3 of 28

Drainage settings has four sections, listed on the left: Tile design (pipe depths, spacing, grade and sizes), Surface design (ditch depth, grade and shape), Flow estimates (how much water per day the design must carry) and Currency (the money prices are typed and printed in). Click a section to jump to it. At the bottom are Reset, Apply to existing and Save defaults; apart from the Project drainage coefficient, which changes for the whole project as soon as you type it, nothing you type is used until you click one of the last two.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings

Step 4 of 28

Type part of a name in Find a setting and the dialog shows only the fields that match, in every section. Here “grade” leaves Min Grade and Maximum Transition Grade under tile design, and Min Grade and the steepest ramp under surface design. Clear the box to see everything again. Each (i) beside a field explains it in a sentence or two.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Find a setting

Step 5 of 28

With the field’s soils loaded, Tile design opens with Area-weighted soil suggestion. It weights each soil’s own drain depth, spacing, drainage coefficient (inches of water per day the tile removes) and envelope by how much of the field it covers, counting only the soils that need drainage. Here that is 257A Clarksdale, somewhat poorly drained, on 17% of the field; the well and moderately well drained soils are left out and named. Suggested shows the weighted value with its range in brackets, Now shows your setting, and the last column says where yours sits: this field’s 2.5 ft target depth is below its range, and Regular Perforated differs from the sock the soil suggests. In Canada the suggestion comes from the field’s provincial soil series where there is one.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Area-weighted soil suggestion

Step 6 of 28

Click Use these and the four rows take the suggestion: target lateral depth 3.3 ft, lateral spacing 53 ft, the Project drainage coefficient 0.44 in/day and Sock Filter laterals. Now matches Suggested, and every row reads within its range. The Project drainage coefficient changes at once, everywhere in the project; the other three are kept only when you click Save defaults, so close the dialog without saving and they stay as they were. Change any field by hand and the row re-reads where you sit.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Use these

Step 7 of 28

Depths are in a small table: Laterals (the side drains), Sub-mains (the branch pipes laterals join before the main) and Mains (the pipes they all empty into). Until you type in the Sub-mains column it shows the lateral depths and follows them, so sub-mains are laid like laterals; type your own and new sub-mains take them. Target is where Best Fit tries to lay the pipe. Minimum is the least cover you accept: a stretch shallower than it is marked with a red S. Maximum is the deepest your machine can go: deeper is marked with a red D. Best Fit always keeps the pipe falling to the outlet at least at Min Grade, so on uneven ground it moves between the limits. Here laterals and sub-mains go 2.0 to 5.0 ft aiming for 3.3, and mains 3.0 to 5.0 ft aiming for 3.5: mains sit deeper so the laterals join near the top of the main. Set Maximum to the depth your plow reaches.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Depth

Step 8 of 28

Once a run is drawn and graded, select it and open Profile Chart (bottom right) to see those depths at work. This is lateral T1-SM2-L10 of a finished design, outlet on the left: the ground (Elevation Profile) on top, then the Min Depth Line, the tile grade (Best Fit Line) and the Max Depth Line, 2.0 and 5.0 ft under the ground. Best Fit keeps the tile near the 3.3 ft target and takes it deeper only under the rise near the outlet; the card under Grade design sums it up: 585.6 ft · avg 1.28% · depth 3.3–4.8 ft, no violations.

Where to find it: Design tab > select a run > Profile Chart

Step 9 of 28

Lateral Spacing is the distance between laterals, centre to centre. The layout tools (Copy offset, Herringbone) start from it, and the drained area, pipe sizing and report use it. The soil suggestion gives the range for your soils, 40 to 65 ft on this field; closer laterals pull water out of tight, wet soil faster but use more pipe. Here it is 53.0 ft.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Lateral Spacing

Step 10 of 28

Min Grade is the least fall the pipe may have toward the outlet, in percent (0.1% is 1 ft of fall per 1,000 ft). Best Fit never lays a pipe flatter than this, even where the ground is flat; it goes deeper instead, and any stretch that cannot keep it is flagged. 0.1% is the starting value; the app asks before it saves anything over 2%.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Min Grade

Step 11 of 28

Max Bend per Vertex is the sharpest turn a run may make at one clicked point, in degrees (0° is straight on, 90° a right angle). It is only used when you tick Enforce Max Bend per Vertex: then drawing and editing refuse sharper turns, and bends already over it are listed. It starts unticked; the tick is remembered on this computer and covers tile and surface runs.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Max Bend per Vertex

Step 12 of 28

Default Tile Specifications is the pipe each new run starts with. Laterals get Lateral Size (4" here) and Lateral Perforation (Sock Filter, from the soil suggestion). Mains and sub-mains get Main Size and Main Wall Type, which start as Unassigned: no size yet, because a main’s size depends on the area it drains. Auto Size fills it in later from the flow. A size you set here is used on every new main until you change it.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Default Tile Specifications

Step 13 of 28

In the US and Canada the main and sub-main size lists run 4", 6", 8", 10", 12", 15", 18", 21", 24", 30", 36", 42" and 48"; the lateral lists run 3" to 10". 21" sits between 18" and 24" wherever you size a main: Default Tile Specifications (Main Size), the Active Design card, the Auto Size review and Edit pipe sizes on the profile (shown open here, which lists every size).

Where to find it: Any Size list (here: profile > Edit pipe sizes > a segment > Size)

Step 14 of 28

Pipe Sizes, under Tile design, lists the built-in sizes (3" to 48" in the US). If your supplier sells a size that is not on the list, type it in Add a size and click Add: here 54". It joins every size list in the app, gets its own map colour, an optional Report price per foot for the cost estimate, and Use in Auto Size (ticked) lets Auto Size choose it. Remove takes it off again while no run uses it. Custom sizes are kept on this computer and saved with each project, so a project opened on another computer brings its sizes along.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Pipe Sizes

Step 15 of 28

The Project drainage coefficient is how much water, in inches a day, your tile must carry away from the ground above it: 0.375 in/day here (3/8 in). There is one for the whole project, and it shows in four places that always hold the same number: this card on the Project tab, Drainage settings > Tile design, the Tile Sizing card on the Design tab and the Auto Size Mains panel. Change it in any one and the other three follow. Auto Size sizes every main to it, and every run you have sized is checked against it.

Where to find it: Project tab > Project drainage coefficient

Step 16 of 28

In Drainage settings it sits under Default Tile Specifications as Project drainage coefficient (in/day), 0.375 here: the same number as on the Project tab. Use these in the soil suggestion sets it straight away. Below it, Max drainage coefficient for sizing stays blank unless you want a ceiling (see Max drainage coefficient for sizing).

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Project drainage coefficient

Step 17 of 28

The Tile Sizing card on the Design tab repeats it under Auto Size Mains (Project drainage coefficient: 0.375 in/day), and the Auto Size Mains panel opens on it with the line "One value for the whole project: changing it here changes it everywhere." Pick another value there and the panel says so, for example "The project drainage coefficient is now 0.375 in/day (was 0.440 in/day): every run is checked against it." Lower it and runs that now carry enough are cleared at once; raise it and any run that falls short is flagged.

Where to find it: Design tab > Sizing > Tile Sizing > Auto Size Mains > Project drainage coefficient

Step 18 of 28

Max drainage coefficient for sizing is optional; leave it blank to start. Blank, Auto Size gives every main the smallest pipe that carries the drainage coefficient you size with. Set, say to stop it picking a pipe far bigger than needed, a pipe that would drain more than this is not recommended, and when no size falls between the two Auto Size asks you to choose.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Max drainage coefficient for sizing

Step 19 of 28

Outlet Transition Distance (25.0 ft) lets a run climb out of a deep outlet: the depth limits start to count only that far from the outlet, and inside it the pipe may be as steep as Maximum Transition Grade (5%). Set 0 to turn it off. Connection Offset (0.3 ft) is how far above the main’s bottom a joined run comes in when you use Force connection, so the tee is not cut at the bottom of the pipe.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Outlets & Connections

Step 20 of 28

These two settings steer the tools that lay laterals for you. Boundary Setback (10.0 ft) is how far inside the field boundary Herringbone and Copy offset stop new laterals, so the ends stay out of the fence line. Minimum Lateral Length (20.0 ft) drops any lateral a tool would leave shorter than that, where it is cut off by another run, by ground already drained or by the boundary.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Layout Tools

Step 21 of 28

Overburden is soil you dig off first where the pipe must go deeper than the plow reaches (deeper than Maximum depth). Allowable overburden before a cut (0.000 ft) skips small humps whose extra depth is no more than this. Overburden Width (15.0 ft) and Overburden Side Slope (Vertical) set the shape of the cut, for the dirt volume. Excavated start (25.0 ft) is the first stretch of every lateral and sub-main, which you dig out anyway to set the plow in, so it is not counted as overburden; 0 counts the whole run.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Overburden Settings

Step 22 of 28

Surface design holds the limits for open ditches (surface mains and tributaries). Min Depth (0.0 ft) and Max Depth (1.0 ft) are how far below the ground the ditch bottom may sit; a new ditch also starts with Min Depth as its Offset Depth, the depth Best Fit aims for. Min Grade (0.05%) is the least fall toward the outlet; Best Fit cuts deeper rather than go flatter. Max Bend per Vertex works as for tile: only when its Enforce box under Tile design is ticked.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Surface design

Step 23 of 28

Ditch Bottom Width (8.0 ft) and Side Slope (6:1) give the ditch its shape, and from them the earthwork volume and cross-section are worked out. A side slope of 6:1 rises 1 ft for every 6 ft across: smooth enough to farm through; 10:1 is a grassed waterway. Steepest ramp from a fixed start or connection (2%) is how steeply the ditch bottom may climb from a fixed start depth or a forced connection until it meets the normal fit.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Surface design

Step 24 of 28

A drainage coefficient is how many inches of water a day the drains must carry off the area above them. Flow estimates holds three of them, Standard (0.50 in/day), High (0.75) and Heavy (1.00), and pointing at a flow line on the map shows the flow at each. These are for reading flow lines only; the tile is sized to the Project drainage coefficient. Untick the box below them if you would rather not see these figures when you point at a flow line.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Flow estimates

Step 25 of 28

Close the dialog and point at a flow line on the map (Map Layers > Flow lines on). The tag shows the area that drains to that spot and the flow it gives at the Standard, High and Heavy rates. Here 19.5 ac drains to the spot: 0.41 cfs · 182 gpm at the Standard rate, up to 0.81 cfs · 365 gpm at Heavy. It tells you how much water a ditch or main there would carry before you draw it.

Where to find it: Map > Flow lines > point at a line

Step 26 of 28

Currency, the last section, sets the money the report prices, the cost estimates and the land forming estimate are typed and printed in. It starts on your country's own currency (here United States default: US dollar (USD), with the dollar sign shown beside it); pick another from the list if you price the job in a different one. Amounts are never converted, so after a change type the prices in the new currency. The choice is kept for this country on this computer.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Currency

Step 27 of 28

Click Save defaults when the values are right; the button says Saved! for a moment. Every value shown now applies to this project, every run you draw from here on starts with them, and the values you changed become your defaults for new projects on this computer. Runs already drawn are not changed: that is what Apply to existing is for. Reset puts every value back to the app’s own starting values, after asking.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Save defaults

Step 28 of 28

Already drawn runs keep their own values when you save. To change them too, change the value and click Apply to existing. It saves the defaults, then applies only the values you changed in this sitting to the runs of the matching type, and asks first. Here the lateral minimum depth went from 2.0 to 2.5 ft, so it offers to change 113 existing runs and re-fit their depths and grades. If you change a pipe size, sizes Auto Size worked out from the flow are kept and named. One Undo puts every run back. Click Cancel to leave the runs alone.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Apply to existing

Step 1 of 38

Laterals and sub-mains have Force connection ticked: where a lateral meets its main, its outlet is set to the main’s invert (the inside bottom of the pipe) raised by the Connection offset (4 in, the default in Drainage settings, shown as 0.3 ft here because the units are set to decimal feet), so the lateral enters a little above the bottom of the main and the tee lines up. The profile marks it as the Parent Connection at the left end.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design (lateral selected) > Force connection

Step 2 of 38

Each run keeps its own settings. Select a run (click it on the map, or pick it in the run list) and the Active Design card shows them: Min Grade, Target Depth, the Min. and Max. depth, and for a lateral Force connection. Here T1-L13’s Min. depth goes from 2.0 to 2.5 ft. As soon as you type, the Unapplied changes box appears at the foot of the panel; nothing on the run changes until you click Apply changes, which grades it again to the new limits (Undo takes it back). Drainage settings holds the values new runs start with.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design (run selected) > Depth constraints > Apply changes

Step 3 of 38

Apply checks the values first. A Min. depth deeper than the Max. depth, a negative depth or grade, a Max. depth of 0, or text that is not a number is refused, and nothing on the run changes. Here a Min. depth of 5.5 ft was typed against a Max. depth of 5.0 ft, and a notice says why: "Min depth (5.5 ft) is greater than max depth (5.0 ft). Nothing was changed." The field is outlined in red and keeps what you typed, so you can correct it; the run keeps its saved value (2.0 ft) until you type a value that fits and click Apply changes again. Values that are allowed but unusual, such as tile shallower than 6 in or deeper than 10 ft, or a minimum grade over 2%, are questioned first ("Unusual value") and applied only if you click Apply anyway.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > Apply changes

Step 4 of 38

Grade design offers three ways to set a run’s grade. Best-Fit is the one to use almost everywhere, and every new run gets it on its own: it finds the grade that stays between the run’s Min. and Max. depth (3.0 to 5.0 ft for T1) and never drops below its minimum grade (0.1%), and it follows the ground as closely as those limits allow. It is worked out again whenever you change the run or its settings. Reach for Guided or Freeform only when you need the grade somewhere Best Fit would not put it.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > Grade design > Best-Fit

Step 5 of 38

Guided lets you choose the points the grade runs through, and the app keeps the rules. Select the run, click Guided (answer Replace with Guided; the button turns orange and reads Finish Drawing), then click the profile chart where the grade should change. Each anchor sits at the run’s Target depth (3.5 ft) under the ground there, the grade runs straight between anchors and on to the outlet, never flatter than the minimum grade, and a click near the far end snaps to the inlet. Here 4 anchors (at 79, 355, 414, 814 ft) give T1 a few long, even grades a contractor can lay. Finish Drawing runs the checks; Esc puts the saved grade back.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > Grade design > Guided

Step 6 of 38

Freeform puts every point exactly where you click, with no snapping and no minimum grade, so use it when the grade must meet a fixed height: an existing tile, a culvert or a ditch bottom at a known depth. Click Freeform (Replace with Freeform), then click the profile chart from the outlet up; drag a point to move it, Alt-click to remove it. Here the first point is placed about 4.5 ft deep at the outlet, where an existing tile would leave the field (Starting Depth reads 4.4 ft: a point lands exactly where you click), and 4 more points carry the grade up the main. Nothing stops a bad grade: S and D marks show where it is too shallow or too deep as you drag, and Finish Drawing runs the checks.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > Grade design > Freeform

Step 7 of 38

If the outlet has to be at a set depth (an existing tile, a ditch or a culvert), select the main, tick Use fixed start depth and type the depth. Nothing changes until you click Apply changes, in the Unapplied changes box at the foot of the panel.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design (main selected) > Use fixed start depth

Step 8 of 38

After Apply the main starts 4.5 ft deep at the outlet and climbs to meet the best grade up the field. The profile shows the new grade line; the laterals tied into T1 follow it.

Where to find it: Profile chart

Step 9 of 38

The Outlet transition is a stretch at the outlet end where the depth limits are relaxed so the tile can rise or drop to meet the outlet; minimum grade still applies, and 0 turns it off. Suggest works a length out from the maximum transition grade in the tile settings (26.0 ft here); apply it and check the profile.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > Outlet transition (ft) > Suggest

Step 10 of 38

Open Tile Sizing and click Auto Size Mains. Check the Project drainage coefficient (in/day), the depth of water the system removes from the field in a day: 0.375 in here. It is one value for the whole project, so changing it here changes it everywhere. The manual’s guide is 3/8 to 1/2 in for row crops (corn, soybeans), 1/4 to 3/8 in for small grains and 1/8 to 1/4 in for pasture and hay; local drainage guides and contractors know your area. Tick Enable stepped main sizing so long mains step down in size from the outlet to the inlet, then Start Sizing.

Where to find it: Design tab > Sizing > Tile Sizing > Auto Size Mains

Step 11 of 38

For each main the sizer shows the steps it chose: the station (distance along the main from its outlet) where each size starts and ends, the pipe size, the wall (SW single-wall corrugated, or DW dual-wall with a smooth inside), the perforation (NP non-perforated for a main that only carries water) and the acres it carries, with the drained width credited to each lateral below. Change any size or wall in the table first if you need to, then click Apply All (Skip leaves this main as it was).

Where to find it: Auto Size Mains > stepped sizing review

Step 12 of 38

Each main and sub-main is now coloured by pipe size, and a stepped main changes colour where it steps down. Map Layers > Drainage Design > Color: By Pipe Size shows the legend. If you change the layout later, Out of date flags the runs whose size no longer fits so you know to run Auto Size again.

Where to find it: Design tab > map; Map Layers > Drainage Design > Color: By Pipe Size

Step 13 of 38

Hold the mouse over a sized main to read its pipe, length, grade and depth, its design flow at the outlet, and its Max DC: the drainage coefficient the pipe actually delivers at its tightest stretch, its bottleneck, beside the Project drainage coefficient it is checked against. Here T1, 8"–10" stepped, carries 190 GPM and delivers 0.39 in/day, a little more than the 0.375 in/day target. Below the target it turns red. Laterals show their own Max DC for information only; a short, steep lateral often drains far more than the target. Leave the optional maximum in Drainage settings blank unless you want Auto Size to stop at a size that would drain too much.

Where to find it: Map: hold the mouse over a main or sub-main

Step 14 of 38

With Enable stepped main sizing left unticked, Auto Size gives each main one size for its whole length, and its review says which stretch decided it. Here T1 is "Sized by: 3+74 – 3+75 at 0.100% (166 GPM arrives there)": 374 ft up from the outlet, 166 GPM (gallons a minute) arrives on a grade of only 0.1%, and that spot, not T1's average grade, sets its size. Check that stretch before you accept: if it is a short flat spot, a little more grade there (Guided, or a deeper start) may save a pipe size. You never type a lateral spacing here: Auto Size uses the area each part of the main actually drains in the design as drawn (its contributing area: 26.91 ac for T1).

Where to find it: Design tab > Sizing > Tile Sizing > Auto Size Mains (stepped sizing unticked) > Start Sizing

Step 15 of 38

Each size option says what that pipe delivers: the drainage coefficient (inches of water a day taken off the field) it can carry at the stretch that sized it. The line under the options compares sizes with the 0.375 in/day target: for T1 an 8" single-wall delivers only 0.335 in/day (below target), so 10" is recommended at 0.536 in/day; dual-wall is smoother inside, so 8" dual-wall already delivers 0.419 in/day. A bigger size than needed simply drains faster than you asked for. The delivered figure is the same Max DC the hover over a sized main shows.

Where to find it: Design tab > Sizing > Tile Sizing > Auto Size Mains > the one-size review > size options

Step 16 of 38

To change one stretch of a sized main, run Auto Size Mains again (Enable stepped main sizing ticked) and click Skip for every main you want left as it is. In the review for the main, change that row’s Size or Wall: here the outlet stretch of T1, 0+00 - 6+00, goes from 10" SW to DW, and because dual wall is smoother inside, the sizer drops it to 8" at once. A size picked below what a stretch needs is marked (< req) and shaded red. Click Apply All to save it; one Undo takes it back. Picking a size in the Active Design card instead replaces all the steps with one size.

Where to find it: Tile Sizing > Auto Size Mains > Start Sizing > the main’s review > Wall

Step 17 of 38

To change where a run steps down, or one stretch's pipe, without running Auto Size, select the run and click Edit pipe sizes at the top right of its profile (it turns green and reads Editing pipe sizes). Each pipe stretch gets a label: here T1 shows 10" SW NP from 0+00 to 6+00, draining 26.9 ac and delivering 0.54 in/day, and 8" SW NP from 6+00 to 10+84, 21.4 ac and 0.39 in/day. The in/day on a label is what that pipe delivers at its tightest point, the part of the stretch that drains least (usually its flattest), so the whole stretch is at least that good. The line under the chart says whether every segment meets the 0.375 in/day target.

Where to find it: Design tab > select a tile run > profile chart > Edit pipe sizes

Step 18 of 38

Drag the marker between two stretches along the profile to move the step. It moves in 20 ft pipe lengths from the outlet and stops a pipe length short of the next step or the end. While you drag, a red dot on the map follows it along the run, so you can see the step land at a lateral's tee or a field road. Here T1's step moves from 6+00 to 8+00.

Where to find it: Profile chart > Edit pipe sizes > drag a step marker

Step 19 of 38

Click on the pipe line to add a step there. Both halves keep the same pipe until you change one: here a click at 9+40 splits the 8" stretch into 8+00 - 9+40 (19.6 ac, 0.42 in/day) and 9+40 - 10+84 (18.0 ac, 0.44 in/day). Each label always shows the land draining into its downstream end.

Where to find it: Profile chart > Edit pipe sizes > click the pipe line

Step 20 of 38

Click a segment's label to open its Size, Wall and Perforation. Here segment 3 goes from single wall to Dual wall: dual wall is smoother inside, so the same 8" now delivers 0.55 in/day instead of 0.44. Press Esc or the x to close the picker; nothing has changed on the run yet.

Where to find it: Profile chart > Edit pipe sizes > click a segment label

Step 21 of 38

Click the x under a step marker to remove it. The two stretches become one with the larger of the two pipes, so removing a step never makes the pipe smaller: here removing the step at 9+40 leaves 8" dual wall from 8+00 to the end.

Where to find it: Profile chart > Edit pipe sizes > x under a step marker

Step 22 of 38

A segment whose pipe delivers less than the Project drainage coefficient turns red and says how far short it is, and the line under the chart names it. Here segment 2 was set to 6" dual wall: "Below the 0.375 in/day target: segment 2 (8+00-10+84) delivers 0.24 in/day, 0.13 in/day short. You can still apply." You can: the run then shows under Violations in Find a run, and the report stars it, until you change it.

Where to find it: Profile chart > Edit pipe sizes > the segment labels and the line under the chart

Step 23 of 38

A pipe carries less water the flatter it runs. Above 8+28, T1 runs at the 0.1% minimum grade all the way to its end, so even though less land drains into that stretch, a smaller pipe there would carry too little: 6" delivers only 0.24 in/day against the 0.375 target. That is why Auto Size keeps a larger pipe further up a flat main than the acres alone suggest, and why a step you drag onto flat ground can turn red.

Where to find it: Profile chart > Edit pipe sizes

Step 24 of 38

Nothing on the run changes until you click Apply under the chart; until then the line starts "Not applied yet." Cancel, turning Edit pipe sizes off or choosing another run drops the changes (it asks first if you made any). Here segment 2 is back to 8" dual wall and every segment meets the target, so Apply.

Where to find it: Profile chart > Edit pipe sizes > Apply / Cancel

Step 25 of 38

After Apply the map colours, the run list, the report's pipe schedule, the materials list and the exports all follow your sizes. One Undo (the arrow at the top left of the map) puts the sizes back as they were. If you later run Auto Size Mains, it asks for each run you edited here whether to keep your sizes or rebuild them.

Where to find it: Map > Undo (top left)

Step 26 of 38

Auto Size picks sizes for mains and sub-mains; a lateral, or any run you want to fix yourself, takes its size from the Active Design card. Select the run (here T1-L13), choose its Size (4" to 6" here) and its Form (Sock Filter); a main also has Perf (perforated or not). The Unapplied changes box appears at the foot of the panel: click Apply changes to keep it, and Undo takes it back. On a stepped main this replaces all its steps with the one size.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design (run selected) > Size, Form (and Perf on a main) > Apply changes

Step 27 of 38

The PDF report prints the main the way you left it. In its main line table T1 now reads Stepped 8", sized for 0.375 in/day and delivering 0.388 in/day at its bottleneck (the Delivered DC column), and the Pipe schedule for T1 lists the outlet stretch, 0+00 - 6+00, as 8" DW, 600 ft, and the rest as SW. Every stretch is checked at its own size and grade, so a change that leaves a stretch short of capacity shows up here as Adequate: No.

Where to find it: Deliver > Professional Reports > Generate Report > the main’s page

Step 28 of 38

A size from Auto Size fits the design as it was when you sized it. Change the layout afterwards (here one lateral of T5, T5-L3, was deleted) and the runs it drains into are marked out of date: ↻ after the name on the map and in the run list, and the Tile Sizing card says "↻ 1 run needs re-sizing: T5" (the Out of date count under Find a run goes to 1 as well). Hold the mouse over the run to see why: "Pipe sized for 3.35 ac; the drawn design drains 2.74 ac". Nothing is re-sized on its own, and the report and the exports warn about it until you size it again.

Where to find it: Map label and hover; Active Design > Find a run > Out of date; Sizing > Tile Sizing

Step 29 of 38

When a lateral moves, only the mains it drains into need a new size. Here lateral T2-L11 was moved a few feet along T2 and the Tile Sizing card says "↻ 1 run needs re-sizing: T2". Click that line: Auto Size opens for exactly the runs it names and leaves every other run as it is.

Where to find it: Design tab > Sizing > Tile Sizing > the ↻ line

Step 30 of 38

To clear the mark, click Auto Size Mains. The panel lists every out-of-date run with both figures (T2 — Pipe sized for 13.41 ac; the drawn design drains 13.39 ac.) and offers two choices: Size only the runs that need it (1): T2, the default, or Size every main. Keep the default and click Start Sizing: only T2 is reviewed, every other main keeps its pipe exactly as it is, the ↻ goes and Out of date drops back to 0. One Undo takes back the whole pass.

Where to find it: Design tab > Sizing > Tile Sizing > Auto Size Mains

Step 31 of 38

To size one main or sub-main, right-click it on the map and choose Auto Size this run (here T3 · Tile main · 805.3 ft). It opens the usual review for that run only, at the Project drainage coefficient; a run sized stepped is sized stepped again. Every other run is left exactly as it is, and one Undo takes the whole pass back.

Where to find it: Map > right-click a main or sub-main > Auto Size this run

Step 32 of 38

The same thing from the profile: select the main and click Re-size this run, beside Edit pipe sizes. Here T2 (size out of date) opens straight in its stepped review, 8"/6"/4" over three segments, and Apply All sizes T2 alone: the other six mains are kept, and the ↻ clears.

Where to find it: Design tab > select a main > profile chart > Re-size this run

Step 33 of 38

Every lateral and sub-main must join a main. A project from an earlier version, or a design brought in from another program, can hold a run that does not; here one lateral of a copy of this design, T2-L5, was cut loose to show it. The project opens with a red list of those runs, and until each one is reconnected or deleted, Auto Size, the PDF report and the machine exports will not run. Click Auto Size Mains and the notice says why: "Auto Size cannot run while 1 run is not connected to a main: T2-L5. Reconnect or delete it in the list, then try again."

Where to find it: Design tab > Sizing > Tile Sizing > Auto Size Mains; the list of runs not connected to a main

Step 34 of 38

Click Reconnect beside the run in the list: the Reconnect tool opens on that run, and you click the main or sub-main it belongs to, here T2. A panel says what will happen ("1 lateral move to T2. 1 lateral is cut at T2."); click Reconnect and it is done as one Undo step. The run takes T2’s next unused name (T2-L25), the list turns green with Every run is connected, and Auto Size, the report and the exports are available again. Delete removes the run instead, with anything connected to it.

Where to find it: The list of runs not connected to a main > Reconnect, then click the main

Step 35 of 38

Where a lateral or sub-main has to be deeper than its maximum depth, the extra soil is overburden. The first stretch of every lateral and sub-main, from where it joins its main, is dug out with the pit that sets the plow in, so cuts there are not counted: that stretch is the Excavated start (25.0 ft by default; 0 counts the whole run). Find it in Drainage settings under Overburden Settings.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > sliders button > Drainage settings > Tile design > Overburden Settings

Step 36 of 38

Switch on Overburden cuts in Map Layers to see them: each cut is a see-through orange band along the pipe, so the pipe's own colour still shows through, with the cut depth marked along it and OB at the deepest point. Here lateral T4-L3 was held to 4.0 – 4.5 ft (a plow that reaches 4.5 ft), and where it crosses the rise it has to go deeper: a 233 ft cut, up to 1.0 ft, about 86 cubic yards. The report adds the cuts up. This field has none as designed; one Undo puts it back.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Layers > Overburden cuts

Step 37 of 38

When a run breaks a limit it is marked on the map, S where the tile is too shallow and D where it is too deep, with a warning sign after its name. Its summary line turns red with the count, Violations in Find a run counts the runs that need attention, and the profile chart shows where. Here the maximum depth of one lateral was set to 2.5 ft to show it; Undo puts it back.

Where to find it: Map markers, Design tab > Active Design summary, Find a run > Violations

Step 38 of 38

All 133 runs graded, T1 starting at its fixed depth, and the mains and sub-mains sized in steps (T1 10"/8", T1-SM1 4", T1-SM2 8"/6"/4", T2 8"/6"/4", T3 6"/4", T4 6"/4", T5 4"), with no violations and every size up to date.

Where to find it: Design tab

Step 1 of 13

This 144-acre field in Humboldt County, Iowa has two depressions (low spots with no outlet) that hold water after a rain: one on the west edge and one in the north-middle. Open Map Layers on the map toolbar and turn on Depressions to see them coloured by depth, and Flow Lines to see the draws: the thick one runs south to the field edge, which is where the tile outlet goes. A targeted plan runs tile from the outlet to the depressions only, instead of tiling the whole field.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Map Layers > Analysis Layers > Depressions, Flow Lines

Step 2 of 13

Turn on Ponding after rain: it shows where water stands after a rain and how deep (darker blue is deeper). Drag its Rain slider to a heavy rain, 3.0 in here; the line under it says how much of that runs off on this soil (about 1.6 in runs off (row crops, soil group C)). Both depressions fill, the west one along the field edge and the north one in the middle. These are the spots worth a surface inlet (a riser in the low spot that lets the standing water into the tile). The soil group comes from the US soil survey; in Canada it is estimated from the soil texture.

Where to find it: Map Layers > Analysis Layers > Ponding after rain

Step 3 of 13

Choose Draw > Tile > Main and click from the outlet on the south edge up the thick flow line to the west depression; double-click to finish. The main (the larger pipe that carries the water to the outlet) is T1, 2,611 ft. Best Fit grades it as you finish: the profile shows T1 climbing from the outlet (0 ft, left) to the west depression, 39 to 59 in deep, deep enough under the rise. Its Size stays Unassigned until it is sized.

Where to find it: Design tab > tool rail > Draw > Tile > Main

Step 4 of 13

Then choose Draw > Tile > Lateral and click from the main up the side draw into the north depression; double-click to finish: T1-L1, 1,206 ft. The north depression has no draw out of it (when it overflows it spills north-east, off the field), so the lateral follows the side draw that starts just south of it, then cuts through its rim to the lowest point. The green dot in T1's profile is where T1-L1 joins; the lateral starts at the 4 in default pipe for laterals.

Where to find it: Design tab > tool rail > Draw > Tile > Lateral

Step 5 of 13

Right-click the lateral at the lowest point of the depression, where it ends, and choose Add surface inlet here. The menu shows the station the inlet will sit at (its distance along the run from where the run starts on the main).

Where to find it: Right-click a tile run > Add surface inlet here

Step 6 of 13

In the inlet dialog choose From its catchment. The app offers two areas: The flow line here (0.14 ac), the ground that drains down the one flow line under the inlet, and The whole low spot (34.93 ac), all the ground that drains into the depression from every side, counting the 3 other low spots that overflow into it. Water runs into a depression from all around it, so size the inlet for the whole low spot. The drainage coefficient (inches of water taken off that area per day) starts at 1.0 in/day, so the inlet takes 658.7 gpm.

Where to find it: Surface inlet dialog > From its catchment > The whole low spot

Step 7 of 13

Click Calculate Lateral Tile Size. The app adds the inlet flow to the water the lateral drains from the soil (668.5 gpm in all) and offers the smallest pipe that carries it at the lateral’s grade: 18 in single-wall or 15 in dual-wall (dual-wall pipe has a smooth inner wall, so it carries more for its size). That is much bigger than a lateral usually is, because the inlet takes runoff from 34.93 ac, not just soil water from beside the pipe. Pick one and click Accept to save the inlet and resize the lateral.

Where to find it: Surface inlet dialog > Calculate Lateral Tile Size > Accept

Step 8 of 13

The inlet shows on the map as a marker with its flow, and in the profile chart as a triangle at its station (Surface Inlets in the chart legend). The lateral now carries the size you accepted. Click the marker to change the inlet, switch it between From its catchment and Flow required, or delete it.

Where to find it: Map marker; Profile Chart > Surface Inlets

Step 9 of 13

Right-click the end of the main in the west depression and choose Add surface inlet here again. Choose The whole low spot (15.96 ac). At 1.0 in/day that is 301.0 gpm. On a main the button is Add Inlet Flow: it saves the inlet, and Auto Size sizes the main for it in the next step.

Where to find it: Right-click the main > Add surface inlet here > Add Inlet Flow

Step 10 of 13

Open Tile Sizing on the Design tab and click Auto Size Mains. The main is sized for everything that reaches it: the water its own tile drains from the soil plus the water of the two inlets you just added (658.7 and 301.0 gpm, 960 gpm together). The Project drainage coefficient (in/day) is how much water the tile takes off the drained ground per day: 0.375 in per day here (3/8 in), one value for the whole project. Tick Enable stepped main sizing so the pipe gets bigger only where more water has joined. Click Start Sizing.

Where to find it: Design tab > Tile Sizing > Auto Size

Step 11 of 13

Auto Size then shows the stepped sizes: it splits the main into 4 stretches and offers the smallest pipe for each, listed by station (distance from the outlet, 8+20 = 820 ft): 21 in from 0+00 to 8+20, 18 in from 8+20 to 9+60, 15 in from 9+60 to 9+80, 12 in from 9+80 to 26+11. The pipe is biggest at the outlet and steps down where the main runs steeper, and again above 9+76, where T1-L1 and its inlet water join. Cum. ac is the area each stretch serves, with each inlet’s catchment counted as the tile area that would give the same flow. You can change any Size, Wall or Perforation here before you accept.

Where to find it: Tile Sizing > Auto Size > Start Sizing > review

Step 12 of 13

Leave Rebuild main using on Single wall (or pick Dual wall) and click Apply All. The main now carries its stretches: the profile under the map labels each one with its pipe (21 in, 18 in, 15 in, 12 in from the outlet up), and the run picker reads T1 (Main) - 21" SW NP, the size at the outlet. Violations still reads 0.

Where to find it: Tile Sizing > Auto Size > Apply All; Profile Chart

Step 13 of 13

The main does the job a surface ditch would, but underground: the inlets let the depression water in and the main carries it to the outlet, so you farm straight across. It is non-perforated (solid) pipe because its job is to carry water, not to take it from the soil beside it; Size, Form and Perf for the selected run are in the Design panel.

Where to find it: Design tab > Active Design > Size, Form, Perf

Step 1 of 30

This 70 acre field falls only about 4.5 ft from west to east over more than half a mile (the Elevation legend reads 940.0 to 935.5 ft). The Ponding Predictor paints in red where water shows first in a big rain: long wet flats run north to south across the field, and the black flow lines wander through them instead of running off. Load the field as for any design: draw the boundary, download 1 m elevation and click Create Drainage Layers; land forming starts from that ground.

Where to find it: Project tab > Define Your Field, Get Elevation Data, Create Analysis Layers; Map Layers > Ponding Predictor

Step 2 of 30

Turn on Ponding after rain in Map Layers and set its Rain slider to 3 in. On this field only 0.26 ac of water stands after the rain, up to 4.8 in deep, in a few small pockets. So the trouble here is ground too flat to shed water, not deep holes: that is the kind of field land forming fixes by giving every part of it a steady fall to an edge.

Where to find it: Map Layers > Analysis Layers > Ponding after rain > Rain

Step 3 of 30

Open the Workspace menu at the top of the screen and choose Landforming. The sidebar then shows only what land forming needs, and the Design tab shows the Landforming Design panel. Switch back to Drainage Design at any time; nothing is lost.

Where to find it: Top bar > Workspace > Landforming

Step 4 of 30

Everything for one design sits in the Landforming Design panel on the Design tab: Minimum grade and Compaction at the top, then Outlets and Benchmarks, the Analyze field and Solve design surface buttons, and Advanced settings at the bottom. The steps below take them one block at a time. The defaults suit a first run, and every setting has an (i) that explains it.

Where to find it: Design tab > Landforming Design

Step 5 of 30

Minimum grade is the slope every part of the design surface keeps towards an outlet: 0.05% falls 0.5 ft every 1,000 ft. Raise it for faster run-off, at the cost of moving more dirt. Compaction is the extra dirt to cut because fill settles: at 20%, every 1.0 yd³ (cubic yard) of finished fill needs 1.2 yd³ of cut.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Minimum grade, Compaction

Step 6 of 30

Click Analyze field (recommend settings), the button just above Solve design surface, before your first solve. It makes a quick trial design and writes a recommendation under Minimum grade: how deep the design needs to cut and roughly how much dirt it moves (here max cut 0.92 ft · about 4,248 yd³ of dirt). Click that line (it ends "click to apply") to set Max borrow cut to the recommended depth.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Analyze field (recommend settings)

Step 7 of 30

Outlets are the field edges water is allowed to drain over; the design only counts a spot as drained if its water reaches one of them. Here the north edge borders a neighbour, so it is marked No outlet (red) and the other edges stay outlets (green). Mark roads, berms and higher neighbouring ground the same way.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Outlets > Edit…

Step 8 of 30

Click Edit… beside Outlets to start painting. Click one boundary segment (about 100 ft long) to switch it between outlet and No outlet, or pick No-outlet area or Outlet-OK area and draw round a whole stretch of edge to switch it in one go. The line beside Outlets keeps count (here: 50 of 82 edges allowed). Click Done painting when you are finished.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Outlets > Edit…

Step 9 of 30

Benchmarks are the fixed points the machine calibrates to. Put them on solid ground that will not be worked, such as the field approaches just outside the boundary, as here along the south road. The first one you place is the master.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Benchmarks > Edit…

Step 10 of 30

Click Edit… beside Benchmarks, then click the map to drop each one; click a marker again to remove it. The line beside Benchmarks reads "2 placed — first is the master (0MB)". Click Done when finished. Place none and the export places them for you; Clear removes them all.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Benchmarks > Edit…

Step 11 of 30

Click Solve design surface. In a few seconds the map shows the cut/fill: red is cut, blue is fill, light green is within tolerance and dark green is left untouched. The lows on the flat west half are filled from the higher bands beside them, and the headline under Design surface ready says every part of the designed surface drains at your minimum grade.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Solve design surface

Step 12 of 30

Open Details (cut, fill, depths). Here the design cuts 6,899 yd³ and fills 5,749 yd³ (the extra cut covers compaction), about 98 yd³/ac, with 52% of the field left untouched. It also lists the deepest cut and fill, how far the dirt is hauled, and the final drainage check.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > Details (cut, fill, depths)

Step 13 of 30

Open Advanced settings. Max borrow cut is the deepest the high ground may be lowered to supply fill; here it is 0.92 ft, the value Analyze field recommended. Keep it within your topsoil and subsoil depth. Too shallow, and the design runs short of dirt or cannot drain every low; the next step shows what that looks like.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Advanced settings > Max borrow cut

Step 14 of 30

Set Max borrow cut too shallow (here 0.25 ft instead of 0.92 ft) and the field still drains, but the headline warns that the design is short 2,524 yd³ of usable material: about 37% of the fill has nowhere on the field to come from. Details offers a one-click fix, Raise max cut to 0.42 ft & re-solve. Otherwise allow deeper cut, bring fill in from off the field, or lower Minimum grade. When a design cannot keep within your limits at all, a section Couldn't meet all settings — see recommendations appears under Details with those changes worked out for your field, plus marking more edges as outlets.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > Couldn't meet all settings — see recommendations

Step 15 of 30

Smoothness rounds off sharp changes in grade so the finished surface is easier to farm across. Each step of the slider is one more rounding pass (here 1 pass). After moving it, click Re-solve with new settings. It is usually not needed, so it starts at 0: turning it on moves more soil.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Advanced settings > Smoothness

Step 16 of 30

With 1 pass of smoothing the cut/fill map spreads out and more dirt moves: this field went from 6,899 to 7,722 yd³ of cut and from 5,749 to 6,435 yd³ of fill. Cut and fill still balance, because the solve takes the extra fill from the same nearby high ground. Add passes only where the map shows abrupt edges. For the rest of this chapter the slider goes back to 0 passes, so the numbers that follow come from the first design.

Where to find it: Advanced settings > Smoothness, then Re-solve with new settings

Step 17 of 30

Set Topsoil strip & return to the depth of topsoil you push aside before grading and spread back afterwards (here 0.5 ft, which is 6 in), then click Re-solve with new settings. Leave it at 0 if you grade without stripping.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Advanced settings > Topsoil strip & return

Step 18 of 30

The finished surface does not change; the work does. Details now reads "strip & return 0.50 ft over 25.9 ac — 20,880 yd³ handled twice. Max total dig: 1.40 ft.". The report and the machine files add a strip pass before grading and a respread pass after it, so the topsoil ends up back on top.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > Details (cut, fill, depths)

Step 19 of 30

Click View 3D Before / After. The slider between Before and After blends the original ground into the design. Here the height is stretched 30 times (Exag) and Contours are set to 6 in: at Before, the small closed rings are the lows and hollows that hold water. Drag to turn the view and scroll to zoom.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > View 3D Before / After

Step 20 of 30

Slide to After and the same view shows the designed surface. The clusters of small closed rings on the flats (water with nowhere to go) are mostly gone, and the 6 in contours run as long, even lines across the field, so the ground falls steadily towards the outlet edges. Slide back and forth to see where dirt is taken and where it goes.

Where to find it: 3D Terrain Viewer > Before / After slider

Step 21 of 30

Click Use design as active surface, then on the Project tab click Create Drainage Layers again, and Hide cut/fill from map. The flow lines and Ponding after rain are now worked out on the designed ground: after the same 3 in rain, standing water goes from 0.26 ac to 0 ac, and the flow runs to the open edges.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > Use design as active surface; Project tab > Create Drainage Layers; Design surface ready > Hide cut/fill from map

Step 22 of 30

While the design is the active surface, the third button on the results card reads Back to original ground. Click it to put the field as it is today back under everything (contours, profiles, the drainage layers once you create them again); the design is kept, and the button turns back into Use design as active surface. Switch back and forth as often as you like to compare.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > Back to original ground

Step 23 of 30

Click Generate PDF Report under Design surface ready. Type the Field name and your Company / operator name, and add Preparer's notes for a line of explanation in the report (here, where the fill comes from). Logo image is optional and is remembered for next time.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > Generate PDF Report

Step 24 of 30

Cost estimate takes $ per yd³ moved, yd³ per hour (scraper) and $ per machine hour; fill in only what you know. Here only the scraper rate, 250 yd³ per hour, is given, so the report works out the machine hours but prints no cost. Leave all three blank and the Time & Cost Estimate section is left out. Below it, Paper sets the paper the report prints on (Letter here, A4 outside the US and Canada). Click Generate and save the PDF.

Where to find it: Generate PDF Report > Cost estimate (optional)

Step 25 of 30

The report opens with the field, who prepared it and the headline numbers: total cut and fill, grading intensity, deepest cut and fill, borrow patches and how much of the field is left untouched, with the drainage result in the green bar. It states only what was computed for this field.

Where to find it: Saved PDF

Step 26 of 30

Page two is the cut/fill map with the earth moved by depth class. The pages after it carry the earthworks summary (with the topsoil stages and, when you gave a production rate, the hours), the drainage check, before and after contours, depressions and flow paths before and after, haul distances and the borrow plan.

Where to find it: Saved PDF

Step 27 of 30

Click Export design… under Design surface ready and choose the file your machine control reads; the AGD design file is recommended for most. With topsoil strip & return on, export one file per construction stage. If the design is not construction-ready (for example it is short of material or misses the max cut), the export asks first and names the reason: Export anyway or Cancel. Send it to the machine explains each file and which one to pick, the units, the point spacing and the benchmark check.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > Export design…

Step 28 of 30

To change a setting and solve again, click Try different settings on the results card: the results fold away, your design stays until you click Re-solve with new settings. To throw the design away altogether, click Revert design at the bottom of Advanced settings. It asks first ("Discard the design?"); Discard removes the design and its map layers, and Cancel keeps it. Neither touches your outlets or benchmarks.

Where to find it: Design surface ready > Try different settings; Advanced settings > Revert design

Step 29 of 30

Change the field boundary after solving (here a corner is clipped off with Edit Boundary > Clip > Apply, leaving 61.3 ac) and the design is thrown away, because it was worked out for the old field. The results card goes, and with it Generate PDF Report and Export design…; the panel says "The field boundary changed, so the landforming design was discarded. Solve again." No-outlet marks on the changed edges go back to outlets (10 edges here), so check Outlets first. Your benchmarks stay.

Where to find it: Project tab > Edit Boundary > Apply; then Design tab > Landforming Design

Step 30 of 30

To get the report and the export back, click Solve design surface again. The results card returns with Generate PDF Report and Export design… for the new field. Read it as for any solve: here the 61.3 ac design passes the drainage check but runs short 258 yd³ of material, so check Details before you export.

Where to find it: Landforming Design > Solve design surface

Step 1 of 22

The PDF report is for the person you hand it to: the grower, the landowner or the contractor, who may never open Geo-Surface. Everything in it describes this field and this design. When the design is finished (runs graded, mains sized, no violations), open the Deliver tab, then Professional Reports, and click Generate Report. The example is the finished 103 acre Story County tile design; a surface design makes its report the same way.

Where to find it: Deliver tab > Professional Reports > Generate Report

Step 2 of 22

Generate Report opens the Generate Design Report dialog: one scrolling form with, from top to bottom, Project Information, Template & Summary Table (with Paper and Plan pages), Report Sections, Company Branding (Optional) and Cost Estimates (Optional) with the pipe prices and Other items, then Generate PDF Report at the foot. Only Project Information needs typing; everything else starts from sensible settings and remembers your last choices.

Where to find it: Deliver tab > Professional Reports > Generate Report

Step 3 of 22

Project Name, Location, Owner/Client and Prepared by (Company / Operator) print on the cover; the Project Name also goes on the Design plan page and into the file name. Write them the way the reader knows the field: here Story County north 103, in Story County, Iowa, prepared by your company.

Where to find it: Generate Design Report > Project Information

Step 4 of 22

Template sets what kind of report you get: Detailed (multi-page), One-Page Summary (landscape), Custom (choose sections). Detailed is the full report, with everything a crew asks for; One-Page Summary is a single landscape page for a quick look; Custom lets you choose and order the sections. Paper is what every page prints on: Letter (8.5 x 11 in) here, and A4 outside the US and Canada. Plan pages adds drawings on bigger paper, at a true scale: One large-format plan page is the whole plan on one sheet; Plan set: an index and plan sheets cuts the field into numbered sheets that meet at match lines, with laterals labelled with their length and mains with size, length and grade. Pick their paper under it: Tabloid (11 x 17 in) here, or A3, Arch D or A1 for a plotter. The rest of the report stays on the report paper.

Where to find it: Generate Design Report > Template & Summary Table

Step 5 of 22

Summary table sets the run table near the front of the report. Under Columns, tick what the reader needs. Per-line-type treatment chooses, for each kind of run, whether every run gets its own row (itemize) or one row gives the average: with 164 laterals, average keeps the laterals to one line while the mains are listed one by one.

Where to find it: Generate Design Report > Summary table

Step 6 of 22

Report Sections are the parts you can leave out: the map overview, material requirements, main line analysis, flow calculations, earthwork for surface drains, the line-by-line appendix and soil information. Untick what the reader does not need: a landowner may want the map and the cost without the appendix, while a contractor wants it all. A short liability notice is always the last page.

Where to find it: Generate Design Report > Report Sections

Step 7 of 22

With Template set to Custom (choose sections), a Sections list appears with each part of the report on its own row: tick the ones you want and drag a row up or down to change the order. The Design plan is a section of its own here, so it can be moved or left out. The rest of this chapter uses Detailed.

Where to find it: Template > Custom (choose sections) > Sections

Step 8 of 22

Under Company Branding (Optional), Upload Logo takes a PNG or JPG up to 2 MB, wide rather than tall (about 3:1); it prints at the top of the cover (the logo here is a placeholder). Include standard Geo-Surface disclaimer is ticked by default, and Custom Disclaimer adds your own notice in your own words. Untick the standard one to use only yours; a short line saying who prepared the report still prints. Logo and notice are remembered for your next reports.

Where to find it: Generate Design Report > Company Branding (Optional)

Step 9 of 22

Cost Estimates (Optional) lists every kind of pipe in the design under Tile Pricing (per pipe type): one row for each size, wall type and perforation, for example 4" SW non-perforated, 4" SW regular and 4" SW sock. Type your own Material ($/ft) and Installation ($/ft) for each; sock or narrow-slot pipe simply gets its own price on its own row. The prices in these pictures are made-up examples; use your supplier's and contractor's. Leave every price empty and the report prints no cost at all. Your prices are remembered for the next report.

Where to find it: Generate Design Report > Cost Estimates (Optional) > Tile Pricing

Step 10 of 22

Below the pipe prices: Connection Cost ($/lateral) is the price of each lateral's tee and hook-up (15 here); Misc/Fittings (%) adds a share of the materials total for couplers, caps and other fittings (left at 0 here); Excavation ($/yd³) prices the earth dug for surface drains and for any stretch of tile too deep for the plough, which is dug down first (4.50 here). Leave one at 0 and it is left out of the estimate.

Where to find it: Cost Estimates (Optional) > Connection Cost, Misc/Fittings, Excavation

Step 11 of 22

Other items is for costs that are not pipe, such as a road crossing or mobilization. Click + Add item and fill in a Description, the Qty and the Unit price ($); the Amount works itself out, and the x removes a line. Here a bore under the township road (1 x 3,200) and outlet riprap (2 x 450), made-up figures. Each line prints on its own row above the project total and is added to the estimate (Misc/Fittings is not applied to it). Other items are saved with the project, so each field keeps its own list.

Where to find it: Cost Estimates (Optional) > Other items > + Add item

Step 12 of 22

Click Generate PDF Report. A Save dialog opens straight away with the file already named, here "Story County north 103 - Drainage report - 2026-10-08 1015.pdf": choose the folder (with a projects folder on, it starts in the project's exports folder) and click Save. The report is built after that, and one message in the bottom corner says where it went: "Saved Story County north 103 - Drainage report - 2026-10-08 1015.pdf to the folder you chose". In a browser without that dialog the file goes to your Downloads folder, and the message says so.

Where to find it: Generate Design Report > Generate PDF Report

Step 13 of 22

Page one carries your logo, the project details you typed and a map of the whole design. Nothing in it points at app screens: it states only what was worked out for this field, so it reads on its own for whoever you hand it to.

Where to find it: Saved PDF, page 1

Step 14 of 22

The System Summary opens with the Estimated project cost broken down, each line with the page that itemises it: Materials, Installation and Other items (here the road bore and the riprap), then the Total (all from the made-up prices), then a note naming the figures you entered. Then come the field area and area drained (103.6 ac and 78.1 ac here), the runs by kind with their total length, and the length of each pipe size. A part of the design with no price would be marked with an asterisk and listed, so the figure never hides a gap.

Where to find it: Saved PDF, System Summary (page 4)

Step 15 of 22

The Material Requirements and Cost Estimates table lists the pipe by size, wall and perforation with its length and its material and installation cost. Under it come the extras, each showing how it was worked out: here the pipe and installation total, the lateral connections (164 laterals at the connection price), one row for each other item (the road bore and the riprap) and the Project total, the same figure as the summary. A Misc/Fittings share and earthwork get their own rows when the estimate has them.

Where to find it: Saved PDF, Material Requirements and Cost Estimates (page 7)

Step 16 of 22

The Design plan follows the cover: the whole field on one page over the aerial photo, every run in its pipe-size colour, with the elevation legend, the pipe sizes, a north arrow, a black-and-white scale bar and the scale in words (Scale 1" = 550 ft (1:6,600) on Letter paper, printed at 100 %). Print it at 100 % (actual size, not "fit to page") and the scale bar measures true. With One large-format plan page chosen, the next page draws the same plan on the bigger paper. With Plan set chosen, an index sheet and numbered plan sheets follow instead, each at one true scale with a title block, match lines to the sheets beside it and laterals labelled with their length (and their pipe size where it differs from the rest), and mains with size, length and grade: the pages to print for the crew.

Where to find it: Saved PDF, Design plan (page 2)

Step 17 of 22

To let a client or a crew look at the design itself, not just a PDF, save a backup: Deliver > Project Backup > Backup Project saves the whole project as one ZIP (boundary, elevation, analysis layers, every run with its grade and size). Send that ZIP by email or a file-sharing link. They open it in the Geo-Surface Viewer in a web browser. Your own copy is not changed by anything they do.

Where to find it: Deliver tab > Project Backup > Backup Project

Step 18 of 22

A surface design makes its report from the same dialog. Instead of pipe sizes and flows, it prints the earthwork: the volume dug for each surface drain in cubic yards, worked from its depth, bottom width and side slope, and priced at your Excavation ($/yd³) when you give one (4.50 here, a made-up figure). Here the five surface drains of the Racine County plan come to 3,981 yd³ in all.

Where to find it: Saved PDF, Earthwork (page 6)

Step 19 of 22

The person you sent the backup to opens the Geo-Surface Viewer and clicks Restore Design Project at the top of the Project tab, then picks the ZIP. The design opens exactly as you saved it, on the same map.

Where to find it: Geo-Surface Viewer > Project tab > Restore Design Project

Step 20 of 22

In the Viewer your client sees the whole design (all 167 runs here) over the same elevation and analysis layers you built. They can pick any run and read its profile with depth, grade and pipe size, turn layers and contours on and off, open the 3D view and measure. On a tablet in the cab, the GPS button shows where they are on the design, which helps a crew installing from reference lines.

Where to find it: Geo-Surface Viewer > Design tab

Step 21 of 22

The Viewer keeps the Measure & annotate tools, so a client can mark what they want to talk about. Here the grower hatched the low ground in the south of the field and labelled it "Stays wet after rain", ready for a phone call. Markup in the Viewer is for looking and talking: the Viewer cannot save a changed backup, so ask for a screenshot, or add the note to your own copy.

Where to find it: Geo-Surface Viewer > map toolbar > Measure & annotate > Shapes

Step 22 of 22

Anything that changes the design is marked Pro and locked: drawing or editing runs, Best Fit, Auto Size, the layout tools, settings, exports, reports and backups. Clicking one says what it is, for example "A Geo-Surface Pro feature" with "Drawing and editing drain routes is part of Geo-Surface Pro." So the backup you send is safe to share: they can look, measure and mark up, and your design stays yours.

Where to find it: Geo-Surface Viewer > any locked (Pro) control

Step 1 of 7

Measure & annotate (the ruler button on the map toolbar, bottom left of the map) holds the tools that draw on top of the design: Measure (distance, area, angle), Text (label, text box, callout), Shapes, Lines (measure, arrow, dimension, polyline), Map elements (legend, north arrow, scale bar) and a revision cloud. Annotations are saved with the project, appear on the report's maps, and never change the drainage design.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Measure & annotate

Step 2 of 7

Open Measure & annotate, choose Shapes > Polygon (hatched), click round the area and double-click to finish. The Edit Annotation panel opens with the Label box ready: type a name, and tick Show acres to print the area under it. Here the low, wet ground in the south of the field is marked "Wet spot, 8.2 ac", so the grower can see on the printed map why that ground is being worked. Use it for wet spots, waterways, building sites or ground you will leave alone. Click Done.

Where to find it: Measure & annotate > Shapes > Polygon (hatched); Edit Annotation > Label, Show acres

Step 3 of 7

Choose Text > Label and click where it goes; it lands reading "Label". Choose Edit Annotations, click the label and type your own text in the panel, then Done. Then choose Lines > Arrow, click where it starts and double-click where it points. Here they mark the outlet of the east main, where it leaves the field for the county tile, so whoever does the work finds it on the printed map.

Where to find it: Measure & annotate > Text > Label; Lines > Arrow

Step 4 of 7

Choose Measure Distance, click points along the way and double-click the last; the length shows on the map. Here it runs along the field edge from the outlet of the west main, round the south-west corner, to the outlet of the east main: 2,111 feet, the length of pipe a header along the edge would need to join both outlets into one. Measure Area works the same way round a shape, and Measure Angle gives the angle between two lines. Press Esc to clear a measurement.

Where to find it: Measure & annotate > Measure Distance / Measure Area / Measure Angle

Step 5 of 7

Reference overlays (on the map toolbar) lay other maps over your design: an old tile map, a yield or drone picture, KML or KMZ lines and shapes, a zipped shapefile or a DXF. A picture that comes with a world file (a small text file that says where the picture sits on the map: BMP + BPW, JPG + JGW, PNG + PGW) is placed for you when you pick both files together, or a ZIP of them; a plain picture is placed by its four corners. A KMZ that carries a map picture, such as the map KMZ the app exports from Quick Exports, loads that picture back in place as well. Up to 15 reference images per project.

Where to find it: Map toolbar > Reference overlays

Step 6 of 7

When a world file does not say which coordinate system its numbers are in, the app asks: UTM (with the zone), the field’s own State Plane zone (Iowa North here, in US survey feet or metres), Latitude / longitude (WGS84) or Web Mercator, or search by EPSG code or name for any other system (State Plane, MTM). This picture is the app's own georeferenced map image export, which is in latitude / longitude, so that is chosen; pictures saved by machine displays are often UTM in metres. Click Place image.

Where to find it: Reference overlays > a picture with its world file

Step 7 of 7

Each overlay gets its own row under Reference Layers in Map Layers, with a switch and a delete button; a picture also gets an opacity slider. Overlays are saved with the project and its backups. They sit under the elevation colours, so switch HD Elevation off to see them clearly. Here the design's own lines are off too: what you see is the map picture (Ref Image 1) and a KMZ of this design’s runs (Ref Layer 2), both landing exactly on their runs.

Where to find it: Map Layers > Reference Layers