How to use the haul road analysis tool

Select a simulation region

To begin the analysis, define the area of the site you want to analyze.

1. Click the Road icon on the left-hand panel and click CREATE ANALYSIS

   

2. Set a centerline for analysis by using an existing measurement or generating a new region
3. Select Draw a new region to generate a new centerline
4. After drawing the region of interest, name the region, then click SAVE
5. Name the centerline, add parameters, then click Generate

6. Once the area has been processed, either display or edit centerlines

   

7. After refining parameters and editing centerlines, click Start Analysis

Define analysis parameters

Set the parameters based on your site requirements.

1. Set Min and max road width.
   • Include any berms you want included in the analysis.
   • Example: If your roads are 10m wide with 2.5m berms, select a range like 8m minimum and 20m maximum.
2. Set Smoothing preference (controls centerline placement).
   • Iterations is how many times the tool refines the road's centerline. A value of 0 means no smoothing; higher numbers produce a smoother, more best-fit centerline but may take longer and can smooth away small details.
   • Sensitivity controls the strength of the smoothing. Lower values keep the centerline closer to the small wiggles in the road; higher values smooth over bigger bends for a simpler, cleaner line.
   • Preservation keeps the smoothed centerline closer to the originally detected road. Higher values mean less change from smoothing (default: 1).

3. Set Distance between cross sections.
   • Controls the interval spacing between cross sections in the Road Width, Cross Fall, and Superelevation outputs.
4. Set Berm sampling points.
   • Berm sampling points determine how many spots the tool measures to estimate berm height. More points can improve detection accuracy but may increase processing time.

Adjust your view

Switch between percentage and degrees, set compliance thresholds, and compare road width, gradient, cross fall, superelevation, and berm data across the map.

Berm visualization example:

Use advanced settings

Use advanced settings to refine your results.

Source elevation data

Under Source elevation data, choose one of the following:

• DEM (default): Uses the terrain visible in Propeller, including any terrain cleanups
• Point cloud: Recommended for sites with large elevation changes to improve berm height results

Road detection and berm settings

1. Set Surface profile to Flat, Hill, or Steep area.

   Surface profile controls how the tool classifies drivable road surface versus non-road, based on local terrain shape and slope. This affects which areas are treated as road, whether the centerline connects cleanly, and whether berms or rock piles are absorbed into the road.

   • Steep hill / Steep area: Use when the road is on high sustained grades and the tool otherwise breaks the road into disconnected patches
   • Flat / Normal: For very flat or low-relief sites where you want stricter road detection
   • Rock berms: For quarry-style environments where rock berms or windrows may be pulled into the detected road surface
2. Set Berm sampling points.
   • Increase this number if the top of the berm is not detected correctly.
3. (Optional) Toggle Include safety berms off.
   • This removes center berms based on size.
   • Set a threshold (for example, 200m²) to ignore berms smaller than that area.

Export your findings

1. Save the analysis in the Road tab
2. Go to the Outputs tab
3. Select Road analysis report to export a PDF map
4. Fill in the title, tick the visualization views you want to include

5. Adjust the scale and click Preview before printing.

   

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• Berm vizualisation example.svg2 MB
• Road tab - Create analysis.svg200 KB
• Edit centerlines.svg3 MB
• Export a road analysis report.svg2 MB