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Pipe Network QC

Audits gravity & pressure pipe networks against a design-standards preset: buried open ends, adverse inverts, short drops, uphill flow, slope-by-diameter, cover / out-of-ground / depth, material bands and rim, and drops a red / gold MText flag at each worst offending spot.

Command VDCPIPEQC · VDC QC tab › Design QC panel
Audits gravity & pressure pipe networks against a design-standards preset: buried open ends, adverse inverts, short drops, uphill flow, slope-by-diameter, cover / out-of-ground / depth, material bands and rim, and drops a red / gold MText flag at each worst offending spot.
Profile audit: errors red, warnings gold; one flag per (pipe, check) at the worst sample. Waived findings stay suppressed. Picked surface (cover / out-of-ground / depth sampled every 10' + ends) SSWR MH flow → 8" SSWR @ 0.28% SLOPE-LOW 0.28% < 0.40% (8") flow → inv out EL 30.35 inv in EL 30.10 ADVERSE-INVERT: in 30.10 < out 30.35 OPEN-END-BURIED pipe top below surface, flow into dirt open end (no structure) passing checks leave no flag
Pipe / structure   Picked surface / warning flag   Error flag (MText)   Passes, no flag

What it does

  • Classifies each network by name token (STRM/SSWR/WATR/FM, whole-token match); the command line prints the inventory first.
  • Gravity geometry: inverts from centerline Z ± inner-height/2; flow direction read from the pipe (bidirectional pipes skip the uphill check).
  • Structure checks: adverse invert, short drop (sewer; storm presets carry no drop rule, matched inverts through the box), flow angle (sewer ≥ 90°), size decrease, orphan, from connected-pipe flow.
  • Surface-sampled checks (cover, out-of-ground, depth, rim, buried-vs-daylit open end) run every 10' + endpoints once a surface is picked.
  • Outfall guards: an end at a rip-rap apron / wingwall / headwall / FES, a structure of any network, or a block / hatch named for one, is the outfall: never an open end, never out-of-ground there. The command line lists the guards found.
  • Slope by diameter: smallest fitting SlopeRule wins; MaxDiameterIn: 0 is the catch-all for larger pipes.
  • Flags: one MText per (entity, check) at the worst sample, XData VDC_PIPEQC keyed {handle}|{check}; re-run replaces and clears passed checks.

Modes, settings & output

  • Modes: Run / Clear / Waive (store intentional designs in the NOD) / Unwaive.
  • Presets: user-editable JSON, per-discipline thresholds, SlopeRules, MaterialBands; a threshold of 0 disables that check, DisabledChecks turns off always-on ones.
  • Dialog: preset, network tokens, surface (or none), sample spacing, flag layer (default 0-NPLT), plotted text height.
  • Palette: dockable findings list, double-click a row to zoom to that flag; shared with VDCLOTQC / VDCROADQC.
  • Trail: appends to VDC-QC-LOG.txt beside the DWG and writes a VDC_QC_STATUS stamp that powers VDCQCSTATUS.
  • Env vars: VDC_PIPEQC_PRESETS (shared standards) and VDC_PIPEQC_SETTINGS.

Dialog

Pipe Network QC dialog
Pipe Network QC, VDCPIPEQC
Settings file: %APPDATA%\VDC\PipeQC\settings.json  |  %APPDATA%\VDC\PipeQC\presets.json

When to use it

  • QC of storm / sewer / water / force-main networks before submittal.

How to run it

  1. Run VDCPIPEQC and pick the mode in the dialog: Run, Clear, Waive, or Unwaive.
  2. Choose the standards preset and the network(s) to audit.
  3. Review findings in the palette; waive accepted exceptions with a note.

Options

  • Run / Clear: audit, or clear existing flags.
  • Waive / Unwaive: accept (or restore) a specific finding with a stored reason.
  • DisabledChecks: turn individual checks off per discipline.
  • Outfall guards: structures, blocks or hatches carrying FES / HEADWALL / HW / WINGWALL / WW / ENDWALL / FLARED / END SECTION / RIPRAP / RIP-RAP / OUTFALL / APRON tokens; the command line lists how many it found and which open ends they cover.
  • Drops: storm presets carry NO drop rule - storm boxes run matched inverts through; sewer keeps 0.10'. A drop that labels as the standard (0.10 on a two-decimal plan) passes. An older presets.json is migrated once (only a storm value still at the old 0.1 sample moves to 0).

Watch out for

  • Buried open ends are flagged as priority - confirm intentional stubs before waiving.
  • Use the right discipline preset; slope-by-diameter and cover bands differ by network.
  • A rip-rap apron drawn as plain linework (no block, no hatch, no structure) is invisible to the outfall guard - use a block or a hatch on a RIP-RAP layer, or connect a headwall / FES part.

Related: Road QC · QC Status · Pipe Crossings