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Civil 3D

Civil 3D

Overview

What is Civil 3D?

Autodesk's Civil 3D is a computer aided design (CAD) application designed to support a variety of civil infrastructure projects including rail, roads and highways, land development, airports, drainage, storm and sanitary, and civil structures.

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Recent Reviews

Autodesk Civil3d Review

8 out of 10
October 26, 2021
Incentivized
AutoCAD Civil 3D is used by the drafting and design department to create design drawings, design models and maps. The models produced with …
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Pricing

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Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.autodesk.com/products/civil…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $335 per month
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Product Details

What is Civil 3D?

Autodesk’s Civil 3D is a civil engineering design tool for engineers, architects, and designers, featuring tools to improve drafting, design, and construction documentation. The tool supports the design and visualization of an array of projects, like rails, bridges, pipes and sanitary systems, corridors, and works with a variety of surfaces and sites.


Civil 3D is available standalone with a number of licensing options. It is also available as part of Autodesk’s Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) Collection, a solution that includes Civil 3D with other CAD and BIM tools including Revit, AutoCAD, InfraWorks, and Navisworks Manage, in a discounted bundle for engineering and construction firms. This package also includes professional grade support and unlimited cloud storage for project files, and all the applications in a common data environment.


Many of Civil 3D’s features are enhanced or completed by inclusion in the AEC Collection. For instance, users can conduct grading design studies based on project constraints. Grading Optimization is available in Civil 3D only as part of the Architecture, Engineering & Construction Collection. Project Explorer is also an extension available in Civil 3D through the AEC collection, and enables users to simplify design review and modification and validate design objectives.


On its own, Civil 3D does support various design projects; popularly, road design can be done in Civil 3D with what the vendor describes as dynamic, flexible 3D models of road corridors that enable users to simulate driving and evaluate sight distance, as well as manage road rehabilitation projects and drainage design. Civil 3D also supports surface modeling, stormwater and wastewater analysis, and the software enables users to download, create, analyze, and adjust survey data, and conduct topographical and terrain modeling.


Autodesk announced expansions to the AEC Collection, including the additions of updated collaboration, project management, and document management tools, particularly Autodesk Docs, a document management tool available exclusively through the AEC Collection to improve approval workflows and data management, and an updated BIM Collaborate and BIM Collaborate Pro, presented as a tool to help teams execute on design.


Civil 3D Features

  • Supported: Collaborative Working Environment
  • Supported: Bridge Design
  • Supported: Surface Modeling
  • Supported: Railway Design
  • Supported: Road Design (materials, intersections, road rehabilitation)
  • Supported: Site & Survey
  • Supported: Corridor Modeling
  • Supported: Storm & Sanitary
  • Supported: Plan Production & Documentation
  • Supported: IFC Import & Export

Civil 3D Screenshots

Screenshot of Civil 3D - Infrastructure Software from AutodeskScreenshot of Civil 3D - Rail Alignments

Civil 3D Video

Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D Overview

Civil 3D Integrations

Civil 3D Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Autodesk's Civil 3D is a computer aided design (CAD) application designed to support a variety of civil infrastructure projects including rail, roads and highways, land development, airports, drainage, storm and sanitary, and civil structures.

Civil 3D starts at $335.

MicroStation, OpenRoads Designer, and ARCHICAD are common alternatives for Civil 3D.

The most common users of Civil 3D are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(33)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Users of Civil 3D frequently recommend the following:

  • Attend training and stay updated with tutorials: Many users advise attending training to better utilize Civil 3D for 3D modeling. They recommend staying updated with tutorials on new features to make the most out of the software.

  • Utilize online resources and forums for learning and troubleshooting: Users suggest utilizing online resources, forums, and training to learn and troubleshoot with Civil 3D. They recommend learning different commands and tips from others to fully utilize the software.

  • Expect a learning curve for beginners: Several users mention that there is a learning curve when starting with Civil 3D. They advise newcomers to watch online videos and participate in forums to seek help and overcome challenges during the initial stages of using the software.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-7 of 7)
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Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Ease of functionality
  • Templates make design and drawings easier to complete
  • The ability to design and setup drawings simultaneously, where the drawings will be updated as the design is updated should there be changes
  • I think I need more experience in using Autodesk Civil 3D as it is a huge jump from the previous software that I had been using
  • Some functions could take less steps to complete
Mahmoud obaid | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Very useful for projects that contain rail alignment in such showing profiles along with the utilities that the rail is crossing it
  • Manage GIS data along connecting the design to documentation in order to support the productivity
  • Provide team coordination along using visualizing, simulation, and analysis that integrates with the design process to improve the delivery
  • The processing of huge sized files in such in big projects, the delay of opening a sheet in Civil3D would burn time
  • Sometimes, it crashes while opening or processing
  • The vast number of tools and functions which make it difficult to use at times hence decent amount of training may be required
October 26, 2021

Autodesk Civil3d Review

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Mapping
  • Design shell models
  • Topographic modeling
  • Has removed the function to import point clouds
  • Performance slows when handling large amounts of topographic data
October 25, 2021

Urban underground design

Halan Bastos Oliveira | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Digital Terrain Modeling
  • Catchment and water discharge points' identification
  • Urban Drainage Systems design and excavations' volumes
  • Specific tools for sewers design
  • Possibility for the users to choose other rainfall data and parameters
  • Possibility to create vertical pipes in gravity networks
vijay kumar | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • We use this software for the optimal and advanced design of pipelines and complex structuring, or it can also be said that we use it mainly for a geotechnical model, due to its high definition of the large proportion of the works that are carried out through of this application, since the tasks that are used with Civil 3D require extreme patience, precision and a lot of time to develop a model in its entirety, but we managed to acquire all the necessary and strategic points, to establish and start the production of a prototype digitized in particular.
  • Easy to export to normal AutoCAD or collaborate with most Autodesk products.
  • Vehicle Turning Simulation and Stormwater analysis is great addition to the package. Ability to use the all familiar AutoCAD tools, as well as LISP and SCR to automate some processes is one of the greatest advantages of the software.
  • There is nothing to improve in Civil 3D, I personally use Autodesk products like Maya, max and other including Civil 3D and Autodesk has a separate R&D team for tools development which they do their jobs perfectly.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • The best part of using Autodesk software is that all of its software is connected, which helps us to switch according to our project use.
  • Pipe Network Part Replacement is very easy. It analyze the gravity flow and recommends the size accordingly. It also helps to understand the pressure parts.
  • When you are using Autodesk Civil 3D with Navisworks, things get a little complicated, and Autodesk Civil 3D has no tutorials for that, and I think they need to address those little bugs.
  • There is no automatic file saving feature in it, so after making every tiny change, we have to save that manually, which is so annoying for me.
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