A British company that makes 3D civil design software optimized for electronic collaboration has introduced a product to the U.S. market specialized for reconstructing roadways in urban and suburban locations.

(Photo courtesy of Infrasoft)

Infrasoft Corp., Beverly, Mass., has brought out MXURBAN after Americanizing the engineering terminology of the one-year-old U.K version. Infrasoft products model roadway features as strings of points that are easily manipulated and frugal with data, enhancing collaboration by keeping files small.

MXURBAN walks planners through the process of registering constraints, such as building lines, driveways, intersections, drainage systems and underground utilities, before proposing design options.

"It's a step-by-step user interface," says Martha Bednarz, Infrasoft director of marketing. "You define the constraints and it takes you through standard project steps and will give you the best fitting road design. Because it is interactive, you then can move components around and immediately see the effects."

The software builds an interoperable design database whose models can be shuttled around and amended through Microstation, AutoCAD, as well as Windows, without data loss, Bednarz says.

Derek Fullerton, senior civil engineer with the Town of Lexington, Mass., was impressed by a recent demonstration. He says his town is "pretty much built out and sharply constrained by drainage issues. "He likes the ability to quickly extract profiles and let "many eyes" study the 3D visualizations.