Overview
Grading reshapes the site to your slope targets from a single Grading dialog, which covers everything from balanced cut and fill to heavily cut-biased or fill-biased earthwork. This guide covers area grading, which regrades a whole PV area as one continuous buildable surface.
Prerequisites
A terrain surface, and a PV area or other closed boundary to grade within.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Open the Grading dialog
Click the Civil Analysis group button on the PVX.AI ribbon, then click Grading on the Earthworks panel of the Civil sub-tab.
2. Select the area and slope targets
Click Select Area and pick the grading boundary, then set the maximum North-South and East-West slopes and the Slope Transition Mode (Soft or Hard).
3. Choose a Cut/Fill Balance method
Expand Cut/Fill Balance and pick a Method. Cut/Fill Ratio is a slider from -1 to +1 with a live diagram: centered balances the volumes, and dragging it biases the result toward more fill or more cut. Max fill height caps the maximum fill height instead, producing a cut-heavy result that stays within the cap.
4. Enable options and build
Enable Keep Original Terrain, Show Cut/Fill Map, and Show Slope Analyzer as needed, then click Build. PVX.AI reports the total cut and fill volumes.
Tips & Recommendations
- Use Max fill height when imported fill is the constraint, for example capping fill at 1 m.
- Enable Generate roads in the same dialog to route access roads from your site entrances on the graded surface.
- PVX.AI offers three grading paths: area grading here, pad grading with Adapt Terrain to Pile, and targeted terrain adaptation from Collision Analysis.
- Run Create Contour on the Terrain panel afterwards to regenerate contour lines, and Adapt Objects so placed racks settle onto the new surface.