The Problem
Strata Geo Systems delivers retaining wall solutions for large civil infrastructure projects. Producing consistent construction documentation—including drawings, layouts, BOQs, and excavation plans—was a manual, time-intensive process that varied across projects and engineers, making scaling difficult.
Constraints & Challenges
- Standardization: Standardizing retaining wall documentation across projects.
- Complexity: Automating complex wall drawings while adhering to predefined templates.
- Accuracy: Generating accurate BOQs for block and panel wall designs.
- Derivation: Producing excavation plans derived directly from design data.
- Agility: Supporting regeneration of all outputs when inputs change.
Our Approach
FDES developed a suite of custom AutoCAD plugins tailored to Strata’s engineering standards and workflows.
- Encode retaining wall design logic directly into AutoCAD.
- Use structured input data to drive drawings, layouts, and reports.
- Automate multi-output generation from a single source of truth.
- Ensure all outputs follow predefined templates and libraries.
- Enable fast regeneration when design parameters change.
What Was Automated
Retaining wall drawings for block and panel walls
Placement of rebar, geogrids, drainage, and leveling pads
Layout creation and viewport configuration
BOQ generation for materials (concrete, geogrids, etc.)
Excavation drawings showing cut-and-fill areas
Strip charts reflecting wall and layer details
Impact
Speed
Reduced documentation time from days to hours.
Consistency
Improved consistency across drawings and reports.
Accuracy
Eliminated manual errors in BOQs and excavation plans.
Focus
Allowed engineers to focus on design decisions rather than drafting.