Todd Rogers shares an AutoCAD Civil 3D tip that will help eliminate fatal errors when grading a site.

"Grading can be very touchy in AutoCAD Civil 3D, as many of you know. If it is not done correctly, or done in an orderly fashion, it will tend to corrupt the drawing and cause fatal errors.

"A lot of fatal errors are caused by overlapping in the grading group. Most people do not sort their grading groups on separate sites. Sites play an important role when it comes to grading a project correctly. There is an undocumented command called FindSiteOverlaps that will get rid of the overlapping of grading objects on the same site. This will eliminate drawing corruption and stop the fatal errors."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Reviewer Brian Benton: Civil 3D is built on top of AutoCAD, but it is more than just CAD. Civil 3D objects are more data than lines. Civil 3D operators have to also be data managers. When grading, make sure to follow good practices and keep everything organized.