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Installation Guide - Civil 3D Catchment Delineation Tool

Prerequisites

Python Environment

  • Python 3.10 or later
  • pip package manager

Civil 3D

  • AutoCAD Civil 3D 2026
  • .NET Framework 4.8

Visual Studio (for building C# plugin)

  • Visual Studio 2022 (Community edition is fine)
  • .NET Framework 4.8 targeting pack

Step 1: Install Python Dependencies

Open a command prompt and navigate to the Python folder:

cd CatchmentTool\Python

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

This installs:

  • WhiteboxTools - hydrological analysis
  • rasterio - raster I/O
  • geopandas - vector data handling
  • shapely - geometry operations
  • numpy - numerical operations

Verify WhiteboxTools Installation

python -c "import whitebox; wbt = whitebox.WhiteboxTools(); print(wbt.version())"

You should see the WhiteboxTools version printed.

Step 2: Build the Civil 3D Plugin

Option A: Using Visual Studio

  1. Open CatchmentTool\CSharp\CatchmentTool.csproj in Visual Studio 2022
  2. Update the Civil 3D reference paths if needed (in the .csproj file)
  3. Build the solution (Ctrl+Shift+B)
  4. The output DLL will be in CatchmentTool\CSharp\bin\

Option B: Using dotnet CLI

cd CatchmentTool\CSharp

# Restore and build
dotnet build -c Release

Step 3: Load Plugin in Civil 3D

Manual Loading (for testing)

  1. Open Civil 3D 2026
  2. Type NETLOAD at the command prompt
  3. Browse to CatchmentTool\CSharp\bin\CatchmentTool.dll
  4. Click Open

Automatic Loading (recommended)

Create a file named CatchmentTool.bundle in your Civil 3D plugin folder:

Location: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApplicationPackage 
    SchemaVersion="1.0" 
    Name="Catchment Delineation Tool" 
    Description="Automated catchment delineation using WhiteboxTools"
    Author="Your Name"
    Version="1.0.0">
    
    <CompanyDetails Name="Your Company" />
    
    <Components>
        <RuntimeRequirements OS="Win64" Platform="AutoCAD Civil 3D" SeriesMin="C3D2026" />
        <ComponentEntry AppName="CatchmentTool" 
                        ModuleName="./Contents/CatchmentTool.dll" 
                        LoadOnAutoCADStartup="True" />
    </Components>
</ApplicationPackage>

Then copy CatchmentTool.dll and Newtonsoft.Json.dll to a Contents subfolder.

Step 4: Verify Installation

  1. Open Civil 3D 2026
  2. Open a drawing with a surface and pipe network
  3. Type LISTPIPESTRUCTURES to verify the plugin loaded
  4. You should see a list of structures in the command window

Available Commands

Command Description
EXPORTCATCHMENTDATA Export surface DEM and inlet structures
IMPORTCATCHMENTS Import catchment polygons from WhiteboxTools
DELINEATECATCHMENTS Full workflow (export, process, import)
LISTPIPESTRUCTURES List all structures in a pipe network

Typical Workflow

  1. In Civil 3D:

    Command: EXPORTCATCHMENTDATA
    • Select surface
    • Select pipe network
    • Choose working directory (or accept default)

  2. In Command Prompt:

    cd "C:\path\to\CatchmentData"
python "C:\...\CatchmentTool\Python\run_delineation.py" .

  3. In Civil 3D:

    Command: IMPORTCATCHMENTS
    • Select the generated catchments.json file
    • Select pipe network
    • Select surface

Troubleshooting

"No inlet structures found"

The tool looks for structures with names containing: inlet, catch basin, area drain, curb inlet, grate, etc. If your structures use different naming, you may need to modify the filter in StructureExtractor.cs.

WhiteboxTools errors

Make sure Python can find the whitebox module:

python -c "import whitebox; print(whitebox.__file__)"

DEM conversion issues

If the BIL to GeoTIFF conversion fails, check that rasterio is properly installed:

python -c "import rasterio; print(rasterio.__version__)"

Large surfaces

For very large surfaces, the DEM export may take several minutes. Consider:

  • Using a coarser cell size (add --cell-size parameter in future version)
  • Exporting a smaller area of the surface

Configuration

Create a config.json file in your working directory to customize delineation:

{
    "depression_method": "breach",
    "snap_distance": 10.0,
    "min_catchment_area": 100.0
}
  • depression_method: "breach" (recommended) or "fill"
  • snap_distance: Distance to snap pour points to flow network (map units)
  • min_catchment_area: Minimum catchment size to include (sq map units)