I have a profile from a surface. I want to tie to this profile line with proposed elements. I construct a very short profile segment from the tie point to the next point outside the tie location, in order to establish the grade that the tie will come in. (This is a forward grade, in my current case.)
The most obvious solution is to extend this element to station 27+30, for example. I type that station in for the beginning point. Instead of running along the established grade, it just shifts the location of the beginning and maintains the elevation.
The next most obvious solution is to construct a profile line using Tangent Profile Line From Element. I select the forward grade line. At the prompt for vertical offset, I respond with 0. I locate the station where I want my VPI: station 27+30. I figure that surely it will pass through the points establishing the forward grade, so I click without regard to actual elevation. The resultant construction is a line that starts at the elevation that my datapoint provided, and the line is parallel to the forward grade but not at the correct elevation.
I've tried doing a variation on Profile Line Between Points. I selected the first tie point, then told it that I want the length to be -5 feet long (that is, in the direction of the profile being tied), then selected the second point. The grade is the same, but now the element is only 5 feet. Now, I want to set the station of the lower-station point to my VPI station 27+30. The only way to do this without taking extraneous steps using Microstation (not Civil) linework is to use Civil Accudraw. I bring that up, click the arrow to establish how long this line should be, I enter 27+30, and then the longitudinal location changes according to the elevation of my cursor.
While I can manually calculate the elevation of the VPI, or I can manually calculate the distance to the VPI, or construct the VPI by using a Microstation line that is set vertically at the station and use the Microstation Extend To Element tool, I would think the solution should easily fall within OpenRoads' wheelhouse. Is there any tool I'm missing?
Geopak SS4 .872.