NEXUS: Advanced Software for Roadway Intersection Design is Released

Software uses new approaches for planning and designing intersections.

Vancouver, BC, Canada: Transoft Solutions Inc, developers of industry-leading software for the engineering community has announced the recent launch of NEXUS, new CAD software for planning and developing roadway intersection designs for new construction and rehabilitation projects. Transportation engineers and planners can now accelerate the process of creating geometry with surface grading and drainage patters in their intersection layouts.

Using NEXUS, designers can employ two main methods to initiate the creation of an intersection design. One method is to define the schematic of an intersection by setting the lane configuration, capacity conditions, or leg templates. Another method is to select an intersection template. The intersection layout, which includes road edges, lane lines, median island envelopes, corner island envelopes, control radii, stop bars and crosswalks, is created and oriented based on the reference geometry that the user defines. Once the basic design is initiated, a full set of tools is available for refining the design to meet project requirements. In addition, the advanced safety functions and unique road grading ability found in NEXUS allow designers to quickly analyze sight lines, vehicle conflict points, grading and surface drainage in the early stages of design. As a result, designers are able to evaluate intersection models more thoroughly and quickly even under budget and time constraints.

NEXUS uses the patent pending Vehicle Envelope Method of design which integrates the proven AutoTURN swept path engine in handling the interdependent design components of an intersection. NEXUS comes with complete sets of standard design vehicles for different countries. Custom vehicles can be imported from AutoTURN for use in NEXUS.

“Intersections are designed for vehicles and NEXUS was developed with this in mind,” said Steven Chan, P.Eng., Product Development Engineer with Transoft Solutions. “It makes logical sense to consider design vehicle movements initially prior to designing the geometrics. This really cuts down on the iterative back and forth practice. Using NEXUS, engineers will be able to easily generate vehicle movements for the intersection and adjust the geometric design accordingly.”

Additional NEXUS functionality include the following:
• Generate Intersection: Draw the lane lines, road edges, and island envelopes of an intersection as well as each leg's control radius, crosswalk and stop bar.
• Conflict Points Evaluation: Calculate and draw a conflict point diagram for an intersection.
• Vehicle Movement Checks: Allows checking movements to be added to the intersection
• Sight Lines Analysis: Generate sight lines and edit or delete existing ones.
• Grading Ability: Draw a 3D representation of the grading applied to the intersection design.
• Capacity Checks: View and edit the vehicle capacity conditions for a selected intersection.