Earthworks Tutorial Lucario Boricua's Earthworks Tutorials M-2A: Basic Mountain Roadway Construction Techniques

[Lucario Boricua 7,053]

Greetings once again!

 

Today I'm unveiling a wonderful Earthworks Tutorial for those hell-bent on developing all of their land, construction of mountain roadways!! Unlike road-building construction in flatter terrains, mountain roadways are far more subordinate to the lay of the land, requiring the application of numerous earthworks techniques. These topics will be distributed as shown (subject to change):

• M2A--basic mountain road construction techniques: this tutorial covers cut, fill, terraced slopes, tunnels and simple viaducts, this one showcases a freeway.
   
• M2B--elaborate overland viaducts: this tutorial shows more sophisticated overland viaduct construction methods requiring knowledge of the Real Highway Mod and the rain tool.
   
• M2C--interchange taking advantage of the topography: some interchanges can be constructed economically if they make use of the natural lay of the land instead of flyover ramps.
   
• M2D--mountain rural expressway with climbing lanes: this tutorial covers rural expressways, which have other specific elements not found in freeways. This one also shows mountain road construction techniques specific for steep inclines.
   
• M2E--mountain roadway furnishings: to ensure the fully convenient and safe operation of mountain roadways, this tutorial shows the construction of scenic rest stops, truck escape ramps, drainage elements and other ancillary facilities.
   
• M2F--mountain freeway with separate roadbeds / carriageways: this tutorial shows a specific type of freeway in which each roadbed follows a different path to better traverse tight and complicated terrains.

 

A. Introduction to mountain roadways

 

Mountain roadways make frequent use of:

• Cut: removing soil and rock from hills along the way
   
• Fill: adding soil and rock across small depressions
   
• Benching / terracing: shaping hillsides for stability
   
• Viaducts: going over the obstacles
   
• Tunneling: going through the obstacles

These techniques are required to ensure that the road alignment isn't as bendy and crumpled as the mountains themselves. Design standards along mountain roads tend to be less demanding than those of flat terrain, where a less forgiving geometry consisting of sharper turns, narrower shoulders and roadsides, steeper grades and shorter visibility distances, is used to reduce construction costs and technical difficulties. These techniques I'll be showing are suitable for the higher design standard roads, namely freeways / motorways, and rural expressway roads, such as Super-Twos and rural undivided arterials. Examples of these are shown below:

 

Freeway segment showing frequent cuts, fills and overland viaducts. PR-52 in Cayey, Puerto Rico:

 

Rural expressway featuring limited cut and fill and instead using extensive use of viaducts. PR-10 in Utuado, Puerto Rico.

 

Rural expressway featuring extensive benching / terracing. PR-10 in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

 

 

Freeway using tunnels instead of deep cuts, along with shallow cuts and fills. Chuo Expressway, Otsuki, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

 

 

 

C. Mods and custom content required

 

• Network Addon Mod, latest version, currently the 39. Versions 34 through 37 will still be adequate despite missing some of the latest relevant features. In particular, make sure to have the NAM hole digging lots, these are super important to do a lot of the required steps I'll be showing. There are other hole digging lots available and they work just as well. 

 

 

• Slope mode of your choice: in my case, the original BRF Tunnel and Slope Mod with some slight modifications. I recommend this one in particular because it's one of the most varied slope mods available for SimCity 4. I currently use an older version which still did not include a dedicated Real Highway (RHW) slope. In fact, for this tutorial it is especially advantageous to have a slope mod which specifically excludes the Real Highway, as the network's default slope is especially steep, it'll come in handy to shape the roadside earthworks areas. Find all the published slope mods in the main topic of the Earthworks Tutorials series!
   
• God Terraforming in Mayor Mode: if not your thing, use the cheat to activate God mode terraforming tools in Mayor Mode

 

 

 

• Teirusu Rain Tool Additional God Mode Terrain Tools 2: a special tool which I've come to love and discovered relatively recently, this enables the player to temporarily fill valleys and depressions with the in-game water. This tool makes constructing overland bridges just as easily as the default bridges, without the need of messing around with shaping the bridge approaches just right nor being limited to NAM flex and puzzle piece viaducts. Make sure to get it now, although it'll be used mainly with the 2nd chapter of the tutorial series.

 

 

D. Ready for the tutorial!

 

The long-awaited tutorial for mountain roads begins with part 2A, basic mountain road construction techniques!

 

First off, our starting terrain! Notice how we're skirting around a mountain with deep ridges. We will start from the freeway segment in the upper left corner of this view.

 

In today's tutorial, Part 2A, I'll be showing the green (basic cut, fill and benching) and yellow segments (tunnel). Part 2B will show the cyan (overland viaduct with rain tool) and magenta (overland viaduct with NAM flex pieces).

 

 

Techniques from chapters 2A through 2D will help us achieve this project!

 

 

We start with the most basic task of all earthworks tutorials, the terrainquery cheat. Open the cheat box with Ctrl + X and type in terrainquery, press enter.

 

 

Use the query or route query tool to check the terrain elevation at the starting point, and check key points along the alignment to plan out the route. In this case we'll start with a fill operation, we'll transfer the elevation of the existing freeway to go over this gap with a short viaduct.

 

 

Use road squares to transfer the elevation, and start to form the perimeter of a horizontal curve. Notice how we stop where we balance cut (digging into the hillside) and fill (raising the terrain downhill).

 

 

We fill the terrain within the perimeter of the road curvature and start to shape the hillsides across the depression, such as to ensure a smooth terain. Due to the tight space, we use the RHW-2 network with no slope mod. Players using a slope mod for RHW-2 can use streets for this step.

 

 

Re-shape the curve area and bridge gap to fit the large radius curve pieces.

 

 

Once the gap appears ready to build the viaduct, go to the freeway menu and select the RHW flex height transitions. This gap has an L2 elevation change (15 meters), we press TAB until reaching the desired piece. Line them up with the existing freeway,

 

 

Use the basic RHW dragging cursor to override the placeholder viaducts with RHW-4.

 

 

Check if the wide radius curve pieces fit, otherwise adjust the gap to lengthen the fill portion.

 

 

Complete the placement of the road curves and keep the road pieces used to flatten the curve area.

 

 

Use a steeper network to start the incline, in this case we're using the road network. Apply it until the tip of the road segment reaches the original terrain. The road  square pieces are important because they act as anchors to ensure the inclined road segment does not raise the terrain from which it starts. This technique is important for all deep cuts and fills.

 

 

Extend the application of the road segments to smooth out the terrain. We notice that the climb isn't as steep as we might have anticipated.

 

 

Select a different network to apply a flatter slope, in this case we use the Maxis Ground Highway. Leave the longest road segment in place and use the MHW parallel to it.

 

 

Flatten the slope, and continue flattening it until either reaching the existing terrain surface or the desired transition site for the next flat portion.

 

 

Players who feel confident about their slope can flatten this grade just a bit more, here we are doing it with the elevated rail. Before the terrain ahead turns too steep, we determine to use this gently sloping area for another curve.

 

 

Extend any network whose slope mod supports vertical curvature to do the transition to the next flat area. Place a road piece next to the end of the road segment and extend it just a bit more, then extent the rail to smooth out the transition.

 

 

Then cut into the hillside to form another area for a horizontal curve and an upcoming tunnel entrance.

 

 

We prepare the tunnel entrance by excavating a notch into the hillside, this will give us maneuvering room to create the tunnel portal.

 

 

Demolish the road and rail segments used to build the inclined segment.

 

 

To then extend the RHW-4 uphill to the next curve.

 

 

Place the next wide radius curves, and check if there's enough space for them. If not, adjust the size of the tunnel entrance area, or replace with smaller radius curves.

 

     Part 2 comes next!!!     

[Lucario Boricua 7,053]

     Resuming from Part 1!!!     

 

Use a starter for the RHW-4 to complete the texture of the curve. This is especially important because the tunnel portal won't allow for enough length for a regular RHW-4 segment. With the latest NAM releases (IIRC, starting with NAM 35 or 36), starter pieces can form part of mainline RHW since the self-destructing placement lot squares were introduced.

 

 

Just to check how much of an elevation we covered, check the elevation between the starting and terminating areas.

 

 

With this we just completed the basic segment! On to the tunneling!

 

 

To enhance the appearance of our freeway segment, we will make a terraced hillside. Level the terrain some distance away from the road curve, which still has its road pieces in place, until we reach the area where we want the terraces to start.

 

 

Due to the steepness of this terrain, select the NAM terrain raising lots. Use TAB to select the elevation change (in this case 22.5m) and leave it in raising (blue) mode.

 

 

Place the terrain raiser lot and then extend the first terrace level. Like before, place enough road squares to form an anchor.

 

 

Select the network which matches the grade of the freeway segment, in this case the elevated rail. Drag the elevated rail along the hillside to extend the terrace along the roadside.

 

 

Demolish the rail segment should no additional changes or tweaks be required. More advanced players can raise the terrain on the upper side and drag the elevated rail downhill to narrow the gap between terrace faces.

 

 

We now do an 'exploratory bore' through the ridge. Use the Maxis Ground Level Highway to do this.

 

 

Extend the tunnel portals to reach the desired distance across the ridge. Don't be too greedy, and if possible, go for a flatter slope than the network's maximum slope.

 

 

With the exploratory bore tunnel in place, flatten the terrain around the new portal, providing some maneuvering room to do the required transition area.

 

 

If space allows, remove the tunnel portal and shape the tunnel entrance area. This is especially important in case the tunnels you'll use have much lower tunnel portal heights.

 

 

Raise the terrain using the terrain raising lots, here we use the 15m raising lot. Should the tunnel be for monorail / HSR, a much higher elevation difference is necessary.

 

 

Make any additional small adjustments as required.

 

 

Shape the downhill tunnel portal to avoid removing too much of the hillside.

 

 

For this tunnel, we're using the One-Way roads, which use a workaround in the NAM to use Maxis Highway properties. Other players could use the Maxis Highway to build the tunnel if this option isn't appropriate.

 

 

Start shaping the tunnel from the downhill side. Whenever possible, drag the one-way road along the intended direction.

 

 

In some cases, the terrain isn't suited to drag the tunnel in the opposite direction. One-ways provide a workaround for this in the form of the tidal flow property, which allows reversing its direction.

 

 

Drag the other tunnel going uphill.

 

 

Use the one-way road to reverse the direction by either dragging towards the entry tunnel portal, or away from the exit tunnel portal. We do the entry portal due to the open room.

 

 

To complete the tunnel portal, we now excavate the hillside and form more terraces. Place road pieces digging into the hillside from the existing road pieces.

 

 

Use another terrain raiser suited for the conditions. Here we use 22.5m again.

 

 

Form terraces as appropriate to complete the tunnel portal area.

 

 

Return to previous freeway segments to smooth out any remaining rough edges. Use street, road, RHW-2, Avenue, or any other steeper networks as appropriate to smooth out the roadside area.

 

 

And there we have it! This concludes the demonstration of the basic techniques for mountain road construction. 

 

 

As a teaser for tutorial M-2B, here we have a deep valley where filling in the terrain might not be the best idea. Stay tuned for the next tutorial!!     

 

 

All questions, suggestions and comments may proceed now!

[Flann 1,709]

Thanks for sharing.  This is really useful.

[The British Sausage 5,449]

One thing I'd recommend with earthworks is to use the God-mode smooth terrain brush to file down those abrupt cliffs. The trick is to ensure there's at least a one-tile distance between the cliff and the highway (which admittedly creates a larger cliff) but from there the steepness can be diminished to something more realistic or even the terrain is restored to its grass textures.

If the cliffs aren't towering then there's also the option of retaining walls both orthogonal and diagonal.

[Lucario Boricua 7,053]

I deliberately edited this terrain mod to get the cliffs visible with a comparatively low elevation difference, around 13m. I wanted the terraced slopes to reliably show the cliff texture when using 15m intervals, which itself is observed in real roadside benched slopes. My typical interchanges and overpasses normally use the 7.5m (L1) elevation difference, where the grass texture shows up with no problem.

[The British Sausage 5,449]

1 hour ago, Lucario Boricua said:

I deliberately edited this terrain mod to get the cliffs visible with a comparatively low elevation difference, around 13m. I wanted the terraced slopes to reliably show the cliff texture when using 15m intervals, which itself is observed in real roadside benched slopes. My typical interchanges and overpasses normally use the 7.5m (L1) elevation difference, where the grass texture shows up with no problem.

I tend to avoid diagonal cliffs because of the diagonal jagged cliff issues I get with using HD terrain mods, though I think you're using an SD terrain mod. Even tweaking the necessary parameter still doesn't do the trick with the Sudden Valley terrain mod at least. But I can see what you're aiming for with set-back cliffs and/or retaining walls.

[Lucario Boricua 7,053]

13 minutes ago, The British Sausage said:

I tend to avoid diagonal cliffs because of the diagonal jagged cliff issues I get with using HD terrain mods, though I think you're using an SD terrain mod. Even tweaking the necessary parameter still doesn't do the trick with the Sudden Valley terrain mod at least. But I can see what you're aiming for with set-back cliffs and/or retaining walls.

The terrain mod I'm using is the CPT Meadowshire, by cycledogg, which I suspect is standard definition.