Earthmoving
The Mass Flow Diagram is used to show the amount of available material at a particular point along an alignment and where it is being moved. The Quantm system calculates mass flow as the cumulative difference between cut and fill.
Within the Quantm system, there are several tools that can be used to assist in the management of materials; import, export, borrow, dump, and barriers, all of which have a different impact on the alignments.
Barriers act as a location that materials cannot pass, they represent a forced dump site for all hauled material in both directions; essentially acting as 'local' start and finish points.
Borrow pits are locations along an alignment that allows usable material to be brought in from another location to handle the deficit in an alignment. At these locations materials can be moved in either direction, depending on where it is required.
Dump sites are areas where 'accumulated unusable' and 'excess usable' material is dumped to reduce the cost of their mass haul through the alignment.
Import and export are defined values that specify an exact quantity of material that must be accepted or supplied at a particular point. All import or export earthworks specified at a particular location must be used, excess import is hauled to locations until it is used, while a deficit caused by export needs to be compensated for by the system.
Note: To add features for material management see Features (objects data).
Next topic: Mass Haul Diagram