Adding an AutoCAD Drawing

This video details how to add and georeference an AutoCAD drawing file for a HEC‑RAS model.

There are two ways of adding an AutoCAD drawing file, as described below.

Just Starting a Project

If just starting out a project, the AutoCAD drawing file can be directly loaded. Select File | Open and then select the AutoCAD drawing file to open.

However, this method cannot be used for a project that already contains data. For these situations, follow the steps discussed in the following section.

Ongoing Project

If just starting out a project or for an existing project, follow these steps to load an AutoCAD drawing file:

  1. Right-click on the Map Data Layer panel and then select Add Layers from the displayed context menu.Add Layer context menu
  2. The Add Layers dialog box will appear.Add Layers dialog box
  3. Select the AutoCAD drawing file to load.
  4. The selected AutoCAD drawing file will be loaded into the Map View and Map Data Layers panel.
  5. If the imported AutoCAD drawing file does not have an assigned coordinate reference system (CRS), see this section on how to georeference the AutoCAD drawing file to the Map View.

Drag and Drop

AutoCAD drawing files can also be dragged and dropped from Windows Explorer onto the Map View or Map Data Layers panel. Dropping the AutoCAD drawing files onto the Map Data Layers panel provides more control on the display order of the selected AutoCAD drawing files.

About the Author Chris Maeder

Chris Maeder

Chris is an experienced civil engineering and software technology leader, with over 30 years industry experience. With proven expertise in global software development, he has built engineering teams that adapt quickly, focus on what’s important and, most importantly, deliver. He is a licensed professional civil engineer with extensive experience in water resource engineering. He has performed and supervised engineering projects in urban stormwater drainage, transportation and roadway drainage, storm sewer design, detention pond design, stormwater quality, green infrastructure, watershed management planning, wastewater sewers, water distribution networks, pump stations, FEMA flood studies, bridge and culvert design, bridge scour and armoring, dam failure analysis, seepage and groundwater modeling, and environmental permits.

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