Civil 3D 2013 Part Builder Bug Work Around

  Good morning everyone. I hope everyone is having a great week. This morning I would like to go over a work around for Civil 3D 2013 part builder bug.  I will first begin by saying that is my work around for this problem. There may be other methods of solving this issue like making edits in the xml file or just using your own block to display every storm and sewer structure within the part style. It’s really up to you and what best fits you company workflow.
So as many of you my already know, the Part Building bug does not allow you change the Parameter Configuration wall thickness (Wth) from Constant to List so you can add other wall thickness such as 3”, 5” or 8”. This can be a serious problem because the structures will not display the correct size on your plan. Below, I will guide you step by step on  fixing this problem quickly and easily. Before you begin please make a backup copy of your Pipes Catalog folder.
First go into part builder. Lets first work on the Rectangular Junction Structure NF. I typically use this structure for curb inlets, grate inlets, wye inlets and junctions boxes. Expand the Junction Structure without Frames and select Rectangular Junction Structure NF. Then click the Modified Part Sizes button. Inside part builder expand Size Parameters. As you can see everything looks normal.
  

  

Now right click on the Size Parameters and select Edit Configuration. Under the Wth (Wall thickness) column click on the Constant item. A small pull down will appear. Change to List and click Ok.

Now look at your Size Parameters list. As you can see the WALL_THICKNESS parameter has been added. You can add any wall thickness you want, but it will not recognize the value. This is the bug that Autodesk is currently working on. Now lets work on our work around. Right click on the WALL_THICKNESS parameter and select delete.

Go back into you Edit Part Size dialog box by right clicking on Size Parameters and selecting Edit Values. Under wall thickness (WTh) change the default wall thickness from 2 to 6. Our ultimate goal is to have the correct outer boundary dimensions so our structure display correctly. For example a 6’ junction box per our city standard details have 8” walls. Since we want to use 6” wall thickness as our constant, I will make up the other 4 inches (2” for both sides of the wall) by adding it to my Inner structure width (SIW) and Inner structure length (SIL). (Use a wall thickness that is most common for all of your structures). Click on the default value for the Inner structure width (SIW) and then select the NEW icon up top. Now add your new value here such as 76 inches for our 6’ junction box. While we are here, go ahead and add any other additional sizes that you will need for curb inlets, grate inlets, wye inlets, or junctions boxes. Click Ok when done. Next go into the Inner structure length (SIL) and add all your new values. Click OK when done.

Now click the validate icon up top ( Traffic Sign icon) then the Save icon. Close part builder. Now go back into your parts list structure and update your structure inner widths and lengths with the new values that we added. As you can see my new values are available for me to use.

Anyways, I hope this work around will help you. Thank you for stopping by and feel free to comment or make suggestions. Have a great week.