Set a saved stirrup out on the foundation drawing
Pull out the line the stirrup repeats along and type the centres. The number is worked out for you.
- 1
Switch to the plan
Click the foundation drawing in the strip Drawings. Stirrups are set out on the plan, because that is where the lengths are.
- 2
Pick the stirrup under Saved measurements
The panel on the right lists everything you have measured on the sections, under the headings Stirrups and Cross-sections. Every row shows the name and the measurements. Click the row and the tool jumps to Stirrups on its own.
Worth knowing. The panel then writes Trace the line on the drawing. Tap the same row again to cancel. Esc only throws away the line you are in the middle of drawing; the stirrup stays picked until you tap the row again.
- 3
Click out the line it repeats along
Click along the beam or the footing, just as when you draw a pipe run, and double-click or press Enter when the line is done.
Worth knowing. It is the line you draw, not a single stirrup. The measurements are already taken on the section and are not asked for again, only how tightly the stirrup repeats.
- 4
Type the centres in the box Centres
The box says which stirrup it is about and how long the line came out. Fill in Centres (mm), which is how tightly the stirrups sit, and 200 is common. Then press Done.
Worth knowing. The centres are what turn a length into a number. Type 300 where the drawing says 150 and the whole stirrup order is halved, and nothing on screen looks wrong.
- 5
Read off the number before you press Done
Under the box it says Gives X stirrups and it is worked out again as you type. The number is the line divided by the centres, so 3 000 mm at 250 centres gives 12 stirrups.
Worth knowing. Centres typed in metres instead of millimetres is a thousand times wrong. That line is where it shows, before anything lands in the quantity list.
- 6
Check it against the drawing
The stirrups are drawn as lines across the run, one per centre, so the spacing can be compared with the section. The line lands in Drawn and measured and the steel in the quantity list.
Worth knowing. Press Cancel instead of Done and the line you have just drawn is thrown away. No half-finished stirrup is left behind in the list.
- 7
Set the same stirrup out on more lines
The stirrup stays picked, so the next line you click out gets the same stirrup. Every line has its own centres, so a tighter zone at a corner is drawn as a line of its own.
- 8
Change the centres afterwards
Click the row in Drawn and measured. The box Stirrups along the line opens and says Set the centres. Stirrup type, size and measurements stand locked, because they come from the saved stirrup.
Worth knowing. The box writes out which stirrup it is and where the measurements are changed. The fields are locked deliberately: a box that takes a figure and then throws it away is worse than one that says no.
- 9
Correct the measurements on the section, not here
If the stirrup itself is measured wrong, you go back to the section drawing and correct it there. Every line it has been set out on comes along, and that is the whole point of measuring it once.
Next steps
- Measure a stirrup on the section drawingTrace the legs of the stirrup on the section and save it under a name. The measurements are taken once and hold for the whole job.7 min
- Sweep a cross-section into a volumeMeasure the shape on the section, pull it out along the plan and get the cubic metres. Width and height from there, the length from here.6 min
- Read the quantity listYou know what every row and column stands for, and what the waste allowance does to the total.5 min
Do the steps on a real drawing
Open the tool and follow the walkthrough on the sample drawing that is already there. No login needed.
Open the toolStuck on a step? Get in touch and we will gladly look at your drawing.