TERRA VIVENS SANCTAE MARIAE
This page is the companion explainer to the interactive Hydro-BIM model. It documents the parametric reconstruction of the island — its terrain tiers, its twelve CAD layers, its energy and waste systems — and states plainly which parts are survey-derived and which are design intent.
Layers
Tiers
Above MSL
Living Lab
Elevation Tiers
Roche moutonné profile, N65E azimuthThe model builds the island as five stacked terraces rising from the submerged granite apron to a bedrock summit knoll. Each tier carries a distinct function in the restoration programme, which is why the terraces are modelled as separate parametric bodies rather than a single height field.
The stepped area schedule (1,214 → 230 m²) is a modelled approximation of glacial roche moutonné retreat, not a surveyed topographic measurement. The terraces are design intent: each is sized to host a specific programme function, and the areas are the consequence of those allocations.
The Twelve CAD Layers
Independently toggleable in the modelEvery layer in the model can be switched on or off independently, and each exports to a named DXF layer in the AutoCAD R12/2000 output. The grouping below maps each CAD layer to the science it represents.
The export routine declares ten named layers in the DXF
TABLES section (0_BATHYMETRY
… 5_ZERO_WASTE), but every entity is written against a
different name computed as LAYER_<KEY> — for
example LAYER_BATHYMETRY. No geometry is ever
written to the ten declared layers, and the twelve layers the geometry actually
uses are never declared. In AutoCAD this means the imported entities fall to layer 0
with colour inheritance, and the layer organisation advertised in the table above does
not survive the round trip. The table in this guide therefore lists the
actual entity layer names, not the declared ones. This is a defect in
theorymodel.html, not a limitation of the model itself.
The 3D contour isolines (Layer 1B) and their benchmark poles are procedurally derived from the five tier definitions by interpolation. They illustrate Civil 3D contour conventions — 1.0 m index, 0.5 m intermediate — but they are not a deliverable survey product and must not be used for setting out.
Engineering Systems
The six off-grid systems modelled on siteThe island is designed to be self-contained. These are the systems the model represents, and the scientific question each one raises.
Model Controls
How to interrogate the modelLaunch the model and the following instruments are available.
Shaded for material read, Wireframe for topology, X‑Ray for internal structure. The hypsometric tint overlay recolours every surface by elevation band, which is the fastest way to read the tier structure.
A movable clipping plane sweeps from −15 m to +15 m. Use it to section the granite outcrops and confirm the 8 m navigation channel in the riverbed bathymetry.
Click any mesh to open the engineering inspector for that entity. Names, elevations in both metres and feet, and the datum note travel with each selection.
The velocity slider drives the current vector field from 0.4 to 2.4 m/s. The default 1.33 m/s (2.58 knots) is the modelled non-scouring laminar profile.
Exports the visible geometry to DXF with ten named layers, ready for Civil 3D ingestion. Export respects the current layer visibility state.
Click faces of the viewcube for orthographic snaps. The HUD reports live cursor coordinates in model units.
Research Integration
How the geometry maps onto the White PaperThe model is not an illustration of the research programme; it is its spatial expression. Each modelled element corresponds to a specific work package or hypothesis in the Terra Vivens Sanctae Mariae White Paper.
| Model Element | White Paper Anchor | Status |
|---|
There is no visible representation of the sub-Faradaic electrode array as a distinct layer. Electrodes are described in the White Paper (Section 6.3 telemetry mesh) and implied within the EK‑PRB cassette in Tier 01, but the model draws the cassette as a solid. This is a known gap: the Tier 03 description references “subsurface electrokinetic distribution electrodes” that are not separately modelled. Treat the electrode geometry as documented but not yet drawn.
Interpretive Caveats
What this model is, and what it is not- Relative elevation and terrace sequence
- Position and extent of the engineered systems
- Channel geometry and fluvial rate assumption
- Layer organisation and naming for CAD handoff
- Tier areas and the stepped footprint
- Contour isolines and benchmark positions
- Granite outcrop placement and massing
- Facility internal dimensions
The White Paper records the target site as “Acquisition pending”. The model is therefore a design intent reconstruction of an intended site. It carries no survey warranty, no geotechnical assurance and no title verification, and must not be represented as an as-built or as-surveyed record.