Getting Started

TunnelCAD is a professional tunnel cross-section monitoring and analysis application built for engineers, surveyors, and project managers. It lets you import, visualize, and compare measured tunnel profiles against theoretical design templates, compute volumes (overbreak, underbreak, shotcrete), process point cloud data, and generate analytics reports.

Key capabilities

  • Cross-section monitoring – overlay measured profiles on design templates to visualize deviations

  • Volume calculations – compute overbreak, underbreak, and custom volume formulas along the alignment

  • Point cloud processing – import LAS/LAZ/E57 files and extract cross-sections from scan data

  • Analytics and compliance – quality grading, clearance checks, deviation statistics

  • Import/Export – LandXML 1.2/2.0, DXF templates, CSV/XLS mass tables, legacy TCM conversion

System requirements

Operating system

Windows 10 or later (x86_64)

Linux x86_64 with GTK2 widget set

Graphics

OpenGL support required for the point cloud viewer

Disk space

Approximately 50 MB for the application and resources

Installation

TunnelCAD is distributed as a portable application. No installer is needed.

  1. Extract the archive to a folder of your choice.

  2. Ensure the resources/ folder sits next to the TunnelCAD executable. This folder contains hatch patterns (.pat), linetypes (.lin), plot styles (.ctb), and fonts (.shx) that the application loads at startup.

  3. Run the executable: TunnelCAD on Linux, TunnelCAD.exe on Windows.

Note

On Linux you may need to install OpenGL libraries if they are not already present:

sudo apt install libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa


## Settings file

TunnelCAD stores its settings in a JSON file that is created automatically on first launch:

Linux
: `~/.config/TunnelCAD/settings.json`

Windows
: `%APPDATA%\TunnelCAD\settings.json`

The settings file stores canvas background color, window position and size, recent file list, and debug logging preferences. You can also edit settings from within the application via **File > Settings**.

## First launch

When you start TunnelCAD for the first time, it creates a default settings file and displays an empty workspace. From here you can create a new project, open an existing `.tun` file, or convert a legacy `.tcm` file.

```{tip}
If the application window appears but hatch fills or linetypes are missing, verify that the `resources/` folder is in the same directory as the executable.

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