The Ramp tool is one of those archaic Revit tools that hasn’t been updated in a while (if ever). It is difficult to use and prone to errors. This discrepancy is obvious when comparing Ramps to Stairs. Since Stair by Component was introduced in Revit 2013, Stairs have been created from Run and Landing components, making them easier to manage and create.
Railings are one of those architectural elements that are frequently used in the landscape. If you have stairs, ramps, or any sort of terrace, you will probably need a railing. And while Railings are relatively easy to create in Revit, they can be quite difficult to fine-tune (and detail) accurately.
One of the reasons that Railings are difficult to manage is that they are rather inflexible regarding both their structure and their hosts. Railings can be hosted to Floors, Stairs, Ramps, or just a Level, with the limitation being that they cannot host to shape-edited Floors. But there is a feature that will allow you to give a single Railing multiple and varying slopes.
Typically, when grading a site, an engineer or landscape architect will specify new spot elevations based on desired slopes and existing spot elevations. Grading is mainly just drawing lines across various areas and interpolating spot elevations based on slopes.
While Revit’s current hardscape and Topography tools are not ideal for grading a landscape, it does have the capability to calculate slopes and spot elevations for you. All you need is a custom family with some parameters and formulas set up the right way.
The Spot Slope can be a useful little tool out in the landscape. You can place one at any given point and immediately get the slope for that face. But they do have a few funny little quirks as well as some other limitations.
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