The chamber sketch aims to replace hand-drawn or CAD diagrams showing the layout of manholes and inspection chambers.

Users can change the shape and orientation of the cover and chamber, then add drag n' drop components such as arrows, lines and text over the top to show pipes, ducts, direction of flow etc.

See how the manhole diagram is created in this YouTube video or keep reading for all the different options.

When you first launch the chamber sketch it'll display the cover as a shape with a solid outline, and the chamber as a shape with a dashed outline.

If you entered data in the relevant Cover Shape and Chamber Shape fields in the form section of the Manhole Inspection app, the diagram will pick these up and automatically set the same shapes as the your starting point.

To edit the size and/or shape of the cover or chamber, tap on the buttons at the top of the screen and use the handles to resize and rotate them to the desired position.

Tap either the same button again or the sketch background to end editing.

Notice the fixed north arrow for alignment.

Tapping on the button with a red arrow will add a similar looking arrow to the diagram, although initially it appears with a purple colour and two blue handles on either end.

In this state the whole arrow can be dragged around with your finger, and the angle changed by moving the handles at either end.

Once the arrow's in position, tap the diagram background to make in inactive. It will then revert to the standard red colour.

Tapping on the arrow will make it become active and draggable again.

Some users like to use arrows to represent pipes, others prefer to use parallel lines to draw them. These can be added using the parallel line button and they behave exactly the same as the arrows.

It's common to assign a letter to pipes or ducts when making a chamber sketch.

To do this, tap the button with the letter you want to and it will appear on the diagram. Then, hold your finger over it until it expands and drag it into position.

Remove your finger and the letter will shrink back down to its normal size. Repeat the process if you need to reposition it.

You can only add a letter once, so as soon as it appears on the sketch its button becomes inactive.

The above examples probably apply more to a drainage manhole, but inspection chambers are just as simple to draw.

One of the chamber options is an exploded rectangle, and there are buttons to add solid or outline squares and circles to represent ducts.

These shapes work in the same way as the letters i.e tap and hold on them until they expand, move them into position and then release.

Tapping on the button with the "ABC" letters on it will let you add labels to the diagram with whatever text you like.

Once you tap on the return key or the diagram background, the keyboard will disappear and you can tap and hold the the text until it expands, drag it into position and release it to set it in place.

If you add anything to the sketch by accident, or decide you want to delete something, it's easy to remove elements from the diagram.

Anything that can be tapped on and activated will trigger a delete button to appear above the sketch. Tapping this will let you get rid any arrows, parallel lines or dashed lines in this case (which work just the same)

Anything that can be dragged around can simply be moved off the diagram.

Note that with letters, the relevant button will become active again to allow you to add that letter back again if needs be.

Once you're happy with the the diagram, tap on the Done button at the top right to save the chamber sketch. You can always open it up again afterwards and make any changes that are required.

Tapping the Cancel button will close the sketch without saving any changes.

When you export the data, the chamber sketch will be uploaded to the SurvAid portal and can be incorporated into your deliverables.

Advanced Features

Some users who used the chamber sketch for a while felt that once they were familiar with the different components and how they worked, could create drawings even quicker with some further refinements.

See Advanced Chamber Sketch article to find out more.