TAMPA, Fla., Feb 4, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

CAiCE Visual Drainage Will Help Automate Design Process and Ease Integration of Existing Highway Data

The Transportation Group for the GIS Division of Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) today announced the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has selected CAiCE Visual Drainage(TM) as its highway drainage design software. After a successful 6 month pilot project, WSDOT chose Visual Drainage for its ability to automate the drainage design process, integrate with other design applications, and reduce inefficiencies and costs typically associated with drainage design. The Visual Drainage deployment at the WSDOT will integrate with and complement CAiCE's Visual PE software, which the WSDOT deployed in 1996 for survey and construction design automation.

The WSDOT manages over 7,000 miles of highway and employs approximately 2,500 engineering and support staff across six regions.

"The integration of roadway design and drainage data using Visual Drainage allows one of our key departments to become part of a more productive workflow process", said Matt Witecki, P.E., H.E. State Hydraulics Engineer for the WSDOT. "With the addition of Visual Drainage, our engineers can efficiently handle an entire roadway design project - from survey through construction."

The Visual Drainage software will be used by design and drainage engineers to perform network layout, spread analysis, storm tabulations, and culvert analysis. Using Visual Drainage, WSDOT designers will be able to use existing roadway data, such as superelevation, longitudinal slopes, edge-of-pavement markers, and seamlessly input them into the drainage design process.

In addition, the WSDOT expects a reduction of costs, data entry errors, and staff time by eliminating manual input of data by drainage design engineers and easily integrate existing highway data into the design process. Visual Drainage's automated hydrology tools will permit WSDOT engineers to delineate sub-basins and calculate time of concentration data in a fraction of the time, with increased accuracy over paper map methods.

"Many drainage engineers still have to input data by hand, which is very time-consuming, costly, and prone to error," said Roy Mazur, P.E. product manager for Visual Drainage. "Visual Drainage reduces potential input error by reading data directly from the design database. It also reduces time-consuming import/export routines and increases project productivity."

CAiCE Visual Drainage

Visual Drainage takes the process of performing roadway drainage analysis to a new level by automating the calculation of hydrologic and hydraulic parameters. Standardized engineering principals and processes are combined with an automated solution that integrates the data with a roadway design department. The entire roadway drainage process is performed in a visually interactive environment, providing the drainage engineer a powerful tool for presentation and on-the-fly design adjustments.

About Autodesk

Founded in 1982, Autodesk, Inc., is the world's leading design software and digital content company. Autodesk offers solutions for professionals in building design, geographic information systems, manufacturing, digital media, and wireless data services. By delivering progressive products and services, Autodesk helps customers create, manage, use and maximize the value of their digital data throughout the lifecycle of their projects. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com. CAiCE is part of the Transportation Group within Autodesk's GIS Solutions Division. The division develops civil software automation tools that deliver advanced engineering and decision-making solutions to today's survey, civil design, and drainage engineers. The division's offerings of products is complemented by related consulting, custom development, training, and technical services. To find more information about CAiCE and Autodesk's civil engineering and transportation solutions, call 800-452-2423 or visit http://www.caice.com.

Note to Editors: Autodesk, AutoCAD, CAiCE, and Visual Drainage are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

CONTACT:          Autodesk
                  Brian Baker, 415/507-6411
                  brian.baker@autodesk.com

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