The obvious candidates for software that should be up to the job are AutoCAD 2005 and Bentley Microstation V8.

However, I already know that AutoCAD’s inability to insert geo-referenced images will necessitate the addition of Autodesk Raster Design or a switch to Autodesk Map 3D for even my most basic 2D mapping needs. And I also know that I’ll be unable to create a 3D surface from the 2D contours I have, so I’ll also be using Global Mapper for data conversion, along with GeoTIFF Examiner Pro.

Bentley’s marketing brochure for Microstation V8 indicates that it natively supports GeoTIFF, but it is also possible I’ll need to explore the MicroStation Civil Extension and MicroStation GeoGraphics extensions—or one of Bentley’s more specific civil packages—to add the capabilities I’ll want further into the project.

As a footnote, I was troubled by the configuration of Bentley’s Web server: typing “bentley.com” (all that should be necessary) didn’t work in either IE or Mozilla; I instead had to type “www.bentley.com” into both browsers in order to reach the site. It’s indeed a small nit, but forcing me to type these needless four extra characters doesn’t exactly give me a warm fuzzy feeling.