Product Focus: Drainage by Design - New Software Helps Shape Green Infrastructure

May 1, 2013
A new LID design software program is now available that provides the tools to design green infrastructure with full professional rigor. It walks the user through the entire drainage design process, from conceptual design to hydraulic flow and water quality analysis of surface and subsurface runoff.

Green Infrastructure enthusiasts have been designing and installing Low Impact Development (LID) features in drainage for 15 years or more as a way to manage stormwater. Whether Bioretention or Permeable Paving or Green Roofs, LID has helped to decrease the impact on drainage systems and improve water quality.

During this time, the stormwater industry has gained valuable experience in what works for different climates, communities, and budgets. But green infrastructure design has been a niche activity. The majority of drainage professionals have had little experience - and perhaps interest - in the range of LID available to them while traditional design demands other mitigation techniques.

A new LID design software program is now available that provides the tools to design green infrastructure with full professional rigor: XPDrainage by XP Solutions.

XP Solutions has been involved in the development of water resource design and analysis software for nearly three decades. The demand for an LID design tool has been building for several years, but specific methodologies and design criteria have required significant research and development to codify into a professional design software tool.

XPDrainage is a sustainable drainage design package for use by landscape architects, urban planners and civil engineers. It walks the user through the entire drainage design process, from conceptual design to hydraulic flow and water quality analysis of surface and subsurface runoff.

Infrastructure design is a complex task, but the software provides tools that simplify the work. First, users build a model using data that they already have. They can create or import surfaces from CAD, DWG or DXF files. They can also import georeferenced images for enhanced visual display.

Further, users can create templates for typical drainage elements in XPDrainage to reduce model setup time, storing local information for pollutants, drainage systems, inlet specifications and more. Once they have established a surface and created the initial model, comprehensive analysis tools help evaluate green mitigation techniques to determine the most appropriate design.

"Deluge" analyzes 2D surfaces to determine main flow paths and ponding areas for the most effective placement of LID elements. Storage Estimate and Water Quality calculators provide sizing tools for quick design of drainage systems.

The Dynamic Analysis in XPDrainage supports design storms and time series rainfall for hydrologic analysis to show pollutant removal, effects of storage, hydrograph timing, and volumes for integrated stormwater systems including detailed flow and depth calculations through LID devices. Once the analysis is done and the design is complete, users can review their creation and edit it as needed. They can save Layers to DXF and export back to CAD or review complete model data, computational details and complete results either by individual drainage system or for the entire network.

For more information on the new design software, visit www.xpsolutions.com.

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