• LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Contact
  • Blog
800-488-4110
CivilGEO, Inc.
  • Products
    • GeoHECHMS
    • GeoHECRAS
    • GeoHECRAS 2D
    • Customer Stories
    • Customer Videos
    • Success Stories
  • Pricing
  • Training
    • Training Classes
    • Training Webinars
    • Product Tutorials
  • Support
    • Get Support
    • Knowledge Base
    • Feature Requests
  • About
    • About Us
    • Customer Reviews
    • News
    • Privacy Center
    • Blog
  • Contact
  • English
  • Menu Menu

BOLTON & MENK

GeoHECRAS makes the whole process of updating the flood maps super easy

GEOHECRAS CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY

CivilGEO Engineering Software Advanced engineering software that is “Ready to Engineer”. Get started today!
CivilGEO Engineering Software Advanced engineering software that is “Ready to Engineer”. Get started today!
Previous

Reading Time: 4 Mins

Download PDF
Bolton and Menk

Most floodplain studies are computed using a HEC-RAS steady state model. The steady state model is an accepted standard, but under certain circumstances can produce results that are far from realistic.

Bolton & Menk, a civil, environmental and transportation engineering firm based in Mankato, Minnesota, took on a project that required the firm to perform a floodplain analysis in a heavily developed area with a complex system of stream channels and wetlands.

The Challenge Presented by a Wetland “Sink”

Jordan Thole, a water resource design engineer at Bolton & Menk, had primary responsibility for creating a flood map for the lower regions of Sand Creek in Scott County, part of the Sand Creek watershed in the Minnesota River Basin.

The challenge presented by this project involved a point near the City of Jordan where a public highway could be overtopped and flood water diverted into a very large wetland. After the flood water entered the wetland, it eventually reconnected with Sand Creek.

When the HEC-RAS model for this segment of Sand Creek was run in a steady state, the wetland filled with water, a situation that would never realistically occur since it would require that peak flow be sustained for days. Thole concluded that if the flooded area was to be mapped accurately, an unsteady flow analysis was needed in addition to a hydrograph showing change in flow over time.

Software Development “On Demand”

Thole approached CivilGEO to see if GeoHECRAS could perform the unsteady flow floodplain encroachment analysis that was necessary. At the time, the capability was absent from GeoHECRAS. But the engineering team at CivilGEO determined that the ability to model unsteady flow floodplain encroachment would add value to the software and could be implemented with concerted effort from the team.

About Bolton & Menk

In 1949, two earnest Midwesterners, John Bolton and Martin Menk, set the foundation for our firm’s mission to serve communities. Bolton and Menk knew people had dreams for a bright future, but a common challenge was old, crumbling infrastructure. Bolton and Menk decided to help people and communities do better by listening to their needs, providing the best solutions, and treating folks with respect. As a major civil engineering, planning and consulting firm, their legacy lives on.

After four days of coding work, the application was working and Thole was able to perform the floodplain encroachment using a fully hydrodynamic flow analysis.

When the HEC-RAS model was run with an unsteady flow simulation, the wetland acted like a sponge, absorbing the flood water and attenuating the flow. The volume of water moving through the area was reduced significantly. Lower BFEs (base flow elevations) were clearly good news to the large residential areas located in the watershed.

Timothy

“We are probably spending half the time building these models as we did before.”

Timothy J. Olson, P.E., CFM
Water Resources Project Manager
Bolton & Menk, Inc.
Maplewood, MN

Updating Flood Maps with GeoHECRAS

The floodway had recently been updated and mapped under a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) mandate. However, the study had been performed using a steady flow analysis. Peak elevations under that analysis were much higher. The City of Jordan requested that all flood maps be updated using an unsteady flow analysis.

Thole reported that the process of updating flood maps was almost effortless with GeoHECRAS’s intuitive user interface. Older maps typically show minimal stream geometry, but GeoHECRAS permits the user to easily add cross-sections.

Bolton Menk Resize

Also, using the Army Corps HEC-RAS program would have required a laborious process of building multiple models and running comparisons of surface water elevations through Excel or a similar program. Thole said, “GeoHECRAS lets you update maps on the fly. It’s so much easier.”

Thole was also grateful for the technical support he received through CivilGEO. “I wish every piece of software we owned had the technical support that CivilGEO provides.”

Previous

CivilGEO reviews

4.8/5.0 Rating, Over 190 Reviews

review-ratings

GeoHECRAS is recognized as the top Civil Engineering Design Software with an average of 4.8 out of 5.0 rating from over 190 real user reviews on G2.

Civil Engineering Design Best Relationship
Reach us on WhatsApp atReach us on WhatsApp

Badge

Read Reviews Button Text

Read reviews

Autodesk Authorized Logo

Arabia Network

Products

  • Free Trial
  • GeoHECHMS
  • GeoHECRAS
  • GeoHECRAS 2D
  • Customer Stories
  • Customer Videos
  • Success Stories

Company

  • About Us
  • Customer Reviews
  • Contact
  • Privacy Center
  • Terms of Use

Support

  • Knowledge Base
  • General Feedback
  • Contact Support
  • Feature Requests

Training

  • Training Classes
  • Training Webinars
  • Product Tutorials

Contact Us

Phone 1-800-301-02-955
Phone 608-729-5100
 (US and Canada)

Mail [email protected]
Chat on WhatsApp +1 608-729-5100

 

Connect With Us

CivilGEO FacebookCivilGEO LinkedInCivilGEO YouTubeCivlGEO rssfeed

–
–
–
Tel:

CivilGEO India
Graphix Tower, A-13 A
3rd Floor, Sector 62
Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201309
India
Tel:
1-800-301-02-955 or
+91 022-3831-8601

Copyright

Copyright © CivilGEO, Inc. All rights reserved. The CivilGEO logo, “GeoHECHMS”, “GeoHECRAS”, and “Ready To Engineer” are registered trademarks of CivilGEO,
Inc. All other brands, company names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Close Popup

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By agreeing you accept the use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.

I accept My Preferences I decline
Privacy Center Privacy Settings Cookie Policy
Close Popup
Privacy Settings saved!
CivilGEO, Inc.
Privacy Settings

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Control your personal Cookie Services here.

Necessary Analytics Marketing Preferences Privacy Center Privacy Policy Cookie Policy
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems.

Technical Cookies
In order to use this website we use the following technically required cookies
  • wordpress_test_cookie
  • wordpress_logged_in_
  • wordpress_sec

Cloudflare
For perfomance reasons we use Cloudflare as a CDN network. This saves a cookie "__cfduid" to apply security settings on a per-client basis. This cookie is strictly necessary for Cloudflare's security features and cannot be turned off.
  • __cfduid

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources, so we can measure and improve the performance of our site.

Google Analytics
  • _ga
  • _gid

These cookies are set through our site by our advertising partners.

Facebook
  • fr
  • _fbp

LinkedIn
  • bscookie
  • AnalyticsSyncHistory
  • lissc
  • lidc
  • bcookie
  • lang
  • UserMatchHistor

ZoomInfo
For purposes of marketing, optimization of products and services, we use services of ZoomInfo on this website. The ZoomInfo WebSights snippet drops three cookies to track Unique Visits: 1. _pxhd - Related to the Perimeter X security layer (Perimeter X isused to prevent bot attacks). 2. _cfduid - Related to the CloudFlare security layer (CloudFlare is the Network Security protocol that ZoomInfo uses to orchestrate the rate limiting rules). 3. visitorId - This is how WebSights identifies recurring visitors

Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.

FreshChat
We provide chat facility for users to come and chat with us to help resolve their issues.

Decline all Services
Save
Accept all Services