Author: wendy

Unidirectional Flushing Scrubs Water Mains, Fire Hydrants

By Craig Schuh, PE To maintain their water supply systems, communities schedule routine water main and fire hydrant flushing, which removes sediments, deposits, and biofilm buildup from water systems and improves overall water quality. A unidirectional flushing program (UDF), however, takes those routine flushes a step further. How Does Unidirectional Flushing Work? In general, UDF… Read More »

Does My Bridge Need an Inspection?

Inspections are not required for this “nonqualifying” bridge in Broomfield, Colorado, but the City and County have such structures inspected regularly anyway. The federal government oversees and tracks the inspection and condition of the nation’s more than 600,000 bridges and pays for much of the repair and replacement to keep them safe. Did you know… Read More »

HEC-RAS Software: How Math Mitigates Flooding

In this City of Loveland, Colorado, map, the red line shows the HEC-RAS modeled 100-year floodplain that Ayres Associates completed in 2005. The yellow line shows the extents of the 2013 major flood, as measured by the City of Loveland. By John Hunt, Senior Hydraulic Engineer When it comes to 1-dimensional open-channel hydraulic analysis, the… Read More »