Conference Highlights
In an effort to do our part to mitigate the spread of COVD-19, this conference was postponed. Thank you for your patience while the planning committee selected new dates. The new date is September 30, 2020. If you registered before the dates were changed and did not cancel your registration, you will be automatically registered for the new dates. If you cannot attend on the September 30, 2020, please contact registrations@iastate.edu requesting cancellation by April 27, 2020 and you will receive a full refund. Thank you for your patience as we navigate these uncertain times.
DUE TO THE DATE CHANGE THE HIGHLIGHTS BELOW ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Davenport HESCO Failure - What Happened?
Historic flooding throughout the Quad Cities area along the Mississippi River during the spring of 2019 resulted in the failure of the City of Davenport, Iowa's HESCO temporary flood barrier. This presentation will discuss the background of the spring flooding, describe the city's pre-failure downtown flood plan, and give details of the failure. Highlights will also be provided on the engineering evaluation completed to determine the cause of the failure, discuss recommendations for future flood plans, and discuss lessons learned from the event.
Muscatine Nutrient Reduction Alternatives Study
The City of Muscatine’s wastewater plant NPDES permit requires nutrient reduction in the Muscatine Water and Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) effluent or comparable reductions within the watershed. The City intends to implement a plan to construct adequate watershed nutrient reduction alternatives so that no process work needs to be done at the WRRF to meet their current permit requirements. Taking this a step further, the City has set a goal of zero net discharge of nutrients from the WRRF, essentially future-proofing the facility against upcoming, more stringent nutrient reduction regulation.
Using Stream Power to Keep Culverts Clean of Sediment
Sedimentation at culverts is an issue frequently occurring at multi-box culvert sites located in erosion-prone watersheds. Sediment deposits can develop quickly, impairing the culvert capacity to convey design flows and potentially leading to damages to both the transportation infrastructure (e.g. overtopping of road and culvert) and upstream headwater areas (e.g. flooding). Conventional culvert design protocols are based on the analyses of hydrologic, hydraulic, and geomorphological conditions at the culvert site with the focus on peak flow conveyance. Since 2006, the Iowa DOT has provided funding for investigating the physical processes that cause sedimentation, developing solutions to mitigate the associated problems, and developing design guidance for reducing the potential for sedimentation at multi-barrel culverts. The research efforts targeted two lines of action: 1) searching for efficient solutions for mitigation of culvert sedimentation; 2) providing supporting tools for guiding the maintenance operations and the design of sediment-free culverts. During the investigations for culvert sedimentation mitigation in Iowa, three hydraulically-powered solutions for reduction of sedimentation at culverts have been identified so far: a) filled-based, b) upstream curtain wall, and c) downstream weir. The presentation will summarize the efforts along developing self-cleaning solutions for existing and new culverts.
Sanitary Sewer Master Planning with Higher Rain Events in Ankeny
A Master Plan of the City’s sanitary sewer system was developed to help the City achieve its Master Plan objectives. The plan provides clarity on system capacity availability for future development, creates a roadmap for near-term CIP needs and costs, and develops a system to prioritize Operational & Maintenance activities. The Master Plan included an inventory and condition of the City of Ankeny’s sanitary sewer assets, hydraulic modeling to determine system deficiencies, capital needs, project prioritization, and financial needs. The Plan also identified future growth considerations and policy recommendations, with a protocol to review and update the Master Plan on a routine basis.
An Overview of Popular 2D Hydraulic Modeling Software Packages.
Two-dimensional hydraulic modeling is becoming more and more common in our industry due to improved modeling platforms, increases in processing power, and recognition of the deficiencies of 1d models. This presentation will highlight four of the popular hydraulic software packages: HEC-RAS 2D, SRH-2D, TUFLOW classic, and TUFLOW FV. An overview of each package will be presented including some of the areas where each excels.
Engineering Ethics
The presentation will include an overview of engineering ethics along with case studies. Participants will be given the chance to consider scenarios of ethics in engineering applications.
March 2019 Missouri River and Tributaries Flood
The March 2019 Winter Storm Ulmer Bomb Cyclone caused catastrophic damages throughout the United States including a significant portion of the USACE Omaha District in the Missouri River Basin. This presentation will be a two part series. The first will describe the hydrometeorlogical setup and the second will elaborate on the scope and challenges facing the repair work.
Iowa Watershed Approach: Project Implementation and Deliverables
An update on the project implementation and technology developments for the Iowa Watershed Approach project will be presented.
Iowa DNR PERMT Online Joint Application
Iowa DNR has been working with the Rock Island Corps of Engineers to develop an online Joint Application system. The new electronic system will cover the application process for three different permits - Iowa DNR Flood Plain Permit, Iowa DNR Sovereign Lands Permit and the USACE 404 Water Quality Permit. Applicants will be able to electronically submit their permit application and all supporting documents. Applicants will also be able to track the status of their projects.