Page 7 - March-April2020 Vol37 No7
P. 7
to track progress and check accuracy. The information about culverts that criminals geodatabase for City staff without access
implementation of ArcGIS technology might be using to evade authorities. to modeling expertise.
consolidated records and established more
efficient workflows, allowing the City to Evaluating the System In addition to the integration concern,
make decisions based on real-time data. the City needed a tool to model two-
While there are many ancillary dimensional flow to verify that water
Following the preliminary data advantages to documenting the would not incorrectly leave the system.
collection phase, professional surveyors stormwater network on a common When a drainage system is overwhelmed
collected accurate horizontal and vertical geodatabase, Germantown’s immediate and water leaves the well-defined pipes
positions of each asset. The information use was evaluating how their current and channels, it can be difficult to
collected using ArcGIS Online Map was stormwater assets were performing. This determine which path the water will take.
combined with the accurate positional process was essential to best allocate the West Tennessee’s flat terrain makes this
data to generate a geodatabase of the resources available to them via the CIP. uniquely challenging, so it’s imperative
storm drainage collection system. to develop a modeling platform that can
Before any studies were launched, calculate probabilities.
This new geodatabase is useful for the team notified the public of surveys
other tasks in addition to inventory. Each taking place in drainage basins near them. These necessities suggested that
drainage structure and conduit are given After a process of engaging the residents, a stormwater management model
a unique asset ID used to assign work Germantown teamed with Barge to create (SWMM) would be an effective tool
orders for maintenance crews. Updates to a model of the entire system to determine for analyzing Germantown’s drainage
the asset can be done by the maintenance the efficacy of the city’s stormwater basins. A SWMM-based model integrates
crews while in the field using mobile infrastructure. hydrologic and hydraulic calculation
devices. engines and can efficiently perform LOS
It was important for the modeling analyses on stormwater drainage networks
Hosting the database on ArcGIS Online platform to integrate seamlessly with in developed areas.
also makes it accessible by multiple users the recently-developed geodatabase.
simultaneously, an advantage which can Integration would prepare a platform Additionally, a SWMM platform can
revolutionize how municipal departments to easily update changes to the City’s render two-dimensional flow using the
communicate and collaborate. For infrastructure, which is a powerful topography, automatically determining
instance, the system could provide the tool when evaluating future infill where the overland flow will occur. For
Germantown Fire Department with the developments. Integration also allows these reasons the City chose PCSWMM
drainage path of a chemical spill, or the for model results, including level-of- developed by CHI to evaluate the system.
Germantown Police Department with service (LOS) results, to be stored in the
Continued on page 8
View online at tnpublicworks.com 7
