I've been asked to conduct a scour analysis and scour protection for a proposed house in a floodplain. Velocity of the 100-year event is about 1.5 ft/s. The proposed house is located at a confluence and the flooding is from a river downstream. The proposed house is in a backwater area from...
I did a search of the site before posting and it seemed like most of the HEC-RAS Dam Breach discussions were from years back. I recently spent a lot of time getting up to speed and creating a Dam Breach Analysis with version 6.2. My model uses a storage area for the lake and a 2D model...
I'm working in an urban area where after the pedestrian/greenway project is complete, there cannot be any (zero) permanent structures in the channel bottom of a jurisdictional stream. We are currently constructing poured in place swale bridges over jurisdictional "ditches" with maybe a span of...
I would with several Environmental Specialists that are working toward taking the QEP - Qualified Environmental Professional exam. Someone told that they had heard that is program may be going away. I did a google search and could not find any reports on the strengths or weaknesses of the...
@MotorCity It seems like the PLS board in NC has been very active. I'm not complaining just making an observation. There are now several small surveying tasks that require a PLS signature. Any surveying underwater and surveying of cross-sections for monitoring. I do not want to do surveying...
I know it is different from state to state, but would like to know the difficulty/aggravation of pursuing a Professional Land Surveyor license after practicing as a licensed Civil PE for 20 years?
Robert Billings, PE, PH, CFM
www.newrivereng.com
I would suggest googling Rooney Malcolm. He was a professor at NC State and has some of the best storm water design manuals.
Robert Billings
www.newrivereng.com
The geotechnical may be the trigger. Each time I'm asked to renew my policy, I'm asked if I do house inspections or geotechnical work.
Robert Billings
www.newrivereng.com
Good Luck. In my opinion, this is one of the best ways to start a professional firm. You get to learn about accounting, taxes, marketing, and selling yourself. If you have a community college near by, go to the small business classes - they are absolutely wonderful.
Make sure you have a...
I'm not sure about pond pack but it would be easy in hydrocad. This issue comes up a lot in Charlotte NC. The City storm water designs require street drainage to be meet the 6 hour duration storm but the FEMA floodplains are mapped using the 24 hour duration storm.
Robert Billings...
My understanding is if something was not built as your signed drawings indicated, then you are not liable. If the homeowner and the contractor modified your drawings, they are practicing engineering and you can turn them into your local board.
Robert Billings
www.newrivereng.com
I think the ASCE courses are very overpriced. The best course is at HEC in Davis, Ca. The best way to learn RAS is to use it to solve engineering hydraulics questions. The types of open channel hydraulics and culvert questions like you would find on the PE exam.
Robert Billings...
I agree with beej67. You should be fine with RAS but cross-section placement will be critical. If the house is in the FEMA floodplain, you cannot upsize the culvert and increase the flooding on the house.
Robert Billings
www.newrivereng.com
Davidson is a nice area. The job market here is okay. Just like all over the country, there were many many lay offs and firms going out of business from 2009 to 2010. It seems to have leveled off. There are positions out there and we've saw engineers moving between companies this year. Let...
My company is a PLLC and I file taxes as a S Corp as well. This is accomplished by filing SF 2553 with the IRS: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/selfemployed/article/0,,id=205014,00.html.
This essentially makes the taxes easier because an "S" corporation is a pass through structure. You...
I set my company up as a PLLC. I would suggest that you take some of the small business classes at a local community college. These classes are usually free and are very very very helpful. PLLCs and LLCs include some of the good things associated with PCs and sole proprietors. PLLCs are money...
It is probably easier to hand draw cross sections - your cross sections seem to be auto generated. RAS sections should be perpendicular to the flow and should be "dog eared" to follow the most appropriate path (depending upon engineering judgement). The spacing of the sections also depends...
I've created a duplicate effective model but I had to truncate the model to only include the immediate project area. There is an existing road crossing down stream of the project site that has been revised since the FIS profiles. I briefly tried to reproduce the profile through the crossing...
