River modelling and drainage design for flood risk assessment and management: reviewing with confidence

Understand the fundamental hydrological and hydraulic issues necessary to undertake a robust review of flood risk model outputs and surface water drainage design submissions for planning.

Summary

This course is targeted at local authorities, with the objective of helping participants understand the fundamental hydrological and hydraulic modelling issues necessary to undertake a robust review of flood risk model outputs and surface water drainage design submissions for planning. Current software facility and visualisation tools can often enhance understanding but can also lead to a reduced reliance on technical appreciation; and to rigorous model schematisation, parameterisation and numerical model output checks being overlooked.

Content

The course will cover:

• the latest UK flood estimation procedures and hydraulic modelling processes for assessing site-specific flood risk;
• the latest UK runoff estimation procedures for development sites, and approaches to SuDS and conceptual drainage design.

A key focus will be on developing an understanding of the necessary review processes and review elements to ensure that the modelling represents the correct hydrological and hydraulic processes; that model inputs are appropriate and sufficiently accurate; that model outputs look sensible and usable; and that the process follows best practice guidance.

The course does not provide training in or reference to specific proprietary pieces of modelling software and associated parameters. Instead, the focus is on generic model concepts, objectives and outputs.

The course principles will be communicated via a series of presentations supported by a series of linked delegate exercises. Exercises on SuDS implementation will use the tools on the uksuds.com website. 

Who should attend?

Those responsible for reviewing river modelling outputs as part of flood risk assessment and surface water conceptual drainage design submissions for planning.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course participants will have:

• an understanding of UK flood estimation best practice, challenges and uncertainties;
• an understanding of which types of hydraulic model are appropriate for different situations;
• a comprehension of issues such as the spacing of river cross-sections, the location of boundary conditions, and the importance of calibration, validation and verification;
• an understanding of the main sources of uncertainty and how these can be considered as part of the flood risk assessment review;
• an appreciation of current surface water management design criteria, SuDS delivery objectives, greenfield and development site runoff and storage volume estimation methods, key approval issues;
• an overview of the importance of quality assurance, check lists, and audit trail techniques.

Fees

Course leader(s)

Bridget Woods-Ballard

Principal Engineer

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Darren Lumbroso

Technical Director

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Other tutors:

Watch a presentation of the course

Testimonials