How to Calculate Drainage with Engineering Software

Every engineering project needs to deal with the issue of drainage and water buildup. You need to calculate a variety of factors in determining drainage, including pipe size, building height and the location of municipal drains. It is important to use engineering software to calculate drainage accurately before you begin a construction project.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Blueprints

Plan for Drainage on Your Computer with Engineering Software

1. Begin your calculation of drainage on engineering software with the surface grade of the appropriate land area. You need to review relief maps to assess the total drop in elevation over the length of the field. The surface area of the land in use is also a necessity to determine the grade.
2. Research the size and properties of the drainage ditch used on property before using engineering software. The total diameter of a drainage ditch influences the amount of water that can pass through.
3. Factor in pipe diameter as you calculate drainage in engineering software. The width of drainage pipes will affect the volume of water that can flow through on a minute-by-minute basis.
4. Place drainage into context by reviewing the type of natural and artificial materials surrounding drainage pipes. Your job in calculating drainage is not only to determine flow rates, but also to assess the durability of drainage systems. You can create an accurate measurement of drainage by considering the effects of clay, dirt or gravel on pipes.
5. Gain a larger view of the drainage area in question by calculating the total area that needs to be drained. Most land plots are arranged in squares that make multiplication of length and width simple.
6. Insert the drainage time needed for your clients as a benchmark for your drainage calculations. Write this number on a piece of paper by your desk, and adjust pipe size, drainage-ditch size and other variables to find different ways to reach this goal.
7. Explore the interface of your engineering software to find shortcuts that can help you calculate drainage more accurately. Your engineering program may have an inventory of common pipe sizes and drainage information that can move the calculating process along quickly.

Tips & Warnings

• Generate a list of commonly used pipe sizes to calculate drainage on engineering software. Most engineers utilize a regular range of pipes, drains and other drainage tools because they work on hundreds of projects of similar scale. You can hand out small cheat sheets to everyone in your office to calculate drainage correctly.

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