Case Study: TERRASAT, Inc.



Anchorage Firm Helps Clients Meet City, State Requirements with StormNET

About TERRASAT, Inc.

TERRASAT, Inc., based in Anchorage, Alaska, specializes in environmental and geophysical services, including drainage impact analyses, geology, geophysics, groundwater exploration, hydrogeology, phase I and II site assessments, hazardous waste remediation, underground storage tank closure documentation, environmental forensics and aerial photograph interpretation. Since its founding in 1983, TERRASAT has served all regions of Alaska. Clients include federal and local governments, private developers, engineers and architects, the oil and mining industries, and law firms.

‘Nearly Instantaneous’ Modeling

Dan Young
President
TERRASAT, Inc.

During a search for other stormwater modeling software in 2006, Dan Young, TERRASAT's President, stumbled upon StormNET by BOSS International. The fully-dynamic hydrology and hydraulic model analyzes both simple and complex stormwater systems using a variety of hydrology methods and models, including water quality.

The ability to create complex models directly, using methods such as SWMM, TR-20, TR-55, Rational Method and others, gives the firm a faster and more complete way of determining and managing site development runoff and arriving at a more viable stormwater solution.

“StormNET provides a much more sophisticated and comprehensive modeling approach, while being much faster than the methods we used before,” Young said. “Trials and model runs are nearly instantaneous.”

Model Setup 15-20 Times Faster

TERRASAT engineers easily import AutoCAD® and ArcGIS® data and network components into StormNET. Paul Cartier, Project Environmental Scientist at TERRASAT, primarily uses ArcGIS, and appreciates the ability to bring in all attribute tables into StormNET, saving him from having to manually enter those values again in the modeling software.

“On average, the import capability saves a week over the course of a project,” he said.

In StormNET, engineers can move, add or delete any stormwater network element as needed with a point and click of the mouse. In response, anything connected to that element automatically moves with it.

With the easy-to-use interface, engineers can quickly define a stormwater network and model any scenario that might occur, continuously changing values until they reach an acceptable stormwater design. StormNET's graphical display shows horizontal plan plots, profile plots and time series plots, allowing TERRASAT to see the impact of changes immediately.

Cartier finds he saves a significant amount of time setting up models. In the same amount of time he could model a single stormwater manhole or catchbasin, he can now design up to 15 to 20 manholes and/or catchbasins. StormNET allows him to be much more productive than before.

With StormNET's Rainfall Designer, TERRASAT engineers select their location and the software provides the rainfall for the specified storm frequency, anywhere from one to 100 years, or they can enter their own rainfall amounts. Such refined modeling enhances the accuracy of the firm's completed design.

“Our previous modeling software couldn't accommodate multiple rain gauges,” Cartier said. “We work in an area that spans three miles down slope and rain intensities change so much on the slope that we need those differing gauges to approximate rainfall.”

For a recent hillside project, one of TERRASAT's clients needed to reduce the amount of outflow off the property. Cartier used StormNET to quickly determine the amount of flow that needed to be captured in infiltration trenches.

“We designed the trenches to reduce the surface water overflow off the property to increase groundwater infiltration and recharge down-gradient wetlands,” Cartier said.

If engineers run into any questions or challenges during a project, they can reach real engineers at BOSS for assistance—a benefit that Cartier particularly appreciates. He receives live tech support via phone and online, with an engineer on the other end demonstrating answers on his computer to his specific questions in real time.

“Seeing my problem worked out on the screen in front of me is super powerful and speeds up the process,” he said. “The support is top of the line. They've always got somebody there to help.”

Making the Case with Governments

When stormwater models are complete, engineers can pull the data and images back into AutoCAD or ArcGIS for presentation to clients and government entities. With StormNET's reporting, Cartier pulls up model results and includes these in their engineering report appendices. That helps clients and authorities quickly understand the impact of the proposed development.

“StormNET helps us make our case with the city and state,” Cartier said. “With it, we can arrive at designs that meet their requirements for mitigating the developer's influences on the watershed.”

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