Capability | Hydrotec & Engineering Consultants

River and Coastal Engineering

River and Coastal engineering are widely applied in the Civil and Water Resources sectors; and their applications in human life, ecosystems and socio-economic developments have had a very significant impact on regional and national policy-making decisions. Until the 1990s most of the engineering projects in the river and coastal areas have been assessed generally by physical models and analytical solutions. Those methods are time-consuming and expensive though some geometrical complexities could be assessed more accurately. After the availability of the personal computer - mathematical models have become very popular, particularly in the early 21st century. As a result of this, commercial modelling tools have been developed in Windows-based systems in order to assess river and coastal flow processes; therefore, any practical engineering problems could be analysed quickly and efficiently even on large spatial and temporal scales. However, the basic theories of fluid flows are still the backbone for sustainable, efficient and eco-friendly engineering designs.

Hydrotec & Engineering Consultants uses the industry-standard modelling packages (1D and 2D) for the fluvial, pluvial and coastal flood risk assessment, drainage strategy, flood mitigation, flood alleviation, project appraisal study, flood forecasting, flood mapping outlines, surface water management plans, wave overtopping and morphology:

River and Coastal modelling: 1D-2D Flood Modeller, Estry-TuFlow, MIKE 11, DuFlow and EurOtop.

Hydrology: FEH (Flood Estimation Handbook), ReFH2.3 (Revitalised Flood Hydrograph) and NAM model.

Flood risk assessment: NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework), TAN15 (Technical Advice Note 15) and

SPP (Scottish Planning Policy).

Morphology: MIKE 21.

GIS software: MapInfo, ArcGIS, QGIS, LiDAR, OS Master Map,

SMS (Surface Water Modelling Systems).

Water Quality Modelling

Water quality in our ecosystems is important not only for good environmental conditions but also for the preservation of aquatic species from extinction due to pollution. Human beings and aquatic life are closely interconnected with each other, and one system can affect the other adversely if not properly maintained the eco-system. Modern urbanisation and industrialisation including the use of pesticides and fertiliser in agriculture generate pollution in our ecosystems. These pollutants could be transported and mixed into the surface water and groundwater systems in various ways. Therefore, without proper regulations and mitigations, the whole ecosystem would be affected adversely in many ways - such as economic, social, ecological and biological impacts etc. Water quality modelling is one of the important methods to assess and quantify the different water quality constituents which would assist in the better management of our aquatic and ecological systems.

Hydrotec & Engineering Consultants has extensive experience in water quality modelling from inception to the project deliverable. We use industry-standard tools such as MIKE 11, DuFlow and Flood Modeller.

Urban Drainage

Flood risk assessment of the wastewater and surface water of the urban drainage systems has become standard policy for planning developments, including upgrading existing drainage networks. Computer models with GIS applications could assist the drainage capacity assessment efficiently and accurately for complex and extended urban drainage network systems. The drainage network model uses many hydraulic, hydrology, land-use and numerical parameters which would have strong effects on the simulated outputs. In some cases, the user-defined parameters are so dominant that the basic governing equations of water flows and mass balance may become less effective. Therefore, the outcome of a model is highly dependent on the representation of the drainage network systems.

Hydrotec & Engineering Consultants uses the advanced InfoWorks ICM model to assess drainage capacity and the flood risk of the urban drainage systems. Our services provide new model development and also the extension of the existing models to assess the drainage capacity and to provide sustainable solutions for urban drainage systems.

Structural Design and Geotechnical Engineering

Hydrotec & Engineering Consultants provides specialist consultancy services for the structural engineering design (concrete, steel and masonry) of buildings including the enhancement of the structures. We also provide the assessment and design for geotechnical engineering.

Research and Development

Hydrotec & Engineering Consultants conducts research and development mainly numerical modelling in hydraulics, sediment transport and water quality of the surface water for a better understanding of the physics of flows. The preferred research tools are open source codes, mainly FORTRAN and MATLAB programming, and other sophisticated computational software, such as Delft 3D.