HydroCAD® Stormwater Modeling - Since 1986
HydroCAD Supports CULTEC, Inc. Chambers
HydroCAD-10 provides direct support for the full range of plastic stormwater and septic chambers manufactured by CULTEC, Inc, of Brookfield, Connecticut. This partnership allows CULTEC chambers to be easily used within any HydroCAD model for stormwater storage, detention, or infiltration.
HydroCAD includes complete CULTEC chamber definitions, plus an interactive chamber wizard for easy layout, pricing, and modeling of underground storage systems.
How chambers are modeled
In a HydroCAD model, stormwater chambers typically appear as part of the storage definition for a "pond". In the simplest case, HydroCAD simply calculates the available storage for use with other calculations. But more often, it is used to generate a complete inflow or runoff hydrograph and route it through the pond. The resulting analysis indicates the water levels attained throughout the rainfall event, as well as any discharge that may occur through outlet devices or infiltration into the surrounding ground.
Flexible storage options
Each pond may include an unlimited number of storage definitions as required to describe its overall storage characteristics. This makes it easy to model complex storage arrangements, such as a combination of multiple chambers, pipe storage, catch basins, or other contributing volumes.
But the most significant feature is the ability embed (bury) chambers in a bed of crushed stone, and have HydroCAD automatically calculate the combined storage at any water surface elevation. This makes it easy to determine the storage for virtually any configuration of storage chambers, without resorting to any manual calculations.
HydroCAD can also model almost any imaginable storage arrangement, including layered chambers of different sizes combined with auxiliary storage from adjacent pipes and catch basins, and even the above-ground areas (parking lot) that may provide overflow storage for certain events.
Using CULTEC stormwater chambers
Setting up a pond to use CULTEC storage chambers is a simple process: Just pick the desired model(s) from the drop-down list, and specify the number of chambers plus their elevation. HydroCAD supports all CULTEC, Inc. chambers, including all RechargerTM, Contactor®, HVLVTM, and Field DrainTM models.
For chambers in a stone bed, just describe the shape and dimensions of the outer excavation, plus the stone voids, and the composite storage is calculated automatically.
Why are the chamber dimensions different from the manufacturer's data?
Some chamber definition files use the effective dimensions of each chamber. These values include the effects of the corrugated sides, and allow exact calculation of the storage volume at any depth. The effective dimensions may be somewhat less than the overall (outside) dimensions quoted by the manufacturer.
When calculating the volume for multiple chambers in a row, HydroCAD uses the lay-up length, rather than the outside chamber length. This avoids double-counting the volume at the overlap between each successive chamber.
Detailed chamber information
For detailed chamber specifications and design information, please visit the CULTEC, Inc. web site at www.cultec.com
CULTEC, Inc. also publishes a detailed design manual which is available upon request.
For more information about HydroCAD
Please see the following pages for further HydroCAD information:
HydroCAD home page
Chamber images courtesy of CULTEC, Inc.
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