OpenFlows CulvertMaster
Culvert hydraulic analysis and design software
Calculate, analyze and design
For simple culverts with known characteristics, this simulation type allows you to plug in the data and solve for what you need. Its worksheet style dialog requires the minimum amount of descriptive input information to solve for discharge, headwater elevation, or culvert size. For more complex systems with multiple barrels, different shapes and sizes, special tailwater considerations, and roadway overtopping, you can use simulation types to verify the hydraulic performance of existing culverts. Easily analyze complex situations such as main-stream culverts working in combination with relief culverts in overbank areas and perform road overtopping analysis of existing culverts or new designs. Additionally, you can supplement existing culvert structures to correct inadequate capacities resulting from urbanizing watersheds or undersized crossdrain conditions.
Compare culvert options
You can incorporate design trials into complex hydraulic analyses, and evaluate the results. In the design mode, you would create individual culvert trials and solve for size of a culvert of a specified shape, material, and roughness to pass the design discharge under design elevation headwater conditions, discharge for a specific culvert under design elevation headwater, or headwater elevation for a specific culvert under design discharge conditions.
“Foth analyzed flood elevations for the stream realignment using FlowMaster and CulvertMaster and applied LEAP Bridge for the structural design and analysis of the bridge. The interoperability of Bentley tools resulted in a comprehensive 3D rendering of the entire project.”
Technical Capabilities
Interface, Editing, and Model Management
- Built-in interactive tutorials
- Worksheet list (for convenient display of projects’ content)
- Project setup wizard
- Engineering libraries (materials, section sizes, and culvert inlets)
- Rainfall data specified using a rainfall table or a rainfall equation
- Global engineering – units management
- Support for ProjectWise
Hydraulics and Hydrology
CulvertMaster computations use the widely accepted US Federal Highway Administration’s Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts (HDS-5) methodologies, allowing you to solve for whatever hydraulic variables you don’t know, such as culvert size, peak discharge, and headwater elevation.
Flow calculations handle pressure and varied flow situations such as backwater and drawdown curves. Design discharge can be calculated using either the Rational or SCS peak discharge method. Rainfall information is calculated using rainfall tables, equations, or the National Weather Services’ Hydro-35 data. CulvertMaster also plots Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves from rainfall data. You can reuse this data for all projects in that region.
Hydraulics
- HDS-5 methodology
- Pressure or partial (free surface) flow conditions
- Gradually varied flow algorithm
- Flow profile methods: drawdown and backwater analysis
- Culvert section shapes: box, circular, arch, horizontal and vertical ellipse
- Outlet channel sections: rectangular, triangular, trapezoidal and irregular shapes
- Roadway or broad-crested weir (to check overtopping conditions)
Hydrology
- Watershed area calculation: calculation of total area and weighted runoff coefficient, based on an unlimited number of watershed sub-areas and corresponding runoff coefficients entered
- Peak flow method: Rational Method, SCS Graphical Peak Method, user-defined peak flow rate
- Rainfall data input: Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) equations, IDF tables, Hydro-35
Results Presentation
- Summarized and detailed reports of inputs and outputs
- Rating tables
- Performance curves (single or multiple elements)
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Best-selling Water Resources Textbook
Computer Applications in Hydraulic Engineering
This fully updated 9th edition textbook is available for download! Ideal for engineers and students in hydraulics and hydrology, offering theory and real-world applications with problem-solving and modeling exercises featuring OpenFlows WaterGEMS, HAMMER, SewerGEMS, SewerCAD, PondPack, StormCAD, FlowMaster and CulvertMaster.
