Flood-Con

Beautiful day for an AOS install in Knoxville, TN☀️

Nothing beats blue skies, fresh air, and another site getting ready for smarter stormwater management.

Wishing everyone a great weekend!

Most stormwater infrastructure becomes invisible the moment construction is complete.

We’re changing that.

Our optional trail camera monitoring systems give owners, engineers, and municipalities real-time visual access to their Automated Outlet Structures (AOS) during active storm events — day or night.

That means:
- Live visibility into outlet conditions
- Remote monitoring during severe weather
- Visual verification of system performance
- Added operational awareness when it matters most

Because intelligent infrastructure shouldn’t operate like a black box.

Flood-Con’s automated outlet structures are designed to actively respond to changing storm conditions — and now clients can see that performance in real time.

What if smarter stormwater design could create more buildable value without compromising responsible site development?

On this 35-acre residential subdivision in Odenville, Alabama, Flood-Con’s Automated Outlet Structure helped remove two side detention pond areas from the plan and unlock 8 additional residential lots, while keeping the remaining detention pond in place.

The result:

✅ 2 detention pond areas removed
✅ 8 new buildable lots added
✅ 204 total lots in the final community plan
✅ Smarter controlled outflow for better land use

This is the kind of outcome we’re focused on: helping developers, engineers, and communities use stormwater infrastructure more efficiently while creating more value from every acre.

Real solutions for responsible urban development.

At this time the weather forecast is predicting close to 7” of rain between Wednesday and Thursday. Please be prepared in the Jeff Co and central AL areas. Obviously, conditions may change.

In our last post, we demonstrated how a conventional outlet structure (OCS) delays the peak time and releases more flow on the recession limb of the hydrograph. For this post, we are proving it using a real storm event that occurred on October 6, 2021 in Hoover, AL. According to NOAA Atlas 14 this was a 200yr 3hr event (6.69-inches in 3hrs). FYI- there was over 5-inches of recorded rainfall prior to this event over the previous 24 hours.

The plot is of the overall site's pre-developed hydrograph (in green) and the designed conventional outlet structure release hydrograph with the original detention volume (in black). Notice the delay in the peak flows as well as the extended flow rates on the recession limbs of the hydrograph. The site also has an undetained bypass.

Most hydrology software applications do not allow the engineer to plot the pre-development hydrograph over the post hydrograph. Simply matching the peak rate of the pre-developed hydrograph, in my opinion, is not enough to warrant a comprehensive pre-post analysis.

Watch out for our post next week. We will talk about the capabilities of the Automated Outlet Structure (AOS) and add the AOS release hydrograph for a comparison.

What is Conventional Outlet Structure?

It is a structure consisting of a fixed opening(s) designed to attenuate the peak flow from a watershed at the outlet.

CONVENTIONAL OUTLET STRUCTURE

Typically, conventional outlet structures like the one pictured are used to manage flow of stormwater.

-Flow is proportional to head- increases pond volume to control the flow of stormwater off the property.
-Do not flex to actual storms.
-"Out of sight out of mind"
-Can contribute to downstream erosion, flooding and pollution due to delayed peaks.
-Requires modification or replacement if not installed exactly per plan.

The traditional multi-stage outlet control structures are ineffective in controlling peak flows for the larger overall watershed. The problem is on the RECESSION LIMB of the hydrograph. This is exactly why we created the Automated Outlet Structure (AOS).

Watch out for our next post as we talk more about the Automated Outlet Structure. If you would like to know more about this or have any questions, don’t hesitate to put a comment down below.

What is Stormwater Detention and how effective is it?

Stormwater detention refers to the temporary storage of excess rainwater or stormwater runoff to prevent flooding and control the release of water into the natural environment. It is a crucial component of stormwater management systems designed to mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization on the hydrological cycle.

To address these issues, stormwater detention systems are implemented. They are typically designed to temporarily store and control the release of stormwater runoff in a controlled manner. Detention ponds, basins, underground tanks, and other structures are commonly used for this purpose. When it rains, the excess water is collected and stored in these structures, which gradually release it back into the environment or direct it towards wastewater treatment facilities.

With this being said, I would like to thank the people who attended the last webinar talking about Stormwater Detention. For those who weren’t able to attend the webinar, I would like to put out the reference link here if you would like to catch up with the discussion and know more about stormwater detention.

During this webinar, I talked about the hydrologic changes that take place when an 80-acre sub-basin of a 1.6 sq. mi. rural watershed is developed over time with detention. The webinar focused on the fact that the timing of the peak flow is just as critical as the peak flow itself.

If you would like to know more about this or have any questions, don’t hesitate to put a comment down below. Keep looking out for our new post updates every week.

Click here to watch the recorded webinar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLaOZCErAA0

What is a Stormwater Runoff?

When natural land is replaced with nonporous materials like buildings and asphalt, stormwater runoff increases 80%-100%. This is the primary cause for many of the problems our products solve during construction and post construction of commercial and residential property. During the site design for a property Civil Engineers spec detention or retention ponds to help control the excess stormwater run off. This is to prevent down stream flooding and erosion.

A very special thanks to United Consulting for allowing us to be the guest speaker this past Tuesday. We appreciate you so much!

Webinar: Stormwater Detention: How Effective is It? Live webinar recording from United Consulting featuring Mr. Jon Rasmussen, PE from Flood-Con.Read more about your speakers below :Jon E. Rasmussen, PE: Mr. R...

https://www.wbrc.com/2023/02/25/helena-addressing-flooding-issues-joe-tucker-park/. Honored to be involved in this important project!

Helena addressing flooding issues at Joe Tucker Park Heavy rains in the past have cause major flooding near Joe Tucker Park in Helena, but a fix is on the way along with some upgrades,