Providing the City of Calgary with preliminary designs and recommendations for flood protection of the MNP Centre
On June 21, 2013, the Elbow River overtopped its banks, causing C$15 million worth of damages to the MNP Centre located within the floodplain. After this event the City of Calgary selected our team to assess future flood risks to the facility, develop designs to mitigate them, and perform a cost-benefit analysis.
We assessed three different modes of potential flood risk: overland flooding, stormwater backup, and groundwater infiltration. For each of these modes, we used various methods to identify and quantify the risks to the facility, including hydraulic modeling, topographic surveys, system drawings, and 3D modeling. Following these assessments, our team developed flood mitigation design solutions for the facility. These mitigation options considered planned and potential upstream mitigations, building lifespan, flood probability, and additional considerations such as buoyancy risk. We then estimated annual damage curves for each flood scenario and assessed potential damage costs.
The final report compared the costs of various design mitigations with the benefits of protecting the MNP Centre from future flooding, allowing the City to make informed decisions as they moved forward in their process.
At a Glance
- Offices
- Client
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- City of Calgary
James Bigelow, Associate, Senior Hydrotechnical Engineer
As people, we are naturally connected to water—it’s our duty to design with both the natural habitat and community resiliency in mind.
Matt Wood, Principal
I help build flood resilient communities by restoring rivers and riparian areas, designing riverine infrastructure, and flood mitigations.
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