(PRWEB) July 30, 2015 -- By: Lacey Bodnar and Chris Shannon
The demand for new homes is increasing as Houston’s economy continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Locations next to a creek, stream, or lake are attractive sites, as access to water provides many recreational and enjoyment opportunities. However, these days it’s nearly impossible to find land that does not contain a floodplain within its boundaries. GIS is utilized to facilitate safe and cost-effective development on lands encumbered by flood hazard risks, allowing for safe and sustainable growth in our region.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and local governments are responsible for regulation of floodplains in the U.S. In the due diligence phase of development, engineers can use GIS to analyze the current floodplain, natural ground elevations, and other datasets to determine the maximum amount of developable land that can be removed from the floodplain while meeting all the requirements of the regulatory agencies. The main solution computed from this analysis is the volume of earthwork that needs to be moved to prepare the land for development. This, in turn, provides an estimate of construction cost.
Generally, a portion of land can be removed from the floodplain if the land is filled to an elevation that is above the regulatory 100-year water surface elevation (WSEL). The volume of fill placed is computed as the difference between the 100-year WSEL and natural ground. Additionally, this fill volume must be removed from elsewhere within the floodplain to compensate for flood storage volume lost due to development. This is called floodplain fill mitigation. GIS’s spatial analyst and 3D analyst tool sets are utilized to create a visual picture of the floodplain depths to aid in identifying areas that can be economically reclaimed from the floodplain.
Read more: http://www.costelloinc.com/blog
Scott Steiner, On Target Agency, +1 (281) 444-4777, [email protected]
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