MWH Soft FloodWorks Predicts Egypt Flash Flooding

17 March 2010, 7:08pm

Broomfield, Colorado USA, March 17, 2010 — MWH Soft, a leading global innovator of wet infrastructure modeling and simulation software and technologies, today announced the successful implementation of its FloodWorks software in a 3900 mi2 (10,000 km2) pilot area around Nuweiba, Egypt. The system was used to successfully predict flooding in the region in February 2010, the worst flash flooding event in Egypt since 1994. The implementation is the latest expression of MWH Soft’s industry-leading commitment to creating groundbreaking software tools for real time hydraulic and hydrologic modeling.

Nuweiba, on the southeastern portion of the Sinai Peninsula, is located on a floodplain sandwiched between the Gulf of Aquaba and the Sinai Mountains. Although the peninsula suffers from frequent water shortages, it is subject to flash floods that result in loss of life, hamper regional development, and greatly contribute to soil erosion and pollution. The February 2010 flooding resulted in significant damage and seven deaths. In the pilot area running MWH Soft FloodWorks, no casualties were reported.

FloodWorks is a modular software package for real-time simulation and forecasting of extreme hydrological and hydraulic conditions within river basins, drainage systems and coastal zones. Linking real-time hydrological and meteorological time-series data sources with detailed and accurate hydraulic models, it forecasts water level, flood depth and sea state for the hours or days ahead. Designed for operational use in the control room, FloodWorks is particularly suited to real time flood forecasting, warning and management of river catchments and coastal areas. Critical to the program is its ability to aggregate multiple sources of dynamic input data and automatically validate them in real time. This capability, combined with the flexibility to work with InfoWorks RS, InfoWorks CS, InfoWorks ICM, InfoSWMM, H2OMAP SWMM, and other non-MWH Soft hydrologic and hydraulic simulation models, makes FloodWorks both easy to implement and highly accurate.

By enabling managers and engineers to carry out fast, accurate simulation of the future behavior of river and channel systems, FloodWorks supports the mobilization of emergency responses and the issuance of public flood warnings. It can also be used to support reservoir and dam operations, predict low flow episodes, and generate real-time water quality predictions and warnings.

“MWH Soft is committed to providing the best wet infrastructure technology for building a better world,” said Andrew Brown, the company’s EMEA Regional Manager. “Real time modeling and forecasting involves some of our most advanced technology. It has the potential to not only dramatically improve emergency response to flooding events, but save lives.

“For computer-modeled flood forecasting to be useful, it must be both extremely accurate and very fast. As shown during the Egypt flooding, FloodWorks clearly meets these criteria. We look forward to offering the FloodWorks product line to governments throughout the world seeking better ways to alert their flood managers, citizens, and first responders; mobilize temporary flood control devices; and most importantly, prevent loss of life.”

MWH Soft

Geo: International