Although it's been eight years since HydroCAD-10 was released, we haven't been
standing still! In that time we've released 25 new builds, each one adding
new features and capabilities to the foundation provided by version 10.
These incremental updates have allowed us to keep pace with the latest rainfall
data and new stormwater storage products (chambers), while adding dozens of new
software features. If you haven't noticed the changes that's probably a
good thing! It means we're keeping up with the latest H&H developments
without disrupting your work flow, while ensuring consistent results from one
build to the next.
In some ways HydroCAD 10.1 is just another build. The user interface is
the same. All your previous files will work exactly as before, giving the
exact same results. But we've added so many new features in this "build"
that it really deserves a new version number. The version change also
acknowledges the hundreds of changes that have occurred over the past eight
years since HydroCAD-10 was originally released, plus the many new changes
developed just for HydroCAD 10.1.
Even if you've been keeping current with each new build, there's still plenty to
like about HydroCAD-10.1:
Multi-level undo capability: Select "Undo" from the menu (or just
press Ctrl-Z) to see a complete history of changes for the current
project. The undo history allows you to reverse the most common
project changes including node editing, node deletion, moving a node,
rerouting a node, or renumbering a node. You can easily roll-back the
changes in the order they occurred, or pick and choose what you want to undo.
And each time you undo an action, a corresponding "redo' item is automatically
added to the list, allowing you to move back and forth between different
points in time. You can also press
Ctrl-Alt-Z on the main screen to immediately undo the most recent change,
or press Ctrl-Alt-R to redo the last undo!
New rainfall and runoff capabilities: Now you can specify a
different unit hydrograph for each subcatchment, or continue to use the
project-wide setting you've used before. We've also added the ability to
trim rainfall distributions to a shorter
duration, making it possible to extract a shorter duration event from any of
the commonly-used nested storms. Modeling of observed rainfall events
has also been enhanced by the ability to define a custom rainfall distribution at an
uneven time step, rather than the fixed time interval previously
required.
Expanded Tc procedures:
Kerby and Kirpich procedures added in release 5a. Sheet flow length by
McCuen-Spiess procedure added in release 6a.
Support for new stormwater storage products: The HydroCAD
chamber library has been expanded with
support for the StormTech MC-7200, Xerxes fiberglass tanks, and the
Pontarola Cupolex concrete forming system. Our
chamber support has come a long way since we started modeling Cultec products
in HydroCAD-7, and there are always new products in the pipeline which will
be added to HydroCAD 10.1 by way of a semi-annual update. Since the
latest chamber definitions also involve significant changes to the internal
software, they will not work with earlier versions of HydroCAD, and we will no
longer be providing support for additional chambers for HydroCAD-10.
This means that you must update to HydroCAD 10.1 in order to get support for
the latest chamber products.
Channel outlet on a pond: Now you can use a reach as a pond outlet,
with the stage-discharge data from the reach being automatically transferred
back into the pond! This often-requested feature eliminates the need to
manually re-enter the channel rating curve into a special outlet device.
Just set the pond to "Channel Outlet", route the outflow to the reach, and
you're done!
Flow through rock-fill:
Starting with HydroCAD 10.1-7a you can use rock fill as a pond outlet device,
with full evaluation of headwater and tailwater conditions.
Sloped grate and orifice flow: Flow through an orifice or
grate is no longer limited to horizontal or vertical orientations. Now
you can set the angle of the opening (in degrees), and HydroCAD will
automatically evaluate weir flow around the perimeter, including the level and
sloped sides of the opening. And as the head increases, the device will
automatically transition to orifice flow. The updated orifice/grate screen
also provides a dynamic outlet display, which is especially useful when
configuring multiple openings or grates, as shown at the right.
Delayed outlet controls: With the growing use of automated
pond outlet controls, we've added a "delayed
weir/valve" outlet which can be used to model products such as the
SmartPond rotary weir. Commonly used to
provide batch detention, these systems can provide much better
performance and storage efficiency than traditional static outlet controls.
Flow-Match outlet: A new
category of automated outlet controlled, designed to produce a specific
outflow hydrograph, such as the pre-development site runoff.
Details here.
Automatic pond
overflow: If the pond storage is exceeded, automatically discharge the
excess to the designated outflow. This
eliminates the need to setup an overflow device along with the associated
temporary storage.
Automatic starting elevation:
When this option is selected, the pond's initial water surface elevation is
automatically set to match the invert of the outlet device(s) or tailwater,
whichever is higher. This makes it easier to model "wet ponds", ensuring
that the starting elevation exactly matches the outlet and/or tailwater
conditions. (Added in release 5a)
Automatic reach
overflow: Just click "divert overflow' and any inflow exceeding the
bank-full capacity will be diverted to the secondary outflow. This
eliminates the need to setup a link to implement the flow threshold.
Enhanced link calculations: In addition to splitting a hydrograph
based on flow rate, a link can now be used to divert a specified volume.
You also have the option to split a hydrograph at a specified start and/or end
time.
Numerous report enhancements including reach flow width (gutter
spread), Tc segment overflow warning, and additional stage-discharge reporting
for outlet devices with hysteresis. There's also a new event listing
that shows all the rainfall settings on a single page, plus a printed
table-and-contents for each of your reports. Best of all, the report
generator can now produce a multi-event summary for each node, making
it easy to compare results under different rainfall conditions. We've also
added named report settings in HydroCAD 10.1-6a.
Watershed data import now
supports AutoCAD 2008-2022. (Support for
2022 was added in HydroCAD 10.1-6a)
HydroCAD 10.1
is here!
So what has changed?