RAB uses Hydraulic Modelling to support Flood Risk Assessment for Scottish Housing Development

The team at RAB have recently completed a project for a client who required a Flood Risk Assessment to support a planning application for a housing development in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

The site in Dunoon was on existing greenfield land, with a small un-named watercourse adjacent to the north. The small size of the watercourse meant it had not previously been modelled by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The client therefore required a Flood Risk Assessment to support their planning application for the development of four residential dwellings.

The Flood Risk Assessment involved hydraulic modelling of the existing drainage infrastructure and surface water network. MicroDrainage Network was used to investigate the surface water and fluvial flood risk to the site (this was challenging given the steepness of the channel).

In-line with SEPA requirements, the minimum finished floor level (of each dwelling) was recommended to be at least 600mm above the peak flood level for the 0.5% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) plus climate change event. As agreed with the client, this level was achievable and therefore no resistance or resilience measures were considered necessary.

The work undertaken by the RAB team was both essential to the planning application and project, as noted by the client:

“Rebecca and the team at RAB were very easy to deal with and provided high quality, detailed information that our designers were able to understand and utilise with ease. They were also able to react quickly to feedback from the council and run additional simulations within a tight deadline. We would be very happy to use RAB’s services again for any Flood Risk Assessment.”

Further information about RAB, our services, and some example case studies are available via the navigation links at the top of this page. Or you can contact us directly via: enquiries@rabconsultants.co.uk or at our head office in Lichfield on 01543 547303.