Autodesk
ISG is a nationally recognized, 100% employee-owned, multi-disciplinary architecture, engineering, environmental, and planning firm with a diverse portfolio of water-related work throughout the Midwest US that extends from watershed planning to urban redesign and everything in between. This year, they celebrate their 50th year in business.
After being diligent users of XPSWMM for many years, they were ready to transition to InfoWorks ICM. They wanted some help moving those projects from XPSWMM to InfoWorks ICM, but they were excited to learn about helpful tools inside InfoWorks ICM that would make that task easier.
Solving the thorny problem of missing data
When creating modeling projects with survey data, particularly if using older software that wasn’t designed for integrations that feed it large amounts of live data, there can be a lot of missing data or connectivity issues between the manholes and pipes in a survey that prevent modelers from utilizing all of the potential of digitalization.
Simply put, in the past, if ISG didn’t capture all pertinent information at the time of data collection, it could be very time consuming to go through hundreds (if not thousands) of nodes and conduits later and make those connections. If you did create a model without capturing all that data and then decided that you wanted to transfer your model to, for example, a contracted surveyor, you’d have a difficult choice to make: give them what you have, as imperfect as it may be, or spend a lot of time preparing the file for them.
These inaccuracies and inefficiencies were occurring all too often with ISG’s previous software tool, XPSWMM, which does not have multi-user functionality or the ability to auto-update links and nodes. “Unlike XPSWMM, InfoWorks ICM automatically connects links and the nodes, regardless of whether the initial data was connected and without needing to add upstream and downstream node IDs to the link data,” says Autodesk Systems Engineer Ryan Brown. “Therefore, ISG could spend less time editing the data before and after importing it into the model.”
The fork in the road when making a software switch
When making the transition from software you’ve been using for a long time to a next-generation software that you’ve never fully used before, you essentially have two choices:
- Make a clean and confident break and stop working in the old software entirely, which may include rebuilding your models from scratch in the newer software
- Keep working in both by taking advantage of import and export tools, until you eventually feel that you are ready to discard the older software
“This is a choice each customer has to make for themselves, but there could be important reasons why they need to maintain those older models,” explains Brown. “For FEMA compliance, for example.”
So while not everyone is ready to make a clean break, one thing that can make the decision easier when moving from XPSWMM to InfoWorks ICM is the latter’s ability to support SQL scripting to help you find and replace missing values. It also has built-in inferencing tools that can help you fill data gaps and populate information automatically, as well as tools to help check your work, mitigating risk caused by simple human error in data entry or the importing of incorrect information.
The power of SQL scripting
For some of their models, the data ISG was working with indeed had missing values. They knew they had to make some assumptions, but being able to write SQL queries saved them a lot of time in applying those assumptions.
With some advice from Autodesk, they were able to customize their SQL queries to be very effective, even developing a few very useful custom queries they can use again and again for things like specifying a slope and recomputing the upstream or downstream invert, matching an upstream pipe’s crown, setting the pipe slope equal to the ground slope, or setting a culvert invert equal to the ground elevation.
Terrain sensitive meshing: smarter, more efficient
Upgrading to a next-generation app always promises more efficiency and productivity, and in this case, the simple fact that InfoWorks ICM supports terrain-sensitive meshing made a big difference, helping ISG save time without sacrificing quality.
“XPSWMM used a fixed grid, which means all the cells are the same exact size,” explains Brown. “This is an inefficient way of treating steep vs flat terrain, which does not need as much resolution as curbs or a steep road ditch. Ultimately, this one-size-fits-all approach leads to longer model runtimes.” Upgrading to InfoWorks ICM meant ISG no longer had to think about limiting their design to accomplish speed gains when outputting their models.
“Switching to InfoWorks ICM should speed up their model runtimes significantly – much more so if they take advantage of the included cloud simulation functionality that we recently added,” says Brown.
Handy data flagging
The data-flagging functionality in InfoWorks ICM has proved invaluable for ISG. “Data flags in InfoWorks ICM are often used to help others quickly understand the source of a particular piece of data,” says Brown. For example, you might flag data as inferred or perhaps as data that came directly from a specific GIS survey. “One way ISG used data flagging when writing SQL queries was to include an expression that changes the flag of the updated values to “Q,” so they always know that those values resulted from a query – and were assumed.”
“You can also use data flags as a convenient way to see which other users in your organization have edited data,” says Brown. “At the end of the project, if they wish, ISG now has the ability to provide a client with a complete database that flags all the sources of their data.”
What a difference undo makes
“It’s incredible how vital an undo button can be when managing complex data,” says Brown. “Believe it or not, InfoWorks ICM is one of the few pieces of hydrology and hydraulic modeling software that has undo functionality.” This undo functionality, as simple as it may seem, becomes even more powerful in a collaborative Workgroup Database environment that includes version control, validation, and conflict resolution tools. If two people input different values in a specific location, the software will point that out to you.
Upgraded and ready for high-level decision-making
The transition to Infoworks ICM has allowed ISG to shift its focus from time-consuming, manual model building and data entry, to putting their energy into the more high-level and substantial work of interpreting the results of their models, so they can make clear and decisive engineering decisions.
Want to upgrades from XPSWMM > InfoWorks ICM?
Now is a great time to upgrade. Starting May 7, 2023, you can convert your XPSWMM licenses with InfoCare agreements at a discounted price and start working in InfoWorks ICM. Read more about the InfoCare to Subscription (I2S) program.