Blackwell Group, LLC
Gainesville, Virginia
Project Background and Modeling Pain Points
The Blackwell Group is a multidisciplinary engineering firm located in Virginia that performs work in the residential, commercial, and government sectors. Stormwater design and site grading are just a few of the many services that Blackwell Group offers. In a typical stormwater project, the Blackwell Group designs a grading plan for a proposed redevelopment or new development. While creating the grading plan, they evaluate stormwater impacts of both pre- and post-development by performing hydrologic studies for the 2-, 10-, and 100-year storm events.
As local and state codes have rapidly changed over the years, the Blackwell Group found the need to move away from their antiquated Excel solution and into a more accurate modeling platform. Recently, Yusef Abughannam, Lead Civil Engineer at Blackwell Group, and his team started to explore stormwater modeling solutions that could meet the demands of the evolving stormwater and drainage codes. While their Excel solution functioned, it was rather slow and incredibly conservative, as it solely used the rational method for computation. They wanted to branch into using key factors for computation, such as the TR method. In addition to computing power, Yusef and his team prioritized the ability to display high quality, easy-to-read graphs, profiles, and outputs.
Solution
The Blackwell Group set out to find a program that would not only answer key stormwater questions from municipalities, but also provide a more accurate evaluation of both pre- and post-development conditions.
While exploring the market, Yusef and his team scheduled a demonstration with Bentley to see the OpenFlows CivilStorm solution. During this demonstration, Bentley’s experts highlighted the depth and span of CivilStorm’s modeling power. They focused on the wide variety of stormwater components that can be modeled within the software – from pipes to ponds and more. The Blackwell Group was also able to see the quick, user-friendly interface of the software. The most exciting aspect of the demonstration for Yusef and his team was the ability to quickly generate effective, customizable reports for project submission. The Blackwell Group discovered that CivilStorm was able to perfectly fit their needs.
They also recognized that the Virtuosity subscription of CivilStorm that they were considering would come bundled with training “Keys.” These Keys could prove to flatten his team’s learning curves as they can be redeemed for expert services and tailored training, making the transition to CivilStorm seamless.
Overall, the Blackwell Group saw CivilStorm as a way to get faster, more accurate outputs in fewer review cycles to help drive business.
Outcome
After carefully considering all their options, Yusef decided that a Virtuosity subscription of CivilStorm was the right solution for his team. It was an easy decision for Yusef after realizing that the software was able to meet the demands of the state and local codes while also having a user-friendly interface that his team could readily dive into.
To further help with learning and quickly adapting to the new software, the Blackwell Group has already used some of their Keys that came included with the training – tapping into Virtuosity’s incredibly supportive and thorough team of experts who provide personalized training.
Blackwell Group wanted a stormwater solution to allow for more accurate and efficient modeling with streamlined report outputs. CivilStorm helped them achieve this goal.
Software
The Blackwell Group uses OpenFlows CivilStorm for efficient and effective stormwater modeling projects.
Facts
- Blackwell Group plans to continue to redeem “Keys” for project-specific training on OpenFlows CivilStorm with a software and engineering expert
- Virtuosity engineers were able to help Blackwell Group with their software purchase, providing information and demonstrations along the way
- Blackwell Group engineers were easily able to learn CivilStorm and have had a positive experience with the software
- Blackwell Group engineers are working more efficiently and accurately thanks to their CivilStorm purchase
- Blackwell Group has been able to meet the needs of their clients by using the CivilStorm solution for their stormwater projects
