Kleinschmidt Releases McBreach© Software to Assist Dam Owners With Safety Planning

PITTSFIELD, Maine, July 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kleinschmidt is pleased to announce that its proprietary software McBreach^© has been released as a free download on the company's website. This software was developed by Kleinschmidt's Chris Goodell, principal consultant, hydraulics and hydrology, to address the uncertainty of flooding outcomes and improve decision-making capabilities at the emergency planning level.

"McBreach takes dam breach modeling and analysis to the next level. By complementing the traditional deterministic dam breach methods, McBreach's probabilistic approach provides a more meaningful and more genuine way to communicate the potential effects from a dam or levee breach," says Goodell.

The McBreach^© program works seamlessly with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) modeling software HEC-RAS, utilizing the Monte Carlo Method to run thousands of dam breach simulations and produce a statistical distribution of possible dam breach outflow rates. McBreach^© offers techniques to reduce the Monte Carlo simulation from weeks or longer to an overnight exercise. Future versions of McBreach^© will include parallelization, which can further reduce simulation times to as little as 30 minutes for up to 10,000 simulations.

Utilizing these methods, areas with the highest risk of flooding could be prioritized for evacuation and routes created that allow for organized traffic management, which will result in increased public safety and saving lives during critical situations. McBreach^© allows dam owners to effectively include dam breach modeling and safety into their overall risk management strategy by computing probabilities of flooding from a dam breach event. Getting McBreach^© into the hands of experienced hydraulic modeling professionals will advance both the level of preparedness and decision-making capability of dam owners across the United States, which is why the software is being made available at no cost.

"Kleinschmidt is committed to not only the safety concerns of our clients but also of the public. We provided this software at no cost and want to get it in the hands of dam owners, regulatory agencies and consultants to help advance the state of practice in risk-informed decision making," says Jon Christensen, CEO of Kleinschmidt. "This will ultimately lead to better decision-making about critical flow events and improved Emergency Action Plans to protect all citizens as we see more extreme weather events."

About Kleinschmidt
Kleinschmidt Associates performs engineering, regulatory and environmental consulting for North American ener­gy companies and governmental agencies that strive to protect and enhance the natural environment without compromising performance. We work at the intersection of regulatory requirements, environmental science and engineering solutions to achieve our clients' objectives.

For over half a century, Kleinschmidt has continually delivered new ideas that offer practical solutions to tough problems and sensitive issues. Our goal is to bring energy, water and the environment into balance so future generations will thrive. For more information, visit www.kleinschmidtgroup.com.

Media Contact: GinaRenee Autrey, Kleinschmidt Associates
803.395.0483 / [email protected]

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