The other day, our professor asked us to visit this Corporation Office near our allotted site. We are designing a school on that site as a part of our design project. He asked us to check what the flood line of the site is. Can anyone explain what is meant by flood line of the site? Thanks!
It likely refers to a geodetic elevation that is considered safe for typical construction based on specific flooding event forecasts. For example, the first floor may have to be designed to be above the predicted elevation of a 25, 50, or even 100 year flood.
Your city permit office will know this, but you may have spoken to the wrong person or department. If your instructor is asking you to find out this information, I guarantee that there's a simple answer.
Out of this latest flood, I did learn something I didn't know. It's not designing for a storm that occurs once every hundred years. It is instead meaning there is a 1 in 100 chance that there will be a storm during the year which will have that level of rain.
Not sure of the country you're in. In the US, the proper terms are Floodway and Flood Plain. Both are very google-able.
Aug 28, 17 9:50 am ·
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saizufmafan
I'm from India. Our professor did not make an effort to explain what a flood line means. He asked us to find out. I did go to the municipal office and find out what it is, and even they're asking me what it means. I just said that it's the height till which the water reaches when the site gets flooded. Correct me if I am wrong please.
Just like your other 2 questions on this forum, why do you not make an effort and either ask your professor for clarification, or, if that's too difficult, hit up a library. Even a pedestrian level googling should get you where you need to be... and unless you're studying in some remote 3rd world hole, there is likely 100-year flood type GIS information available, for free, from the municipality/city.
Aug 28, 17 10:00 am ·
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saizufmafan
Thank you for your wonderful reply. Yes, I indeed am making efforts to ask every single thing. It's just that our professors are not at all direct. They want us to find out stuff. Even the municipal office asked me what it is. I'd really appreciate if you help me with this question.
Welcome to the real world. No one is going to give you answers.
Aug 29, 17 2:36 pm ·
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sameolddoctor
Fuck off Non Sequitur, I can imagine you as a middle aged mid-level architect in a firm that is going nowhere with his/her life. Just because people treat you like shit doesn't mean you do the same.
Aug 30, 17 8:55 pm ·
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Non Sequitur
Hey Dr. Asshole, I'm no where near middle-age and doing just dandy. \
Aug 30, 17 10:44 pm ·
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saizufmafan
@Josh Mings, it is funny enough to see your comment after seeing so many answers to this question. If you want to help a guy, then please do, otherwise keep your arrogant comments to yourself.
If arrogant means letting you know that you'll need to look up these things for yourself when entering the workforce, then yes call me King Joffrey.
Sep 3, 17 3:39 pm ·
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saizufmafan
That didn't seem like 'letting me know about looking up stuff'. I very well know to look up stuff. It is just that I had insufficient information and there is nothing like an architect's word itself which gives a solution to something. I do get that it's a Game of Thrones reference but then sorry, I don't watch it. The workforce should also consist of people helpful enough, I don't think that every person in a firm will not go without helping anyone regarding standards as such. Thank you so much for your kind words.
Correct me if I am wrong, but then I think it means the height till which the water reaches when the site is flooded?
Aug 28, 17 10:34 am ·
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Non Sequitur
No. It's likely the high-water mark in a 100-year flood cycle... aka worst case scenario. Could also be seasonal high water mark if you're in a country where 100-year planning is not common.
Aug 28, 17 10:40 am ·
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saizufmafan
Oh, okay, thank you so much. Since our site is located near a water body, the corporation office did say that the worst case scenario was it reaching a height of 10 feet. Thanks a lot once again.
Hello, I just noticed that your answers don't even relate to the context of the question itself. If you want to help me out (or anyone else for that matter), then please do. I seriously asked for help here and did not fool around by asking this question. Answers like this make me feel very bad that asking questions in an Architecture forum invites such nonsense responses.
Designing for floodable areas requires special care.
One way to protect your building is to put the occupiable areas above the flood design elevation. In the US, a federal agency called FEMA establishes the maximum height of a 100-year flood. The occupiable floors at least 1 foot above this elevation are not considered floodable.
Any floors or parts of the building below this elevation need to be protected by wet floodproofing or dry floodproofing. Wet floodproofing means you put functions that are not affected or minimally affected by flooding. You let water in to avoid structural collapse due to the hydrostatic pressure. These areas get wet, then they dry up.
Dry floodproofing involves gates and other devices to keep the water out during a flood event. These can be boards or automatically deployable features to keep the water out. They need to be strong enough to resist the hydrostatic pressure. The walls around dry floodproofed areas also need to be strong enough to support the volume of water on the outside while the inside is dry.
It likely refers to a geodetic elevation that is considered safe for typical construction based on specific flooding event forecasts. For example, the first floor may have to be designed to be above the predicted elevation of a 25, 50, or even 100 year flood.
Your city permit office will know this, but you may have spoken to the wrong person or department. If your instructor is asking you to find out this information, I guarantee that there's a simple answer.
Aug 29, 17 12:44 am ·
·
saizufmafan
I see. Thanks for your inputs. Yeah, I might have spoken to the wrong person, I consulted the officials there but then they redirected me to the said person. I might try asking some other official about it. Thank you so much once again.
A 100 year flood line, it seems so short...in the Netherlands the coastal defence system against flooding is designed with an allowable once per 10.000 years occurance of flooding.
Aug 29, 17 2:56 am ·
·
Featured Comment
mightyaa
Out of this latest flood, I did learn something I didn't know. It's not designing for a storm that occurs once every hundred years. It is instead meaning there is a 1 in 100 chance that there will be a storm during the year which will have that level of rain.
Aug 30, 17 5:12 pm ·
·
randomised
That's right. Once per hundred years means every year a 1 in 100 chance. That's really quite substantial. Curious what insurance companies will do with their premiums, I thought after Sandy they refused to (re?)insure some properties in the New York area.
Aug 31, 17 6:46 am ·
·
saizufmafan
Thank you guys. Your inputs were
really helpful, thanks a lot once again.
A 100-year flood zone is a bit of a misnomer; it's the "area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year." (https://www.fema.gov/flood-zon...). I've never heard the term "flood line" used; the question is are you in a flood zone, and if so, what type of flood zone. Hopefully not a V-zone.
Edit: I see mightyaa beat me to the definition. I'll keep mine up since the link might be helpful.
Aug 30, 17 5:46 pm ·
·
saizufmafan
Thank you so much for helping.
Sep 3, 17 4:14 am ·
·
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What is meant by flood line?
Hi
The other day, our professor asked us to visit this Corporation Office near our allotted site. We are designing a school on that site as a part of our design project. He asked us to check what the flood line of the site is. Can anyone explain what is meant by flood line of the site? Thanks!
2 Featured Comments
It likely refers to a geodetic elevation that is considered safe for typical construction based on specific flooding event forecasts. For example, the first floor may have to be designed to be above the predicted elevation of a 25, 50, or even 100 year flood.
Your city permit office will know this, but you may have spoken to the wrong person or department. If your instructor is asking you to find out this information, I guarantee that there's a simple answer.
Out of this latest flood, I did learn something I didn't know. It's not designing for a storm that occurs once every hundred years. It is instead meaning there is a 1 in 100 chance that there will be a storm during the year which will have that level of rain.
All 10 Comments
Not sure of the country you're in. In the US, the proper terms are Floodway and Flood Plain. Both are very google-able.
I'm from India. Our professor did not make an effort to explain what a flood line means. He asked us to find out. I did go to the municipal office and find out what it is, and even they're asking me what it means. I just said that it's the height till which the water reaches when the site gets flooded. Correct me if I am wrong please.
Just like your other 2 questions on this forum, why do you not make an effort and either ask your professor for clarification, or, if that's too difficult, hit up a library. Even a pedestrian level googling should get you where you need to be... and unless you're studying in some remote 3rd world hole, there is likely 100-year flood type GIS information available, for free, from the municipality/city.
Thank you for your wonderful reply. Yes, I indeed am making efforts to ask every single thing. It's just that our professors are not at all direct. They want us to find out stuff. Even the municipal office asked me what it is. I'd really appreciate if you help me with this question.
Welcome to the real world. No one is going to give you answers.
Fuck off Non Sequitur, I can imagine you as a middle aged mid-level architect in a firm that is going nowhere with his/her life. Just because people treat you like shit doesn't mean you do the same.
Hey Dr. Asshole, I'm no where near middle-age and doing just dandy. \
@Josh Mings, it is funny enough to see your comment after seeing so many answers to this question. If you want to help a guy, then please do, otherwise keep your arrogant comments to yourself.
If arrogant means letting you know that you'll need to look up these things for yourself when entering the workforce, then yes call me King Joffrey.
That didn't seem like 'letting me know about looking up stuff'. I very well know to look up stuff. It is just that I had insufficient information and there is nothing like an architect's word itself which gives a solution to something. I do get that it's a Game of Thrones reference but then sorry, I don't watch it. The workforce should also consist of people helpful enough, I don't think that every person in a firm will not go without helping anyone regarding standards as such. Thank you so much for your kind words.
What do you think it means?
Correct me if I am wrong, but then I think it means the height till which the water reaches when the site is flooded?
No. It's likely the high-water mark in a 100-year flood cycle... aka worst case scenario. Could also be seasonal high water mark if you're in a country where 100-year planning is not common.
Oh, okay, thank you so much. Since our site is located near a water body, the corporation office did say that the worst case scenario was it reaching a height of 10 feet. Thanks a lot once again.
I like it that you start your questions with an indent.
Thanks a lot.
it's like a bread line, but you get floods instead.
Is this in any way, a joke answer?
A chorus line has waves.
Hello, I just noticed that your answers don't even relate to the context of the question itself. If you want to help me out (or anyone else for that matter), then please do. I seriously asked for help here and did not fool around by asking this question. Answers like this make me feel very bad that asking questions in an Architecture forum invites such nonsense responses.
Designing for floodable areas requires special care.
One way to protect your building is to put the occupiable areas above the flood design elevation. In the US, a federal agency called FEMA establishes the maximum height of a 100-year flood. The occupiable floors at least 1 foot above this elevation are not considered floodable.
Any floors or parts of the building below this elevation need to be protected by wet floodproofing or dry floodproofing. Wet floodproofing means you put functions that are not affected or minimally affected by flooding. You let water in to avoid structural collapse due to the hydrostatic pressure. These areas get wet, then they dry up.
Dry floodproofing involves gates and other devices to keep the water out during a flood event. These can be boards or automatically deployable features to keep the water out. They need to be strong enough to resist the hydrostatic pressure. The walls around dry floodproofed areas also need to be strong enough to support the volume of water on the outside while the inside is dry.
It likely refers to a geodetic elevation that is considered safe for typical construction based on specific flooding event forecasts. For example, the first floor may have to be designed to be above the predicted elevation of a 25, 50, or even 100 year flood.
Your city permit office will know this, but you may have spoken to the wrong person or department. If your instructor is asking you to find out this information, I guarantee that there's a simple answer.
I see. Thanks for your inputs. Yeah, I might have spoken to the wrong person, I consulted the officials there but then they redirected me to the said person. I might try asking some other official about it. Thank you so much once again.
A 100 year flood line, it seems so short...in the Netherlands the coastal defence system against flooding is designed with an allowable once per 10.000 years occurance of flooding.
Out of this latest flood, I did learn something I didn't know. It's not designing for a storm that occurs once every hundred years. It is instead meaning there is a 1 in 100 chance that there will be a storm during the year which will have that level of rain.
That's right. Once per hundred years means every year a 1 in 100 chance. That's really quite substantial. Curious what insurance companies will do with their premiums, I thought after Sandy they refused to (re?)insure some properties in the New York area.
Thank you guys. Your inputs were really helpful, thanks a lot once again.
I've heard that Harvey is calling all the current (old) standards into question...
So if you want to make your adviser blow a gasket- Start modeling flood levels based on predictive models. Frame a landscape to set the level.
A 100-year flood zone is a bit of a misnomer; it's the "area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year." (https://www.fema.gov/flood-zon...). I've never heard the term "flood line" used; the question is are you in a flood zone, and if so, what type of flood zone. Hopefully not a V-zone.
Edit: I see mightyaa beat me to the definition. I'll keep mine up since the link might be helpful.
Thank you so much for helping.
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