Project overview

Newcastle Local Municipality. Extended main pipelines in soul city under Newcastle Municipality.

When it comes to water, cities around the globe face mounting challenges to optimise their networks, ensuring they are resilient to the stress created by growing demand and capable of handling shock events like flooding.

The Pawacons team in Newcastle, is working to develop a digital integrated catchment model that will accurately map the city’s catchment area and provide insight into the overall efficiency of the drainage networks.

Nearly two thousand kilometres of pipes, thousands of manholes, tens of pumping stations as well as flow regulators and combined overflow sewers will be investigated, mapped and tracked in the mathematical model.

The integrated catchment model will support the development of effective design strategies to cope with increasing surface runoff – the flow of excess water that increases the risk of urban flooding.

Complex data powers hydraulic model

The sheer scale and complexity of this sewage modelling project are the two biggest challenges. Powered by vast quantities of data, the integrated catchment model will help assess the efficiency and performance of the city’s water network and help signpost possible issues.

The integrated catchment model will include foul water and combined drainage systems as well as part of the surface water drainage dependent on the combined drainage network. It will also include the entire technical infrastructure serving the existing drainage system.

The model will be integrated with surface runoff, calculated on the basis of spatial data such as Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) surveys, geology maps, digital terrain models and city plans reflecting roads, footpaths and buildings arrangement as well as other terrain obstructions which may influence waterflow or infiltration.

In order to accurately assess rainfall patterns in Newcastle and its surrounding areas, the integrated catchment model will be calibrated based on an extensive monitoring campaign of sewage flows and rainfall including more than 200 monitoring points and 28 rain gauges. All of the network data – owned and maintained by the client – will be analysed, verified and confirmed on site if necessary by Arup engineers.