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Developing CulvertMaster tool

I have been tasked with developing a tool to automate determining the flow a number of pipes can handle in Bentley CulvertMaster, preferably in Python, but I could work with another language if necessary. Is there a python package or a specific SDK that would best suit my needs? 

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  • Hi Jennifer,

    CulvertMaster is not based on .NET technology and so the WaterObjects.NET SDK cannot be used to program a tool. 

    Can you explain a bit more about what you need to do with this tool? CulvertMaster is not based on a network of pipes but rather is a simple calculator tool to look at one culvert at a time. 

    Our StormCAD, CivilStorm or SewerGEMS products can model a network of culverts and uses the same HDS-5 culvert calculations as CulvertMaster. You can use the aforementioned WaterObjects.NET SDK to program your own tool with these products, but that is typically only for special cases. I am not certain if you're looking for culverts in series or multiple individual culverts being calculated at the same time though, so a more detailed description of the needs would be helpful.


    Regards,

    Jesse Dringoli
    Technical Support Manager, OpenFlows
    Bentley Communities Site Administrator
    Bentley Systems, Inc.

Reply
  • Hi Jennifer,

    CulvertMaster is not based on .NET technology and so the WaterObjects.NET SDK cannot be used to program a tool. 

    Can you explain a bit more about what you need to do with this tool? CulvertMaster is not based on a network of pipes but rather is a simple calculator tool to look at one culvert at a time. 

    Our StormCAD, CivilStorm or SewerGEMS products can model a network of culverts and uses the same HDS-5 culvert calculations as CulvertMaster. You can use the aforementioned WaterObjects.NET SDK to program your own tool with these products, but that is typically only for special cases. I am not certain if you're looking for culverts in series or multiple individual culverts being calculated at the same time though, so a more detailed description of the needs would be helpful.


    Regards,

    Jesse Dringoli
    Technical Support Manager, OpenFlows
    Bentley Communities Site Administrator
    Bentley Systems, Inc.

Children
  • Jesse, 

    I would like to automate the process of calculating the flow a pipe can handle for 1000 different culverts, one at a time. The script i would like to build has inputs for length, material, size and other information in a spreadsheet. This analysis is currently being done manually one culvert at a time, but I am hoping to automate the process so that it does not have to be done one at a time for these 1000 culverts. 

    At this point everything I am finding tells me there is no python library that interacts with CulvertMaster. Does the WaterObjects .NET SDK integrate with CulvertMaster? Does CulvertMaster have any development capability? 

  • Does the WaterObjects .NET SDK integrate with CulvertMaster? Does CulvertMaster have any development capability? 

    No, CulvertMaster is currently built on an entirely different programming language so our WaterObjects.NET SDK cannot be used.

    From your description it sounds as if you might be looking for a rating table where you want output for a range of parameters that you vary. When you click the "Output" button in CulvertMaster you will see the Rating Table option, but since you can only vary the discharge or allowable headwater elevation, this probably will not work for you.

    As eluded to in my previous reply, an alternative might be to set up a single culvert in StormCAD, CivilStorm or SewerGEMS (if you have a license of one of those products) and use WaterObjects.NET to automated the process of varying the parameters, computing and tabulating the output. StormCAD may be easiest since it is a steady state solution. In the link in my previous reply you can see that the headwall element uses the same HDS-5 methodology as CulvertMaster so with the model set up correctly you should get comparable results. For more on the use of WaterObjects.NET and the Bentley Developer Network, see the other article in my previous reply.

    If you're not really interested in culvert headwalls but rather the capacity of the pipe itself, StormCAD, CivilStorm and SewerGEMS include a capacity result field in the properties of a conduit (pipe) element, which is the flow through the pipe if normal depth is equal to the top of the pipe. If this is what you're looking for, this could make it easier for you to set up a WaterObjects.NET tool where you vary the physical parameter and look at the full flow capacity result. You could also look into the use of the rating table feature with a pipe worksheet in FlowMaster.


    Regards,

    Jesse Dringoli
    Technical Support Manager, OpenFlows
    Bentley Communities Site Administrator
    Bentley Systems, Inc.

    Answer Verified By: Jennifer McCall 

  • Jesse, 

    Thank you very much for your assistance - this is the information I needed to move forward.