Optimization of Storm Sewer Construction Costs Using a Microcomputer Program

When designing a storm sewer system there is a material and labor cost trade-off between changing pipe diameter for a specific flowrate while keeping physical pipe slope constant, and changing physical pipe slope for the same flowrate while keeping the pipe diameter constant. To calculate costs associated with every possible combination of pipe diameters and excavation depth to find the optimum design for a storm sewer network without the use of a computer would be a very cumbersome task indeed. In fact, a minimum cost solution may never be found. This paper presents a microcomputer program which assists the engineer in designing the storm sewer system for the minimum cost. The Rational Method is employed to calculate flowrates for each sub basin, Manning\u27s Equation is used to calculate pipe flow for each pipe link in the system, and complete enumeration methodology is used to determine material and labor costs for each network possibility. Material and labor costs are maintained by the engineer in a cost table file. The work described herein represents the opinions and conclusions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the reviewers or the University of Central Florida