Safety Grate Flume Tests and CFD Modeling

Every year people drown after disappearing into storm drains during floods. Most of those lost are children and first responders. The most dangerous storm drains have been small pipe openings and culvert inlets with no safety grate covering the opening. Learn more here. 

MHFD partnered with Colorado State University’s Hydraulics Laboratory (CSU), AECOM, and Larimer County Dive Rescue Team (LCDRT) to conduct flume tests and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to assess various culvert grate configurations and determine conditions that limited a person’s ability to self-rescue. The findings of this study are provided in the documents below.