What Can a Glass Wall Analysis Reveal About Your Delray Beach Property Drainage?

 The term Glass Wall Analysis isn’t particularly revealing for the average person. It would be perfectly understandable if you’re wondering why the Palm Beach County Building Department, or the Delray Beach Building Department is requiring that one be performed at your Delray Beach property. After all, you want to know what’s happening at your property, and it’s always reassuring to know that you’re receiving an excellent value for these services. With a Glass Wall Analysis, there’s no doubt. When a skilled civil engineer conducts it, you’re getting valuable information that you need to know about your property.

What Is a Glass Wall Analysis?

 A Glass Wall Analysis is a specific type of drainage analysis. When you want to know how your property will fare in the face of a 100-year, three-day rainfall event, this is the test that will give you the answer. It examines whether a structure, which can be either existing or proposed, will remain dry beneath this kind of heavy deluge.

 This type of analysis can come in handy in several situations:

• You’re buying a new residential or commercial property.
• You have concerns about the effectiveness of the drainage system that’s in place on your existing property.
• You intend to build a new structure and need to understand the impact on the site drainage.
• You intend to add on to an existing structure, and you need to understand the impact on the site drainage.

Is a 100-Year Storm a Real Concern?

 Water is essential for human life. Ironically, it can also pose a threat to life and property when it arrives in overwhelming amounts or creeps into places that were never designed to withstand its presence.

 It may seem paranoid to worry about whether a property can safely withstand a 100-year storm, but the name is somewhat misleading. After all, a 100-year storm isn’t a storm with the kind of ferocity that’s only seen once a century. Instead, it’s a mix of meteorology and probability. It’s a severe storm with lots of rain that has a 1%, or 1 in 100 chance, of occurring in a given location in a year’s time.

 The headlines make it clear that severe storms are striking with increasing frequency. In many areas, including the Sunshine State, it seems like reports of a 100-year storm come every few years. As a result, verifying that your property has an appropriate commercial drainage system or residential drainage system in place is vital. 

What Does a Glass Wall Analysis Entail?

 Glass Wall Analyses are complex. What should you expect if you request one? That depends. Remember, the analysis is considering how your property will respond to a sudden influx of stormwater. Therefore, any factor that can impact the flow of that water or the resulting drainage needs to be considered. Depending on the makeup of your property, a civil engineer may need to weigh a number of questions to complete their analysis:

• How much stormwater is likely to arrive during the 100-year, three-day rain event? At what rate will it arrive?
• How will the presence of the structures on the property impact the stormwater? Are there appropriate tools in place to direct the runoff safely away from their foundations?
• Is there hardscaping or other considerations that limit the transition to groundwater?
• Are there surrounding environmental features that might impact the site’s drainage? How high is the local water table? What is the soil like?
• What effect will the surrounding properties have on the drainage potential of this site?

 Are you searching for a trustworthy civil engineering firm to conduct a Glass Wall Analysis for your Delray Beach property? DKK Consulting Incorporated has been providing Glass Wall Analyses to Florida property owners for more than 17 years. As experienced civil engineers, we work diligently to offer the resourceful solutions that help our clients succeed. Contact us today to discuss how we can assist you with your project.