How ICMLive is helping make Europe’s first ‘Smart Canal’ scheme a possibility An innovative approach to an age-old problem is helping

Glasgow City Council release 110 hectares of land for

redevelopment. Shops, businesses and up to 3000

new homes will be built on land that was historically

considered unfit for development. ICMLive from Innovyze

plays a vital role in Europe’s first ever Smart Canal

scheme to mitigate flood risk and enable the major

regeneration scheme to take place.

The challenge Surface water problems in five key sites in the north of

Glasgow meant that development of a prime area of real

estate was not possible. The existing combined sewer

system had limited capacity to handle additional runoff

that any development would cause, effectively putting an

area the size of over 150 football pitches out of bounds

to development and preventing growth in this vibrant

Scottish city.

Transforming Glasgow with innovative modelling technology

The short read

• Historic surface water problems prevented the redevelopment of an area of North Glasgow.

• Scottish Canals, Glasgow City Council and Scottish Water looked for an innovative solution and engaged AECOM and Innovyze solutions to develop a ‘Smart Canal’.

• A control system developed by AECOM uses remote sensors and rainfall forecasts to feed into ICMLive.

• When a storm is forecast, automatically controlled sluice valves are used to manage water levels in the canal.

• Adjusting the water level in the canal by up to 10cm creates 55,000 cubic metres of extra storage, and the canal remains navigable.

• 110 hectares of land is released for investment in homes, businesses and jobs in North Glasgow.

Scottish Canals Case Study

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Scottish Canals Case Study

A solution to this challenge called for some innovative thinking, together with a consideration of the

local geography. Running through the area is the Forth & Clyde Canal. Opened in 1790 after 22 years

of construction, it was the route for seagoing vessels travelling between the Firth of Forth and the

Firth of Clyde. As ships became bigger, they could no longer navigate its 35 miles and the rise of

railways meant that the canal gradually fell out of commercial use. In 1962 Parliament extinguished

its rights of navigation and the canal closed the following year.

Fast forward to 2001, the canal reopened as part of the £83.5m Millennium link, the largest canal

restoration anywhere in Britain. Today, the canal is widely used as an amenity for recreational

boating, paddling, fishing and other activities, and it just happens to provide a very useful repository

for surface water runoff.

Photos courtesy of Scottish Canals.

To watch a video about Glasgow’s Smart Canal project, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFykgGeee1o

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Scottish Canals Case Study

The Solution A partnership between Scottish Canals, Glasgow City Council,

and Scottish Water is delivering a £17million project that will

see the canal turn into additional capacity for 55,000 cubic

metres of floodwater – that is equivalent to 22 Olympic

swimming pools. Capital funding for the scheme comes from

the Glasgow City Region City Deal and the European Regional

Development Fund via the Green Infrastructure Fund and

Scotland’s 8th City - the Smart City.

Advanced technology is being used to regulate the amount

of storage capacity that is made available, and make sure

that the canal remains navigable and available for its users.

This is down to a control system developed by AECOM as

part of the North Glasgow Integrated Water Management

System, or NGIWMS. The system uses remote sensors and

rainfall forecasts feeding into ICMLive which in turn optimises

operations that control the level of the canal in real-time.

Locks are used along the canal to maintain water levels at

47.9m above datum (AD). This allows navigation by pleasure

boats and other canal users. When a storm is forecast,

automatically controlled sluice valves are used to manage

water levels in the canal, lowering levels by up to 10cm –

taking water levels down to 47.8m AD. The sluice valves open

at three discharge points at the sites of existing waste weirs

at Ruchill on the Glasgow branch of the canal, and at Shirva

and Craigmarloch on the summit pound. The discharge flows

directly or indirectly into the River Kelvin.

The 10cm difference in water level means that the canal

remains navigable while providing up to 55,000 cubic metres

of extra storage.

The Solutions Used at Scottish Canals

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Scottish Canals Case Study

A delicate balance The concept was to install a system that would automatically lower the canal in advance of a

forecast storm event to accept inflow from natural catchments and development areas, so that at

the end of the storm the canal returned to its normal level. It was important to control the drawdown

to avoid increasing flooding elsewhere, and to ensure boats could continue to navigate the canal.

There was also a consideration not to abstract too much water from the reservoir to refill the canal

as this could incur penalties for over-abstraction under the CAR abstraction licence. It was clearly

vital to balance the amount of water leaving and entering the canal to handle runoff and maintain its

water levels.

Combining 21st century technology with a 250- year-old canal Originally, the plan involved lowering the canal at the first indication of a storm event to provide

the total storage required. While sounding simple as a concept, this was actually quite complex

to achieve. The accuracy of rainfall forecasts tends to vary depending on how far out they are. A

3-hour forecast gives much more accurate rainfall depths and intensities than a 24-hour one. If

the canal is drawn down too far in advance, there is a risk that the predicted inflow to the canal

[This] cutting-edge technology will both allow surface water in this part of the city to be managed and allow the building of new homes and businesses on land that historically has been unfit for development.

Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of the Glasgow City Region City Deal Cabinet.

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Scottish Canals Case Study

will be inaccurate and either too much or too little storage is provided, leading to insufficient flood

mitigation or significant water wastage.

The modelling teams needed to strike a balance between forecast confidence and time to act.

Experts from Innovyze and AECOM engaged in a two-day workshop to develop the Real-Time

Control (RTC) of the model, simplifying the control rules and fully utilising the capabilities of ICMLive.

The model is first run in hydrological mode for speed. Forecast rainfall data provided by the U.K’s

Met Office is used to predict the expected volume of runoff into the canal. The predicted volume

is used to set a target canal level to accommodate a proportion of the predicted runoff (the actual

proportion is currently being tested but will likely be between 50-80%). Then the full hydraulic

model is run using the monitored flows and levels as initial conditions. The RTC logic control is used

to determine the optimal combination of feeder and discharge sluice positions to achieve the target

level. The sluice positions are communicated to the SCADA system, which relays them to the feeder

and discharge sluices, and the drawdown of the canal begins.

As new rainfall events are forecast, the model is run again and new levels are set to provide storage

for the updated runoff volume, and, again, the model adjusts the sluice positions to the updated

target level.

Working closely, AECOM and Innovyze developed a set of scenarios during the workshop that

explored cumulative rainfall events and the steps needed to return the canal to its normal operating

level. Graphs output from ICMLive are able to show the runoff to the canal and the discharge to the

River Kelvin that has occurred over the period of the storm event.

The outcome By combining the right technology with the right kind of innovative thinking, the city of Glasgow is

able to meet ambitious regeneration plans, without having a negative impact on the environment or

its residents. The use of the canal as part of the SuDS systems of the major development is a great

example of how you can deploy live modelling technology to manage future flood risk.

Councillor Susan Aitken, the leader of Glasgow City Council says, “It is very exciting to see such

smart technology in operation in Glasgow – one of very few examples in the world – and we can

look forward to it playing a key role in the continued regeneration of Glasgow’s Canal and the north

of the city.”

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Scottish Canals Case Study

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Creating a dynamic urban canal which uses smart technology to move water safely about the city will not only reduce the flood risk impact of climate change, but act as a catalyst for new investment, jobs, homes and businesses in North Glasgow as well as help to create one of the city’s top tourist destinations. Chief Executive Officer Scottish Canals