The Project Goal
The project involved a proposed addition to an existing building in St. Charles, Missouri. The addition included enclosed lower-level space associated with storage and parking functions. Because the building area was identified as being in a flood zone, the project team needed engineering input for permanent flood openings as part of the design coordination.
The source drawings showed architectural plans and elevations for the proposed addition, along with StructSolve markups focused on flood vent placement and related design notes. The public case study omits the street address, project number, private business name, title block identifiers, engineer seal details, and other publication-sensitive information.
Why Engineering Was Needed
Permanent flood openings are a specific design consideration for enclosed areas located below flood-related design elevations. The drawings identified the building as being in Zone AE and noted that the project required coordination around base flood elevation information, with related certification by others.
StructSolve’s role was not to redesign the full building addition or provide architectural services. The engineering scope was focused on the permanent flood openings shown in the markup. The project team needed clear information about vent location, quantity, and product criteria so the flood opening design could be coordinated with the proposed wall layout and exterior elevations.
StructSolve’s Design Scope
StructSolve provided engineered design notes for the permanent flood openings. The markup identified the relevant enclosed area, calculated the required flood opening coverage, and showed vent locations around the proposed addition.
The source material indicated an enclosed area of approximately 428 square feet and noted that a minimum of three openings were required, with four openings provided. The markup also included notes indicating that vent bottoms were to be installed no more than 12 inches above adjacent grade or the interior finished floor elevation, and that utilities and equipment were to be located above the base flood elevation.
Key Structural Design Considerations
The key coordination issue was fitting permanent flood openings into the proposed addition walls without conflicting with doors, exterior elevations, or the intended lower-level use. The flood vent locations were shown with plan callouts, and the elevation markup highlighted the required low placement of the openings near the base of the wall.
The flood vent schedule identified a smart flood vent product for wood wall construction and documented coverage, size, accessory, and certification information. This gave the project team a defined design basis to coordinate with the architectural sheets and construction details.
Because the source material was a marked-up plan set rather than a final construction record, the public case study uses cautious language. It does not state that the project was approved, constructed, inspected, or certified. It describes the design information StructSolve provided for project coordination.
Construction Documents and Details
The engineering markup added flood opening design information directly to the architectural plan sheets. The marked-up documents included:
- General flood-related design notes for the proposed addition
- A flood vent schedule identifying vent type, model, coverage, and size
- Plan callouts showing proposed vent locations
- Elevation callouts showing low wall placement for the vent openings
- Notes coordinating flood opening placement with grade and finished floor elevation limitations
These details helped translate the flood opening requirement into specific plan information that could be reviewed and coordinated by the project team.
Project Outcome
The deliverable provided the project team with engineering direction for the permanent flood openings associated with the proposed addition. The markup clarified the number of openings provided, the intended vent locations, and the design notes that needed to be coordinated with the architectural drawings.
The case study should remain in draft review until staff confirm that all private identifiers have been removed from public fields, any plan images are cropped to remove title blocks and seals, and the location and category are appropriate for publication.
