2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Base Flood Elevations (BFE) in FEMA’s special flood hazard area (SFHA). These SHFA’s are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year and a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30‐year mortgage. Because detailed elevation analyses are not performed for such areas, base flood elevations are not shown within these zones. Conventional financing of homes requires that the property be located within a zone outside of a flood-prone area. If the property is within a FEMA designated flood zone, the prospective purchaser is required to obtain flood insurance. Flood insurance in these flood-prone areas is based on the risk level associated with a particular flood hazard area. Flood hazard areas identified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) are identified as SFHA’s.

The objective of the service learning project provides students with an opportunity to work on a real-life project necessary to confirm a BFE for SFHA zone A. In accomplishing the task, students first performed geometric leveling from an identified department of transportation benchmark located on a bridge wing wall to the residence. Established localized permanent benchmarks provided known elevations concerning nearby FEMA designated BFEs. After that, captured GNSS data with GIS analysis followed to perform cross-section analysis from established BFEs. Data representation resulted in a graphical product highlighting the home’s orthometric height. Having completed the fieldwork, students submitted the deliverable to the client along with a job costing analysis.

This experience gave students an appreciation of the work required to establish BFEs utilizing various surveying techniques presented in courses throughout the undergraduate program.