The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s School of Irrigation within the Texas A&M Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering will offer two different in-person courses in December. Both will focus on irrigation design using computer-aided design, CAD, software.
The first course, the Irrigation CAD Workshop, will be Dec. 13-14 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. The Dec. 15 course, Advanced Irrigation CAD Workshop, will be from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. The workshops will be held at Texas A&M University, Scoates Hall #214, 333 Spence St., College Station.
No previous CAD experience is needed to attend the two-day irrigation workshop. Computers and the ProContractor Studio software will be provided for use during the courses.
Participants must preregister at https://tx.ag/IrrigationCAD for the Dec. 13-14 event and at https://tx.ag/AdvancedIrrigationCAD for the Dec. 15 event. The costs are $295 and $165, respectively
The courses are approved for credit for Texas Commission on Environmental Quality licensed irrigators, technicians and inspectors.
The program offers continuing education program hours that meet the requirements for landscape architects in sustainable design, as well as professional development hour requirements for Texas professional engineers. The two-day course will offer 16 hours and the one-day course will offer eight.
Dec. 13-14 course topics
“This course will provide a review of the landscape irrigation system design process and complete instruction on the use of the ProContractor Studio Software for irrigation system design,” said Charles Swanson, AgriLife Extension landscape irrigation specialist, Bryan-College Station.
He said the features and capabilities of commercial irrigation computer-aided design software will be presented. Students will gain a functional knowledge of CAD software and be able to use the software to design an irrigation system for a typical, large residence.
The two-day course will cover:
- The menu system of CAD software.
- Use of the sprinkler database for selecting and locating heads.
- Completing and importing site drawings.
- Assigning zones.
- Manual and automatic pipe sizing.
- Hydraulic calculations.
- Producing material and cost estimates.
Dec. 15 course topics
“This course is set up as a fast-paced version of the two-day Irrigation CAD workshop,” said Swanson. “Students will complete a residential drawing from start to finish.”
He said students will be given more instruction on material take-offs, sprinkler palette assignments and proper zoning techniques than in the original course.
Topics of the class include:
- Producing a site map and design.
- Working with a sprinkler database.
- Designing an irrigation system.
- Hydraulics.
- Finalizing design and plans.
- Calculating cost estimates.
For questions or additional information, contact Swanson at charles.swanson@ag.tamu.edu or 979-845-5614.
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