When a court case requires an expert in highway drainage system analysis, a seasoned hydrologist with experience in litigation support can be the key to a comprehensive understanding of the case. At WRCS (Water Resources Consulting Services), we bring over 35 years of unparalleled expertise, offering top-tier professional witness services tailored to meet the unique demands of your case.
Roadway & Highway Drainage:
When highway accidents happen, it is often under rainy or flooded highway conditions. That’s when the analysis of the roadway drainage system and its maintenance becomes important in determining causative factors for the accident. WRCS has worked on scores of freeway, highway and roadway drainage design cases and provided trial testimony in several of those cases.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) administers national standards for highway drainage design, maintenance and operation. Most states have transportation departments that issue their own drainage design regulations, but these will always be subject to FHWA regulations. Even most city street drainage design is subject to the design standards of that city.
Why Choose WRCS?
Decades of Specialized Experience:
We exclusively work in litigation support (Expert Witness Hydrologist) and have done so for 35 years. We have municipal, commercial and professional clients across the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Unbiased and Thorough Analysis:
We pride ourselves on our company history of providing unbiased, non-conflicted testimony to both plaintiff and defendant clients.
We are dedicated to helping lawyers, law firms and insurance companies navigate the complex technical world of surface water engineering, and make it understandable to our clients, the judge and the “layman” jury.
No hired guns here.
If there’s problems or weaknesses with your case theory the best thing we can do for you as an expert consultant is to tell you so.
If the technical data backs your case, we will find it, analyze it, model it, report it, and present it with graphics that a judge and jury will understand.
Comprehensive Coverage:
WRCS covers an extensive range of hydrology-related issues, including but not limited to flooding and flood forensics, flood hydraulics, watershed hydrology, drowning hydraulics, storm drain systems, dam and reservoir operations, floodplain analysis and roadway drainage. Our experts bring a multifaceted understanding of hydrological phenomena to the table, ensuring that no nuance is overlooked in the pursuit of truth.
Meet Rick Van Bruggen
President WRCS
Mr. Van Bruggen, President of WRCS, has over 40 years of engineering experience specializing in the use of systems engineering and modeling techniques to define and evaluate surface water resource systems and alternative flood control measures.
He has performed hundreds of studies of surface water hydrologic and hydraulic systems, meteorology, sedimentation, debris production, and the management and statistical analysis of hydrographic data. For over 35 years now, Mr. Van Bruggen has made use of his extensive experience in water resources engineering by serving as an Expert Witness in the field.
Roadway & Highway Drainage Expert Witness Consultant
Or call us: (760) 895-4411
Roadway & Highway Drainage Expert Witness Featured Cases
Case #1: Fatal Vehicle Accident on Flooded Highway
Expert testimony provided in jury trial on whether highway drainage conditions may have led to fatal auto accident, Stockton, California. Highway drainage plans and high resolution laser survey of highway road surface were analyzed in connection with storm event rainfall data, indicating that the roadway had no anomalies or sheet flow conditions that could have created a potential for hydroplaning of the vehicle. No Dangerous Condition of the state highway was found to exist, 12-0, by the jury in the case. Client: CalTrans Legal, San Francisco, California.
Case #2: Fatal Mudslide Occurs on Slope Below Roadway
3-D animation of roadway drainage patterns presented to jury as part of testimony on the cause of a fatal mudslide in Mill Valley, California. The hydrology and hydraulics of how a section of roadway drained throughout a winter season were modeled, and the results graphically illustrated in 3-Dimensional space, as part of a PowerPoint presentation on the contributing factors leading to the mudslide. Client: Law Firm of Bradley, Curley, Asiano, Barrabee & Gale, Larkspur, California.
Case #3: Floodplain Impacts of New State Highway Interchange
Two-Dimensional Hydraulic Modeling, Using the MIKE FLOOD Hydrodynamic Model, to Evaluate the Hydraulic Impacts of State Highway Interchange Project, Rancho Mirage, CA. Caltrans authorized a study to assess the flood risk posed by the completed project when adjacent property owners sued over concerns of increased flooding risks posed by the new interchange. Client: California Department of Transportation, San Diego District.
Case #4: Unsafe Condition of state highway in Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County jury trial testimony given regarding claim of unsafe condition of state highway in wet weather conditions. Storm event meteorology, storm drainage patterns, highway project plans and CalTrans drainage design criteria were evaluated for hydroplane potential at the site of a head-on crash. Client: Caltrans Legal, Oakland, California.