"The consulting engineering community and government agencies are in great need of a book that explains the proper use of HEC-RAS in easy-to-read language and that shares the knowledge of subject matter experts. . . . this book provides both."

"I have been involved for many years in the numerical simulation of river and floodplain flows and have conducted many short courses for practicing engineers in this field using HEC-2 and HEC-RAS. This book is, without a doubt, the best that I have read on this topic. . . . The book is timely and invaluable. It will prove of enormous benefit to experienced engineers as well as to young engineers entering the field."

Acknowledgments

Floodplain Modeling Using HEC-RAS represents the results of a successful team effort to produce a textbook that is unlike any other available to civil engineers and engineering students today.

The book's primary author, Gary Dyhouse, drew on his vast experience working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create a comprehensive and practical volume about using HEC-RAS to model floodplains. As a teacher for Haestad Methods' Continuing Education department, Gary is known for his ability to make difficult concepts easy to understand. That ability is evident throughout the text.

Jennifer Hatchett wrote Chapter 9, "Flood Insurance Studies," and contributed to Chapter 10, "Floodways." In addition, she lent her expertise to refining the text of the book as a whole, bringing a level of cohesion to the text that otherwise would not have been possible.

Jeremy Benn wrote Chapter 14, "Unsteady Flow," and in so doing, brought its extremely complex theory and practical applications into sharp focus. Although the subject matter can be difficult, Jeremy's presentation is accessible to even the novice reader.

David Ford Consulting and Houjung Rhee wrote the end-of-chapter problems, which can be used in the classroom or completed and returned to Haestad Methods for grading to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

In addition to an outstanding author team, Floodplain Modeling Using HEC-RAS benefited from a remarkable panel of peer reviewers who scrutinized the book's technical content from every possible angle. Gary Brunner, Donald Chase, Jack Cook, Paul Debarry, Johannes Gessler, Robert Keller, Robert Moore, Ezio Todini, Thomas Walski, and Michael Glazner all helped us achieve our goal of creating a book that meets the high standards set before it by other books in the Haestad Press series.

David Klotz, Adam Strafaci, Annaleis Hogan, and Kristen Dietrich edited the manuscript for accuracy, completeness of content, and readability. In addition, David and Adam designed the book's interior to give it a fresh new look.

Several in-house engineers reviewed the book in its final stages to ensure accuracy of definitions, equations, and example problems. These include Samuel Coran, Keith Hodsden, Pranam Joshi, Michael Rosh, and Mal Sharkey.

The illustrations and graphs throughout the book were created and assembled by Peter Martin, Christopher Dahlgren, Caleb Brownell, and John Slate (Roald Haestad, Inc.).

Several people were involved in the final production and delivery of the book. Lissa Jennings managed the printing logistics; Rick Brainard and Jim O'Brien provided the cover design; Sean Brierly created the online version of the book files; Wes Cogswell and Kristen Dietrich managed the CD and software installation efforts; and Jeanne and David Moody of Beaver Wood Associates developed the book's index.

Finally, Haestad Methods' executive vice president, Niclas Ingemarsson, provided the human resources and management guidance to complete the project, and John Haestad, our company president, provided the vision and motivation to make the Haestad Press book series a reality.