Trevor English
InfoWorks ICM – our hydraulic modeling software for stormwater, sewer, and flood network analysis and design– gets a big update for 2027. Network Design is the headline for this release, but the bigger story is the holistic workflow it unlocks in Autodesk’s AECO ecosystem.
It’s that time of year when we release our biggest updates. What’s new in InfoWorks ICM? Network Design in InfoWorks ICM Ultimate 2027 now brings catchment-wide design into the same environment as analysis, enabling a single workflow for planning and validating storm and sewer networks.
A workflow shift in stormwater network design and analysis
At a high level, Network Design brings catchment-scale design into the same environment as analysis inside of InfoWorks ICM.
Instead of moving to another solution to design, then back into the hydraulic model to see whether the design behaves the way you hoped, modeling teams can now iterate in place and test layouts as they build. This leads to adjusting assumptions sooner and catching problems earlier, reducing the kind of rework that tends to appear late, when it is more expensive and a lot less welcome.
Why network design matters in hydraulic modeling workflows
Most modeling teams don’t struggle because they lack engineering skill. They struggle because the workflow constantly forces translation – between concept and model, design intent and hydraulic behavior, and one scale of work to another.
Network Design gives you a way to size gravity networks preliminarily, inside the same environment where those networks can then be analyzed. It works through candidate pipe configurations, evaluates them against hydraulic, geometric, and connectivity constraints, and updates pipe sizes and invert levels in the network when a feasible solution is found.
Just as importantly, it does that in a way that still feels engineering-led. Pipes are processed upstream to downstream. Peak flows can come from an IDF curve through the Rational Method, or from user-specified design flows. Candidate solutions are checked against slope, velocity, cover depth, percentage full, and connectivity requirements, then ranked using a penalty-based approach when more than one option works. This reduces the sense of a black box, making it feel like a practical extension of how you would already approach the problem.
After a run, Network Design provides a design report that enables teams to review what was evaluated, which constraints governed the outcome, and where a design became infeasible. That kind of transparency and explainability is useful, making the design process more iterative and intuitive as part of the analysis you already run in InfoWorks ICM.
Where InfoWorks ICM fits, and where InfoDrainage fits
This is probably the right moment to clear up a question some readers will have the minute this gets announced: Where does this sit relative to InfoDrainage?
The easiest answer is scale. InfoWorks ICM now brings design and analysis together at the network or catchment or city scale. InfoDrainage continues to support site-scale drainage design. Most real projects need both perspectives, which is why this release completes the holistic storm, sewer and flood workflows across our water solutions.
If you’re wondering where the approximate cutoff between solutions is, or when you should use InfoDrainage vs. InfoWorks ICM for design and analysis, the quick answer is around 1,000-2,000 pipes in your network. Below that level? InfoDrainage. Above that level? InfoWorks ICM.
📚We often get questions like this – about how to choose whether to use InfoDrainage or InfoWorks ICM. If you want to learn a little more about the ways these two solutions are similar and different, we also have a webinar just for you.
Connecting stormwater design workflows across the Autodesk AECO ecosystem
The bigger Autodesk story becomes easier to understand, too, when we look at what Network Design enables in conjunction with other Autodesk solutions. For a given project, you might use Civil 3D and InfraWorks to help define project context, enabling you to establish preliminary site layout, design, and plan. Once complete, you can connect stormwater design workflows across the Autodesk AECO ecosystem, simulating the entire region’s network in InfoWorks ICM and making design changes along the way where you spot issues with the new development.
Now that InfoWorks ICM has Network Design, the site development and network design workflows across the Autodesk AECO ecosystem are fully supported, ensuring your transportation, infrastructure, and civil engineering projects are both efficient and practical for construction, but also compliant and aligned with local watercourse regulations.
We’re already seeing this kind of workflow take hold across AECO. Firms like Envelope Engineering are applying it in real projects across New Zealand, using integrated modeling and design approaches to support subdivision development that responds to both engineering constraints and the surrounding landscape.
Also new in InfoWorks ICM 2027
Network Design is the headline, but it is not the only update in this release.
InfoWorks ICM 2027 also introduces a new Home tab experience. It brings helpful information and support material directly into the application, including links to blogs, tutorials, and other product content that can stay current over time. It is the kind of addition that removes a little friction from day-to-day use, which is usually where these releases end up paying off.
In the 2027 release, the Home tab includes a sample database that showcases how the new Network Design tool helps integrate 1D and 2D network modeling.
Learn more and get started
- You can update your InfoWorks ICM app by visiting manage.autodesk.com.
- Read the What’s New product notes.
- Did you know? We have a YouTube playlist that compiles The latest on InfoWorks ICM. It’s a good resource for product update information.