FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Full Public Release of SVOFFICE 2009™ – Next Generation Geotechnical Software

Timely release of software introduces coupled analysis, and a mature slope stability analysis product

SASKATOON, July 2009 – SoilVision Systems Ltd. (SVS) has completed its beta trials of the new SVOffice 2009 software package. This new release includes the feedback from customers received over the past number of months during evaluations of the beta version. SVS wishes to extend a thank-you to companies who have participated in the evaluation of the new version and provided valuable comments related to the software.

The majority of the feedback related either to i) specific feature requests, or ii) requests for usability improvements in the code. SVS has focused its efforts on both of these fronts. This has resulted in a significantly improved software package, which contains the following user-requested improvements.

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS

Much of the feedback related to conversations with customers was summarized in terms of ease-of-use. Customers wanted to create models faster and complete modeling projects quickly and on-time.

  • Right-click boundary conditions: In response to user feedback, the application of boundary conditions is now much simpler. Users may now select and right-click on a region boundary in order to quickly apply boundary conditions. Users can also apply boundary conditions to multiple line segments at the same time.
  • Region / boundary selections: Improvements have been made to the user interface in order to allow the user to select entire regions or parts of regions and either i) modify geometry or ii) apply boundary conditions.
  • Snapping improvements: A number of improvements have now been made to simplify the entry of new geometry. Automated snapping to existing region points as well as snapping to the midpoints of existing polylines allow for improved ease-of-use in entering model regions. The ability to break a specific line and add a region point has also been added.

SVSLOPE / SVFLUX

Earth dam, tailings dams, and levee analysis has been raised to a new level with the implementation of the recent new features in SVSlope and SVFlux.

  • Classic Rapid Drawdown: The Duncan three-stage method (1990) has been added to SVSlope in order to comply with established practices supported by the USACE. The new feature makes SVSlope ideal for earth levee analysis and design.
  • Combined SVFlux / SVSlope analysis: An effective stress combined seepage and slope stability analysis has been implemented in SVOffice 2009. These improvements make SVOffice the most advanced in the world for analyzing levee designs.
  • Multiple geometry scenarios: Improvements to SVOffice allow the user to quickly run multiple geometry scenarios and analyze the cost / benefit ratio between different designs quickly and easily. This feature allows users a quick semi-automated manner in which to analyze a wide variety of geometry scenarios and determine the change in the Factor of Safety with each design.

SVFLUX / SVHEAT

Significant improvements have been made to the coupling of these two popular packages. This has resulted in significant improvements in the ability of these packages to perform state-of-the-art coupled analysis.

  • Fully coupled freeze / thaw analysis: The SVFlux and SVHeat packages are now fully coupled and may be used to model flow conditions including the formation of ice through the winter months. This is ideal for earth cover design and other related modeling projects.
  • Snow on upper boundary: Snow can now be accommodated on the upper boundary of the software. This allows the user to successfully model the full freeze / thaw process.
  • Improved earth cover analysis reporting: The reporting for earth cover analysis has been improved in order to summarize the needed data in a more useful fashion.

SVSLOPE was programmed as a completely new software package. The driving motive was to provide a fresh new outlook on slope stability analysis. The software is programmed entirely on the innovative Microsoft .NET development environment and fully implements sophisticated and new object-oriented programming concepts. The new software technology allows speedy implementation of further new and innovative slope stability concepts.

The user interface in SVOFFICE 2009 is designed to allow the user to quickly create models accurately and efficiently. Compliance with standard methods of user interface design allows convenient access to software commands through toolbars or right-click menus. Standard CAD-type functionality is available with grid, snapping, and object snapping features. The menu system is laid out in a logical left-to-right and top-to-bottom manner. In other words, if the user proceeds in a logical manner through the menu system they will be naturally guided through the model creation process.

The software help system has been designed to allow a new user to begin solving problems quickly. A comprehensive user’s manual, verification manual, theory manual and tutorial manual allow reasonable documentation of all features. The SVSLOPE software has been exposed to a rigorous quality assurance program and has been verified on over 100 comparisons with published solutions.

SVOFFICE 2009™ is a trademark of SoilVision Systems Ltd.

SVSlope® is a registered trademark of SoilVision Systems Ltd.

SoilVision® is a registered trademark of SoilVision Systems Ltd.

About SoilVision Systems Ltd.

SoilVision Systems Ltd. was formed in 1997 by Murray Fredlund, Ph.D., P.Eng. to provide high level software tools to meet the needs of geo-professionals attempting to model the behavior of complex saturated and unsaturated soil systems.