REG 265

Surface Drainage

Objectives
Identify rural drainage requirements and
design
Ref:

AASHTO Highway Drainage

Guidelines (1999), Guidelines for Road
Drainage Design (Design Floods &
Culvert Design 2004))
2

Surface Drainage
Surface

water removed from pavement and

ROW
Redirects water into appropriately designed
channels
Eventually discharges into natural water
systems
Garber & Hoel, 2002
3

Surface Drainage
Two

types of water

Surface water rain and snow

Ground water can be a problem when a water
table is near surface

Garber & Hoel, 2002

4

Inadequate Drainage
Damage

to highway structures
Loss of capacity
Visibility problems with spray and loss of
retroreflectivity
Safety problems, reduced friction and
hydroplaning
Garber & Hoel, 2002
5

Drainage

Transverse slopes

Longitudinal slopes

Removes water from pavement surface

Facilitated by cross-section elements (cross-slope, shoulder
slope)
Minimum gradient of alignment to maintain adequate slope
in longitudinal channels

Longitudinal channels

Ditches along side of road to collect surface

water after run-off
6

Transverse slope

Longitudinal slope

Longitudinal channel

Surface Drainage System Design

Tradeoffs: Steep slopes provide good hydraulic
capacity and lower ROW costs, but reduce
safety and increase erosion and maintenance
costs

10

Surface Drainage System Design

Three phases
1.
2.
3.

Estimate quantity of water to reach the system

Hydraulic design of system elements
Comparison of different materials that serve same
purpose

11

Hydrologic Analysis: Rational

Method

Useful for small, usually urban, watersheds

(<10acres, but DOT says <200acres)

Q = CIA (English) or Q = 0.0028CIA (metric)

Q = runoff (ft3/sec) or (m3/sec)
C = coefficient representing ratio of runoff to rainfall
I = intensity of rainfall (in/hour or mm/hour)
A = drainage area (acres or hectares)
The Rational Method

12

Runoff Coefficient
o

Coefficient that
represents the fraction
of rainfall that becomes
runoff
Depends on type of
surface

The Rational Method

13

Runoff Coefficient depends on:

Character of surface and soil

Shape of drainage area
Antecedent moisture conditions
Slope of watershed
Amount of impervious soil
Land use
Duration
Intensity
14

Runoff Coefficient - rural

The Rational Method

15

Runoff Coefficient - urban

16

The Rational Method

Runoff Coefficient For High Intensity Event (i.e. 100year storm)

The Rational Method

17

Runoff Coefficient For High Intensity Event (i.e. 100year storm)

C = 0.16 for
low intensity
event for
cultivated
fields
C = 0.42 for
high intensity
event

18

The Rational Method

Runoff Coefficient
When

a drainage area has distinct parts with

different C values
Use the weighted average
C = C1A1 + C2A2 + .. + CnAn
Ai

19

Watershed Area
For

DOT method measured in acres

(hectares)
Combined area of all surfaces that drain to a
given intake or culvert inlet
Determine boundaries of area that drain to
same location

i.e high points mark boundary

Natural or human-made barriers
20

Watershed Area
Topographic

maps
Aerial photos
Digital elevation models
Drainage maps
Field reviews

21

Intensity

Average intensity for a selected frequency and duration over

drainage area for duration of storm
Based on design event (i.e. 50-year storm)
Overdesign is costly
Underdesign may be inadequate
Duration is important
Based on values of Tc and T
Tc = time of concentration
T = recurrence interval or design frequency

22

Design Event Recurrence Interval

2-year interval -- Design of intakes and spread of

water on pavement for primary highways and city
streets
10-year interval -- Design of intakes and spread of
water on pavement for freeways and interstate
highways
50 - year -- Design of subways (underpasses) and
sag vertical curves where storm sewer pipe is the
only outlet
100 year interval -- Major storm check on all
projects

23

Time of Concentration (tc)

Time for water to flow from hydraulically most distant point on

the watershed to the point of interest
Rational method assumes peak run-off rate occurs when
rainfall intensity (I) lasts (duration) >= Tc
Used as storm duration
Iowa DOT says dont use Tc<5 minutes

24

Time of Concentration (Tc)

Depends on:
Size and shape of drainage area
Type of surface
Slope of drainage area
Rainfall intensity
Whether flow is entirely overland or whether some is
channelized

25

Tc: Equation from Iowa DOT Manual

See nomograph, next page
26

Nomograph Method

Trial and error method:

Known: surface, size (length), slope
Look up n
Estimate I (intensity)
Determine Tc

Check I and Tc against values in Table

5 (Iowa DOT, Chapter 4)
Repeat until Tc (table) ~ Tc (nomograph)
Peak storm event occurs when
duration at least = Tc
27

Example (Iowa DOT Method)

Iterate finding I and Tc

L = 150 feet
Average slope, S = 0.02 (2%)
Grass
Recurrence interval, T = 10 years
Location: Keokuk
Find I
From Iowa DOT Design Manual

28

Grass Surface,
Mannings
roughness
coefficient = 0.4

29

knowns

Tc=18

First guess I = 5 in/hr

30

Example (continued)
Tc

with first iteration is 18 min

Check

against tables in DOT manual

Keokuk is in SE: code = 9

31

Convert intensity to inches/hour

32

For intensity of 5
inch/hr, duration is 15
min
Tc from nomograph was
18 min 15 min
Tc Duration
Next iteration, try
intensity = 4.0 inch/hr

33

Slope = 0.02

I = 4.0
inches/hr
Tc = 20 min
For second iteration, tc = 20 min

34

Example (continued)

I = 4.0 inches/hour is
somewhere between
30 min and 15 min,
Interpolate OK!

35

What does this mean?

It means that for a ten-year storm, the greatest intensity to be

expected for a storm lasting at least the Tc (18 min.) is 4.0
inches per hour

that is the design intensity

36

Can also use equation, this example is

provided in Chapter 4-4 of the Iowa
DOT manual
37

Rational Method

used for mostly urban applications

limited to about 10 acres in size (some sources suggest 200acre limit)
Q = CIA
Calculate Q once C, I, and A have been found

38

Area

Area of watershed
Defined by topography
Use GIS contours in lab

39

40

Lab-type Example

60-acre watershed
50-year storm
Mixed cover
Rolling terrain

41

Qdesign = 180 x 1.0 x 0.6 = 108CFS

180

42

What would the flow have been

had we used the rational
method?

Q=CIA
Say, c = 0.2 (slightly pervious soils)
I=? Assume round watershed of 60 acres = 60/640 = 0.093 sq
mi L=D1800 , assume slope=4% (rolling?) Tc for I=6in/h
= 41 min vs. 60 min I=4.8in/h = 45 min vs. 30 min call it
5.5in/h
A=60 Q=.25.560 = 66 CFS vs. 108 cfs

43