10/14/2016

HydraulicDesignManual:Hydrology

Chapter4:Hydrology
Section1:HydrologysRoleinHydraulicDesign
Inthecontextofhydraulicdesign,hydrologicanalysisprovidesestimatesoffloodmagnitudesasaresultof
precipitation.Theseestimatesconsiderprocessesinawatershedthattransformprecipitationtorunoffandthat
transportwaterthroughthesystemtoaprojectslocation.
Thedesignofdrainagefacilitiesrequiresthedesignerto:
Selectthelevelofprotectiondesired,specifiedintermsofprobabilityofcapacityexceedance.
Findthecorrespondingflowrateand/orvolume,computinginmanycasesthecorrespondingwater
surfaceelevation.
Usethatasabasisfordesign.
Inthedesignoffacilitiessuchasstormdrainsystems,culverts,andbridges,floodsareusuallyconsideredin
termsofpeakrunoffordischargeincubicfeetpersecondorcubicmeterspersecond.Forsystemsthatare
designedtocontrolthevolumeofrunoff,suchasdetentionstoragefacilities,orwherefloodroutingthrough
culvertsisused,thedischargepertimewillbeofinterest.Thus,dependingontheneedsofaparticularproject,
thehydrologystudymayprovide:
Aflowrateforwhichtheprobabilityofexceedanceisspecified.
Avolumeofwaterexpectedwithaspecifiedstormduration,forwhichtheprobabilityofexceedance
isspecified.
Ahydrographflowrateasafunctionoftimeforaspecifiedprobabilityofexceedance.This
providesinformationaboutpeak,volume,andtimingofrunofflevelofprotectiondesired.
Theseresultsmaybeobtainedthroughstatisticalanalysisofhistoricalobservationsorthroughempiricalor
conceptualmodelsoftherelevantwatershedandchannelprocesses.

http://onlinemanuals.txdot.gov/txdotmanuals/hyd/hydrology.htm

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