THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITORA

THE HYDRAULIC REHAVIOUR OF THE CITY OF WINNIPEG,

STANDARD, STORM WATER, SUMP INLETS

Norman B. Brandson

A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree

Of Master of Science in Civil Engineering

Winnipeg, Manitoba
October, 1971
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A s no p r o j e c t of t h i s k i n d c a n be completed w i t h o u t t h e

a s s i s t a n c e o f many i n d i v i d u a l s , s o :.a acknowledgement can

,possibly give credit to all those to whom it i s due.

S p e c i a l n o t e must be t a k e n , however, o f m a j o r contributions

w i t h o u t which t h i s work would s u r e l y have f l o u n d e r e d .

Dr. Kenneth Adam, whose p a t i e n c e w i t h t h e a u t h o r w a s

inexhaustable, whose guidance was invaluable and whose

encouragement was saving, is extended full credit and
h e a r t f e l t thanks f o r h i s contributions.
The e n g i n e e r i n g s t a f f o f t h e C i t y o f Winnipeg, headed
by City E n g i n e e r M r . W. D. H u r s t , n o t o n l y l a i d open t h e i r
technical resources t o the author, but also supplied the

actual storm w a t e r a p p u r t e n a n c e s which were t h e s u b j e c t o f

t h i s s e r i e s of t e s t s . Their extremely co-operative a t t i t u d e

and v a l u a b l e a s s i s t a n c e i s g r a t e f u l l y acknowledged.

F i n a l l y , t o t h e t e c h n i c a l s t a f f of the University of

Manitoba Hydraulics Lab, p a r t i c u l a r l y Mr. S t a n Kaskuw, who

s u f f e r e d t h r o u g h many weeks of imparting their practical

knowledge to the a u t h o r , and supplemented h i s s k i l l s w i t h

t h e i r own, t h e a u t h o r o f f e r s h i s humble g r a t i t u d e .
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER -
PAGE

L i s t of Tables.................... iv

L i s t of Figures ................... v
L i s t of Symbols ................... ix
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background o f t h e Problem.. 1
1.2 S t a t e m e n t o f t h e Problem... 3
1.3 J u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r In-
vestigation.. .............. 7
REVIEW OF PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS

2.1 Introduction............... 10
2.2 G. S. Tapley - Hydrodynamics
o f Model Sewer I n l e t s A p p l i e d

2.3
t o Design
W. I. Hicks
..................
- D r a i n a g e In-
13

l e t s f o r Parkways i n Los

2.4
Angeles ....................
N. W. Conner - Design and
15
Capacity of Gutter I n l e t s . . 20
2.5 J o h n s Hopkins U n i v e r s i t y -
Design o f Storm Water
Inlets..................... 25
2.6 R. J. Wasley - Hydrodynamics
o f Flow i n t o Curb Opening
Inlets..................... 43
2.7 , S. S. K a r a k i and R. M.
Hanie - Depressed Curb
Inlets..................... 47
2.8 W. J. Bauer a n d D . C. Woo
- H y d r a u l i c Design o f
Depressed Curb I n l e t s . . . . . . 51
2.9 J. C . C a s s i d y - H y d r a u l i c
C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of Grate
Inlets..................... 54
2.10 J. A. Zwamborn - Union o f
South A f r i c a Storm Water
I n l e t Design C o d e . . . . . . . . . . 59
CHAPTER .
PAGE
2.11 Conparison of the Lit-
erature Reviewed ........... 63
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
3.1
3.2
Introduction ...............
Dimensional Analysis ....... 66
69
3.3 General Observations as to
the Nature of the Flow into
Each of the Inlets as Noted
3.4
During Experimentation
Weir Flow Theory
.....
........... 73
75
3.5
3.6
Orifice Flow Theory ........
General Flow Expression .... 78
80
EXPERIItENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE
4.1
4.2
Introduction
Model Roadway
.......,.......
.............. 82
82
4.3 Inlet Appurtenances ........ 89
4.3.1 Curb Opening Inlet
Grate ............... 89
4.3.2 Gutter Grate ........ 90
Inlets.....................
Standard Depression........
Establishment of Crown
Slope.......................
Establishment of Gutter
Grades.....................
Flow Measurement ........,..
Approach Flow Conditions
Measurement of Flow Depth
...
Adjacent to Curb
Testing Procedure
...........
..........
OBSERVED DATA
5.1
5.2
Introduction ...............
Presentation of Numerical
5.3
Data .......................
Qualitative Observations ...
5.3.1 Flow Control at the
Inlet...............
5.3.2 Dye Test Results ....
5.3.3 General Observa-
tions ...............
 iii

CHAPTER -
PAGE
VI EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
6.1 Introduction............... 149
6.2 Capacities of City of Win-
nipeg Standard Inlets...... 150
6.3 Results Predicted by Pre-
vious Sump Inlet Design
Formulae................... 157
6.4 Dimensional Analysis In-
6.5
terpretation ...............
Development of Design For-
163
mulae for the Tested
Inlets..................... 165
6.5.1 Undepressed Curb
Inlet............... 167
6.5.2 Depressed Curb In-
let................. 169
6.5.3 Gutter Inlet........ 170
6.5.4 Combination Inlet... 172
6.6 Extension of Design For-
mulae...........,.......... 174
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Conclusions................ 178
7.2 Reconmendations for Further
Study ......................
181
BIBLIOGRAPHY...................... 184
APPENDICES
A. Structural Details of
,

Model Roadway.. ............ 188

B. Test Data
i) Undepressed Curb Inlet. 196
ii) Depressed Curb Inlet... 205
iii) Gutter Inlet........... 216
iv) Combination Inlet...... 225
C. Spread versus Depth Curves. 235
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE -
PAGE

1 V a l u e s o f rn for e q u a t i o n
L/D = mV / gD .... a f t e r Cassidy ... 58

2 Summary of Reviewed L i t e r a t u r e . . . . 65

3 Formulation o f t h e Experimental
Program........... ................ 83

4 Sample T e s t Data Sheet............ 111

5 Sump I n l e t Design Formulae........ 158

 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE
1 Grate Inlets for Los Angeles
Parkways.. .after W. I. Hicks.. .... 18

Gutter Grate Design..after W. I.

Hicks............................. 19
Gutter Grate Design..after W. I.
Hicks............................. 19

Types of Inlets - Raleigh North

Carolina...after W. I. Hicks...... 23
C and
Q = CL ....
versus Gutter Grade for
after W. I. Hicks...... 24

Types of Inlets - Baltimore,

Maryland..,..after Johns Hopkins
University ........................ 27

Gutter Grates - Baltimore, Maryland

,.after Johns Hopkins University.. 29
Undepressed Curb Inlet Capacities
..after Johns Hopkins University.. 37

(A) Curves for C values in Equation

2.ll.....after Johns Hopkins
University....................
(B) Capacity of Curb Opening Inlets
37
With Dep~ession...after Johns
Hopkins University ............38

Deflector Inlet Capacity ....after 38

Flow-by for a Depressed Combination

Inlet.....,..after Johns Hopkins
University ........................38

Surnp Inlet Design Curves....after

Johns Hopkins University .......... 41
FIGURE -
PAGE
13 Flow Into a Curb Opening. ..after
Wasley............................ 45

Failure of a Dam with Triangular

Reservoir....after Wasley......... 45

Minimum Depth of Flow for Curb

Inlet Weir Operation.......after
Karaki and Hanie.................. 49

Capacity of Depressed Curb Inlets

in a Sump..after Karaki and Hanie. 49
Selection of Standard Depression
..after Bauer and Moo........,.... 53

Depressed Curb Inlet Performance..

after Bauer and Woo............... 53

Capacity of Depressed Curb Inlet

in Sump...after Bauer and Woo..... 56

Tested Grates.,.after Cassidy ..... 56

Grate Inlet Performance Chart....,

after Cassidy .................... 58

Curb Inlet Design Curves.....after

Zwarnborn.......................... 62

Flow-by for Curb Inlets.....after

Zwamborn.......................... 62

Inlet Test Flow Variables......... 71

(A) Flow Over a Sharp Crested Weir 76

(B) Flow Through a Curb Opening
Inlet......................... 76

(A) Orifice Flow Through a Curb

Inlet......................... 79
(B) Orifice Flow Through a Gutter
Inlet......................... 79
 vii

FIGURE -
PAGE

27 Model Roadway Dimensions ..,....... 86

28 (A) Winnipeg Standard Curb Inlet
Grate......................... 91
(B) Winnipeg Standard Gutter Inlet
Grate......................... 91
29 ( A ) Standard Undepressed Curb
Inlet....................,.... 93
(B) Standard Combination Inlet.... 93
(C) Standard Depressed Curb Inlet. 9 4

Model Flow Diagram ................ 98

Location of Model Flow Measure-

ments............................. 105

Undepressed Curb Inlet Logarithmic

Rating Curve...................... 113

33 Depressed Curb Inlet Logarithmic

Rating Curve...................... 114

34 Gutter Inlet Logarithmic Rating

Curve............................. 11 5

35 Combination Inlet Logar.ithmic

Rating Curve..................... 116

36 Velocity Distribution for Approach-

ing Gutter Flow................... 147

37 Flow Pattern of Water Ponded in

the Sump.............. ............, 147

Undepressed Curb Inlet Rating

Curves............................ 153

Depressed Curb Inlet Rating Curves 1 5 4

Gutter Inlet Rating Curves........ 155

Combination Inlet Rating Curves... 156

Comparison of Theoretical and

Actual ~atingCurves.............. 162
 viii

PAGE

43 C and versus S for Equation

Q = Cy Undepressed Curb Inlet... 171
44 C and versus S for Equation
Q = Cy Depressed Curb Inlet..... 171
45 . C and
Q = Cy Gutter Inlet.............
versus S for Equation
I73
46 C and versus S for Equation
Q = Cy Combination Inlet........ 173
 LIST OF SYMBOLS

SYMBOL DEFINITION DIMENSIONS

A Area of the clear opening of an Ft .*
inlet
Ratio of the normal gutter flow none
depth to the depth of water at
the inlet mid-point
Depth of the local gutter depression Ft.
Width of the deflectors for a Ft.
deflector inlet
A coefficient of discharge varying none
with the longitudinal gutter slope

B)
An express on representing
(0.45/1.12

An expression representing (8gg /f) 1 / 2

0

Clearance between the deflectors for Ft.

a deflector inlet
Normal gutter flow depth Ft.
The average depth of flow over a Ft*
gutter grade set on a continuous
grade
The normal gutter flow depth down- Ft.
stream of an inlet set on a contin-
uous grade
The depth of ponding in front of a - Ft.
depressed curb inlet set in a sump
The normal gutter flow depth up- Ft.
stream of an inlet set on a contin-
uous grade
The depth of gutter flow a distance Ft.
W from the curb
SYMBOL DEFINITION DIMENSIONS

F The f o r c e e x e r t e d on a f a l l i n g body Us.

F' A symbol f o r t h e e x p r e s s i o n ( v ~ / ~ ~none
)
Fr Froude number of t h e g u t t e r flow none
approaching t h e i n l e t
Froude number of t h e g u t t e r flow none
approaching t h e i n l e t a d i s t a n c e
W from t h e c u r b

The D1arcy f r i c t i o n f a c t o r none

The g r a v i t a t i o n a l a c c e l e r a t i o n ~t./~ec.*

The d e p t h of ponded w a t e r i n f r o n t Ft.

of an i n l e t

An e q u a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t which as- none

sumes a unique v a l u e f o r each pave-
ment crown s l o p e
A dependent flow v a r i a b l e f o r c u r b
i n l e t s s e t on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e

The l e n g t h of c u r b opening r e q u i r e d Ft.

t o c a p t u r e 100% of t h e g u t t e r flow
on a c o n t i n u o u s grade
The l e n g t h of g u t t e r g r a t e r e q u i r e d Ft.
t o c a p t u r e 100% of t h e flow which
i s o u t s i d e of t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n on
a c o n t i n u o u s grade
The l e n g t h of g r a t e r e q u i r e d t o Ft.
c a p t u r e 100% of t h e c e n t r a l p o r t i o n
of t h e g u t t e r flow on a c o n t i n u o u s
g r a d e when t h e v e l o c i t y of t h e flow
is V
0

Length of a c u r b opening i n l e t l o - Ft.

c a t e d i n a sump

The l e n g t h of t h e downstream q u t t e r Ft.

t r a n s i t i o n f o r a depressed i n l e t
l o c a t e d on a c o n t i n u o u s grade
- -
SYMBOL DEFINITION DIMENSIONS

M A symbol representing the ex-

pression (LF8/aTan0)
An equation coefficient which has
a unique value for varying gutter
grate bar orientations
An equation exponent varying with none
the longitudinal gutter slope
The Manning roughness factor none
Total flow in the roadway gutter C.F.S.
section
The total amount of flow entering C.F.S.
the inlet
The total carry-over flow past an C.F.S.
inlet set on a continuous grade
The carry-over flow past a gutter C.F.S.
inlet on a continuous graae which
passed directly overtop of that
inlet
The carry-over flow past a gutter C.F.S.
inlet set on a continuous grade
which passes by the outside edge
of that inlet
The Reynolds number of the gutter none
flow approaching an inlet
A symbol representing the expres- none
sion ( c / W )
The Reynolds number of the gutter none
flow approaching an inlet located
in a test model
The longitudinal gutter slope of none
a roadway
The transverse slope of a roadway none
(also known as the crown slope)
 xii

DEFINITION DIMENSIONS
The w i d t h o f f l o w s p r e a d o f u n i - Ft.
form g u t t e r f l o w on a roadway

Time

The moment o f momentum p e r second

of t h e g u t t e r flow about t h e c e n t r e
of the i n l e t

The y-component o f t h e g u t t e r f l o w F t . /Sec.

velocity

The a v e r a g e v e l o c i t y o f t h e f l o w F t . /Sec.
i n t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n of t h e road-
way
The x-component o f t h e g u t t e r f l o w
velocity
.
F t /Set.

The w i d t h o f t h e g r a t e c o v e r i n g a Ft.
gutter inlet
The w i d t h o f t h e l o c a l g u t t e r de- Ft.
p r e s s i o n f o r any d e p r e s s e d i n l e t
The w i d t h o f t h e f l o w i n t h e g u t t e r Ft.
s e c t i o n o f a roadway
The normal d e p t h o f t h e g u t t e r f l o w Ft.
measured a t t h e c u r b
The d e p t h o f f l o w measured a t t h e Ft.
o u t s i d e edge o f a g u t t e r g r a t e
inlet

he e l e v a t i o n o f t h e pavement crown Ft.

above t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f t h e
g u t t e r and c u r b
The h e i g h t o f t h e roadway crown Ft.
above t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f t h e
g u t t e r and c u r b

The moment o f h y d r o s t a t i c p r e s s u r e
of t h e g u t t e r flow about t h e c e n t r e
o f a n i n l e t s e t on a c o n t i n u o u s
grade
 xiii

SYMBOL DEFINITION DIMENSIONS

A characteristic used to de- none
scribe the geometry of gutter
grates

PI 0 The longitudinal gutter slope of none

a roadway

O2
The angle formed between the curb none
and the pavement cross-slope
8' The angle formed between the curb none
and the slope of a local gutter
depression
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

C o n t r a r y t o common b e l i e f , t h e r a p i d removal of storm

water runoff from u r b a n a r e a s by t h e u s e o f man-made s t o r m

d r a i n s , i s n o t a t a l l a recent innovation. A l l early Roman

cities were equipped w i t h e l a b o r a t e s t o r m d r a i n a g e s y s t e m s ,

some c o n s i s t i n g s i m p l y of open c h a n n e l s a l o n g roadways, but

many of s u b s u r f a c e c o n d u i t s w i t h a t t e n d a n t i n l e t s . Some o f

t h e s e e a r l y urban storm water drainage facilities, dating

from before the birth of Christ, a r e s t i l l i n existence

today. I t i s due t o t h e f a c t t h a t u r b a n s t o r m d r a i n a g e was

constructed centuries before any t h o u g h t w a s g i v e n t o t h e

d i s p o s a l of sewage from a c i t y ' s c o n c e n t r a t e d p o p u l a c e , t h a t

we owe t h e e x i s t e n c e o f t h e combined sewer, a pestiferous

device handling both raw sewage and s t o r m r u n o f f . When

sewage d i s p o s a l was E i n a l l y undertaken in the nineteenth

century, the o b j e c t i o n a b l e m a t e r i a l w a s s i m p l e dumped i n t o

t h e e x i s t i n g storm d r a i n s .

There have been two basic reasons which have moved

people t o c o n s t r u c t s t o r m r u n o f f f a c i l i t i e s i n urban a r e a s .

I
The f i r s t i s one o f c o n c e r n for the safety of life and

property, that is t h e prevention of major flooding i n t h e

c i t i e s . ( T h i s i s less o f a c o n c e r n on t h e Canadian p r a i r i e s ,
however, a s t h e most s e r i o u s f l o o d i n g i s caused by spring

snowmelt.) The second is more a consideration of

c o n v e n i e n c e , where s t o r m d r a i n a g e i s i n s t a l l e d s o that the

movement of p e o p l e and v e h i c l e s w i l l n o t b e hampered by t h e

presence of large amounts of water on the city's

thoroughfares.
I n North American c i t i e s , w e l l i n t o t h e t h i r d d e c a d e o f
t h e p r e s e n t century, t h e d e s i g n of urban drainage f a c i l i t i e s
was r a t h e r a haphazard procedurel3)* , depending almost

entirely on the personal experience of a particular

m u n i c i p a l e n g i n e e r , r a t h e r t h a n on any rigorous scientific

approach. The three major tools of today's urban

h y d r o l o g i s t , s t a t i s t i c s , f l u i d mechanics and economics, were

seldom a p p l i e d .

Early i n t h e nineteen-thirtys, chiefly in the large

cities of the American Eastern seaboard, a much more

scientific and rational approach to t h e d e s i g n of urban

s t o r m d r a i n a g e s y s t e m s began t o emerge. The " r u l e o f thumb

methods" were being brought into serious question. The

c h i e f r e a s o n s f o r t h i s were:
(1) I n a l l phases of t h e engineering profession, new

scientific knowledge was b e i n g made a v a i l a b l e f o r p r a c t i c a l

application. The emphasis had s h i f t e d from s i m p l y d e s i g n i n g

* Numbers i n p a r e n t h e s e s r e f e r t o e n t r i e s i n t h e b i b l i o g r a p h y
projects using the engineer's past experience, to the

awareness of what were t h e s c i e n t i f i c p r i n c i p l e s behind the

design. Reliable mathematical e x p r e s s i o n s were needed i f

t h e d e s i g n of d r a i n a g e systems was t o become anything more

t h a n a " h i t o r m i s s " procedure.

(2) The rapidly expanding s i z e of a l l c i t i e s meant

t h a t t h e e x t e n t and c o s t of storm drainage was becoming
enormous, and that to expend large amounts of money on
facilities which might either be grossly over or
under-designed, without any reliable basis for deciding
which, was n o t j u s t i f i e d . T h i s i n c r e a s e i n s i z e a l s o meant

t h a t t h e numbers of people affected when an inadequate

system r e s u l t e d i n p r o p e r t y damage, was g r e a t l y i n c r e a s e d .

(3) The intensified commercial nature of t h e c i t y

demanded t h a t t h e movement of people and goods must be

reliable. I n consequence, s t o r m d r a i n a g e must a l s o be made

r e l i a b l e , and a t a s low a c o s t a s p o s s i b l e .

T h i s p r o c e s s of f o r m a l i z i n g t h e p r o c e d u r e s of d e s i g n of
storm water d r a i n a g e systems and r e f i n i n g and revising the

methods as new i n f o r n a t i o n became a v a i l a b l e , h a s t h u s been

a c t i v e f o r almost f o r t y y e a r s ; s i n c e o u r knowledge is not
y e t complete, it i s s t i l l going on today.

1.2 The Problem

An urban storm water drainage system is not a

homogeneous e n t i t y , b u t r a t h e r i t c o n s i s t s of a number of
component parts, each w i t h i t s own f u n c t i o n and p r o b l e m s ,

and e a c h of e q u a l importance to the whole. This system

usually consists of:

(I) A c o n t r i b u t i n g drainage a r e a analogous t o a r i v e r

d r a i n a g e b a s i n , o n t o which r a i n f a l l s and over which the

water travels to r e a c h an o p e n i n g i n t h e ground c a l l e d an
inlet. T h i s a r e a w i l l most o f t e n c o n s i s t o f both pervious
and impervious surfaces. Most of the overland flow i s
c h a n n e l l e d i n t o t h e roadways l o c a t e d i n t h e drainage area,
and t h e r e it i s c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n formed a t

t h e c u r b by t h e geometry o f t h e t h o r o u g h f a r e .
(21 The inlet through which the water from the

contributing drainage a r e a flows. T h e r e may b e any number

of t h e s e o p e n i n g s i n any one drainage area. (That will

depend on the amount o f f l o w t h a t an i n l e t w i l l p a s s , and

t h e i n t e n s i t y of t h e design storm.) They a r e a l m o s t always

located on the roadways s i n c e t h a t i s where t h e o v e r l a n d

flow i s concentrated; the purpose of the inlets is to

provide access f o r t h e storm runoff t o subsurface conduits.
(3) A conveyence s y s t e m l e a d i n g from t h e i n l e t s t o t h e

subsurface storm d r a i n s . Such' a conveyence is required

because the d r a i n s a r e s e v e r a l f e e t below t h e l e v e l o f t h e
street. It c o n s i s t s o f t h r e e s e c t i o n s . The f i r s t i s a box
structure behind or below t h e i n l e t o p e n i n g (depending on

t h e t y p e of i n l e t ) which i s r e q u i r e d t o form t h e connection

between the o p e n i n g and a l e n g t h o f p i p e . The second i s a
l e n g t h o f p i p e which d i r e c t s t h e water i n t o a catch basin.

F i n a l l y , t h e r e i s a c a t c h b a s i n which i t s e l f c o n n e c t s t o t h e

main s t o r m w a t e r c o n d u i t by means o f a s h o r t l e n g t h o f p i p e .
The purpose of t h e b a s i n i s t o remove s e d i m e n t and d e b r i s
from t h e s t o r m r u n o f f b e f o r e it e n t e r s t h e main s t o r m sewer.
(4) The main s t o r m w a t e r r u n o f f c o n d u i t . This is a
v e r y l a r g e c o n d u i t ( r e a l l y a network o f v a r y i n g s i z e d p i p e s )
located several f e e t below ground l e v e l , which c a r r i e s t h e

s t o r m w a t e r which i t r e c e i v e s from t h e i n l e t s , t o a p l a c e o f

d i s p o s a l away from t h e c i t y , u s u a l l y t o a n e a r b y
To o u t l i n e a l l o f t h e s t e p s i n v o l v e d i n d e s i g n i n g each

of t h e above components s o a s t o a r r i v e a t a n o v e r a l l d e s i g n

of a storm drainage s y s t e m , i s a l e n g t h y u n d e r t a k i n g and

w e l l beyond t h e s c o p e of t h i s study. One of the points

readily a p p a r e n t from t h i s summary, however, i s t h a t o n e o f

t h e c r i t i c a l f a c t o r s i n any s y s t e m d e s i g n w i l l b e how much

water flows through the storm water runoff i n l e t s under

design conditions. The d e s i g n c o n d i t i o n s a t t h e inlet are

in t u r n d e t e r m i n e d by t h e c a l c u l a t i o n s performed t o a n a l y s e
t h e e f f e c t of a particular rainfall on the contributing
drainage area.
The problem of the c a p a c i t y of a p a r t i c u l a r type of

storm water i n l e t under various conditions is of great

concern to municipal engineers, as is e v i d e n c e d by t h e

multitude of literature written on the subject (see

Bibliography). Without t h i s knowledge a c o m p l e t e l y a c c u r a t e

design of subsurface d r a i n s i s n o t possible.

The s c o p e o f f e r e d by t h e above s t a t e d problem i s still

e x t r e m e l y wide. The i n l e t s may be any o n e o f s e v e r a l t y p e s ,

all of which behave d i f f e r e n t l y from a h y d r a u l i c p o i n t o f

view. They may be s i m p l e o p e n i n g s in the curb, with or
without g r a t i n g s , and w i t h o r w i t h o u t a l o c a l d e p r e s s i o n i n
t h e adjacent street g u t t e r . They may be openings in the
gutter itself, w i t h any number o f d i f f e r e n t t y p e s of c o v e r
grates. T h e c u r b and gutter inlets may be combined in

countless different r e l a t i v e positions. The pavement may be

made extremely rough in front of a c u r b o p e n i n g i n an

a t t e m p t t o d e f l e c t more f l o w i n t o the opening. Also the

terrain of an a r e a w i l l d i c t a t e whether t h e i n l e t w i l l be

s e t on a c o n t i n u o u s g u t t e r g r a d e w i t h t h e same slope above

and below the inlet, or in a low p o i n t w i t h t h e g u t t e r

g r a d e s a p p r o a c h i n g t h e i n l e t from e a c h s i d e .
Obviously, for one study to consider all of the
p e r m u t a t i o n s and c o m b i n a t i o n s o f t h e s e v a r i a b l e s would b e a n
impossible task. Fortunately, many of the above inlet

configurations have been dealt with in previous

investigations (see C h a p t e r 11, page 1 0 ) , and enough
information is available to intelligently design these

components. R a t h e r t h e p r e s e n t study proposes to concern

i t s e l f w i t h a p a r t i c u l a r f a c e t o f t h i s problem which h a s n o t

as y e t received a g r e a t d e a l of study, t h a t i s t h e capacity

o f t h e most common t y p e s o f Winnipeg i n l e t s .

1.3 J u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r t h e Study

(1) The l a n d on which t h e c i t y o f Winnipeg is built,

b e i n g a p a r t o f t h e Western Canada p l a i n , i s q u i t e f l a t . As

a result, most of the i n l e t s f o r t h e c i t y ' s storm water

d r a i n a g e system a r e l o c a t e d a t low points formed by the
constructing of roadway g r a d e s s o t h a t t h e y s l o p e towards
t h e s e i n l e t s from b o t h s i d e s . It i s t h e designing of such

sump i n l e t s which i s o f g r e a t c o n c e r n i n t h e Winnipeg a r e a .

(2) The city of Winnipeg Engineering Department,

r a t h e r t h a n u t i l i z i n g a v e r y l a r g e number o f i n l e t s i z e s and

s h a p e s , h a s s t a n d a r d i z e d t h e g r a t i n g s t o b e u s e d on Winnipeg

inlets. There i s one s t a n d a r d g r a t e f o r c u r b openings and

another fox gutter openings. These g r a t e s c a n b e u s e d t o

construct four standard i n l e t s : ( a ) Undepressed c u r b inlet,

(b) Depressed curb i n l e t using a standard l o c a l depression

of t h e g u t t e r s u r f a c e a t t h e f a c e o f t h e i n l e t , (c) Gutter

inlet, and (d) a c o m b i n a t i o n o f t h e u n d e p r e s s e d c u r b and

gutter inlets.
(3) As this study began, little information was

a v a i l a b l e a s t o how much f l o w would p a s s t h r o u g h t h e city's

f o u r s t a n d a r d i n l e t t y p e s under o p e r a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s .

(4) Past research on storm water i n l e t design w a s

c h i e f l y concerned w i t h i n l e t s s e t on a continuous gutter

grade. Very l i t t l e emphasis had been p l a c e d on sump i n l e t s ,

and none o f t h e e x i s t i n g d e s i g n methods seemed s u i t a b l e t o

a p p l i c a t i o n f o r l o c a l design. A t any rate, some improved

knowledge of the capacities of the Winnipeg i n l e t s w a s

needed i f t h e d e s i g n f o r m u l a e o f p r e v i o u s i n v e s t i g a t o r s were
t o b e checked f o r a c c u r a c y .

(5) The p r a c t i c a l e x p e r i e n c e of local engineers had

indicated that many of t h e c i t y ' s s u b s u r f a c e s t o r m d r a i n s
were n o t o p e r a t i n g n e a r t h e i r d e s i g n capacity even during

the h e a v i e s t observed r a i n f a l l s . It was s u s p e c t e d t h a t t h e

i n l e t s s i m p l y c o u l d n o t a l l o w t h a t much f l o w to reach the

conduit. Serious d o u b t had a r i s e n i n t h e p r e s e n t p r a c t i c e

of i n l e t d e s i g n , and t h e enormous amounts of money being

expended on the storm drainage in the city made it

i m p e r a t i v e t h a t f u t u r e d e s i g n s e l i m i n a t e waste by arriving

a t an a c c u r a t e and r e l i a b l e a p p r a i s a l o f t h e c a p a b i l i t i e s o f

e a c h of t h e s y s t e m ' s components.

The above progression of facts brought about the

formulation o f t h e p r i m a r y g o a l o f t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y , which
is t o undertake a s e r i e s of t e s t s u t i l i z i n g a model of an

a c t u a l roadway, f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f d e t e r m i n i n g how much f l o w

passes through each o f t h e C i t y of Winnipeg s t a n d a r d sump

i n l e t s , under a c t u a l o p e r a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s . The t e s t i n g was

t o b e conducted w i t h t h e g u t t e r g r a d e s a p p r o a c h i n g t h e i n l e t

and the roadway crown s l o p e , s e t a t a number o f d i f f e r e n t

values f o r each i n l e t type.

The data from the experimental program will be

processed i n o r d e r t o c o n s t r u c t r a t i n g curves f o r each i n l e t

t y p e , t h a t can be used by d e s i g n e r s i n t h e C i t y o f Winnipeg.
Also, a g e n e r a l mathematical e x p r e s s i o n of t h e flow w i l l be
f o r m u l a t e d which w i l l a l l o w f o r t h e d e s i g n of any i n l e t s i z e
which conforms to the geometry of t h e Winnipeg i n l e t s .
F i n a l l y , c e r t a i n more g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n s w i l l be made on

t h e behaviour of t h e v a r i o u s i n l e t s d u r i n g t e s t i n g .
 CHAPTER I1

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS I N T O THE

BEHAVIOUR OF STORM WATER INLETS

2.1 Introduction

A s h a s been o u t l i n e d i n t h e previous chapter*, urban

storm w a t e r d r a i n a g e s y s t e m s have been a n i m p o r t a n t p a r t o f

C i v i l Engineering p r a c t i c e f o r over half a century; the
importance of storm water i n l e t s i n t h i s system has a l s o
been d i s c u s s e d . It is not a t a l l surprising that attempts

have been made t o i n v e s t i g a t e t h e h y d r a u l i c performance o f

these i n l e t s , both i n q u a l i t a t i v e and quantitative terms,
13)
dating back to the e a r l y p a r t of t h i s century . The

h i s t o r y of t h e research involves both f i e l d and laboratory

work, becoming increasingly complex and s o p h i s t i c a t e d as

attitudes changed and new research techniques became

available.

The f i r s t a t t e m p t s at research in this field were

initiated by some of the more p r o g r e s s i v e American c i t y

e n g i n e e r i n g d e p a r t m e n t s , who c o n d u c t e d rather crude field

13,29)
tests on t h e p a r t i c u l a r i n l e t s used i n t h e i r a r e a ;

t h e c a p a c i t y o f t h e i n l e t i n e a c h s p e c i f i c l o c a t i o n was the
- -
-

* S u p r a page 2 .
only information sought, the causal relationships being of
no particular interest at that time.
As research began shifting to a laboratory setting, the
researchers' concern for more mathematically oriented
explanations of the flow phenomena involved in the intake of
water through the inlet increased. Early efforts were
complicated as well as cumbersome and of dubious merit for
modern design purposes, but they provided the impetus which
led to further studies. Investigations increased in scope
and sophistication, culminating in the Johns Hopkins
16)
University study of 1956 which is still the most
ambitious and complete work on inlet design. As no one
report can adequately cover all of the aspects of a complex
fluid mechanics problem, gaps in the knowledge provided by
the Johns Hopkins report have been noted; furthar
investigations have been carried out in recent years but
there remains many unanswered questions regarding the
behaviour of storm water inlets.
It is interesting to note that virtually all of the
research into the behaviour of various types of inlets has
been carried out in the United States, and has for the most
part been oriented towards much higher discharge conditions
than we usually encounter in this region of North America.
This is accounted for by the fact that the greatest impetus
for research concerned with inlet design comes from urban
centers located in high rainfall areas since obviously,
higher runoff would mean an intensification of the problems
arising from the failure of inlets to provide adequate
capacity .
Research has been very heavily weighted towards the
consideration of inlets located on a single continuous grade
rather than in a sag; the reason for this is twofold.
First, the topography of large American cities located in
high runoff areas dictates that the continuous grade type of
inlet will be by far the most widely used. Secondly,
certain simplifications and assumptions have been made in
the approach to inlets located in a sag, which although in
most cases are quite valid, nonetheless suffer from being
unable to fully describe the performance of the inlet under
all conditions.
This chapter is certainly not an attempt to review all
of the research and literature on the behaviour of storm
water inlets; only the most comprehensive works which have
relevance to the municipal engineer of today have been
included. A11 others, however, have been listed elsewhere
in this study*,
The following review has been included for three very
important reasons:
(1) It will form a background for the theory and
method of the present study, providing the reader with a
genesis of the author's approach.
(2) Where previous studies deal with inlets located in

* Bibliography, page 184.

s a g s , it w i l l p r o v i d e a u s e f u l y a r d s t i c k by which the data

of t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y can be measured and compared.

(3) It will provide in essence a d e s i g n manual,

composed of the best available information, for those
conditions of inlet location, flow and geometry not

investigated i n t h i s report.

2.2 G. S. Tapley - Hydrodynamics of Model Storm Sewer

I n l e t s Applied t o Design ( 1 9 4 3 ) 35
The research on which t h i s p a p e r was based took p l a c e

i n 1937 and was c o n f i n e d e n t i r e l y t o l a b o r a t o r y work. All

tests were conducted on a 3:32 s c a l e model r e p r e s e n t i n g

one-half of an a c t u a l roadway on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e , w i t h a

side opening and t e n f e e t of approach c h a n n e l t o e s t a b l i s h

t h e flow. T h i s model r e s t e d on a t i l t i n g framework s o a s t o

be f u l l y a d j u s t a b l e . The s t u d i e s conducted were l i m i t e d by

the fact that t h e i n l e t t e s t e d was a c u r b opening u s i n g a

unique t y p e of d e p r e s s i o n 2, , and a l s o t h a t the prototype

pavement section was of p a r a b o l i c c r o s s - s e c t i o n , no l o n g e r
i n u s e on modern s t r e e t s .
Tapley conducted a r i g o r o u s t h e o r e t i c a l a n a l y s i s , f i r s t
s e t t i n g down t h e v a r i a b l e s a f f e c t i n g flow i n t o t h e i n l e t and
then applying standard dimensional analysis techniques

t o o b t a i n a s e r i e s of d i m e n s i o n l e s s terms. For the inlet

tested, keeping l o n g i t u d i n a l and c r o s s s l o p e s c o n s t a n t and

m a i n t a i n i n g a c o n s t a n t r a t i o of approach flow depth over
average depth at the inlet, the dimensionless relationship
reduces to
K = f (Fr, R) , ( ze1 1
where dependent variable K = (zP)/U
ZP = moment of hydrostatic pressure about the center of
inlet,
U = moment of momentum per second about the center of
the inlet,
Fr = Froude number of the approaching flow, and R =
Reynolds number of the approaching flow.
Due to the small scale of the model, in order to
maintain similitude it would have been necessary to use a
fluid less viscous than water for the testing. Tapley
proceeded to compute this imaginary viscosity and in turn
use it to compute R; this R utilizes the imaginary model
viscosity (water was used as the testing fluid) and the
actual model dimensions, and is related to the actual R by
means of a correlation coefficient which was determined by
running the model at several different longitudinal slopes.
An analysis of the data reveals that,
K = constant (R), ( 2.2 )

and

where % = ratio of the normal gutter flow depth over

the depth of water at the mid-section of the inlet,

 = e l e v a t i o n o f t h e pavement crown above t h e gutter,
Yc
R = Reynolds number o f t h e p r o t o t y p e f l o w , and Ro =

Reynolds number of t h e approach flow i n , t h e model.

The method which Tapley u s e s t o s o l v e e q u a t i o n 2 . 3 and
the way in which he applies it t o t h e d e s i g n of a c t u a l
i n l e t s i s t o o lengthy to be included here. Two points

emerge, however, which are of some s i g n i f i c a n c e . First,

t h i s r e s e a r c h may w e l l prove u s e f u l t o anyone investigating

the behaviour of o l d e r i n l e t i n s t a l l a t i o n s where p a r a b o l i c

pavement c r o s s - s e c t i o n s a r e encountered. Although modern

methods c o u l d e a s i l y be used t o approximate t h i s s i t u a t i o n ,

T a p l e y ' s method would s e r v e a s a useful check. Secondly,

the approach taken in this research is unique among

i n v e s t i g a t i o n s of i n l e t s s e t on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e ; T a p l e y ' s

approach c o n s i s t s of r e l a t i n g t h e r a t i o of the moment of

pressure of the flow t a k e n a b o u t t h e c e n t e r of t h e i n l e t
(which i s merely a measure of t h e tendency o f the flow to
drop into the inlet), o v e r t h e moment of momentum of t h e
flow (which i s merely a measure of t h e tendency of t h e flow
t o p a s s by t h e , i n l e t ) , t o t h e Froude and Reynolds numbers of

the flow. If t h i s p r i n c i p a l i s understood, it provides a

saund basis for understanding the methods of other

investigators.

2.3 W. I. Hicks - Drainage Inlets for Parkways in Los

12)
Angeles ( 1 9 4 4 )
 T h i s p a p e r , p a r t of which d e a l s w i t h t h e computation of

the amounts of run-off r e a c h i n g t h e pavement g u t t e r s , was

based on t h e e x p e r i e n c e of municipal e n g i n e e r i n g staffs in
the Los Angeles a r e a , both through g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n and
actual field tests.

S i n c e t h i s a u t h o r i s most concerned w i t h t h e d e s i g n of
i n l e t s f o r c a t c h b a s i n s t o be used i n t h e h i g h speed roadway

system of the c i t y of Los Angeles, he d e v o t e s v e r y l i t t l e

space t o t h e c o n s i d e r a t i o n of s i d e opening inlets, as the

use of a d e p r e s s i o n would n o t be p e r m i t t e d on a h i g h speed

thoroughfare and an undepressed curb opening is quite

inefficient.

Without s t a t i n g t h e s o u r c e , t h e author does give an

equation f o r t h e l e n g t h o f c u r b opening r e q u i r e d t o c a p t u r e
a l l of t h e flow on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e w i t h o u t u s e of a l o c a l
d e p r e s s i o n which i s :
L = 0.33Q (2-4

where L = t h e l e n g t h of c u r b opening (without grate)

r e q u i r e d t o c a p t u r e a l l of t h e g u t t e r flow, F T . ,

Q = t o t a l flow i n t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n , CFS.,

du = d e p t h of g u t t e r flow immediately upstream of t h e

i n l e t , FT.,

and dl = d e p t h of flow immediately downstream of t h e i n l e t ,

FT .
A more r i g o r o u s t r e a t m e n t i s a f f o r d e d t o t h e grate or
g u t t e r opening, which w i t h o u t d e p r e s s i o n i s more amenable t o
use on h i g h speed roadways. The t y p e of g r a t e t o which t h e

f o l l o w i n g development a p p l i e s i s shown i n Figure 1, along

w i t h a d e f i n i t i o n s k e t c h f o r t h e t h e o r e t i c a l development.

The b a s i s f o r t h e theory o u t l i n e d i n t h i s paper i s t h e

e q u a t i o n f o r f r e e f a l l i n g b o d i e s which i s
F = - I gt2 , ( 2.5 1
2
where F = f o r c e e x e r t e d on t h e f a l l i n g body, LBS.,
2
g = g r a v i t y a c c e l e r a t i o n , FT./SEC., and t = t i m e of

f r e e f a l l , SEC.
The free fall of w a t e r i n t o t h e g r a t e i s h i n d e r e d i n

t h r e e s e p a r a t e ways :
[I)
F r i c t i o n a l r e s i s t a n c e develops between t h e b a r s .

( 2 ) The flow t e n d s t o s k i d a l o n g t h e t o p s of the bars

u n t i l it i s a b l e t o f a l l i n t o t h e openings.
(3) If the velocity of t h e flow i s h i g h enough, t h e

w a t e r w i l l t e n d t o o v e r s h o o t t h e opening.
The a u t h o r i n d i c a t e s t h a t a l e n g t h of opening e q u a l to

1 . 5 f e e t i s s u f f i c i e n t t o account f o r t h e f i r s t two of t h e s e
items. Also , b y u s i n g s i m p l e k i n e m a t i c s t = 1.5/V. Hence,

t h e f r e e f a l l e q u a t i o n now becomes

where V = t h e a v e r a g e v e l o c i t y of t h e g u t t e r flow, FPS.

It i s now p o s s i b l e t o e q u a t e t h e average d e p t h of w a t e r

above t h e g r a t e t o t h i s f o r c e F of e q u a t i o n 2 . 6 . When the

 FIGURE 2 GUTTER GRATE DESIGN
after W.I. HICKS ( 1944)

90 -
u
Q)
9.
P 70-

Given Q and Wg , calculate W. Enter

C
curve to find % of flow captured by

Wg/W = % width of flow

I
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
FIGURE 3 GUTTER GRATE DESIGN

after W.I. HICKS ( 1944)

0'

Gutter velocity over grating f ps.

Having data from figure 2 , compute velocity over grate using % flow
captured. Compute dAV Enter figure 3. I f calculated velocity is to
right of computed dAV on curve read Q from curve - i f to the left use
Q from Fig. 2
weight of w a t e r above t h e g r a t e (computed u s i n g t h e a v e r a g e
d e p t h of w a t e r ) i s l e s s t h a n t h e c a l c u l a t e d f o r c e F t h e n a l l
of t h e flow w i l l be t r a p p e d by t h e g r a t e , however, when t h a t
weight exceeds F, t h e n a p o r t i o n of t h e flow w i l l e s c a p e t h e
opening. The f r a c t i o n of flow e s c a p i n g t h e i n l e t is given

where Q = amount of flow e n t e r i n g t h e i n l e t , CFS., and

I
d = a v e r a g e d e p t h of w a t e r o v e r t h e g r a t e , FTs
AV
The v e l o c i t y . of the g u t t e r flow above t h e g r a t e has

been computed u s i n g t h e s i m p l e a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e e q u a t i o n Q
= vA which when e x p r e s s e d i n terms of t h e g u t t e r geometry i s
Q
V = W ( d - W S ) , ( 2.8 1
g 53 x

where W = w i d t h of flow i n t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n , FT.,

g
d = normal d e p t h of flow i n g u t t e r s e c t i o n , FT., and S
X
= crown s l o p e of t h e roadway.

The above t h e o r y h a s been i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o t h e d e s i g n

c u r v e s shown i n F i g u r e s 2 and 3 , which a r e accompanied by an

e x p l a n a t i o n of t h e i r u s e .

2.4 N. 167. Conner - Design and Capacity of Gutter Inlets

These tests were carried out on a f u l l s c a l e model

which, a l t h o u g h n o t an a c t u a l s t r e e t , was located out of

doors; the a p p a r a t u s was f u l l y a d j u s t a b l e . The purpose of
t h e t e s t s was t o d e t e r m i n e t h e c a p a c i t i e s of the existing
inlets being used i n R a l e i g h , North C a r o l i n a , and a l s o t o
attempt a general appraisal of the hydraulic parameters

governing i n l e t performance.

Three types of inlets were tested. Using s t a n d a r d

nomenclature, t h e s e a r e :

(1) d e p r e s s e d c u r b i n l e t

( 2 ) d e p r e s s e d combination i n l e t

( 3 ) curb i n l e t with d e f l e c t o r s .

These a r e shown i n F i g u r e 4.

The testing consisted of running the model on a

continuous g r a d e w i t h a s e t crown s l o p e , measurements being

taken of t h e g u t t e r flow, g u t t e r flow d e p t h , and t h e width

of flow on t h e roadway. The u l t i m a t e c a p a c i t y of t h e inlet
was c o n s i d e r e d t o be t h e p o i n t a t which t h e flow j u s t began

t o lap past the inlet. N o measurements were taken of the

c o n d i t i o n where t h e r e was untrapped flow c o n t i n u i n g p a s t t h e

inlet.

For the d e p r e s s e d c u r b i n l e t s which had no g r a t i n g on

t h e opening, t h e t e s t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t a t some s l o p e greater

than ten percent, the capacity ( u s i n g t h e d e f i n i t i o n of

c a p a c i t y g i v e n above) would approach z e r o . From a g r a p h i c a l

a n a l y s i s of t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a , the following relation

was d e r i v e d :
leaf 22 o m i t t e d in page numbering
Deflector inlet

deflectors placed opposite

curb opening and perpendicular
to flow \\ parallel to curb

curb

Combination inlet

direction of flow -

-standard 24 in. x 24 in. grates

FIGURE 5 c AND n VS. GUTTER GRADE FOR Q = CL!
AFTER N.W. CONNER ( 1945 )

Percent Gutter Grade

 where C = c o e f f i c i e n t v a r y i n g w i t h t h e l o n g i t u d i n a l gutter

s l o p e a s shown i n F i g u r e 5 , and
n = exponent v a r y i n g w i t h t h e l o n g i t u d i n a l g u t t e r

s l o p e as shown i n F i g u r e 5.
F o r t h e c o m b i n a t i o n i n l e t , no a t t e m p t w a s made to

develope a rigerous mathematical approach t o e x p l a i n i t s

behaviour. I t was found t h a t t h e c o m b i n a t i o n i n l e t was more

e f f e c t i v e t h a n t h e s i m p l e c r u b o p e n i n g a t low s t r e e t grades

and became i n c r e a s i n g l y l e s s e f f e c t i v e a s t h e g u t t e r g r a d e s

became s t e e p e r . Also, t h e g r a t e utilizing the forty-five

d e g r e e b a r s ( F i g u r e 4 ) w a s more e f f e c t i v e t h a n t h a t w i t h t h e

b a r s p e r p e n d i c u l a r t o t h e c u r b i n t r a p p i n g t h e flow.
The use of deflecting vanes t o d i r e c t t h e f l o w
i n t o t h e curb i n l e t g r e a t l y increased t h e capacity of the
simple curb opening. Whether o r n o t t h e v a n e s were c u r v e d
o r s t r a i g h t seemed t o make v e r y little difference in the
capacities, b u t t h e u s e o f v a n e s which were above t h e l e v e l

of t h e pavement s u r f a c e showed greater effectiveness than

t h e depressed vanes.

2.5 The J o h n s Hopkins U n i v e r s i t y - Design o f Storm Water

I n l e t s (1956) 16)

he research contained i n t h i s report represents

t h e c o - o p e r a t i v e e f f o r t s o f s e v e r a l government a g e n c i e s * and

the Department o f S a n i t a r y E n g i n e e r i n g and Water Resources

* Hureau of Sewers ( c i t y ) ; Dept. o f P u b l i c Works ( c o u n t y ) ;

o f t h e J o h n s Hopkins U n i v e r s i t y , o v e r a period of almost
eight y e a r s ; l i t t l e wonder t h a t t h i s i s c o n s i d e r e d t h e most

comprehensive u n d e r t a k i n g i n t h e f i e l d o f s t o r m w a t e r inlet

design.
All of the m a t e r i a l contained i n t h i s study w a s

b a s e d on t e s t s which w e r e r u n on models o f 1 :2 , 1 :3 , and 1 :4

scale. The r e s u l t s were i n p a r t v e r i f i e d by tests run on

a c t u a l in-place i n l e t s .

The i n l e t s tested f a l l i n t o s i x basic categories:

( 1) u n d e p r e s s e d c u r b i n l e t s
(2) deflector i n l e t s

( 3 ) depressed curb i n l e t s

( 4 ) undepressed g r a t e i n l e t s
( 5 ) depressed g r a t e i n l e t s

( 6 ) combination i n l e t s .

The i n l e t t y p e s a r e p i c t u r e d i n F i g u r e 6 and the

various grates used are shown i n F i g u r e 7. These i n l e t s

were t e s t e d u n d e r b o t h t h e flow-by and sump c o n d i t i o n s . * *

Theory f o r a l l of t h e i n l e t s s e t on a continuous

grade was d e v e l o p e d i n t h e same manner; a l i s t was made o f

a l l t h e v a r i a b l e s involved i n t h e flow of water into the

appurtinance and then conventional dimensional analysis

32)
techniques were applied to arrive at a s e r i e s of
dimensionless parameters. These p a r a m e t e r s w e r e t h e n given
a m e a n i n g f u l r e l a t i o n s h i p by a p p l y i n g t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a

t o them. I n t h e c a s e of t h e sump c o n d i t i o n , n o a c t u a l t h e o r y
Maryland Board o f H e a l t h ( s t a t e ) ; Wash. Sub. S a n i t a t i o n Comm.
* * D e f l e c t o r i n l e t s were n o t t e s t e d under sump c o n d i t i o n s .
 FIGURE 6 A : STANDARD CURB INLET
I

- STANDARD DEPRESSION

DIRECTION OF FLOW

CURB TOP
m

PAVEMENT SURFACE FOR

UNDEPRESSED INLET

AFTER JOHNS HOPKINS (1956)

FIGURE 68 : DEFLECTOR INLETS

CROSS - SECTION OF DEFLECTORS TESTED

FIGURE 6 C : COMBINATION INLETS

-- 4'-4'1-4

\ STANDARD DEPRESSION
FIGURE 7 GUTTER GRATES , BALTIMORE Md.
AFTER DESIGN OF STORM WATER
INLETS. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
( 1956)
GUTTER INLETS
These are also known as grate inlets. The grates are placed
immediately adjacent to the roadway curb and are either flush to
the original pavement surface or set in the standard depression
Fig. 6

Types of grates tested ..-.

-
No. I Grate No. 2 - Grate No. 4 - Grate

No. 6 -Grate

H - Grate
w a s developed save t o u t i l i z e conventional fluid mechanics

r e l a t i o n s , s l i g h t l y a l t e r e d t o f i t t h e t e s t d a t a , f o r design
p u r p o s e s assuming t h a t t h e i n l e t o p e r a t q s as an o r i f i c e o r a

weir.

22,24)
2.5.1 Design o f Curb I n l e t s
Undepressed curb inlets: For undepressed curb

inlets on a continuous grade, the combination of

experimentation with dimensional analysis yielded the

following expression:

where y = depth of g u t t e r flow measured at the

0
curb, FT., and K = c o n s t a n t f o r e a c h p a r t i c u l a r s i d e s l o p e

o f pavement.
I f t a n 6 = pavement c r o s s - s l o p e , then .for tan0 =

1 2 , K = 0 . 2 3 and f o r t a n 8 = 24 and 48, K = 0.20.

For a particular known gutter flow Q, yo i s

c a l c u l a t e d by u s i n g the triangular form of the ~anning

equation , since the slope and the

r o u g h n e s s o f t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n i s known.
The s o l u t i o n t o e q u a t i o n 2 . 1 0 i s found i n F i g u r e 8

which is the graphical form of the equation with

Yo
e x p r e s s e d i n t e r m s o f g u t t e r s l o p e , pavement roughness and
cross-slope, as p e r t h e Manning e q u a t i o n .

Depressed crub inlets: Formula 2 . 1 0 c a n n o t b e

a p p l i e d t o d e p r e s s e d c u r b o p e n i n g s f o r two r e a s o n s . ~irst,
t h e d e p t h o f flow a t t h e u p s t r e a m edge o f t h e i n l e t w i l l n o t

be the same as the depth of flow y . i n t h e undepressed

0
gutter. Secondly, t h e t e s t i n g revealed . . t h a t a hydraulic
jump forms in t h e depression i n c r e a s i n g t h e flow i n t o t h e

opening. Analysis of the d a t a revealed t h a t f o r this type

of i n l e t t h e f o l l o w i n g e q u a t i o n a p p l i e s :
= K + C * I ( 2.11 )

where d v a r i e s according t o t h e expression,

I
C = 0.45/1.12~ I .. ( 2-12 )
2
where M .= ~ $ l / a t a n0, and $ = V /gy.

The g r a p h i c a l s o l u t i o n s t o e q u a t i o n s 2.11 and 2.12

are presented in Figure 9, a and . b ; with the above

information a c u r b o p e n i n g s e t on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e can b e
d e s i g n e d t o meet t h e local criteria such as permissable
f low-by .

22,23)
2.5.2 Design o f G u t t e r I n l e t s

F o r a g u t t e r o p e n i n g p l a c e d on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e ,

there are t h r e e ways i n which t h e f l o w t e n d s t o e s c a p e t h e

inlet:

( 1 ) p a r t o f t h e f l o w moves a l o n g t h e t o p s of the
b a r s b e f o r e tumbling i n t o t h e openings.

(2) Some o f t h e f l o w may e s c a p e p a s t t h e o u t s i d e

edge o f t h e g r a t e .
( 3 ) High v e l o c i t y flow tends to overshoot the

grate.
 Only the last of these need b e c o n s i d e r e d f o r

design purposes.
The f o l l o w i n g f i v e items are important in the

d e s i g n of d e p r e s s e d and u n d e p r e s s e d g u t t e r i n l e t s :

(a) The length of g r a t e r e q u i r e d t o p r e v e n t an

overshooting of the flow; dimensional analysis and

experiment r e v e a l t h a t

where L = length of grate (length measured

0
p a r a l l e l t o t h e f l o w ) r e q u i r e d t o c a p t u r e a l l of t h e f l o w i n
t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n when t h e v e l o c i t y o f t h e flow over the

g r a t e i s V, FT.,
V = average v e l o c i t y of t h e flow i n t h e g u t t e r
0
s e c t i o n , FPS., and m = c o n s t a n t f o r each . b a r orientation.
For grates with b a r s p a r a l l e l t o t h e flow m = 4 , and w i t h

b a r s p e r p e n d i c u l a r t o t h e f l o w m = 8.

E q u a t i o n 2.13 w i l l b e u n a f f e c t e d by the presence

of a l o c a l depression adjacent t o t h e i n l e t .

(b) The length of g r a t e r e q u i r e d t o c a p t u r e t h e

flow o u t s i d e o f t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n ( w i t h o u t d e p r e s s i o n ) ; t h e

following expression w a s derived using . a combination of

e x p e r i m e n t and d i m e n s i o n a l a n a l y s i s :

where L' = l e n g t h o f g r a t e r e q u i r e d t o c a p t u r e a l l
of t h e flow o u t s i d e o f t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n , FT.,
W = width of the grate (perpendicular t o t h e
c u r b ) , FT-1

= c r o s s f a l l o f t h e pavement measured i n d e g r e e s
OO
from t h e h o r i z o n t a l .
(c) The l e n g t h o f g r a t e r e q u i r e d to capture the

o u t s i d e flow f o r a g u t t e r i n l e t with l o c a l depression:

(L'/V~)@I = 1.2 t a n g 1 I ( 2.15 )

where y t = d e p t h o f f l o w a t t h e o u t e r edge o f t h e

grate, FT., and 0 = transverse slope of the local

depression.
( d ) I t i s sometimes c o n v e n i e n t i n d e s i g n to make

the l e n g t h o f t h e g r a t e less t h a n 1 ' ; when t h i s i s t h e case

a c e r t a i n amount o f t h e f l o w w i l l e s c a p e p a s t t h e o u t s i d e o f
the inlet. The amount o f f l o w t h u s p a s s i n g by t h e i n l e t was

found t o be

q2 = 0 . 2 5 (1 - L' 1 f i0
- W/tang, ) ( 2-16 )

where q2 = c a r r y - o v e r f l o w p a s t t h e o u t s i d e o f t h e

i n l e t , CFS., and L = a c t u a l l e n g t h o f g r a t e . FT.

(e) F o r g u t t e r i n l e t s w i t h l o c a l d e p r e s s i o n , when

the length of g r a t e i s less t h a n L', t h e flow-by p a s t t h e

o u t s i d e of t h e g r a t e can b e found u s i n g

q2 ( 2.17 )
I n a l l of t h e above equations, is found by
a p p l y i n g t h e known g u t t e r f l o w t o t h e t r i a n g u l a r form o f t h e

Manning equation. For the depressed i n l e t c a s e s , having

solved f o r t h i s y o , t h e t o t a l energy equation (conservation

of energy) is applied between the u p s t r e a m edge o f t h e

d e p r e s s i o n and t h e u p s t r e a m end of the grate opening to

obtain y'.

2.5.3 Design o f D e f l e c t o r I n l e t s 22,25)

Deflectors placed immediately adjacent to an

u n d e p r e s s e d c u r b i n l e t , a s shown i n ~ i g u r e6 , increase the

flow i n t o t h e s i m p l e o p e n i n g by c r e a t i n g a s t a n d i n g wave o f
water i n f r o n t o f t h e opening; r e a l l y any r o u g h n e s s in the
pavement equivalent to t h a t s u p p l i e d by t h e n o t c h e s would

have t h e same e f f e c t . I t was shown that .by applying the

data to dimensionless parameters the following equation

could be derived:

where c = c l e a r a n c e between t h e d e f l e c t o r s , FT.,

b = w i d t h o f e a c h d e f l e c t o r , FT.,

S = l o n g i t u d i n a l s l o p e o f t h e g u t t e r , FT./FT., and

n = Manning's r o u g h n e s s .
I t c a n be s e e n t h a t t h e above expression is not
very responsive t o t h e t e r m c / b , which may b e t r e a t e d as a

virtual constant, say 2. Equation 2.18 is presented

g r a p h i c a l l y i n F i g u r e 10.

A c t u a l v e h i c l e t e s t s w e r e r u n on deflector inlet
i n s t a l l a t i o n s i n t h e f i e l d and t h e s e r e v e a l e d t h a t f o r s l o t s

of up to f o u r i n c h e s t h e r e was no n o t i c e a b l e v i b r a t i o n t o

t h e automobile b u t i n c r e a s e s i n width g r e a t l y i n c r e a s e d the

vibrations and intolerable levels were r e a c h e d when t h e
w i d t h o f t h e s l o t s was s e v e n i n c h e s ,

22,26)
2.5.4 Design o f Combination I n l e t s

(a) Undepressed Combination I n l e t s : These are

d e s i g n e d i n e x a c t l y t h e same way a s u n d e p r e s s e d g r a t e i n l e t s
with one slight modification - i n equation 2.13, let m =

3.3.

(b) Depressed Combination I n l e t s : The s t u d y of

these inlets revealed three vital facts which must b e

considered i n t h e i r design,

i ) G r a t e s w i t h no transverse bars are the

most e f f i c i e n t .
ii) The more t r a n s v e r s e b a r s t h a t a g r a t e d o e s
c o n t a i n , t h e less e f f i c i e n t it becomes.

iii) E f f i c i e n c y i s more r e a d i l y o b t a i n e d by an

efficient grate than by placing the grate upstream or

downstream o f t h e c u r b opening.

Because it was revealed t h a t t h e positioning of

t h e g r a t e t o one s i d e o r t h e o t h e r of t h e opening did not

greatly af f e c t the \ efficiencies, t h e only d e s i g n formula

d e v e l o p e d w a s f o r t h e c a s e i n which t h e g r a t e is the same

size a s t h e c u r b o p e n i n g and i s p l a c e d i m m e d i a t e l y o p p o s i t e
t h a t opening.

The same approach i s u s e d as was developed for

simple grate inlets*; the c h i e f concern w a s t o e l i m i n a t e

o v e r s h o o t i n g o f t h e f l o w and also to prevent water from

-- -

* S e e s e c t i o n 2.5.2.
e s c a p i n g p a s t t h e o u t s i d e edge o f t h e g r a t e .

The length of . inlet required to prevent

o v e r s h o o t i n g o f t h e flow was found t o b e

where rn i s a c o n s t a n t f o r e a c h t y p e of g r a t e . For

a g r a t e w i t h no t r a n s v e r s e b a r s s e t f l u s h t o i t s s u r f a c e m =
3 . 3 , and f o r a g r a t e w i t h t r a n s v e r s e b a r s set f l u s h w i t h i t s

s u r f a c e m = 6.6.
The length of i n l e t .required : t o capture the
o u t s i d e p o r t i o n o f t h e flow i s

L' = I . 2 ~ t a n e d m (2.20)
When t h e a c t u a l l e n g t h o f t h e i n l e t i s less than

l', t h e n t h e r e w i l l be c a r r y - o v e r o r f l o w p a s t t h e i n l e t a s

g i v e n by t h e f o r m u l a
3/2
q , = 0.25(L1 - L) p ( y - W/tang) (2.21)
The t o t a l f1c.:-by p a s t t h e i n l e t w i l l be somewhat

less than the amount given by e x p r e s s i o n 2.2 1 , however,

s i n c e ponding i n t h e d e p r e s s i o n w i l l c a u s e some additional
water t o flow i n t o t h e o p e n i n g . The amount of t h e f l o w i n t o
the curb can b e approximated by t r e a t i n g t h e o p e n i n g a s a
t r i a n g u l a r w e i r and using the depth of ponding in the
d e p r e s s i o n a s t h e head, Hence, t h e t o t a l c o r r y - o v e r w i l l b e

found u s i n g t h e f o l l o w i n g e x p r e s s i o n : 5/2
2 2 Y5
s
q=q,-0.266R g t a n e (a-L,S)+5/4 (8q / g t a n g )
[
where q = t o t a l f l o w p a s t t h e i n l e t , CFS,,
] , (2.22)

R = r a t i o of the c l e a r width between the grate

FIGURE 8 UNDEPRESSED CURB INLET CAPACITIES 37
after JOHNS HOPKINS
(1956)
FIGURE 9(B)
- - CAPACITY OF CURB OPENING INLETS WITH
DEPRESSION
C=O 05.25.30.35

FIGURE 10 DEFLECTOR INLET CAPACITIES

FIGURE II \ FLOW- BY FOR A DEPRESSED

81 =0.4,R=0.7
81 =0.6 ,R=0.7
81 = 0.4 ,R= l .O
b a r s t o t h e t o t a l width o f t h e g r a t e ,

a = depth of gutter d e p r e s s i o n , FT., and L, =

l e n g t h o f downstream g u t t e r t r a n s i t i o n . FT.

E q u a t i o n 2 . 2 2 i s s o l v e d i n F i g u r e 11.

16)
2.5.5 I n l e t s i n Sumps
The t h e o r y f o r i n l e t s i n sumps w a s not developed
in the same way a s t h a t f o r i n l e t s on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e .

T e s t s w e r e r u n f o r t h i s c o n d i t i o n b u t t h e y were not nearly

as extensive as the continuous grade experiments. The

theoretical analysis w a s c o n d u c t e d by m e r e l y a p p l y i n g what

was t h o u g h t t o be t h e a p p r o p r i a t e f l u i d mechanics r e l a t i o n s ,

based on t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l o b s e r v a t i o n s . .The theory f o r the

t h r e e t y p e s o f i n l e t s t e s t e d i s g i v e n below.

a) Grate inlets: It was observed d u r i n g t h e

t e s t i n g program t h a t t h e i n l e t a p p e a r e d to operate as an
orifice through most o f t h e f l o w c o n d i t i o n s . The s t a n d a r d
o r i f i c e e q u a t i o n was a p p l i e d t o t h e : e x p e r i m e n t a l data and
t h e following evolved:

where Q i = t h e t o t a l f l o w t h r o u g h t h e i n l e t made

up o f t h e g u t t e r f l o w s from e a c h s i d e o f t h e i n l e t , CFS.,
A = area of the clear opening of the inlet,
SQ.FT., and h = d e p t h o f water a t t h e i n l e t . FT.

b) Curb I n l e t s : O b s e r v a t i o n on t h e o p e r a t i o n of

c u r b o p e n i n g i n l e t s seemed t o i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e y o p e r a t e d a s
a simple rectangular weir through most of the flow

c o n d i t i o n s e n c o u n t e r e d , hence t h e w e i r f o r m u l a was applied

t o the data t o yield:
. 3/2
Q = 3.0h L
i
where Q = t h e t o t a l f l o w i n t o t h e o p e n i n g made up
i
of t h e flow from b o t h s i d e s o f t h e i n l e t , CFS., and L =

l e n g t h o f t h e opening. FT.
c) Combination I n l e t s : Although t h e r e p o r t was

not clear as t o w h e t h e r o r n o t t h e r e a s o n i n g w a s b a s e d on

e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a , it was c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e c a p a c i t y of a
combination inlet is simply t h e : s u m o f t h e two s e p a r a t e

i n l e t s , g u t t e r and c u r b .
Two o t h e r p o i n t s , o f . some importance should be

mentioned here. The testing showed . c l e a r l y that the

capacity of any inlet located in a sump was greatly

i n c r e a s e d by p l a c i n g t h a t i n l e t i n a l o c a l d e p r e s s i o n . Also

it w a s d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t t h e p r e s e n c e o f t r a n s v e r s e b a r s in
a g u t t e r g r a t e , whether they be depressed o r f l u s h w i t h i t s
s u r f a c e , have no effect on the capacity of the grate.
Design curves for c u r b , g r a t e and c o m b i n a t i o n i n l e t s i n a
sump, b o t h w i t h and w i t h o u t a d e p r e s s i o n a r e shown i n F i g u r e

12. These c u r v e s a r e b a s e d on e q u a t i o n s 2.23 and 2.24.

The above summary of the Johns Hopkins report

contains all of t h e important f e a t u r e s of t h a t study. It

was n o t p o s s i b l e t o i n c l u d e a l l o f t h e d e s i g n a i d s c o n t a i n e d

i n the f i n a l publication. The two most important pieces

FIGURE 12A : CAPACITY O F UNDEPRESSED SUMP INLETS

8- 42 -..
It
6 '9 x
cn
4.
=6 8
LL
2. 1-3
- 3 cr>
. .
2 NO. 3 GRATE
* . -
7
n
0
4 8 12
a

16 20
b

24 5
8

0
4 8 12 16 20 24

FLOW INTO INLET (CFS)

 DEPTH OF PONDING AT CURB FT.

WIDTH OF PONDING FOR Sx = 1 : 18 FT.

 omitted are the design charts f o r t h e s o l u t i o n of t h e
3.8)
triangular form of the Manning e q u a t i o n , and a
s i m p l i f i e d method o f a p p r o x i m a t i n g t h e c a p a c i t i e s o f single

and m u l t i p l e i n l e t s
5) .

2.6 R. J. Wasley - Hydrodynamics o f Flow i n t o Curb Opening

39)
I n l e t s (1961)
The r e s e a r c h r e p o r t e d i n t h i s p a p e r i s c o n f i n e d t o

analyzing t h e c a s e of a simple undepressed curb opening set

on a continuous grade. A r i g o r o u s formulation f o r t h e flow

was d e v e l o p e d and t h e n v e r i f i e d by e x p e r i m e n t .

For t h e t h e o r e t i c a l a n a l y s i s , only gutter slopes

which w e r e g r e a t e r t h a n t h e c r i t i c a l s l o p e were c o n s i d e r e d ;
t h i s i s b e c a u s e t h e c o m p l e x i t i e s i n t r o d u c e d by sub-critical

flow make analysis almost impossible and also because

sub-critical gutter s l o p e s a r e almost never encountered i n
actual practice.

The a p p r o a c h t a k e n by Wasley i s t o d i v i d e t h e f l o w
t h r o u g h t h e i n l e t i n t o two components, t h e f l o w p a r a l l e l to

the c u r b d e t e r m i n e d by t h e g u t t e r s l o p e , and t h e t r a n s v e r s e

f l o w d e t e r m i n e d by t h e c r o s s f a l l of the pavement, These

zones, as Wasley c a l l s them, a r e shown i n F i g u r e 1 3 and a r e

numbered I and I1 r e s p e c t i v e l y .
 Zone I is treated as simple open channel flow w i t h a

velocity distribution as derived from Darcy's equation

g i v e n by

where 5 = y component of the velocity (y axis

p a r a l l e l t o c u r b ) , CFS.,
f = Darcy f r i c t i o n f a c t o r ,
Z = h e i g h t above t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f t h e pavement

and c u r b , FT., and

$, = g u t t e r s l o p e , %.

Zone 11, t h e cross flow, is treated as being

a n a l a g o u s t o t h e i n s t a n t a n e o u s f a i l u r e o f a dam b e h i n d which
is a triangular reservoir. This s i t u a t i o n i s p i c t u r e d i n
Figure 14. The a p p l i c a t i o n o f Newton's second law l e a d s to

t h e e q u a t i o n o f motion f o r t h e flow and can b e combined w i t h

the continuity equation t o form a s e t o f e q u a t i o n s which,

when solved*, will y i e l d .,the following dimensionless

p a r a m e t e r s which d e s c r i b e t h e . i n s t a n t a n e o u s failure of a

dam;
A A A A
X = X/s theo.; y = $oy/Z
0
; Z = Z0 / z ; t = 6 g/Z
0 0

where (-) i n d i c a t e s a dimensionless q u a n t i t y ,

x,y,z = distances measured parallel to the

coordinate axis, (See F i g u r e s 1 3 and 1 4 ) FT,
= maximum d i s t a n c e s , FT.,
"0 yo zo
* An e x t r e m e l y c o n ~ p l e xp r o c e d u r e ; f o r an o u t l i n e s e e "Unsteady
FIGURE I3 : FLOW INTO A CURB OPENING AFTER
WASLEY ( 1961)
B A I

-
U Theo. Max.

FIGURE 14: FAILURE OF A DAM WITH TRIANGULAR

RESEVOIR ..-.AFTER WASLEY ( 1961)
 t = t i m e , SEC., and
-
V = x c o o r d i n a t e o f t h e v e l o c i t y , FPS.

R e f e r r i n g t o F i g u r e 13, t h e d i v i s i o n between zones

I and I1 i s a l o n g t h e l i n e OB and i s the boundary in the

/

y-direction of the negative surge crest as it passes

downstream due t o t h e x-component o f t h e v e l o c i t y ; i n o t h e r
words, t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t t h e c u r b h a s t e r m i n a t e d a t 0 is

transmitted in the y-direction a t a c e r t a i n f i n i t e rate.

Combining the velocity of propagation of a small
d i s t u r b a n c e , C = gZ 3 2 ) , with equation 2.25, the boundary
between zones I and I1 can b e d e f i n e d by
1/2
u

The remaining
c- step i n the solution is t o define

t h e o u t s i d e s t r e a m l i n e BC (Figure 13) ; this is done by

describing the trajectory of a g i v e n f l u i d e l e m e n t as it

moves a l o n g t h a t s t r e a m l i n e . The e q u a t i o n o f motion of a

p a r t i c l e moving a l o n g BC i s g i v e n by

combining equations 2.27 and 2.28 ( a s w e l l as

t r a n s l a t i n g t h e c o o r d i n a t e system, a s t e p o u t l i n e d i n d e t a i l

i n Wasley's paper ) yields an expression defining the

outside streamline:

where C \1g= (8gQo/f) 1/2'-

0
.
Hence, the length of curb opening r e q u i r e d t o
N o n - l i n e a r Waves i n Open C h a n n e l s " , R . F . D r e s s l e r , Proceedings
Royal S o c i e t y o f London, Volume 2 2 9 A .
c a p t u r e a l l of t h e g u t t e r flow i s t h e value of x i n equation
2 . 2 9 when y = 0. I t would be . p o s s i b l e to deal with the

condition where only part of the flow i s c a p t u r e d , by

solving f o r t h e equations of t h e i n t e r i o r streamlines; t h i s ,

however, i s n o t n e a r l y a s s i m p l e a s t h e s o l u t i o n d e r i v e d f o r

the exterior streamline. Once such equations are known,

then the amount o f flow-by may b e c a l c u l a t e d f o r any g i v e n
length of i n l e t .
When t h e above method is applied to Wasley ' s
experimental data, (obtained from a f u l l s c a l e ad j u s t a b l e
model) t h e d a t a t e n d e d t o v e r i f y t h e theory, although the

x-values were always lower than those p r e d i c t e d by t h e

theory. A l s o , w i t h g u t t e r s l o p e s l e s s t h a n 5 p e r c e n t and/or

c r o s s s l o p e s less t h a n 0 . 5 p e r c e n t , it c a n n o t be said for

certain whether o r n o t t h e p r e d i c t e d r e s u l t s may b e r e l i e d

upon.

2.7 S. S. K a r a k i and R. M. Hamie - Depressed

Curb o p e n i n g I n l e t s ( 1 9 6 1 ) 17)

A major p o r t i o n of t h i s research d e a l t with curb

openings located i n a sag, a condition about which little
w a s known u n t i l t h i s p a p e r was p u b l i s h e d .
Experiments were c o n d u c t e d on a 1 : 4 s c a l e model,
and t h e t h e o r e t i c a l a n a l y s i s c o n s i s t e d o f o b s e r v i n g t h e t y p e

of flow being encountered under t h e various conditions of

model operation (i.e. orifice flow) and applying the

a p p r o p r i a t e f l u i d mechanics r e l a t i o n s t o t h e d a t a . The data

was u s e d t o d e t e r m i n e e q u a t i o n c o n s t a n t s .
u r i n g t h e t e s t s , t h e f o l l o w i n g o b s e r v a t i o n s were made;

i) The curb i n l e t operates a s a w e i r u n t i l the

w a t e r submerges t h e e n t r a n c e .
ii) When t h e w a t e r d e p t h e x c e e d s a b o u t 1.4 times
the height of the c u r b o p e n i n g , t h e i n l e t o p e r a t e s a s an
orifice. iii) Between the weir and orifice type of
operation t h e capacity of t h e i n l e t is indeterminant.

iv) For each p a r t i c u l a r inflow into the inlet

(made up of the two incoming gutter flows), there is a
minimum h e i g h t o f o p e n i n g below which the inlet will not

behave a s a f r e e o v e r f l o w w e i r . T h i s h e i g h t h a s been termed

h and i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p t o Q i s shown i n F i g u r e 15.

A l l o f t h e t e s t s r u n i n t h i s s t u d y were r u n w i t h a

pavement crossfall o f z e r o ; t h e r a n g e o f g u t t e r s l o p e s was

from 1.50 t o 6 . 0 0 p e r c e n t . Curb o p e n i n g l e n g t h s o f f i v e , t e n

and f i f t e e n f e e t were t e s t e d and t h r e e s t a n d a r d depressions

of different s i z e s were used. The i n v e s t i g a t o r s w e r e a b l e

t o d e r i v e unique equations f o r each particular depression

tested to describe the inflow into the inlet. These

equations a r e a s follows:
F o r a d e p r e s s i o n of o n e f o o t w i d t h and one inch
depth,
1.78
Qi = 2 (Li + 2.4W) (d
MAX
+ ~/12) (2.30)

where = t o t a l f l o w i n t o t h e i n l e t made up o f
Qi
FIGURE 15: MINIMUM DEPTH OF FLOW FOR CURB
INLET WEIR OPERATION

fter Karaki & Hanie ( I961)

FIGURE 16: CAPACITY OF DEPRESSED CURB INLETS

IN A SUMP
FIGURE 16 ( A )
50

-
V)
LL
40 W = l f t a = lin
S = 0.015-0.06
0
.- 30
Y
Sx=0
0
20

10
after Karaki 8 Hanie ( 1961 )
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
 FIGURE 16 ( B )

after Karaki 8 Hannie

0 02 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
d (mar.)

FIGURE 16 ( c )

W = 3ft a = 3in
S = 0.015-- 0.06
Sx=0

after Karaki 8 Hannie

I

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

t h e g u t t e r f l o w s from b o t h s i d e s of t h e i n l e t , CFS.,

L = l e n g t h of c l e a r opening of t h e i n l e t , FT.,
i
d = depth of water measured at the inlet
max
o p e n i n g , FT. , and
W = width o f t h e depression i n f r o n t of t h e i n l e t ,

For a depression o f two f o o t w i d t h and two i n c h

depth,
1.85
Qi = 1.7(Li + 1.8N) (dim$ W/12) (2.31 )
For a depression of t h r e e foot width and three

inch depth,

The above t h r e e , . e q u a t i o n s have been s o l v e d i n

F i g u r e 16. It can r e a d i l y be seen t h a t t h e s e equations are

of the same basic form with different constants and

exponents.

W. J. Bauer and D. C. Woo - Hydraulic Design of

Depressed Curb Opening I n l e t s ( 1 9 6 4 ) 4

The research reported i n t h i s paper c o n s i s t s of

two p a r t s : f i r s t a series o f t e s t s , were run to select a
standard depression geometry which would g i v e t h e o v e r a l l
b e s t performance. Secondly, c u r b o p e n i n g inlets utilizing
this standard d e p r e s s i o n were a n a l y z e d and t h e n t e s t s were

c o n d u c t e d and t h e d a t a a p p l i e d t o t h e t h e o r e t i c a l analysis.

For i n l e t s s e t on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e , t h e t e s t i n g
program w a s c a r r i e d o u t on a f u l l scale model, while for

d e p r e s s e d c u r b o p e n i n g s l o c a t e d i n a sump, a 1 : 4 s c a l e model

was used.
The selection of t h e d e p r e s s i o n geometry w a s t h e

r e s u l t of preliminary tests regarding t h e e f f e c t of changes

of the d e p r e s s i o n geometry on t h e e f f i c i e n c y o f t h e i n l e t .
A summary o f t h e s e t e s t s i s g i v e n i n F i g u r e 17.

During t h e c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e i n l e t e x p e r i m e n t s , it
was observed that a disturbance l i n e proceeds a c r o s s t h e
flow from the upstream end of the depression to the
depressed zone, if one were present. Further it was
d i s c o v e r e d t h a t downstream from t h e l i n e o f d i s t u r b a n c e the
flow o u t s i d e o f t h e d e p r e s s e d zone moved a l o n g t r a j e c t o r i e s

t h a t c o u l d b e approximated by s i m p l e parabolas, calculated

on the assumption that the velocity i n the longitudinal

direction remained constant, and that the acceleration

perpendicular t o t h e curb face corresponds t o a piezometric

surface parallel to t h e c r o s s s l o p e of t h e pavement. The

flow a c r o s s t h e d e p r e s s e d s u r f a c e c o u l d a l s o be considered
to move in parabolic trajectories corresponding to a
piezometric gradient proportional to the slope of the
d e p r e s s e d s u r f a c e i n t h i s d i r e c t i o n . Using t h i s m a t h e m a t i c a l
a p p r o a c h , it was found t h a t for each curve of W/T, the
relation between and L . / F T f o l l o w e d a s t r a i g h t l i n e
Qi/Q,
1 w
from i t s o r i g i n t o a c e r t a i n p o i n t . The l o c a t i o n o f t h a t

p o i n t can b e d e s c r i b e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g e q u a t i o n s ;
FIGURE 17: SELECTION OF A STANDARD DEPRESSION

Definition
of
Transition
rlel h -.c-
Flow
Geometry U , . a . , r r . . r . . . r
Curb

Vertical Faces Best

0 2 0 0 , F z c Downstream
Transition
Vertical Face
0 0 2 0 $%,?am
, , Transition
ertical Face
Upstream
Transition

after Bauer and Woo (1964)

FIGURE 18 : DEPRESSED CURB INLET PERFORMANCE

 1.85
Q,/Q = ( I
1
- W/T) - 1 (2.33)
and L,/F T = K (W/T) (dw/a) , (2.34)
1 w
where T = w i d t h o f s p r e a d of t h e u n i f o r m g u t t e r

f l o w , FT.,
F = Froude number b a s e d on t h e d e p t h and v e l o c i t y
W
of u n i f o r m g u t t e r flow a t a d i s t a n c e w from t h e c u r b f a c e ,
K = empirical coefficient of transverse
a c c e l e r a t i o n , and
d = water d e p t h a t a d i s t a n c e w from the curb
W
f a c e , FT.
The solution to t h e above e q u a t i o n s i s g i v e n i n
F i g u r e 18.
I n t h e sump c o n d i t i o n , t h e i n l e t i s t r e a t e d as a

simple weir with a .slight modification based on the

experimental data. Thus a m o d i f i e d w e i r e q u a t i o n i s d e r i v e d

t o give t h e following:
1.85
q = 1.7h

where q = t h e m o d i f i e d u n i t d i s c h a r g e g i v e n by q =
~ ~
1
. +/ 0.9W).
2 T h i s e q u a t i o n i s shown i n F i g u r e 19.

The main d e s i g n c u r v e s o f the .study c o n s i s t .:of

four-variable p l o t s o f g u t t e r f l o w s p r e a d T , g u t t e r s l o p e So

, cross-slope S
X
, and the inlet interception rate Q . /Q.
1

They c a n b e d e r i v e d u s i n g e q u a t i o n s 2.33 and 2.34.

2.9 J. J . C a s s i d y - Generalized Hydraulic C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

o f G r a t e I n l e t s (1966) 6
 This study, conducted at the University of

M i s s o u r i , was r e s t r i c t e d t o t h e c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f u n d e p r e s s e d

g r a t e i n l e t s l o c a t e d on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e . Six different
grates with v a r i e d b a r c o n f i g u r a t i o n s and o r i e n t a t i o n were

t e s t e d and t h e s e a r e shown i n F i g u r e 2 0 .
The f i r s t s t e p i n this study was to list the

v a r i a b l e s which e f f e c t f l o w i n t o t h i s t y p e o f i n l e t and t h e n
to perform a conventional dimensional analysis. This
yielded t h e following expression:

Qi/Qo = $07o/ ~ f ~ / ~ )~ ~ (2.36)

/ ~ t ~ f ~ ~ ~
X
where D = y = normal d e p t h of g u t t e r f l o w , F T . ,

W = width o f g r a t e (perpendicular to the flow) ,

FT., and
@ = a d i m e n s i o n l e s s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c which w i l l b e
assumed t o c o m p l e t e l y d e s c r i b e t h e geometric configuration

of t h e g r a t e .
The test apparatus u s e d by C a s s i d y w a s somewhat

d i f f e r e n t t h a n t h a t used by other investigators; in all

o t h e r tests o f s t o r m w a t e r i n l e t s c o n d u c t e d up t o t h i s t i m e ,
the procedure was t o e s t a b l i s h a c e r t a i n r o u g h n e s s on t h e
s u r f a c e o f t h e model, t h e n set the apparatus at a given

longitudinal s l o p e and c r o s s s l o p e , and t h e n i n t r o d u c e f l o w

a t one or both ends of the flume. Cassidy, however,

a l t h o u g h s e t t i n g h i s model a t a g i v e n l o n g i t u d i n a l and c r o s s

s l o p e , m a i n t a i n e d a b s o l u t e c o n t r o l o v e r t h e d e p t h of f l o w by
using a s l u i c e g a t e a t one end o f t h e flume t o c o n t r o l t h e
 56
FIGURE 19 CAPACITY OF DEPRESSED CURB INLET
IN A SUMP

MODIFIED UNIT DISCHARGE q ( CFS /FT)

FIGURE 20 TYPES OF GRATES TESTED AFTER

depth. The model s c a l e was 1 :2; however, o n l y the section

of roadway adjacent to t h e c u r b was modeled, t h e maximum

width o f flow being only f o u r t e e n incheq.

I t w a s found e a r l y i n t h e t e s t i n g program t h a t t h e

longitudinal slope did not noticeably e f f e c t the efficiency

of the grate inlet. The r e m a i n d e r o f t h e t e s t s were t h e n
conducted w i t h a h o r i z o n t a l g u t t e r slope.
Two distinctly different flow patterns were
observed d u r i n g t h e experiments. At low values of D/W

and/or V /gD, no flow overshot the g r a t e and t h e flow

0
p a t t e r n was v e r y smooth; a t r e l a t i v e l y h i g h v a l u e s o f these
two numbers, however, f l o w was s e e n t o s t r i k e t h e downstream

side of the grate, creating a violent disturbance quite

s i m i l a r t o an hydraulic jump. Flow then began to pass

directly over the grate and the .efficiency Q . /Q was

1
t h e r e a f t e r reduced.
Sample design curves f o r a type F g r a t e (Figure

2 0 ) are g i v e n i n F i g u r e 21 ( t h e s e may b e u s e d f o r any size

of F g r a t e ) ; from t h e s e c u r v e s , it c a n c l e a r l y b e s e e n t h a t

t h e p o i n t a t which t h e d i s t u r b a n c e b e g i n s to form is the

point at which the efficiency curves begin to bend

downwards. A straight line can be drawn through these

p o i n t s f o r a series of e f f i c i e n c y c u r v e s . I t w a s found t h a t

t h e equation of t h i s l i n e could be expressed a s

:L/D=~(IT/@) , (2.37)
0
The magnitude of m i s a measure o f t h e g r a t e ' s
FIGURE 21 : GRATE INLET PERFORMANCE GRAPH

Type F grate ,2 0 . 6 to 1.0 cross slope after Cassidy ( I 9 6 6 )

Table I Values of m for equation L / D = rn V~/&D

after Cassidy ( 1966)

efficiency. The s m a l l e r t h e v a l u e o f m, t h e g r e a t e r i s the

efficiency of the grate. Knowing t h e value of m f o r t h e

p a r t i c u l a r g r a t e being used, e q u a t i o n , 2.37 can then be

utilized to determine the length of grate required t o

c a p t u r e a l l of t h e g u t t e r flow. Table 1 gives t h e values of

m f o r each of t h e g r a t e s t e s t e d i n t h i s study.
The f o l l o w i n g c o n c l u s i o n s were drawn r e g a r d i n g t h e

various types of grates:

i) G r a t e s A and B w e r e t h e most efficient over
t h e f u l l range of flows.

ii) Grate C was e f f i c i e n t a t lower f l o w s o n l y .

iii) Grate F w a s i n e f f i c i e n t over t h e f u l l range

of flows.

iv) The d i a g o n a l b a r s u s e d i n grate E did not

greatly increase the efficiency, although b a r s s e t on a

f o r t y - f i v e d e g r e e a n g l e were s l i g h t l y more efficient than

t h e c o n f i g u r a t i o n u s e d i n g r a t e D.

2.10 J. A. Zwamborn - Water I n l e t Design Code,

Storm
C.S.I.R. R e p o r t MEG433, Union o f South A f r i c a (1966) 4 4 )
The r e s e a r c h c o n t a i n e d i n this design code was
undertaken because none o f t h e s t u d i e s c o n d u c t e d e l s e w h e r e
i n v o l v e d flow r a t e s a s l a r g e a s t h o s e e n c o u n t e r e d in South

Africa. A full scale s t r e e t model and a 1:6 s c a l e model

were c o n s t r u c t e d ; t h e o n l y t y p e o f i n l e t s t e s t e d were curb

inlets, since t h e t e r r a i n and f l o w volumes o f South A f r i c a

made t h e u s e o f g r a t e i n l e t s u n d e s i r e a b l e .

The f i r s t s t e p of t h e s t u d y was t o run p r e l i m i n a r y

t e s t s o f b o t h d e p r e s s e d and u n d e p r e s s e d , c u r b i n l e t s on both

the f u l l s i z e and 1 :6 s c a l e models, and t h e n t o compare t h e

r e s u l t s t o s e e i f t h e r e were any s c a l e e f f e c t s which might

render the data from the smaller model unusable. This
p r e l i m i n a r y work d i d , i n f a c t , r e v e a l that the 1:6 scale
model could o n l y be used t o approximate t h e e f f e c t s of t h e
less i m p o r t a n t v a r i a b l e s on t h e o p e r a t i o n of the inlets*.
All of t h e p r i n c i p a l t h e o r y was c o n s e q u e n t l y developed from

the f u l l s c a l e model.
A mathematical expression to describe the

performance of an undepressed c u r b i n l e t was formulated in

three steps:
i) A n analogy was drawn between t h e s i d e opening

and a f r e e overflow w e i r . The d i s c h a r g e o v e r a w e i r length

dx may be e x p r e s s e d a s :
3/2
dQ = 3my dx , (2.38)

where m = discharge coefficient which depends

mainly on t h e v e l o c i t y o f t h e approaching flow.
i i ) The test data : for the undepressed inlet

revealed that a relationship existed between t h e normal

depth of flow i n t h e g u t t e r and t h e d e p t h of flow at the

upstream end of t h e i n l e t ,
0.83
y = 0. 53y0 (2.39)

where y = d e p t h of flow a t t h e upstream end of t h e

* These s c a l e e f f e c t s were r e s p o n s i b l e f o r h i g h e r v a l u e s of
l e n g t h o f opening r e q u i r e d t o c a p t u r e a l l of t h e flow.
i n l e t , FT.

iii) I t was found t h a t t h e water d e p t h d e c r e a s e s

l i n e a r l y along t h e l e n g t h of t h e i n l e t opening; t h i s d e f i n e s

t h e l i m i t s w i t h i n which e q u a t i o n 2.38 may b e i n t e g r a t e d . By

combining t h e i n t e g r a t e d form o f e q u a t i o n 2.38 w i t h e q u a t i o n
2.39, an e x p r e s s i o n c a n be d e r i v e d which may b e u s e d i n the
design o f undepressed curb openings;
1.25
Q/L = 0 . 8 ~ (2.40)
0
In the case , o f d e p r e s s e d i n l e t s , no a t t e m p t w a s
made t o f o r m u l a t e p r e c i s e t h e o r y o f o p e r a t i o n and only the

design curves showing Q/L versus y f o r a given depth of

0

d e p r e s s i o n have been p l o t t e d ; t h e s e c u r v e s along with the

graph o f e q u a t i o n 2.40 are shown i n F i g u r e 22. An i m p o r t a n t

o b s e r v a t i o n made d u r i n g t h e t e s t i n g o f t h e depressed inlet

was that t h e capacity of t h e i n l e t w a s increased over t h a t

of t h e u n d e p r e s s e d i n l e t , by t h e p r e s e n c e o f t h e d e p r e s s i o n ;

t h i s i n c r e a s e i n c a p a c i t y becomes c o n s t a n t when t h e d e p t h o f

d e p r e s s i o n r e a c h e s 0.3 f e e t .
The d e s i g n c u r v e s g i v e n i n F i g u r e 22 assume that
the length of i n l e t is sufficient t o t r a p the t o t a l gutter
flow; when t h e l e n g t h o f i n l e t i s less t h a n t h a t r e q u i r e d t o
capture a l l of t h e flow, it is possible by integrating

equation 2.38 to determine the amount o f f l o w t h a t w i l l

by-pass t h e i n l e t . T h i s f l o w may b e c a l c u l a t e d u s i n g
3/2

where Q' = t h e a c t u a l amount o f f l o w e n t e r i n g the

FIGURE 22 : CURB INLET CAPACITIES

FIGURE 23 : FLOW - BY PAST CURB INLET (undepressed)

i n l e t , CFS.,
L 1 = a c t u a l l e n g t h o f t h e i n l e t , FT., and

L = l e n g t h of i n l e t r e q u i r e d $0 c a p t u r e a l l o f t h e

flow ( c a l c u l a t e d u s i n g e q u a t i o n 2 . 4 0 ) , FT.
The above e q u a t i o n i s shown i n F i g u r e 23.
In t h i s s t u d y , n o t e s t s were conducted f o r i n l e t s
i n t h e sump c o n d i t i o n ; however, it w a s c o n c l u d e d t h a t since

the approach v e l o c i t i e s f o r i n l e t s i n sumps were s o low, a

simple w e i r formula could be a p p l i e d f o r a curb opening to

y i e l d t h e following equation:
3/2
Q/L = 3 .Oyo (2.42)
An interesting appendix , to this study was an

appraisal of the effects of . parked automobiles on the

a l l o w a b l e normal d e p t h o f f l o w i n t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n .

2.1 1 Comparing t h e Reviewed L i t e r a t u r e

Had each of the investigators conducting the

studies reviewed i n t h i s c h a p t e r t a k e n t h e same a p p r o a c h t o

t h e i r t h e o r e t i c a l a n a l y s i s , it would have been an e a s y task

to compare t h e i r work f o r e a c h t y p e o f i n l e t . F o r t h e most

p a r t , however, there is a diversity of approach which
p r e v e n t s t h e s i m p l e comparison o f d e s i g n f o r m u l a e .

In view of the fact that almost all of t h e

r e s e a r c h e r s c o n d u c t e d t h e i r t e s t s on models of less than

full size, the findings of Zwarnborn in South Africa

i n d i c a t i n g c o n s i d e r a b l e scale e f f e c t s i n s m a l l models casts

some d o u b t , i f even s l i g h t , on most of t h e d e s i g n formulae.

The South A f r i c a n f i n d i n g s , however, i n d i c a t e d a t l e a s t for

c u r b i n l e t s on a c o n t i n u o u s g r a d e t h a t $he d e s i g n p r o c e d u r e s
of p r e v i o u s i n v e s t i g a t i o n s would y i e l d c o n s e r v a t i v e r e s u l t s .
Where an a c t u a l i n l e t d e s i g n i s b e i n g undertaken,
t h e o n l y meaningful comparison i s t o d e s i g n t h e i n l e t using

all of t h e methods reviewed i n t h i s c h a p t e r which apply t o

that particular inlet. For some types such as deflector

inlets, only one method e x i s t s , w h i l e f o r o t h e r s , t h e r e i s

a t most f o u r d i f f e r e n t approaches. . I t would be for the

designer to choose which answer would b e most a c c e p t a b l e ,

a p p l y i n g h i s own e x p e r i e n c e and a l s o keeping i n mind which

of t h e methods was t h e most r e c e n t l y developed, t h e range o f

t e s t s used t o v e r i f y t h e method, and which approach provided

t h e more c o n s e r v a t i v e answer.
A summary . o f t h e reviewed l i t e r a t u r e a p p e a r s i n
Table 2. T h i s t a b l e g i v e s t h e name of t h e r e s e a r c h e r , what
type of inlets were tested (inlets which may have been
d i s c u s s e d i n t h e p a p e r , b u t which were n o t a c t u a l l y tested,
do not appear in t h i s t a b l e ) , and t h e c o n d i t i o n s of flow

i n t o t h e i n l e t ; t h a t i s , w a s it t e s t e d on a c o n t i n u o u s grade
o r w a s t h e i n l e t l o c a t e d i n a sump.
 TABLE 2: SUMMARY O F THE LITERATURE REVIEWED

AUTHOR YEAR TYPES O F INLETS TESTED TEST CONDITIONS

Tapley Depressed curb Continuous grade

Hicks Undepressed g u t t e r Continuous g r a d e
Conner D e f l e c t o r , d e p r e s s e d curb, Continuous grade
d e p r e s s e d combination
Johns Hopkins Deflector Continuous grade
Undepressed c u r b , d e p r e s s e d Continuous grade and
c u r b , undepressed g u t t e r , SUP
undepressed combination,
d e p r e s s e d combination
Was ley '61 Undepre s s e d curb Continuous grade
Karaki and Hanie '61 Depressed curb Sump
Bauer and Woo '64 Depressed curb Continuous grade and
sump
Cassidy '66 Undepressed g u t t e r Continuous grade
Zwamborn ' 66 Undepressed c u r b , d e p r e s s e d Continuous grade
curb
 CHAPTER I11 I

THEORl3TICAL CONSIDERATIONS

3.1 INTRODUCTION

All of t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n t o t h e b e h a v i o u r of storm

w a t e r i n l e t s may be c l a s s i f i e d i n e i t h e r of two ways: The

grouping may be a c c o r d i n g t o t h e o b j e c t i v e of t h e s t u d i e s o r
by the methods used t o a r r i v e a t t h a t objective. In t h e
former c a s e , t h e r e a r e two c a t e g o r i e s . The o b j e c t i v e of the
s t u d y may be p a r t i c u l a r ; The o n l y i n f o r m a t i o n sought i s the
capacities o f t h e t y p e s of storm i n l e t s used i n t h e c i t y o r
r e g i o n where t h e s t u d y i s b e i n g conducted. The o b j e c t i v e of
t h e r e s e a r c h may be b r o a d e r t h a n t h i s , however, and i n that

c a s e t h e s t u d y would seek t o uncover t h e p r i n c i p a l s o f i n l e t

operation which could generally applied t o describe the

performance of any i n l e t . The classification of research

according to t h e methods used t o a r r i v e a t t h e c o n c l u s i o n s

o f t h e s t u d y can be d i v i d e d i n t o two c a t e g o r i e s . First is

t h e p u r e l y e m p i r i c a l approach; S p e c i f i c t y p e s of i n l e t s a r e

t e s t e d and t h e r e s u l t s of t h e t e s t s a r e u s u a l l y p r e s e n t e d i n
graphical form. No attempt is made t o a n a l y z e t h e d a t d
beyond t h e d e t e r m i n a t i o n of t h e capacities of the inlets
tested. An improvement of t h e e m p e r i c a l approach i s t h e
method which combines a theoretical analysis with the
program of e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n . There a r e two ways in which
this may b e done. A d i m e n s i o n a l a n a l y s i s may b e conducted

on t h e v a r i a b l e s a f f e c t i n g t h e inlet flow, and then the

dimensionless terms t h u s f o r m u l a t e d a r e a p p r a i s e d u s i n g t h e
e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a from model t e s t s of the type of inlet

u n d e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n ; From t h e d a t a , c o n s t a n t and e x p o n e n t i a l

terms are e v a l u a t e d and t h e u n i m p o r t a n t d i m e n s i o n l e s s t e r n s

deleted. Experiment and t h e o r y may b e combined by making
certain g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n s of t h e f l o w d u r i n g t h e t e s t i n g
program which a l l o w t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r t o i d e n t i f y t h e t y p e o f
f l o w w i t h which h e i s d e a l i n g and h e n c e t o b e a b l e t o apply
classic fluid mechanics r e l a t i o n s which may b e n u m e r i c a l l y
evaluated using t h e experimental data. The third category
of the method classification is the purely theoretical
approach. Here, t h e f l o w i s a n a l y z e d starting from first

principals o f f l u i d m e c h a n i c s , and t h e i n l e t performance i s

described mathematically. Often t h i s a n a l y s i s is followed

by a program o f i n l e t t e s t i n g b u t o n l y s o t h e t h e o r y may be

v e r i f i e d , n o t s o t h a t it may b e a l t e r e d i n any way.

The most d e s i r a b l e approach t o inlet research is to

combine a rigerous mathematical analysis with thorough

experimentation. F o r t n e t e s t i n g t o b e comprehensive enough

to apply t o v e r y g e n e r a l s i t u a t i o n s , however, an e x t r e m e l y
wide range of inlet sizes and configurations must be
utilized. In a limited program, this is not always
possible, The o t h e r e x t r e m e i s t h e t e s t i n g o f inlets from
one s p e c i f i c area, w i t h n o r e g a r d f o r t h e t h e o r y u n d e r l y i n g

the inlet's performance. The present investigation

undertook to find a middle ground between these two

extremes.

Since t h e study w a s o r i e n t e d towards t h ~problems of

inlet design in t h e Winnipeg a r e a , it w a s d e c i d e d t o t e s t

o n l y t h e s t a n d a r d a p p u r t i n a n c e s u s e d on t h e s e i n l e t s i n the
city. A l s o t h e i n l e t s would o n l y be tested in the sump
condition as the local t e r r a i n d i c t a t e s t h a t most i n l e t s
w i l l b e l o c a t e d i n a pavement s a g . The f l o w c o n d i t i o n s were
v a r i e d d u r i n g t h e t e s t i n g s o t h a t it would be possible to
e x t e n d t h e f i n d i n g s of t h e s e t e s t s t o o t h e r sump i n l e t s i z e s

and c o n f i g u r a t i o n s .
Thus, h a v i n g defined the perifery of t h e study , it w a s
n e c e s s a r y t o d e c i d e on an a p p r o a c h t o b e t a k e n i n d e v e l o p i n g

a theoretical basis for the flow into various types of

i n l e t s t o b e t e s t e d i n t h e sump c o n d i t i o n .

The l i t e r a t u r e r e v i e w o f CHAPTER I1 i n d i c a t e d t h a t f o r

i n l e t s i n sumps, p r e v i o u s i n v e s t i g a t o r s have employed the

same approach; T e s t s were r u n and t h e n t h e classic fluid

mechanics r e l a t i o n s were a p p l i e d t o t h e d a t a t o a r r i v e a t an
i n l e t design formula. This i s a reasonable procedure and

perhaps the o n l y workable one i n view o f t h e f a c t t h a t t h e

flow c o n t r o l f o r i n l e t s i n sumps i s n o t constant over the
f u l l range of g u t t e r flows. I t w a s thus decided t o use t h i s

approach for the theoretical development of t h e p r e s e n t

study. I n v i r t u a l l y any h y d r a u l i c s problem, however, the

thecnique of d i m e n s i o n a l a n a l y s i s h a s s o much t o o f f e r t h a t

it was n o t t h o u g h t w i s e t o abandon it in connection with

sump inlets w i t h o u t a t l e a s t t a k i n g a c u r s o r y look a t what

r e s u l t s could b e o b t a i n e d by u s i n g t h i s method. 41
i n u s i n g t h e o b s e r v a t i o n - o r i e n t e d method of developing
the theory o u t l i n e d above, it becomes n e c e s s a r y t o mention
a t l e a s t some of t h e g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n s made during the
course of t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l program; Such o b s e r v a t i o n s w i l l
in a sense be out of place here, since - a l l of the
o b s e r v a t i o n s a r e s e t down i n detail in CHAPTER V * but
remarks will be v e r y g e n e r a l and b r i e f i n CHAPTER 111 and
designed only t o introduce t h e theory.

3.2 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

I n o r d e r t o t r e a t an extremely complex flow situation

it is necessary to dimensionally organize the several

v a r i a b l e s i n t o t h e s m a l l e s t number of s i g n i f i c a n t p a r a m e t r i c

groups. Since any mathematical equation of motion t o b e

p h y s i c a l l y c o r r e c t , must be d i m e n s i o n a l l y homogeneous, then
t h e v a r i a b l e s i n any given flow s i t u a t i o n must be s o r e l a t e d
s u c h t h a t t h e flow s i t u a t i o n i s d i m e n s i o n a l l y homogeneous.
The chief tool of dimensional a n a l y s i s by which t h e

v a r i a b l e s a r e o r g a n i z e d i s t h e Buckinghan P i t h e rem*, which

** Page 1 1 0 .

. .-
states : "If the dependent variable A depends on the
1
i n d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s A g ,A3 , .... An
the functional

r e l a t i o n s h i p may b e w r i t t e n as

f ( A I I A Z #A3 An ) = 0. ( 3.1

The P i theorem states t h a t i f a l l o f t h e s e n v a r i a b l e s

c a n b e d e s c r i b e d by m d i m e n s i o n a l u n i t s , t h e n they may be
grouped i n t o n - m dimensionless t e r m s . "
I . , n
,. T ) = 0. ( 3.2

I n each t e r m t h e r e w i l l b e m + 1 v a r i a b l e s , only one of

which needs to be changed from term to term. If the m

r e p e a t i n g v a r i a b l e s a r e g i v e n unknown e x p o n e n t s i n each pi

term, the f a c t t h a t t h e r e a r e m d i m e n s i o n s w i t h which e a c h

t e r m may b e described provides a means by which these

unknowns may b e e v a l u a t e d .
It s h o u l d b e n o t e d t h a t t h e d i m e n s i o n l e s s t e r m s may b e

made t o c o n s i s t o f d i f f e r e n t c o m b i n a t i o n s of variables. It

may be d e s i r a b l e i n c e r t a i n h y d r a u l i c s i t u a t i o n s t o have a
s p e c i f i c t e r m ( s u c h a s t h e Froude number ) t o a p p e a r i n t h e

analysis, while some other terms may be without

s i g n i f i c a n c e . Thus d i m e n s i o n a l a n a l y s i s i s a n a r t requiring

some experience in hydraulic studies and t h e judgement

obtained therefrom.
F o r any i n l e t l o c a t e d i n a sump t h e r e i s a common set

of variables which, along with the variables of the

particular i n l e t type, w i l l determine the flow into the

inlet. F i g u r e 2 4 shows o n e - h a l f of a roadway w i t h a
s 14odel Experiments and t h e Form of ~ m p i r i c l e~ q u a t i o n s ,
Buckingham, E . , A . S . C . E . T r a n s , , Vol. 37, 1915.
FIGURE 24 FLOW VARIABLES

I - - - -
t
PLAN
A-

I
SIDE ELEVATION

SECTION A -A u
combination inlet in the gutter section; the variables

affecting the i n l e t performance are shown. These common

v a r i a b l e s are': I

Qi , the dependent variable consisting of t h e two

incoming g u t t e r flows Q 1 and Q2,
y 1 and y
2
, the normal g u t t e r flow depths approaching
the inlet,

v1 and
2
V , the average gutter flow velocities

approaching t h e i n l e t ,

g o , t h e c r o s s s l o p e of t h e pavement, and

g, t h e g r a v i t y a c c e l e r a t i o n .
Now f o r each t y p e of i n l e t t h e r e w i l l b e t h e following

additional variables:

I ) Undepressed c u r b i n l e t ; Li, t h e l e n g t h of t h e

c u r b opening.

11) Depressed c u r b i n l e t ; Li, t h e l e n g t h of t h e

c u r b opening, and 0 , t h e s l o p e of t h e l o c a l d e p r e s s i o n .
111) G u t t e r i n l e t ; L , t h e l e n g t h ::of the gutter
g r a t e , and W , the width of t h e g u t t e r grate.
I V ) Combination i n l e t ; L
i
, L , and W.
The above v a r i a b l e s were t h e n u t i l l i z e d i n a s t a n d a r d

dimensional analysis to obtain a set of dimensionless

p a r a m e t e r s f o r each i n l e t t y p e . S i n c e t h e v a r i a b l e s were a l l

in terms of e i t h e r l e n g t h o r t i m e , o r both, it was only

possible t o o b t a i n two fewer d i m e n s i o n l e s s terms t h a n t h e r e

were variables for any given , flow situation. The

dimensionless parameters f o r each i n l e t type expressed i n a
f u n c t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p are:

I ) Undepressed c u r b i n l e t ;

11) Depressed c u r b i n l e t s ;

111) G u t t e r i n l e t ;

I V ) Combination i n l e t ;
-
W

3.3 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AS TO THE NATURE OF THE FLOW I N T O

EACH OF THE INLETS AS NOTED DURING THE EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAP.1

As was n o t e d e a r l i e r i n t h i s c h a p t e r , it i s n e c e s s a r y
t o present a very general o u t l i n e of t h e observations made
during the testing program, in order to justify the
theoretical presentation of certain classical fluid
mechanics r e l a t i o n s . T h i s w i l l b e done i n t u r n f o r each of
t h e f o u r types of i n l e t s t e s t e d .

1) Undepressed Curb Inlet: From the smallest

r e c o r d e d f l o w s up t o t h e p o i n t a t which t h e water entering

the inlet was just below t h e t o p o f t h e g r a t e o p e n i n g , (

t h a t i s t h e p o i n t a t which p a r t of t h e opening was always

visible ), t h e i n l e t simply resembled a f r e e overflow w e i r .

A f r e e w a t e r s u r f a c e was v i s i b l e , unimpeded by the top of

t h e i n l e t a p p u r t e n a n c e opening. A s t h e flow was increased

beyond this point however, the top of the inlet grate

o p e n i n g came i n t o p l a y and f o r a s m a l l r a n g e o f f l o w s , the

operation f l u c t u a t e d between t h a t o f a w e i r and an o r i f i c e ;

i n t h e l a t t e r i n s t a n c e t h e o p e n i n g became c o m p l e t e l y filled

with water.A furthar i n c r e a s e i n t h e flow s a w t h e opening

c o m p l e t e l y submerged and hence it acted as a rectangular

orifice. It should be noted , however, that true orifice

o p e r a t i o n c o u l d o n l y c o n t i n u e up t o t h e p o i n t a t which the
actual grating (as opposed to t h e g r a t i n g opening), w a s
submerged; t h e n t h e w a t e r continued to flow through the

o p e n i n g as a n o r i f i c e b u t a l s o o v e r a b r o a d c r e s t e d w e i r .
11) Depressed Curb I n l e t : The same o b s e r v a t i o n s were

made for the d e p r e s s e d i n l e t as f o r t h e u n d e p r e s s e d c a s e ,

t h e only d i f f e r e n c e being t h a t the flow values at which

these various conditions occurred w e r e d i f f e r e n t .

111) Gutter Inlet: At low flow values t h e g u t t e r

g r a t e was n o t submerged and t h e w a t e r fell freely between

t h e bars. In t h i s s i t u a t i o n t h e o u t e r periphery of t h e g r a t e
merely a c t e d a s t h e c r e s t o f a c i r c u l a r w e i r . A t some p o i n t ,

the flow becomes g r e a t enough t o submerge t h e o p e n i n g , and

from t h e n on t h e i n l e t operates as an orifice with the
u n i q u e s h a p e formed by t h e o p e n i n g s between t h e b a r s .

Iv combination I n l e t : Since i n t h i s configuration,

the curb and gutter inlets a r e . both operating
simultaneously, the situation is more difficult to
categorize than t h e o t h e r i n l e t types. At this stage, it
will be sufficient t o n o t e t h a t t h e same w e i r and o r i f i c e

t y p e o f f l o w was n o t e d a s f o r t h e g u t t e r and curb inlets,

but that t h e points d e f i n i n g t h e operating ranges of t h e s e

phenomina were r a t h e r more complex t h a n i n t h e other three
cases. A more d e t a i l e d a p p r a i s a l i s g i v e n i n l a t e r C h a p t e r s .

3.4 WEIR FLOW THEORY

Scrutiny of the observations of t h e previous s e c t i o n

reveals t h a t two t y p e s o f w e i r should be considered. The

f r e e o v e r f l o w t h r o u g h t h e s i d e o p e n i n g o f t h e c u r b i n l e t can

best be approximated by a simple sharp crested weir,

although it should be noted t h a t , s t r i c t l y speaking,

t h e f r e e f a l l of water on a l l s i d e s o f t h e g u t t e r g r a t e can

b e s t be a p p r o x i m a t e d by a c i r c u l a r s h a r p c r e s t e d o v e r f l o w o f

t h e t y p e u s e d a s a s p i l l w a y e n t r a n c e on some s m a l l dams*.
I) Sharp Crested Weir: The f l o w p r o f i l e o v e r a s h a r p

crested w e i r is shown i n F i g u r e 2 5 ( A ) ; t h i s i s contrasted

with a cross-section of the flow through a curb opening
i n l e t (B) , and a g u t t e r i n l e t at low flows (C) . It can
r e a d i l y be seen t h a t t h e t h r e e s i t u a t i o n s a r e n o t i d e n t i c a l .
The most s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e i s t h a t t h e s l o p e of t h e ,
which means that the hydraulic grade-line ( the water
s u r f a c e ) i s d e p r e s s e d o r drawn down o v e r a g r e a t e r d i s t a n c e

from the overfall for t h e s i d e o p e n i n g and g u t t e r i n l e t s

than f o r t h e w e i r . Many y e a r s o f e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n * * have

* Design of Small Dams, U.S.Dept. o f t h e I n t e r i o u r .
** Handbook of H y d r a u l i c s ( 5 t h e d . ) , H.W.King, McGraw-Hill.
FIGURE 25. THE SHARP CRESTED WEIR
COMPARED TO INLET OPERATION

( A ) Sharp Crested Weir

A

Croch where annular flow

- .

\ I becomes jet flow

indicated, however, that a general w e i r e q u a t i o n may b e
d e r i v e d f o r s h a r p c r e s t e d w e i r s v a r y i n g i n h e i g h t from zero

upwards. The e q u a t i o n i s o f t h e form,

1.5
Qi = CLH I ( 3*7
Where Qi= t h e d i s c h a r g e o v e r t h e w e i r , CFS.,
C = the discharge coefficient,

L = t h e e f f e c t i v e l e n g t h o f t h e w e i r c r e s t , FT.,and
H = t h e h e i g h t o f w a t e r o v e r t h e w e i r c r e s t , FT.

The d i s c h a r g e c o e f f i c i e n t C i s r e a l l y a measure o f t h e

e f f e c t of the incoming velocities as determined by the

height o f t h e w e i r ; hence t h e d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e t h r e e

f l o w s i t u a t i o n s as shown i n F i g u r e 2 5 are t a k e n care of by

this constant term, and equation 3.4 may b e a p p l i e d t o

e i t h e r t h e p r a c t i c a l curb opening s i t u a t i o n , o r t o the low

flow g u t t e r i n l e t condition.

Since the curb opening is not continuous it is

n e c e s s a r y t o a p p l y an e m p i r i c a l f o r m u l a f o r effective weir
length* ;
L =L1-O.1NH ( 3.8

Where L 1 = t h e measured l e n g t h o f t h e w e i r c r e s t , FT.,

and N = t h e number of c o n t r a c t i o n s i n t h e w e i r c r e s t .

11) Circular Sharp Crested Weir: Although this

s i t u a t i o n i s o b v i o u s l y d i f f e r e n t from the weir considered
above , equation 3.7 still d e s c r i b e s t h e behaviour of a

c i r c u l a r o r odd shaped w e i r ; the crest length is simply

measured a l o n g w h a t e v e r i s t h e i r r e g u l a r s h a p e o f t h e c r e s t .
iscu cuss ion of P r e c i s e Weir Measurements, Rehback,T., A.S.C.E.
Trans., Vol. 23, 1929.
Of c o u r s e , e a c h p a r t i c u l a r s h a p e w i l l have i t s own d i s c h a r g e
coefficient.
It should also be noted t h a t t h e discharge c o e f f i c i e n t
r e f l e c t s t h e d e f e n i t i o n s one h a s chosen f o r H and L. Thus,

t h e f a c t t h a t f o r t h e c u r b o p e n i n g t h e H w i l l b e measured a t
the face of the i n l e t , and t h a t L i s measured around t h e

square periphery of the gutter grate inlet, will be

accounted f o r i n t h e C v a l u e appearing in the respective

equations.

3.5 O r i f i c e Flow Theory

T h e r e a r e two t y p e s o f o r i f i c e s i t u a t i o n s which apply

to the present study. The f i r s t i s an o r i f i c e s e t i n a

vertical plane and the second is an orifice in the

horizontal plane. These c o r r e s p o n d t o the submerged curb

and g u t t e r i n l e t s r e s p e c t i v e l y , as shown i n F i g u r e 26.

For any orifice which d i s c h a r g e s i n t o t h e atmosphere

t h e d i s c h a r g e c a n b e d e t e r m i n e d by t h e following empirical

expression;

where Qi = t h e flow t h r o u g h t h e o r i f i c e , CFS.,

C = the discharge coefficient,

2
A = a r e a of t h e c l e a r o p e n i n g o f t h e o r i f i c e , FT., and
h = t h e height of water over t h e orifice (see Figure

2 6 ) . FT.
FIGURE 26. INLETS OPERATING AS AN ORIFICE

Gutter
Opening

( A ) Gutter lnlet

1 \

. ./ '
(8)Curb lnlet
 The d i s c h a r g e c o e f f i c i e n t a c c o u n t s f o r the shape of the

inlet (which in t h i s c a s e i s i r r e g u l a r due t o t h e g r a t i n g

o v e r t h e o p e n i n g ) , and t h e v a r i a n c e i n t h e flow velocities

in the vicinity of the inlet. The value of C w i l l be

d e t e r m i n e d from t h e t e s t d a t a f o r e a c h p a r t i c u l a r situation
i n which o r i f i c e f l o w o c c u r s .

3.6 The G e n e r a l Flow E q u a t i o n

A close inspection of e q u a t i o n s 3 . 7 and 3.9 r e v e a l s

t h a t t h e y a r e r e a l l y o f t h e same form. For w e i r flow, the

length of the weir c r e s t L may b e k e p t c o n s t a n t and as a

r e s u l t may b e made a p a r t of the equation coefficient C.

Also the exponent, which was g i v e n as 1.50 f o r a s t r a i g h t

w e i r c r e s t p e r p e n d i c u l a r t o t h e f l o w , may assume different

values for v a r i e d c r e s t c o n f i g u r a t i o n s ; h e n c e , it c o u l d b e
expressed a s a v a r i a b l e n.

I n t h e c a s e o f o r i f i c e f l o w , t h e area o f t h e o p e n i n g A

when it i s k e p t c o n s t a n t , and t h e v a l u e o f &, may b o t h be

i n c l u d e d a s a p a r t o f t h e e q u a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t C. Where t h e

s h a p e o f t h e o r i f i c e i s n o t c i r c u l a r and sharp edged, the

flow t h r o u g h t h e o p e n i n g may n o t v a r y as h
1/2
. Instead, the
n
flow c o u l d b e e x p r e s s e d a s a f u n c t i o n o f h , where n i s some
as y e t i n d e t e r m i n a t e e x p o n e n t .
For i n l e t s of constant dimensions, it i s t h u s p o s s i b l e

t o f o r m u l a t e a g e n e r a l f l o w e x p r e s s i o n which w i l l be valid
whenever the flow through the inlet is e i t h e r weir o r

o r i f i c e controlled. This e q u a t i o n i s :
n
Qi = Ch . (3.10)
The above formula i s an exponential function and as

such, when Qi is p l o t t e d on l o g a r i t h m i c graph p a p e r as a

f u n c t i o n of h , t h e result will be a straight line for
c o n s t a n t C and n v a l u e s . When t h e v a l u e s of C and n change,
t h e s l o p e of t h e s t r a i g h t l i n e w i l l b e a l t e r e d .
The values of C and n for any section of the
l o g a r i t h m i c p l o t w i t h c o n s t a n t s l o p e may be determined in
t h e f o l l o w i n g manner:

Exponential f u n c t i o n 3.10, when p l o t t e d on l o g a r i t h m i c

p a p e r can be r e w r i t t e n as

l o g Q i = n l o g h + l o g C . (3.11)

For any s e c t i o n of t h e p l o t w i t h a c o n s t a n t s l o p e , the

value of the coefficient may be evaluated by first

d e t e r m i n i n g t h e v a l u e of Qia t t h e p o i n t where h = 1.00,

since the l o g a r i t h i m of 1.00 i s 0.00, where h = 1.00, Q i =

C. S i m i l a r l y , i f t h e v a l u e of h i s found where Qi = 1.00,
t h e n t h e exponent n may be e v a l u a t e d from t h e e x p r e s s i o n n =
-logC/logh .
It should be n o t e d t h a t , a l t h o u g h a p a r t i c u l a r curve
may n o t i n c l u d e t h e r e g i o n i n which Q i = 1.00, o r h = 1.00,
the curve may be extended t o i n c l u d e t h e s e numbers w i t h o u t
d e t r a c t i n g from t h e accuracy of t h e v a l u e s o b t a i n e d f o r the

c o e f f i c i e n t and exponent.
 CHAPTER IV

EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE

4.1 INTRODUCTION
Since the central purpose of this study was , has
been discussed in the opening chapter , to test the storm
water inlets of the City of Winnipeg, an experimental
program had to be formulated to meet this end. This really
consisted of a series of steps, with each step involving two
decisions. First, it had to be decided what information was
required from the tests to fulfill the goals of the study,
and secondly, what was the best method of obtaining that
information taking into account expediency, accuracy, and
physical limitations. A brief outline of the factors
involved in this decision-making process will be given here,
in Table 3, with the actual choices and the reasoning behind
them following in the remainder of this chapter.

4.2 MODEL ROADWAY

For reasons that have been dealt with earlier in this
paper*, the types of inlets to be tested and the approach
* chapter I, pps. 6 r 8; Chapter 11, pg. 1 1 .
 TABLE 3 : FORMULATING THE EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM

STEP DECISION FACTORS

Choosing the t y p e Model scale S i z e of t h e l a b o r a t o r y

of model E f f e c t s of s c a l e on t h e r e s u l t s
S i z e of t h e i n l e t a p p u r t i n e n c e s
t o be t e s t e d
Model s i z e Boundary e f f e c t s caused by making
t h e model too s m a l l
Length of g u t t e r required t o f u l l y
develope the flow
Model l a y o u t : The layout of a modern, s t a n d a r d
Winnipeg roadway

Model a d j u s t m e n t What q u a n t i t i e s would i t be desirable

Choosing t h e
c o n d i t i o n s of flow
Model c o n s t r u c t i o n
Where t o i n t r o d u c e
the flow i n t o t h e
mode 1
t o v a r y , keeping i n mind t h a t a
general expression i s sought
What range of v a l u e s a r e used for
t h e geometry of the road and i n l e t
i n actual practice
' Loading of t h e model w h i l e i t s
operating
E a s e of o p e r a t i o n
Simplicity erecting
The a c t u a l c o n d i t i o n s of storm
w a t e r flow
 TABLE 3 ......Continued
STEP DECISION FACTORS

Choosing t h e Where t o i n t r o d u c e P h y s i c a l l a y o u t of the l a b

c o n d i t i o n s of flow the flow i n t o t h e
mode 1
How t o c o n t r o l the Maximum /and minimum r e q u i r e d
flow flows
S i z e of t h e flow increments
r e q u i r e d i n the t e s t i n g
Ease of o p e r a t i o n
Permissable, t u r b u l e n c e ie . are
b a f f l e s required?
.
Taking of What measurements The p h y s i c a l q u a n t i t i e s a s
measurements t o take i n d i c a t e d by t h e o e r y of C h . 3
t o : (a) Determine t h e c a p a c i t i e s
of the i n l e t s ( b ) Formulate a
g e n e r a l e x p r e s s i o n of i n l e t behaviour
Location of F l u c t u a t i o n s which may r e n d e r t h e
measurements reading inaccurate
Ease of t a k i n g measurements
What q u a n t i t i e s have been d e c i d e d
upon as n e c e s s a r y
Accuracy of the Order of accuracy d e s i r a b l e
measurements Accuracy with which i n s t r u m e n t s may
be r e a d
flow c o n d i t i o n s t o be s i m u l a t e d , were t o be l i m i t e d to the
r e p r o d u c t i o n of t h e s t o r m w a t e r i n l e t c o n d i t i o n s encountered

in the Winnipeg area. This f a c t o r e l i m i n a t e d t h e need t o

d u p l i c a t e many of t h e c o n d i t i o n s which have been modelled

elsewhere and have been summarized i n Chapter I1 of t h i s

work.

Actual f u l l - s c a l e c a s t i n g s of the storm water inlet

appurtenances used by the City of Winnipeg E n g i n e e r i n g

Department w e r e made available for these tests; hence,

rather than scale them down t o s m a l l e r dimensions, it was

decided t o t e s t t h e f u l l s c a l e i n l e t . his in turn meant
t h a t a f u l l - s c a l e model of t h e roadway which would d e t e r m i n e
t h e approach flow c o n d i t i o n s i n t o t h e i n l e t would have t o be
constructed.
The impracticability o f c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e model w i t h a

width e q u a l to a full curb to curb street width was

apparent. The impoundment of w a t e r on t h e pavement t o a

d e p t h g r e a t e r t h a n t h e road crown is seldom tolerated in

actual practice and also t h e flow c o n d i t i o n s a s f a r away

from t h e i n l e t a s t h e centreline of the roadway are of

little or no importance in the operation of t h e i n l e t .

T h e r e f o r e , t h e model width was r e s t r i c t e d t o e i g h t f e e t w i t h

a vertical wall forming the boundary on the side

corresponding t o t h e s t r e e t c e n t r e l i n e . Figure 27 details

t h e model.
With regards to the l e n g t h o f t h e c h a n n e l , t h e main
c o n s i d e r a t i o n was t h a t t h e model be long enough to allow

full development of the flow a s i t approached t h e t e s t e d

inlet. Twelve f e e t was chosen a s an a d e q u a t e distance for

this purpose and t h e r e f o r e each s e c t i o n ( F i g u r e 2 7 ) w a s s e t

a t t h i s length.

S i n c e i n t h e Winnipeg a r e a a l m o s t no flowby t y p e i n l e t s
a r e i n u s e , it was thought n e c e s s a r y t o reproduce only the

so-called sump condition in these tests. Hence, each

section of the channel must s l o p e towards t h e i n l e t and

t h e s e s l o p e s must be f u l l y a d j u s t a b l e . A l s o , t h e model must

have a constant slope towards the gutter section

c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o a road crown s l o p e , which c o u l d be altered
to simulate the v a r i o u s crown s l o p e v a l u e s encountered i n
actual practice. These r e q u i r e m e n t s were met by t h e u s e of
cement b l o c k p i e r s of v a r y i n g h e i g h t s a s shown i n Photograph

1, upon which t h e channel i s r e s t e d .

It was decided t h a t o n l y one s u r f a c e m a t e r i a l would be

used f o r t h e channel throughout the tests. Since most

thoroughfares in the City of Winnipeg a r e s u r f a c e d w i t h

c o n c r e t e , a t h i n l a y e r of t h i s m a t e r i a l was placed on the

model s u r f a c e . L i g h t guage r e i n f o r c i n g was used t o bond t h e

c o n c r e t e t o t h e roadway and t h e s u r f a c e o v e r which t h e w a t e r

would flow was t r o w e l f i n i s h e d . The roughness v a l u e of t h i s

s u r f a c e was n o t determined by t e s t s , b u t r a t h e r t h e v a l u e of
It n" was selected from a handbook. The edge of t h e flume
c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e c u r b o f an a c t u a l s t r e e t was a l s o f a c e d
with concrete.

Although the structural features of the model,

s t r e n g t h , framing, and s u p p o r t have no , d i r e c t b e a r i n g on t h e

f i n a l r e s u l t s of t h e s e tests, it was nonetheless though

p r u d e n t t o i n c l u d e a s t r u c t u r a l p l a n which may prove of some

use t o future investigators. This p l a n i s found i n Appendix

A.

The roadway was c o n s t r u c t e d e n t i r e l y of wood f o l l o w i n g

a d e s i g n performed by the author to meet the expected
loading conditions and to minimize deflections*. As is

shown i n Figure 27, the model was built in two half

sections, each section being a duplicate of an a c t u a l
roadway from c u r b t o crown. These halves were connected
w i t h a w a t e r p r o o f , f l e x a b l e j o i n t a t t h e c e n t e r s o t h a t each

could be sloped towards the c e n t e r and produce t h e sump

c o n d i t i o n s o u g h t , and a l s o s o t h a t t h e s e s l o p e s c o u l d e a s i l y

be a d j u s t e d . Both s e c t i o n s were i d e n t i c a l .

The f i r s t s t e p i n the construction was to build a

r e c t a n g u l a r framework c o n s i s t i n g of t h r e e , f o u r i n c h by f o u r

inch, longitudinal beams, and two i n c h by f o u r i n c h j o i s t s

a t two f o o t s p a c i n g s , b o t h of white spruce. Overlayed on

this framework were four foot by eight f o o t s h e e t s of

h a l f - i n c h plywood which was the basis for the roadway.

Eighteen i n c h wide l e n g t h s of plywood were t h e n f a s t e n e d t o
the outside longitudinal beams, perpendicular to the

f l o o r i n g ; t h i s was t h e flume s i d i n g . The same procedure was

* T i n h e r C o n s t r u c t i o n Manual, Can. I n s t . o f Timber Const.
used t o a p p l y w a l l s t o t h e end of each s e c t i o n . Then t h e two
s e c t i o n s were mounted on cement block p i e r s (Photograph I),
the open ends butted together and was sealed with a
waterproof joint. A f i n e guage c h i c k e n w i r e mesh w a s t h e n

tacked to the flooring and one sidewall (which would

r e p r e s e n t t h e roadway c u r b ) . On t h e f l o o r a one-half inch

layer o f c o n c r e t e was p l a c e d u s i n g s c r e e d s , and t h e n t r o w e l

f i n i s h e d , w h i l e f o r t h e s i d i n g , forms were constructed and

u t i l i z e d t o p l a c e a one i n c h . t h i c k c u r b , wet t r o w e l f i n i s h e d

after the removal o f t h e forms. The e n t i r e s t r u c t u r e was

s e a l e d w a t e r - t i g h t e x c e p t f o r an opening on one side to
accomodate t h e i n l e t s .

4.3 INLET APPURTENANCES

As has been p r e v i o u s l y s t a t e d , t h e i n l e t appurtenances

used i n t h e s e t e s t s were a c t u a l castings of inlets being

installed in the Winnipeg a r e a a t t h e p r e s e n t time. They

have been i n u s e for some while here and there is no

indication of a change t o o t h e r t y p e s i n t h e n e a r f u t u r e .

A l l of t h e d e v i c e s t e s t e d were o f c a s t i r o n .

4.3.1 Curb Opening I n l e t G r a t e

S i n c e t h i s work was to be . p r a c t i c a l l y oriented to

situations encountered locally, that is i n metropolitan
Winnipeg, it seemed unnecessary t o conduct t e s t s on u n g r a t e d
c u r b o p e n i n g s a s few have been used i n t h e c i t y . Following
the above r e a s o n i n g , s i n c e t h e r e i s o n l y one s t a n d a r d c u r b

opening g r a t e i n u s e h e r e , o n l y t h a t g r a t e was t e s t e d . The

c a s t i n g i s d e t a i l e d i n F i g u r e 28(A). The measured l e n g t h of

the g r a t e opening i s e q u a l t o f o u r t e e n i n c h e s , and t h e a r e a

of t h i s opening i s 0.855 s q u a r e f e e t .
The curb grating was used in three different

situations:
i) Curb g r a t e with no local depression below the

normal c r o s s f a l l of t h e roadway.
ii) Curb grate with l o c a l d e p r e s s i o n ( s e c t i o n 4.5)
below t h e normal c r o s s f a l l of t h e pavement.
iii) Curb g r a t e i n combination w i t h a g u t t e r g r a t e of

t h e t y p e d e s c r i b e d i n s e c t i o n 4.3.2.

4.3.2 Gutter Grate

The s t a n d a r d g u t t e r g r a t e used i n t h e C i t y of Winnipeg

i s shown i n F i g u r e 28(B). Using the dimensions of this

drawing, it i s q u i t e a s i m p l e m a t t e r t o c a l c u l a t e t h e b a s i c
grate properties. The e q u i v a l e n t l e n g t h L of t h e grate is

0.875 feet, while its w i d t h i s 0 . 8 4 3 f e e t , and t h e t o t a l

a r e a of opening between t h e b a r s i s 0 . 8 2 s q u a r e f e e t .
This g r a t i n g w a s used i n two d i f f e r e n t s i t u a t i o n s :

i) G u t t e r g r a t e s e t f l u s h t o t h e pavement surface in
the gutter section immediately adjacent to the street

curbing,
ii) G u t t e r g r a t e s e t f l u s h t o t h e pavement s u r f a c e i n
FIGURE 28. CITY OF WPG. STANDARD INLET GRATES

SM"

-1~"k-
-
(*-I1'

(A) Curb Grate

(B) Gutter Grate

 t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n and a d j a c e n t t o a c u r b i n l e t s e t i n t h e

curb.
The practice of setting grate inlets in a local

depression i n t h e g u t t e r section i s not generally followed

i n t h e C i t y o f Winnipeg.

4.4 INLETS
The actual inlet configurations tested are four i n
number. They a r e i l l u s t r a t e d i n F i g u r e 29*.
i) Undepressed Curb I n l e t : The fact that the curb

height is only six i n c h e s above t h e g u t t e r s u r f a c e means

t h a t t h e f u l l opening (eleven inches high) will not be
utilized. Thus, t h e t o t a l a r e a open t o t h e f l o w i s r e d u c e d

t o 0.354 s q u a r e f e e t .
ii) Depressed Curb I n l e t : The g u t t e r i s d e p r e s s e d two

i n c h e s below t h e normal pavement s u r f a c e i n t h e v i c i n i t y of

the inlet ( s e c t i o n 4.5). This increases t h e a v a i l a b l e area

of o p e n i n g t o 0 , 5 2 0 s q u a r e f e e t .
iii) G u t t e r I n l e t : This i n l e t employs the standard

g u t t e r g r a t e as d e s c r i b e d i n s e c t i o n 4-3.2.
iv) Combination Inlet: This c o n f i g u r a t i o n c o n s i s t s

s i m p l y of an u n d e p r e s s e d c u r b i n l e t , and a gutter inlet,

located adjacent t o one a n o t h e r , t h e l e n g t h of both g r a t e s

being about equal.

4.5 STANDARD DEPRESSION

* The g u t t e r g r a t e i n l e t i s n o t shown by i t s e l f , b u t i n c o m b i n a t i o n
FIGURE 29. STANDARD INLET CONFIGURATIONS

curb

\'

( A ) Undepressed Curb Inlet

- curb
+ v n ~

+
- D M Yi

1.
I I
I I
L -.,.r-m-
@ I # I t
-4
I curb

( B ) Combination Inlet
 Previous research* has indicated that by depressing the
gutter section below the normal pavement crossfall in the
vicinity of a curb inlet, the capacity of the inlet is
increased over the simple undepressed case. For this reason,
the City of Winnipeg has adopted a standard depression to be
used on many of their installations. This depression was
used in the present study. It consists of an area
semi-circular in plan, with a radius of two feet centered at
the center of the curb inlet. From the circumference of this
circle inwards, the pavement slope is such that the surface
of the gutter is depressed two inches below the normal
surface established by the pavement crossfall. Figure 29(B)
shows this depression.
QI In building the model, a semi-circular area in the
flume flooring was constructed two inches lower than the
remainder of the floor (see Appendix A). This was filled
with concrete for tests of the undepressed inlet, but was
sloped towards the inlet at one inch per foot using concrete
for the depressed inlet tests.

4.6 ESTN3LISHIIENT OF CROWN SLOPE

The theoretical analysis of Chapter 111 indicated that
one of the variables influencing the inlet performance
tests, which had to be simulated in the model roadway, was
the pavement crown slope or the slope of the road surface
from the centerline of the roadway to the point at which the
with a curb inlet.
* Chapter 11, pps. 40 - 44.
pavement meets the curb. It was decided that this slope
would be continuous; that is, that there be no local
increase in the slope immediately adjacent to the curb.
This was, in fact, consistant with paving practice in the
Winnipeg area.
As is shown in Photograph 1 , each of the two flume
sections was placed on a series of concrete piers, the
elevation at the centerline edge being greater than that at
the gutter edge, imparting the desired slope to each
section. Crown slope adjustment could be affected by
raising the centerline edge off the piers using hydraulic
jacks, placing pre-measured plates on these piers and then
easing the flume section back on its supports, hence
increasing the crown slope. All such slopes were checked
using a Theodolite leveling instrument and surveyor's rod.

4.7 ESTRBLISHMENT OF GUTTER GRADES

The dimensional analysis of section 3.2 indicated that
the approach slope of the gutters was an important factor.
In order to relate the slope of the channel bottom parallel
to the curb and towards the inlet, to the inlet behaviour,
it was necessary to establish these values with some degree
of accuracy. After the crown slope had been set at the
initial value, the rear corners of each section of the model
were raised an equal amount by means of hydraulic jacks.
Shims were used between the piers and the footings in order
to equally distribute the load. In this way, a gutter slope
was imparted to each channel section by means of these shims
without disturbing the crown slope. These grades were also
checked using a Theodolite level and surveyor's rod. In all
tests, both gutter slopes were kept equal.

4.8 FLOW MEASUREMENT

The use of a model roadway with two adjustable approach

grades sloping towards the location of the tested inlet,
necessitated the construction of two accurately calibrated
sources of flow. These sources were to meet the following
requirements:
i) accuracy of measurement to within five percent.
ii) design accuracy to be maintained to a lower limit
of 0.10 c.f.s, and an upper limit of 3.00 c.f.s.
iii) The flow sources must be readily adjustable.
iv) instrumentation that could be read quickly and
easily and which would allow the two flow sources to be
equalized with a minimum of effort.
Figure 30 shows the location of the sources and labels
them East Flow and West Flow respectively. The physical
constraints of the laboratory mitigated against the use of
identical flow measurement techniques.
A triangular or V-notch weir with the central angle
equal to ninety degrees was used to gauge the West Flow. An
adjustable point gauge with electronic level finder provided
 measurements of t h e head o v e r t h e w e i r t o an accuracy of
0.005 f e e t . This arrangement i s i l l u s t r a t e d in Photograph

2. The e n t i r e d e v i c e was c a l i b r a t e d u s i n g t h e l a b o r a t o r y ' s

f l o a t gauged v o l u m e t r i c t a n k s and a s t o p watch.

For the East Flow source dimensional constraints

d i c t a t e d t h e use of an o r i f i c e m e t e r f r e e l y d i s c h a r g i n g i n t o
t h e atmosphere. P r e s s u r e s upstream of t h e o r i f i c e c o u l d be

read by means of a gauge t h r e a d e d i n t o a piezometer opening

i n t h e approach p i p e . The gauge used was a Bourdon type

with a s c a l e range of z e r o t o t h i r t y p . s . i . g . The Bourdon

mechanism itself had an accuracy of 2.00 percent. A

c a l i b r a t e d V-notch w e i r box u s i n g an e l e c t r o n i c p o i n t gauge

to measure t h e head over t h e w e i r was t h e a p p a r a t u s used t o

c a l i b r a t e t h e o r i f i c e meter.

4.9 APPROACH FLOW CONDITIONS

The o n l y way t h a t the field conditions which occur

during an actual rainstorm could be simulated in a

l a b o r a t o r y would be t o c o n s t r u c t a s c a l e model of t h e e n t i r e

d r a i n a g e a r e a c o n t r i b u t i n g t o an i n l e t and t h e n somehow to

reproduce a r a i n f a l l over t h i s e n t i r e r e g i o n . In order t o

r e p r e s e n t what i s a c t u a l l y happening a t t h e i n l e t , however,

it is not necessary ( i f indeed it were p o s s i b l e ) t o know

what i s happening over t h e e n t i r e catchment a r e a , but only

how much t o t a l flow t h a t a r e a c o n t r i b u t e s . This i s because

once t h e flow r e a c h e s t h e i n l e t , it has (except for the

 PHOTO 1 t FLUME SUPPORT SYSTEM

PHOTO 2 1 WEST SOURCE MEASURING DEVICE

 PHOTO 31 EAST SOURCE MEASURING DEVICE

PHOTO 4-1 OVER-ALL VIEW OF APPROACH FLOU CONDITIONS

 I

PHOTO 51 WEST E%D OF TEST FLUME

PHOTO 6r EAST END OF TEST FLUY'i

negligible amount of r a i n f a l l on t h e immediate few s q u a r e
f e e t around t h e i n l e t ) been entirely concentrated in the
gutter section. I I

For the present I

study, i t was d e c i d e d t h a t t h e flow
e n t e r i n g a t e i t h e r end of t h e model would b e s p r e a d o v e r t h e
e n t i r e w i d t h of t h e roadway by means of an overflow sill
I

placed a c r o s s t h e w i d t h of t h e flume where t h e flow e n t e r s .

In this way, the bulk of the flow would still be

c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t h e g u t t e r s e c t i o n due t o t h e c r o s s s l o p e of
t h e model b u t t h e s m a l l amount of s h e e t flow i n t h e a r e a of

the tested i n l e t would s t i l l be s i m u l a t e d . I t was t h o u g h t

necessary a l s o t o i n s t a l l a b a f f l e across t h e entire width

I

of t h e flume a t e i t h e r end, t o damp o u t any t u r b u l e n c e which

I

may have arisen from t h e passage of flow from t h e s o u r c e s

i n t o t h e model. T h i s b a f f l e c o n s i s t e d of a number of b l o c k s
of a v e r y c o u r s e f i b r o u s m a t e r i a l p l a c e d end-to-end across

t h e roadway. F i g u r e 3 0 i l l u s t r a t e s t h e s i l l and b a f f l e w h i l e
I

Photograph 4 shows t h e approach flow c o n d i t i o n s o f t h e model

i n operation.

4.10 MEASUREMENT OF DEPTH OF FLOW ADJACENT TO THE CURB

S i n c e one of t h e Ahief c r i t e r i a f o r i n l e t c a p a c i t i e s i s
t h e d e p t h of flow of t h e storm w a t e r immediately a d j a c e n t t o

t h e roadway c u r b , t h e a c c u r a t e measurement of t h i s d e p t h was

critical to these s e r i e s of t e s t s . The r e c o r d i n g of t h i s

I

d e p t h w a s complicated by the fact that there were two

distinct flows appr4aching the i n l e t , and a l t h o u g h t h e s e
flows were to be: equal in magnitude, it would be

unreasonable t o expect that they would be exactly so,

I

considering that two d i f f e r e n t s o u r c e s were i n use. Also,

it had t o be r e s o l v e d how c l o s e t o t h e c u r b and how c l o s e t o
t h e i n l e t t h e s e measurements s h o u l d be t a k e n . The location
of t h e measurements depided upon i s shown i n F i g u r e 31 which

points out that f o u r d e p t h measurements were t a k e n of t h e

approaching flows. A natural check was present on the

I

equality of t h e two flows; i f t h e upstream d e p t h s on e i t h e r

s i d e were e q u a l , t h e n presumably t h e flows would be equal.

The location of t h e b b s e r v a t i o n of d e p t h on e i t h e r s i d e of
the i n l e t was at a point just upstream of where the
streamlines were affected by t h e p r e s e n c e of t h e i n l e t a
d i s t a n c e of 32.5 i n c h e s from t h e c e n t e r of the inlet, and

then two more at 5!5 inch spacings c l o s e r t o t h e i n l e t .

Another r e a d i n g was ta$en s i x i n c h e s from t h e i n l e t center.

The d e p t h a t each l o c a t i o n was observed a s c l o s e t o t h e c u r b

a s p o s s i b l e w i t h o u t a c t u a l l y t o u c h i n g it. The v e r t i c a l datum

was t h e road s u r f a c e irhmediately a d j a c e n t t o t h e c u r b .

The r e a d i n g s were t a k e n u s i n g two p o i n t gauges s o l i d l y

I

f i x e d t o a t r o l l y , which rolled along an immobile metal

framework, a s seen i n F i g u r e 31. These gauges were equipped

with electronic level f i n d e r s and provided an accuracy of

0,005 feet.
 I

1 106
I

I
I
4.1 1 TESTING PROCEDURE
The t e s t i n g procedure really involved two distinct

phases; t h e f i r s t phase was t h e a d j u s t m e n t of t h e a p p a r a t u s

t o the desired setting before each test run, while the

second was t h e t e s t i n g i t s e l f .
Prior t o each t e s t , t h e f o l l o w i n g s t e p s were followed:

( 1 ) Using a surveyor's level, the crown slope and

g u t t e r g r a d e s of t h e flume were determined.

( 2 ) Using h y d r a u l i c j a c k s t o l i f t t h e s t r u c t u r e o f f t h e

support piers, wooden p l a t e s of t h e a p p r o p r i a t e t h i c k n e s s

were p l a c e d on t h e s e s u p p o r t s and the flume lowered onto

them. The p l a t e s were of a pre-determined s i z e which would

i m p a r t t h e a p p r o p r i a t e s l o p e s t o t h e model,
( 3 ) The s l o p e s were checked a g a i n w i t h the level and

shims were used t o make any a d j u s t m e n t s n e c e s s a r y .

For e a c h i n l e t t e s t e d , t h e crown s l o p e w a s f i r s t f i x e d
a t 1 / 4 i n c h p e r f o o t and t h e g u t t e r s l o p e s a t 0.50 percent.

Then the inlet was tested for a r a n g e of flows a t t h i s

setting. With t h e crown s l o p e s t i l l f i x e d a t 1 1 4 inch per

f o o t , t h e g u t t e r s l o p e s ( b o t h g u t t e r s l o p e s were always k e p t

equal) were set at one p e r c e n t through s i x p e r c e n t , and

t e s t s r u n a t one p e r c e n t i n t e r v a l s . Then the crown slope

was raised t o 1/2 i n c h p e r f o o t where i t remained a s t e s t s

were r u n f o r t h e same g u t t e r s l o p e s a s b e f o r e .
Throughout t h e program, t h e t e s t i n g p r o c e d u r e s followed

were l o g i c a l , o r d e r l y , and underwent no changes as the

experiments progressed. For each t e s t r u n , t h e f o l l o w i n g

s t e p s were followed:

(1) The s o u r c e v a l v e s were open p a r t way and t h e pumps

supplying these sources were then started causing flow

t h r o u g h t h e model.

(2) The flow from b o t h s o u r c e s was e q u a l i z e d a t some

v e r y low v a l u e , u s i n g t h e c o n t r o l v a l v e s and c o n s u l t i n g the

s o u r c e r a t i n g c u r v e s , and t h e n t h e s e f l o w s , once s t a b i l i z e d ,

were r e c o r d e d .
(3) The p o i n t gauges measuring t h e flow d e p t h i n t h e

v i c i n i t y of t h e i n l e t were zeroed by r e c o r d i n g readings of

the gutter surface at t h e depth-measuring p o i n t s . These
r e a d i n g s would l a t e r be s u b t r a c t e d from t h e readings taken
on the flowing w a t e r s u r f a c e t o g i v e t h e a c t u a l d e p t h s of

flow i n f e e t .
(4) Readings on t h e flowing w a t e r s u r f a c e were taken

at t h e a p p r o p r i a t e s e c t i o n s ( F i g u r e 3 1 ) , enough time having

been allowed f o r t h e flow t o s t a b i l i z e .

(5) A photograph was taken of the flow in the

immediate v i c i n i t y of t h e i n l e t .

(6) A dye stream w a s i n t r o d u c e d i n t o t h e flow and the

flow p a t t e r n t h u s d e t e c t e d was sketched.

(7) The flow from t h e s o u r c e s w a s i n c r e a s e d by some

a r b i t r a r y increment ( t a k i n g c a r e t o keep b o t h f l o w s equal),
and t h e n s t e p s ( 4 ) t h r o u g h ( 7 ) were r e p e a t e d u n t i l t h e i n l e t
was flooded out. A t t h a t p o i n t , t h e p r e - t e s t i n g procedure
was once again followed to impart new slopes to the model;
having done that, the above testing method was again
employed.
A standard data sheet upon which all of the above
readings were recorded in presented in Chapter V.
 CHAPTER V 1

OBSERmD DATA

5.1 INTRODUCTION

Having carried o u t t h e t e s t i n g program which h a s been

o u t l i n e d i n C h a p t e r IV, t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s o f t h e s e t e s t s must
be s e t down i n a l o g i c a l and l u c i d form.
The t e s t o b s e r v a t i o n s r e a l l y fall into two separate

categories. The f i r s t c o n s i s t s o f q u a n t i t i e s s u c h a s d e p t h s

of flow which w e r e measured and which c o u l d be r e p r e s e n t e d

w i t h a numerical value. The second c a t e g o r y c o n t a i n s those

observations which were made during the course of t h e

experimentation but which were qualitative rather than

q u a n t i t a t i v e i n n a t u r e ; t h i s would i n c l u d e , f o r example, t h e

flow p a t t e r n s sketched after the introduction of a dye

stream i n t o t h e water.
As f o u r i n l e t c o n f i g u r a t i o n s were e a c h t e s t e d a t s e v e n ,

g u t t e r g r a d e s e t t i n g s f o r e a c h o f two crown s l o p e s ( a total

of fourteen tests p e r i n l e t ) , t h e numerical d a t a i s o f t o o
g r e a t a volume t o p r e s e n t i n t a b u l a r form i n this chapter;
rather the p e r t i n a n t d a t a w i l l be p r e s e n t e d i n a g r a p h i c a l
form which w i l l g i v e s u f f i c i e n t i n f o r m a t i o n f o r the reader
to intelligently follow t h e c a l c u l a t e d r e s u l t s of Chapter

VI. The c o m p l e t e e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a i s g i v e n i n Appendix B.

The q u a l i t a t i v e o b s e r v a t i o n s showed less o f a v a r i a t i o n

and were of a much more g e n e r a l n a t u r e t h a n t h e measured

q u a n t i t i e s and, hence, it was possible to summarize them

without omitting any of t h e p e r t i n a n t d e t a i l s t h a t would

necessitate presentation in an appendix. These general
o b s e r v a t i o n s could be s e p a r a t e d i n t o t h r e e groups:
i ) o b s e r v a t i o n s on t h e t y p e o f f l o w g o v e r n i n g t h e i n l e t

discharge.

ii) dye t e s t s on t h e p a t t e r n s of f l o w i n t h e v i c i n i t y
of t h e i n l e t .
iii) o b s e r v a t i o n s o f any u n u s u a l f e a t u r e s o f t h e flow.

Photographs have been used wherever possible to

i l l u s t r a t e t h e p e r t i n a n t q u a l i t a t i v e observations*.

5.2 PRFSENTATIO1'1 CIF THE NUMERICAL DATA

-- - -

A l l o f t h e r e a d i n g s t h a t were t a k e n d u r i n g the course

of any of the t e s t r u n s were r e c o r d e d on a s t a n d a r d d a t a

s h e e t which i s g i v e n i n Table 4. When the experimental
procedure of Chapter IV is referred to, all of the
quantities i n this table are easily identifiable. Since

over sixty test runs were made, t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h i s

b u l k of d a t a i n t a b u l a r form w i t h i n t h e main body of the
work w a s n o t though t o b e e i t h e r p r a c t i c a l o r e n l i g h t e n i n g .
It w a s decided, i n s t e a d , t o reserve t h e t a b u l a r presentation
* I t was n o t f e a s i b l e t o p h o t o g r a p h t h e dye t e s t s .
 INLET : DEPRESSED CURB CROWN SLOPE : 0.50 IN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 5.83 %

DATE TESTED : FEB. 25/71 WEST GUTTER SLOPE : 5.84 %
I
WEST EAST
CPSTyl WEST Yl
FLOW FLOW EY2 Ey3 Ey4 WY2 WY3 wy4
'H Q, P Q2 2, R, Y, Z 2 ' ~ * ' Y p z ~ - R ~ Y- q Y 2~, R, Y I 2
; Rp Yp Zj R3 Y3 ~ 4 -
--

i J

TABLE 4. SAMPLE DATA SHEET

of d a t a t o Appendix B, and to summarize the pertinant

q u a n t i t i e s h e r e by means of g r a p h s .

The graphs p l o t t e d t h e t o t a l flow through t h e i n l e t Qi

= Q, + Q 2 , v e r s u s t h e d e p t h of w a t e r ponded i n f r o n t o f , or
over, the inlet, on a l o g - l o g s c a l e . S i n c e y4 was r e a d
Y4'
on b o t h s i d e s of t h e i n l e t c e n t e r l i n e , t h e two v a l u e s were
averaged t o o b t a i n t h e number which a p p e a r s on t h e graphs.
The r e a s o n s f o r choosing t h i s t y p e of p l o t were f o u r i n
number :
i) P r e v i o u s investigations indicated that for i n l e t s

located in sumps the main factor governing the inlet

c a p a c i t i e s w a s t h e d e p t h of w a t e r ponded in front of, or

over, t h e i n l e t .

ii) A log-log plot would be of g r e a t u s e i n d e a l i n g

w i t h phenomena d e s c r i b e d by e x p o n e n t i a l f u n c t i o n s .

:iii) A t v e r y h i g h f l o w s , i t was n o t p o s s i b l e to keep

the two flow sources e q u a l and, hence, t h e normal g u t t e r

flow d e p t h s i n t h i s r a n g e were n o t e q u a l . Therefore, a p l o t

i n c l u d i n g normal g u t t e r flow d e p t h s would be u s e f u l o n l y f o r
lower flows.
i v ) The damping e f f e c t o f t h e ponded w a t e r i n t h e sump
would, without question, alter the velocities of the
incoming flow so that the velocity distribution and

magnitude a s s o c i a t e d w i t h normal g u t t e r flow d e p t h would n o t *

apply a t t h e i n l e t .

For each i n l e t t e s t e d , a s i n g l e graph was drawn which

DEPTH OF PONDED WATER AT INLET FT.
 FLOW THROUGH INLET, CFS
FIGURE 35 : COMBINATION INLET RATING CURVES
included the data for all of the test runs. Figures 32 and
33 are for the curb inlet, undepressed and depressed
respectively. Figure 34 plots the data obtained from the
gutter inlet while Figure 35 is for the combination inlet.

5.3 QUALITATIVE OBSERVATIONS

Qualitative observations of inlet behaviour obviously
cannot be described by assigning numbers to the flow
phenomena involved. What can be done, however, is to
combine these observations with numerical observations
recorded at the same time, to allow the assignment of
numbers to describe the limits within which these flow
phenomena operate. Hence, the following observations on the
control of flow into inlets may at first sight appear to be
so general as to be useless; however, when they are combined
with the plots of section 5.2, it may well be possible to
assign a numerical meaning to these observations. This, in
fact, has been done in Chapter VI,

5.3.1 Flow Control at the Inlet

Control of the flow into an inlet located in a sump may
fall into one of three categories. There may be weir
control, orifice control, or some fluctuation between these
which. is best called indeterminate. The criteria for
classifying the flow as one of the above are the following:
i) Weir Control: In order that weir control determine
a sump, very low flows could n o t properly be tenned w e i r
c o n t r o l l e d a s t h e f l o w from e i t h e r s i d e had e n t i r e l y dropped
i n t o the i n l e t before joining in the center to form a
continuous stream over the crest length*; t h e r e w a s no
ponding of water in front of the inlet. Since this
c o n d i t i o n i s n o t amenable t o s i m p l e mathematical analysis,
and since the flow r a n g e i n which i t o c c u r s i s o f l i t t l e

i m p o r t a n c e i n t h e d e s i g n o f i n l e t s , i t was n o t analysed in
t h i s p a p e r a l t h o u g h i t i s shown i n Photograph 7 .

Once f l o w had begun t o pond i n f r o n t o f t h e i n l e t , t r u e

weir control was observed. The lower limit of this

phenomena i s n o t of p a r t i c u l a r i m p o r t a n c e , s i n c e it occurs

a t c o m p a r a t i v e l y low f l o w s . The u p p e r l i m i t o f w e i r c o n t r o l

w a s n o t e d t o o c c u r a t a b o u t t h e same d e p t h of f o r a l l o f t h e
tests, about s i x inches. T h i s can b e n o t e d as a change i n
c u r v e s l o p e i n F i g u r e 33. From F i g u r e 2 9 ( C ) , it c a n b e s e e n
t h a t t h e p o i n t i s l o c a t e d j u s t below t h e t o p of the inlet
opening. Photographs 8, 12, 16 and 17 a r e o f t h e i n l e t
o p e r a t i n g under t h i s c o n d i t i o n .

From a d e p t h o f ponded w a t e r o f six inches to seven

inches, t h e flow w a s n e i t h e r weir nor o r i f i c e c o n t r o l l e d b u t

fluctuated between the two c o n d i t i o n s . Consequently, t h e

curves of Qi versus y were quite irregular. This

i n t e r m e d i a t e c o n d i t i o n i s shown i n P h o t o g r a p h s 9, 1 3 and 18.

Once t h e d e p t h exceeded seven inches, the flow was

q u i t e r e g u l a r . Between s e v e n and e i g h t i n c h e s d e p t h , o r i f i c e
* S e e F i g u r e 15, page 49.
control prevailed exclusively. When y exceeded eight
inches, o r i f i c e flow continued through t h e i n l e t , but weir
controlled flow passed over the top of the inlet
a p p u r t e n a n c e as o v e r a b r o a d crested weir. It would be
expected that t h i s p o i n t would show up on t h e i n l e t r a t i n g
c u r v e ( F i g u r e 3 3 ) , b u t s u c h was not the case. Exclusive
o r i f i c e f l o w a p p e a r s i n P h o t o g r a p h s 1 0 , 1 4 and 1 9 , w h i l e t h e

orifice-weir combination can b e s e e n i n P h o t o g r a p h s 1 1 , 1 5

and 20.

(2) Undepressed Curb I n l e t : Since t h e depressed i n l e t

d i f f e r s from t h e u n d e p r e s s e d o n l y i n t h a t t h e r e i s a s t e e p e r

g u t t e r g r a d e and crown s l o p e a t t h e i n l e t and a l a r g e r area

to accomodate the flow, it i s n o t u n r e a s o n a b l e t o e x p e c t

t h a t t h e same phenomena were o b s e r v e d for the undepressed

inlet operations, b u t t h a t t h e d e p t h s o f flow d e f i n i n g t h e

l i m i t s of t h e s e o c c u r e n c e s were d i f f e r e n t . This w a s i n f a c t
t h e case. The u p p e r l i m i t o f w e i r c o n t r o l l e d f l o w occurred
at a y value of approximately f o u r inches. Weir c o n t r o l i s
shown i n P h o t o g r a p h s 21 and 2 5 .

Depths o f ponding of between four and five inches

produced e r r a t i c f l o w as s e e n i n P h o t o g r a p h s 2 2 and 2 6 .

Between f i v e and s i x i n c h e s o f d e p t h produced e x c l u s i v e

orifice control as in Photographs 23 and 2 7 , w h i l e t h e

w e i r - o r i f i c e phenomena produced by w a t e r passing over the

top of the inlet occurred with y exceeding s i x inches.

P h o t o g r a p h s 2 4 and 2 8 d e p i c t t h i s .
 (3) Gutter Inlet: A t v e r y low f l o w s , the width of
water in t h e g u t t e r w a s q u i t e narrow. The w a t e r f e l l i n t o
t h e o p e n i n g o v e r t h e edge o f the grating which forms an
irregular and changing weir crest, not amenable to
m a t h e m a t i c a l a n a l y s i s and o f l i t t l e c o n c e r n i n t h e d e s i g n o f
inlets, T h i s c o n d i t i o n a p p l i e s i n Photograph 2 9 .

A s t h e water began t o pond i n the sag, a point was

r e a c h e d where t h e w i d t h of t h e ponding exceeded t h e w i d t h o f

the gutter grate, and t h e f l o w f e l l i n t o t h e o p e n i n g o v e r

t h e c r e s t formed by t h e o u t e r p e r i p h e r y o f t h e grate. The

flow w a s w e i r c o n t r o l l e d o v e r t h e c r e s t b e i n g formed by t h e
e d g e s o f t h e o p e n i n g s i n t h e g r a t e , which formed t h e square
grate periphery. This crest was certainly irregular i n
shape b u t c o n s t a n t f o r t h i s flow condition. Weir control
was observed up t o t h e p o i n t a t which t h e d e p t h o f ponding
a t the inlet was about four and three-quarters inches.
Operation in t h i s r a n g e i s shown i n P h o t o g r a p h s 30, 31 and

36.

For ponding between f o u r and t h r e e - q u a r t e r s inches and

the upper limit of the testing, a rather violent vortex

a c t i o n w a s n o t e d which i n t r o d u c e d l a r g e amounts o f a i r into

the g r a t e o p e n i n g and p r e v e n t e d t r u e o r i f i c e o p e r a t i o n . It

s h o u l d be k e p t i n mind, however, t h a t it w a s v e r y difficult

t o d e t e r m i n e i f a p o i n t had been r e a c h e d where v o r t i c e s were

infrequent enough to allov~ virtual true orifice flow.

Photographs 32, 33, 37, 39 and 40 show intermediate
o p e r a t i o n b o t h a t l o n g r a n g e and c l o s e - u p , while Photographs
34, 35, 38 and 41 i l l u s t r a t e a p p a r e n t o r i f i c e f l o w .
(4) Combination I n l e t : At very low flows, before
ponding occurs in the sag, it i s i m p o s s i b l e t o v i s u a l l y
e s t i m a t e t h e proportion of flow e n t e r i n g e i t h e r t h e curb or

g u t t e r openings.

After ponding h a s d e v e l o p e d , however, t h e g u t t e r i n l e t

h a n d l e s most o f the flow, behaving as a weir with an

enclosed rectangular c r e s t . P h o t o g r a p h s 42, 4 6 and 4 9 show

this. A t t h i s s t a g e , t h e curb i n l e t cannot y e t be said to

b e o p e r a t i n g as a w e i r .

When the depth of ponding reaches about two and

one-half inches, t h e curb i n l e t begins t o o p e r a t e under w e i r
control and t h e g u t t e r g r a t e u n d e r p a r t i a l o r i f i c e c o n t r o l .
T h i s c o n d i t i o n c a n be s e e n i n P h o t o g r a p h s 4 3 , 4 4 and 4 7 .
The g u t t e r g r a t e d e v e l o p e s f u l l o r i f i c e control while

the curb opening i s s t i l l a c t i n g a s a w e i r , and c o n t i n u e s

t h a t o p e r a t i o n when t h e c u r b i n l e t becomes i n d e t e r m i n a t e at

a depth of ponding of f o u r i n c h e s ; r e f e r e n c e i s made t o

P h o t o g r a p h s 45, 4 8 and 5 0 .

When ponding i s between a b o u t f o u r and o n e - h a l f and s i x

inches, both the gutter and curb inlets are orifice

c o n t r o l l e d a s can b e s e e n i n Photograph 51. The c a p a c i t y of

t h e apparatus w a s n o t such t h a t t e s t s could be run beyond

t h i s point.
THE DEPRESSED CURB INLET
THE UNDEPRESSED CURB INLET
25. WEIR CONTROL
27. ORIFICE CONTROL

28. WEIR AND ORIFICE CONTROL

THE GUTTER INLET 134
THE COMBINATION INLET
5.3.2 Dye T e s t R e s u l t s

Since the dye was introduced into t h e f l o w on t h e

s u r f a c e u s i n g a hand o p e r a t e d syringe-$ype apparatus, the

results obtained were o f a v e r y g e n e r a l n a t u r e and p u r e l y

qualitative.

Two i n d i c a t i o n s o f i m p o r t a n c e were given by the dye

stream. F i r s t , t h e h o r i z o n t a l v e l o c i t y d i s t r i b u t i o n (on t h e

surface) of the gutter flow approaching the i n l e t was

s i m i l a r i n a l l o f t h e t e s t s t o t h a t which i s shown i n F i g u r e

36. For a curb inlet (depressed or undepressed) and

combination i n l e t , is located closer t o the curb than
for a gutter inlet.
The second observation made during the dye tests
concerned the circulation of w a t e r ponded i n t h e sump, a s

shown i n F i g u r e 3 7 . The same circular pattern on either

s i d e of t h e i n l e t c e n t e r l i n e was o b s e r v e d i n a l l c a s e s , w i t h

the only difference being t h a t a s t h e g u t t e r s l o p e s were

increased, so the rate of circulation of the water

increased.

5.3.3 General Observations

Two g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n s o f some interest were noted

during the i n l e t t e s t s ; t h e s e were i n d e p e n d e n t o f t h e t y p e

of i n l e t being t e s t e d .
F i r s t , a t g u t t e r s l o p e s of four percent o r g r e a t e r , t h e
a r e a of ponded w a t e r formed a n o t i c e a b l e ' b u l g e ' i n t h e s a g ,
 147
FIGURE 36. GUTTER FLOW VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION

FIGURE 37. FLOW PATTERN IN PONDED AREA

a s i s p i c t u r e d i n Photographs 1 8 , 4 0 and 50. A t high flows

(exceeding about two .

c . f s. ) t h i s ' b u l g e ' tended t o r o l l ,

f i r s t up one of t h e approaching g u t t e r s l o p e s and t h e n back

towards t h e n a d i r of t h e s a g , back up t h e o t h e r approaching

g u t t e r slope. Beyond f o u r p e r c e n t , t h i s a c t i o n i n c r e a s e d i n

violence with increasing g u t t e r slope, s o t h a t measurements

of depth and observations of flow control became very

difficult.

The second g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n i s w i t h regard to the

s u r f a c e t u r b u l e n c e of t h e flow i n t h e v i c i n i t y of t h e i n l e t ,
.for total flows exceeding one and one-half c.f.s. For a l l
t y p e s of i n l e t s , t h e flow was completely p l a c i d w i t h gutter
slopes up to two percent. Beyond t h i s , t h e flow became

increasingly turbulent u n t i l the ' r o l l i n g bulge' described

above w a s produced,

As in any testing program, innumerable o b s e r v a t i o n s

were made d u r i n g t h e c o u r s e of t h i s s t u d y . Those of major

importance are given above, while points of lesser

s i g n i f i c a n c e can be observed from the data presented in

Appendix B,
 CHAPTER V I

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

6.1 INTRODUCTION

Having presented t h e experimental d a t a i n t h e previous

c h a p t e r , it i s now p o s s i b l e t o i n t e r p r e t t h a t d a t a i n order

t o a c h i e v e t h e two c e n t r a l a i m s of t h i s s t u d y :

(1) To determine t h e e x a c t c a p a c i t i e s of t h e C i t y of
Winnipeg sump i n l e t s .

( 2 ) To f o r m u l a t e a g e n e r a l mathematical statement for

p r e d i c t i n g t h e behaviour of t h e s e i n l e t s under a l l o p e r a t i n g

conditions.

The f i r s t g o a l seems r a t h e r easy t o o b t a i n ; however, i t

must be w e l l understood what i s meant by " u l t i m a t e c a p a c i t y "

before actual numbers can be quoted. The term may be

d e f i n e d i n e i t h e r of t h e f o l l o w i n g ways:
( 1 ) The i n l e t flow a t which t h e d e p t h of ponded water

in the sag w i l l n o t exceed a pre-determined v a l u e . (This

v a l u e i s u s u a l l y chosen s o t h a t one traffic lane will be

l e f t f r e e of w a t e r a t i n l e t c a p a c i t y and w i l l v a r y depending

on t h e s i z e of t h e roadway.)

(2) The i n l e t flow a t which t h e d e p t h of w a t e r a t t h e

 i n l e t does n o t exceed t h e h e i g h t of t h e c u r b t o p .

The f o r m u l a t i o n o f a g e n e r a l e x p r e s s i o n t o d e s c r i b e t h e
i n l e t flow h a s s e v e r a l facets which must he considered.

First, an a p p r a i s a l o f t h e e x p r e s s i o n s d e r i v e d by p r e v i o u s

i n v e s t i g a t o r s o f sump i n l e t s must be checked against the

data o f t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y t o d e t e r m i n e t o what e x t e n t t h e s e

are v a l i d when a p p l i e d t o t h e C i t y o f Winnipeg i n l e t s . Next,

t h e dimensionless t e r m s derived in Chapter 111 must be

combined with the data to find o u t whether o r n o t t h i s

a p p r o a c h may be s u c c e s s f u l l y a p p l i e d t o t h e d e s i g n o f i n l e t s
l o c a t e d i n a sump. F i n a l l y , it must be determined if the
constant and co-efficient of t h e a p p r o p r i a t e f l o w c o n t r o l
f o r m u l a ( w e i r o r o r i f i c e ) c a n b e found from the data, and
whether or not this approach w i l l produce u s e f u l design
equations.
The p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e r e s u l t s may t h e n be concluded

with a comment upon the g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n s which were

g i v e n i n s e c t i o n s 5.3.2 and 5 . 3 . 3 o f t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y .

6.2 CAPACITIES OF CITY OF W I N N I P E G STANDARD INLETS

. ,

One c e r t a i n r e s u l t o f t h e t e s t i n g program was t o r e v e a l

t h e amount o f w a t e r p a s s i n g t h r o u g h t h e i n l e t s u n d e r v a r i o u s

c o n d i t i o n s of d e p t h o f ponding and w i d t h of f l o w spread on

the pavement; in o t h e r words, t h e i n l e t c a p a c i t i e s . This
information w a s arranged i n a s e r i e s of rating curves for

each i n l e t , p l o t t i n g i n l e t flow c a p a c i t y Qi versus depth of

ponding y , each c u r v e r e p r e s e n t i n g a unique g u t t e r and crown
s l o p e . The a b s c i s s a of t h e p l o t was y; however, two charts
have been i n c l u d e d i n Appendix C which g i v e flow s p r e a d a s a
I

function o f d e p t h and crown s l o p e t h u s , t h e u l t i m a t e d e s i g n

c a p a c i t y f o r any of t h e t e s t e d i n l e t s may be r e a d from the

graphs r e g a r d l e s s of t h e c r i t e r i a used t o d e f i n e c a p a c i t y .

The rating curves were analysed for each inlet,

revealing the following results, which are discussed

a c c o r d i n g t o t y p e of i n l e t .

6.2.1 Undepressed Curb I n l e t

Having k e p t all other factors constant during the
tests, it could be concluded from Figure 38 t h a t the
approaching gutter slope has no effect on the inlet

performance up t o a s l o p e of four percent. Beyond four

percent, the inlet capacity is reduced slightly with

i n c r e a s i n g s t e e p n e s s of t h e g u t t e r . This d e c r e a s e is less

than five percent, for each percent of gutter slope

i n c r e a s e , a t l e a s t up t o and i n c l u d i n g a g u t t e r s l o p e of s i x

percent. I t a l s o c o u l d be ohserved from t h e graphs t h a t t h e

pavement c r o s s - s l o p e was n o t a f a c t o r i n t h e , behaviour of

this inlet.

6.2.2 Depressed Curb I n l e t

The effect of g u t t e r s l o p e i n t h i s c a s e w a s somewhat
more d i f f i c u l t t o a s s e s s , a s t h e c u r v e s were c l o s e l y grouped
and i n no c l e a r o r d e r . The i n f l u e n c e of s l o p e f o r v a l u e s of

S between one and six, although operative, did not

significantly a l t e r the capacities. The fact that the

lowest slope (0.50%) produced t h e l o w e s t c a p a c i t y , and t h e

highest (6.00%) the greatest flow through the inlet,

i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e s l o p e e f f e c t was t o s l i g h t l y i n c r e a s e t h e
c a p a c i t y of t h e i n l e t w i t h an i n c r e a s e i n t h e g u t t e r slope.

Crown s l o p e d i d n o t e f f e c t t h e i n l e t o p e r a t i o n .

6.2.3 Gutter I n l e t
In the lower flow range (from 0.0 to a b o u t 2.50
c.f.s.), t h e e f f e c t of g u t t e r s l o p e i s c l e a r . An increase
i n t h e g u t t e r slope causes a decrease i n t h e i n l e t capacity.

Beyond a flow of 2 . 5 0 c . f . s . , however, o n l y t h e c u r v e s f o r

g u t t e r s l o p e s of one p e r c e n t o r less remain regular. For

slopes exceeding one p e r c e n t , t h e flow t u r b u l e n c e c a u s e s a

v i o l e n t v o r t e x a c t i o n which so disrupts the flow as to

render it indeterminate; this action was described in

section 5.3.1. The effect of crown s l o p e a p p e a r s t o be

minimal.

6.2.4 Combination I n l e t
The c u r v e s seem to follow no logical pattern with
regard t o g u t t e r s l o p e , s o t h a t no comment c o u l d be made on

its effect. It seems odd t h a t t h i s should be the case as

the curves a r e q u i t e smooth and c o n s i s t a n t , which t e n d s t o
 DEPTH OF PONDING OF INLET, FT
FIGURE 38: UNDEPRESSED CURB INLET RATING CURVES
 DEPTH OF PONDING OF INLET, FT

FIGURE 39: DEPRESSED CURB INLET RATING CURVES

 DEPTH OF PONDING OF INLET, FT

FIGURE 40: GUTTER INLET RATING CURVES

 DEPTH OF PONDING OF INLET, FT

FIGURE 41: COMBINATION INLET RATING CURVES

dispel1 thoughts of error in the data. As was the case for
the other inlets tested, the crown slope had no effect on
the performance of the inlet.

6.3 RESULTS PREDICTED BY PREVIOUS SUMP INLET DESIGN

FORMULAE

In the literature review of Chapter 11, the design

formulae proposed by other investigators for various types
of inlets located in sumps has been outlined. These have
been summarized in Table 5.
From Table 5, the following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) All of the formulae are independent of the crown
slope of the roadway.
(2) All of the formulae are independent of the
approaching gutter slopes.
(3) All of the curb-opening formulae are of the same
n
basic form; i. e. Qi = Cy Li.
(4) Since the depression tested in the present study
was of dimensions w = 2', and a = 2", the two formulae
proposed by Karaki and Hanie which are not for depressions
of this size are not applicable to the present data.
When dealing with only one inlet size and a standard
depression, all of the formulae can be expressed in the form

Qi = f(y), where y is the depth of ponded water at the

inlet. In order to compare the design expressions of Table
5 with the data from this study, a graph of Q versus y
 TABLE 5 : SUMP INLET DESIGN FORMULAE

AUTHOR INLET TYPE FORMULA

Johns Hopkins Depressed and

undepressed curb
Gutter

Qi = ( 3 . 0 ~ ~ y l . +~ )(0.6A 2 g y )
Combination
K a r a k i and Depressed c u r b

Qi = 1.7(L4 + 1.8W) (d,, + W/12) 1.85

Bauer and Depressed c u r b

Woo W = 2 a - 2
Qi = 1. 7y1m85( ~ ~ +/ 20 . 9 ~ )
Zwamborn Depressed and Qi = 3 .OLiy 1 . 5
undepressed curb
based on the data and on the formulae were used for

comparison. If the data curves coincided with the

t h e o r e t i c a l p l o t s , then it could be concluded that the

t h e o r e t i c a l e x p r e s s i o n a c c u r a t e l y d e s c r i b e d t h e o p e r a t i o n of

t h e C i t y of Winnipeg s t a n d a r d i n l e t s .
As the d e s i g n formulae were a l l independent of g u t t e r

s l o p e and pavement c r o s s f a l l , a l l o f t h e graphs based on t h e

e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a were p l o t t e d f o r a g u t t e r slope of 0.50

percent, and a crossfall of one-quarter inch per foot.

These s e t t i n g s were most likely to favour an expression
which did not consider channel slope, as the gutter
v e l o c i t i e s would be a t t h e i r l o w e s t .
F i g u r e 4 2 compares t h e a c t u a l and theoretical rating
c u r v e s f o r a l l of t h e t e s t e d i n l e t s . From t h i s diagram, t h e

following conclusions may be drawn on t h e b a s i s of i n l e t

type

6.3.1 Curb I n l e t s

The e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a y i e l d e d a s i n g l e c u r v e for both

the depressed and undepressed i n l e t , t h e only difference

b e i n g t h a t t h e flovr does n o t begin to spread across the

pavement f o r t h e d e p r e s s e d i n l e t s u n t i l t h e d e p t h of flow a t

the inlet reaches two inches which i s t h e d e p t h of t h e

16)
depression. The Johns Hopkins formula also yields a

single curve for both of these inlets; the capacity

p r e d i c t e d by the formula is less than that which was
recorded during the testing of the inlets. Using this
formula would therefore have the effect of overdesigning the
inlet by a factor of approximately eight percent; that is,
the Johns Hopkins formula is conservative.
Bauer and Woo have developed a formula for depressed
inlets only 4, ; using the form of this expression which
applies to a depression of the dimensions of the standard
Winnipeg depression which was used in the present study,
produces the curve shown in Figure 42. At flows below 0.86
c.f.s., the formula diverges from the actual data slightly
more than does the Johns Hopkins expressions discussed
above, but as the flows increase, the predicted performance
converges towards the actual such that at higher flows, the
two are in almost exact agreement. For design purposes,
this formula would be quite accurate, as the high flow
ranges are critical in determining the final design.
The formula for depressed curb inlets developed by
Xaraki and Hanie 17) ,which applies to a depression of the
dimensions of the one tested, can be seen from Figure 42 to
give results which . are totally incompatable with the test
data. Three factors were likely to be responsible for this:
(1) The flows of most interest to these investigators
were. much higher than the ultimate capacity of any of the
City of Winnipeg inlets.
(2) The inlets tested were far larger than the
Winnipeg inlets, the smallest having a length of five feet.
 (3) Karaki and Hanie only tested inlets w i t h no
grating.

6.3.2 Gutter I n l e t s

The o n l y d e s i g n e q u a t i o n a v a i l a b l e for gutter inlets

was developed by t h e Johns Hopkins U n i v e r s i t y 1 6 ) . I t has

been p l o t t e d i n F i g u r e 4 2 . Only at one point (Qi = 2.0

c.f,s.) does the formula conform t o t h e a c t u a l t e s t d a t a .

Up t o flows of 2.0 c . f . s . , there is a convergence towards

t h e a c t u a l performance, b u t beyond t h a t flow t h e t h e o r e t i c a l

curve d i v e r g e s r a p i d l y from t h e e m p i r i c a l r e l a t i o n , s o t h a t
in the region of the inlets ultimate capacity, the
d i f f e r e n c e between t h e two i s g r e a t e r t h a n t h i r t e e n p e r c e n t ,
t h e Hopkins formula b e i n g c o n s e r v a t i v e .

6.3.3 Combination I n l e t s

The r e p o r t e n t i t l e d "Design of Storm Water I n l e t s " from

t h e Johns Hopkins U n i v e r s i t y i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e c a p a c i t y of

a combination inlet could be obtained by adding the

c a p a c i t i e s of t h e components, t h e g u t t e r and curb inlets,

those capacities being found u s i n g t h e a p p r o p r i a t e Johns

Hopkins formula. (See Table 5 ) F i g u r e 4 2 shows that this

approach r e s u l t e d i n a c l o s e agreement w i t h t h e t e s t d a t a up

to a flow of 2.50 c . f . s . , w h i l e beyond t h a t t h e t h e o r e t i c a l

flows were increasingly greater than those determined

experimentally. Although t h e theory closely approximated
 FIGURE 42: EVALUATION OF PREVIOUS
INVESTl GATIONS

-EXPERIMENTAL DATA

JOHNS HOPKINS

COMBINATION

JOHNS HOPKINS

KARAKI 81 HANlE
DEPRESSED CURB

BAUER €3 WOO
DEPRESSED CURB

JOHNS HOPKINS CURB

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

DEPTH OF PONDING , FT.

the d a t a , it was n o n e t h e l e s s based on an i n c o r r e c t premise.

Simple a d d i t i o n of the empirical gutter and curb inlet

curves did not produce a t h i r d c u r v e which c o i n c i d e d w i t h

the combination inlet test data; the curve produced

i n d i c a t e d much h i g h e r flows than were actually observed

d u r i n g t h e t e s t i n g program.

6.4 DI!CENSIONAL A N A L Y S I S INTERPRETATION

Of t h e twelve independent v a r i a b l e s which were used i n

t h e a n a l y s i s . c o n d u c t e d i n Chapter 111, e i g h t of these were

recorded on t h e s t a n d a r d d a t a s h e e t shown i n Table 4 , w h i l e
the other four could readily be calculated from the

experimental data. Those calculated variables were the

normal gutter flow depths (the ponded water sometimes

drowned o u t t h e f u r t h e s t downstream r e a d i n g ) , y e a s t and y

1 1
w e s t , and t h e average v e l o c i t i e s of the gutter flows at

these depths, and V The c a l c u l a t i o n s were performed

v~ w-
u s i n g t h e t r i a n g u l a r form of t h e Manning e q u a t i o n for open

channel flow 21 t 3 6 t 3 8 t 4 0 ) . The channel geometry was d e f i n e d

by t h e known crown s l o p e s , and t h e g u t t e r s l o p e s which were

a l s o known f o r each t e s t . The In' v a l u e f o r the roughness

of the channel was chosen a s 0.016*, which i s compatible

w i t h t h e t r o w e l f i n i s h e d s u r f a c e used on the model. The

calculation then merely c o n s i s t e d of choosing a v a l u e f o r
t h e flow and plugging t h e known q u a n t i t i e s i n t o t h e ~anning

equation to a r r i v e a t an answer f o r t h e normal g u t t e r flow

raina age o f Highway Pavements, H y d r a u l i c C i r c u l a r # I 2 ,
United S t a t e s Dept. of T r a n s p o r t a t i o n .
depth. The v e l o c i t y was then obtained by dividing the

chosen flow by the a r e a of flow determined by t h e normal

depth. t

I t should be mentioned t h a t actual velocity readings

were not taken during the t e s t s , a s t h e fluctuations i n t h e

r e a d i n g s were s o r a p i d as t o make accuracy i m p o s s i b l e . Also

the exact direction of the velocity was difficult to

d e t e r m i n e under t h e v e r y t u r b u l e n t flow c o n d i t i o n s .
Having made t h e above c a l c u l a t i o n s , t h e d a t a was then
applied t o t h e d i m e n s i o n l e s s terms and v a r i o u s combinations
were t r i e d i n g r a p h i c a l d i m e n s i o n l e s s p l o t s , i n an attempt

to assess the various terms. No c o h e r e n t r e s u l t s were

obtained. The p r o b a b l e r e a s o n s f o r t h i s a r e :

(1) The normal gutter flow depths approaching the

inlet and their associated related velocities may have

l i t t l e e f f e c t on what happens a t t h e inlet, since in the

f l o w r a n g e which i s c r i t i c a l t o t h e i n l e t d e s i g n , t h e g u t t e r

flow enters a r e s e r v o i r formed by t h e w a t e r ponding i n t h e

s a g and t h e incoming v e l o c i t i e s a r e g r e a t l y a l t e r e d by the

reservoir's damping e f f e c t and by t h e r o t a t i o n a l t u r b u l e n c e

noted i n Figure 37.

(2) The c o n t r o l of flow i n t o t h e i n l e t v a r i e s o v e r t h e

o p e r a t i n g r a n g e , t h e i n l e t behaving a l t e r n a t e l y a s a weir,
an orifice, or neither of these. This phenomenon was

d e s c r i b e d i n s e c t i o n 5.3.1.
6.5 DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN FORMULAE FOR THE TESTED INLETS
S e c t i o n s 6 . 3 and 6 . 4 have i n d i c a t e d that, first, the

design formulae developed by other i n v e s t i g a t o r s do n o t

a d e q u a t e l y d e s c r i b e t h e behaviour o f the Winnipeg inlets,

and, secondly, dimensional a n a l y s i s does n o t y i e l d u s e f u l

d e s i g n formulae f o r sump i n l e t s . Hence, an a t t e m p t w a s made

t o develop e x p r e s s i o n s which would be relied upon in the

d e s i g n of t h e C i t y of Winnipeg s t a n d a r d sump i n l e t s .

In doing this, three p o i n t s must be k e p t c l e a r l y i n

mind :
(1) The o b s e r v a t i o n s of s e c t i o n 5.3.1 make it quite

clear t h a t any d e s i g n formula developed w i l l apply o n l y f o r

a c e r t a i n r a n g e of o p e r a t i o n , due t o t h e changes i n t h e flow

c o n t r o l o v e r t h e f u l l range o f i n l e t o p e r a t i o n .
(2) Only two regions of the rating curve are of

importance to designers. The p o i n t a t which t h e u l t i m a t e

c a p a c i t y i s reached (and it will vary depending on the

criteria used to determine t h e c a p a c i t y ) i s o b v i o u s l y of

primary importance. The d e s i g n e r is also concerned with

what happens at even h i g h e r flows t h a n t h i s , t o gauge t h e

e f f e c t o f storms i n e x c e s s of t h e d e s i g n rainfall for the

system, and hence t o d e c i d e whether o r n o t o v e r d e s i g n i n g i s

desirable.
(3) Any formula developed w i l l apply specifically to

the city of Winnipeg standard inlets and may o n l y be

extended w i t h a c e r t a i n amount of judgement and c a u t i o n ( s e e
section 6.6) ,

The t h e o r y of w e i r and o r i f i c e flow was developed f u l l y

i n Chapter 111. E q u a t i o n s 3 . 4 ' a n d 3 . 6 q a y , f o r the present
n
testing program, b e reduced t o t h e form Q, = Cy (equation
I
3.7), s i n c e t h e i n l e t s i z e s were kept constant throughout
t h e experiments. A n e q u a t i o n of t h i s form would r e s u l t in a
s t r a i g h t l i n e when p l o t t e d on a l o g a r i t h m i c s c a l e . This was

expected t o happen when a l o g - l o g p l o t w a s made of t h e t e s t

d a t a , s i n c e o r i f i c e and weir flow control were observed

d u r i n g t h e c o u r s e of t h e t e s t i n g . F i g u r e s 32, 33, 34 and 35

were presented in section 5.2 of t h i s study; t h e s e a r e

l o g a r i t h m i c g r a p h s of Q versus y (depth of ponding) for

each t y p e of i n l e t . They, i n f a c t , d i d p l o t a s a s e r i e s of

s t r a i g h t l i n e s , confirming t h e form of the inlet equation

g i v e n above.
The observations of section 5.3.1 allow the
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of t h e flow c o n t r o l i n s e c t i o n s of t h e c u r v e s

i n F i g u r e s 3 2 t o 35. Wherever t h e flow c o n t r o l was observed

to be indeterminate, the behaviour of t h e i n l e t was very
e r r a t i c ; hence, no d e s i g n e q u a t i o n s c o u l d be developed for

these regions. Wherever the flow wasc l e a r l y weir o r

n
o r i f i c e c o n t r o l l e d , however, t h e e q u a t i o n Qi = Cy could be

applied to the data c u r v e s and t h e c o e f f i c i e n t C and t h e

exponent n could be e v a l u a t e d * f o r t h a t s e c t i o n of t h e c u r v e

with a constant slope. A c o n s t a n t s l o p e on t h e logarithmic

graphs represented a p a r t i c u l a r flow c o n t r o l , and a change

* A F i r s t Year of C o l l e g e Mathematics, B r i n k , Chapter 3 7 .
i n t h e s l o p e meant t h a t t h e r e was a change in the flow
control. Therefore, a s mentioned e a r l i e r , d e s i g n e q u a t i o n s
had t o be developed f o r p a r t i c u l a r r a n g e s of operation for
each t y p e of i n l e t , t h e l i m i t s of t h e s e r a n g e s b e i n g d e f i n e d

by the depth of ponded w a t e r a t which a p a r t i c u l a r flow

c o n t r o l began and ended.
The l o g a r i t h m i c r a t i n g c u r v e s f o r the various inlets

were affected by o n l y t h r e e v a r i a b l e s , t h e i n l e t flow Qi,

t h e d e p t h of ponded w a t e r y , and t h e g u t t e r s l o p e S. This

is because t h e i n l e t s i z e was k e p t c o n s t a n t f o r each t y p e ,

and t h e crown s l o p e S was proven n o t t o be a f a c t o r i n the

X
performance of the inlet (see section 6.2). Wherever
possible, an a t t e m p t was made t o r e l a t e t h e v a l u e s of C and
n of t h e d e s i g n e q u a t i o n f o r a p a r t i c u l a r r a n g e of o p e r a t i o n
t o t h e independent v a r i a b l e , t h e g u t t e r s l o p e S . This was
n o t p o s s i b l e wherever
( a ) no l o g i c a l r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t e d between C , n and S .

(b) where the number of design equations for a

p a r t i c u l a r range was i n s u f f i c i e n t t o determine whether or
not a relationship existed.

The following r e p r e s e n t s a summary of t h e development

of t h e d e s i g n e q u a t i o n s f o r each of t h e i n l e t s t e s t e d :

6.5.1 Undepressed Curb I n l e t

When F i g u r e 3 2 w a s combined w i t h t h e t e s t o b s e r v a t i o n s ,

it was noted t h a t f o r t h e s e c t i o n of t h e l o g a r i t h m i c rating

c u r v e s l y i n g between t h e ponded d e p t h s of 0 . 3 2 f e e t and 0.42
feet, the flow into the inlet was i n d e t e r m i n a t e , b e i n g
neither weir nor orifice controlled. A very roughly
approximate e x p r e s s i o n c o u l d have been d e r i v e d for use in
the design of inlets; however, its use would be
questionable, considering t h a t slope e f f e c t s could not be
evaluated by t h i s method. Beyond a d e p t h of 0.42 f e e t , t h e

flow w a s observed t o be e i t h e r o r i f i c e , o r o r i f i c e and weir

controlled. The l o g a r i t h m i c c u r v e s were of c o n s t a n t s l o p e

i n t h i s r a n g e , a l l o w i n g an a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e general flow

equation 3.7. The method of d e t e r m i n i n g t h e v a l u e of t h e

c o e f f i c i e n t C and t h e exponent n was used as outlined in

section 3.6. C and n v a l u e s were t a b u l a t e d f o r

each c u r v e , e v e r y c u r v e representing a particular gutter

slope, and then a graph was c o n s t r u c t e d p l o t t i n g C and n

versus t h e g u t t e r slope S, a s appears in Figure 43. The
discharge through t h e i n l e t was s e e n t o v a r y a s t h e s q u a r e
of t h e d e p t h of ponding, w i t h t h e c o e f f i c i e n t v a r y i n g a s in
F i g u r e 43.
In summatibn, t h e g e n e r a l flow e q u a t i o n hay be used t o

d e s i g n an undepressed i n l e t u t i l i z i n g t h e s t a n d a r d City of

Winnipeg curb inlet g r a t e (Figure 28-A), f o r any approach

g u t t e r s l o p e s , p r o v i d i n g t h a t t h e d e p t h of ponding designed

for is n o t l e s s t h a n 0.42 f e e t . I f t h e d e s i g n e r wishes t o

know how t h e i n l e t performs a t some lower r a n g e , t h e rating

c u r v e s of F i g u r e s 32 and 3 8 may be c o n s u l t e d . For d e p t h s of

ponding below 0.32 f e e t , t h e g e n e r a l flow e q u a t i o n may b e
a p p l i e d s i n c e w e i r c o n t r o l d e t e r m i n e s t h e flow. Values of
the c o e f f i c i e n t and exponent c o u l d b e t f o u n d from F i g u r e 3 2 .
T h i s r a n g e of flows is of little concern to designers,
however.

6.5.2 Depressed Curb I n l e t

As can be seen from Figure 33, the zone of

i n d e t e r m i n a t e flow f o r t h e d e p r e s s e d c u r b i n l e t encompasses

a rather narrow r a n g e ; f o r d e p t h s of ponding g r e a t e r t h a n

0.54 f e e t and l e s s t h a n 0.60 f e e t , t h e flow i s n e i t h e r weir

nor orifice controlled. The l o g a r i t h m i c r a t i n g c u r v e s a r e

n o t a l l i r r e g u l a r i n t h i s r e g i o n , however, and i n f a c t they

seem t o behave merely a s an e x t e n s i o n of t h e w e i r c o n t r o l l e d

flow which occurs throughout t h e r e g i o n below a d e p t h of

ponding of 0.54 feet. Below that value, the flow was
considered to be w e i r c o n t r o l l e d , and above, b o t h w e i r and
o r i f i c e controlled. A s was t h e case for the undepressed
inlet, there was no i n d i c a t i o n by way of a change of s l o p e
of t h e r a t i n g c u r v e , where t h e l o c a t i o n was of t h e p o i n t at

which t h e g r a t e was overtopped and w e i r flow began o v e r t h e

grate.
The g e n e r a l flow e q u a t i o n was a p p l i e d t o b o t h t h e upper

and lower r a n g e s a s d e f i n e d above, and t h e c o e f f i c i e n t s and

exponents were e v a l u a t e d . For t h e lower r a n g e (y l e s s t h a n

0.60 f e e t ) , C and n were p l o t t e d a g a i n s t t h e approach g u t t e r

slope S . This graph i s shown i n F i g u r e 4 4 . For the upper

range, however, the c u r v e s f o r each p a r t i c u l a r s l o p e were

not readily distinguishable. Only one e q u a t i o n w a s derived
2.22
for this range. This d e s i g n e q u a t i o n i s : Q i = 5 . 6 0 ~ I

f o r y g r e a t e r t h a n 0.60 f e e t . The above e q u a t i o n i s t h e one

which would be of greatest use to the designer as it
includes the region i n which t h e u l t i m a t e c a p a c i t y of t h e
i n l e t would l i k e l y be found. Hence, u n l i k e t h e undepressed

curb inlet, the design of the d e p r e s s e d i n l e t would be

independent.of t h e g u t t e r slope. I t must be n o t e d , however,

t h a t t h i s does n o t mean t h a t t h e s l o p e h a s no e f f e c t on the

inlet flow in t h i s range, but only t h a t t h e e f f e c t i s n o t

g r e a t enough t o be i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o a s g r o s s an expression

a s t h e g e n e r a l flow e q u a t i o n based on t h e l o g a r i t h m i c r a t i n g

curves.
The design e q u a t i o n s f o r t h e upper flow range f o r t h e
d e p r e s s e d and undepressed c u r b i n l e t s a r e reasonably close
to equality, with the depressed i n l e t c o e f f i c i e n t being
larger by about eight percent. The exponent is

approximately t e n p e r c e n t Larger t h a n t h o s e v a l u e s for the

undepressed case. Thus, the increased capacity of t h e

d e p r e s s e d i n l e t s i s due i n large measure to the greater

d e p t h of ponding allowed by a l o c a l d e p r e s s i o n i n t h e g u t t e r

surf ace.

6.5.3 Gutter I n l e t s
 171
FIGURE 43 : UNDEPRESSED CURB INLET DESIGN
CURVES

1 .O 1.5 2.0
n
44: DEPRESSED CURB INLET DESIGN CURVES
 Figure 34 r e v e a l e d t h a t beyond a d e p t h of ponded w a t e r
of 0.40 f e e t , t h e flow was extremely erratic. This was
described in section 5.3.1, and a s was s t a t e d t h e r e , t h e
v o r t i c e s and g e n e r a l t u r b u l e n c e of t h e flow was s o g r e a t in
this region t h a t i t was obvious t h a t f u l l o r i f i c e flow w a s

n o t b e i n g developed. The a p p a r a t u s d i d not have a large

enough capacity to produce s u f f i c i e n t flow t o completely

submerge t h e g u t t e r g r a t e , consequently producing orifice

flow. Because of this, it was not possible, using t h e

g e n e r a l flow e q u a t i o n , t o d e r i v e a d e s i g n e q u a t i o n for the

d e p t h r a n g e which would i n c l u d e t h e u l t i m a t e c a p a c i t y of t h e

inlet. It would be p o s s i b l e t o u s e F i g u r e 4 0 , t h e g u t t e r

inlet rating curve, to arrive at a number for the

approximate c a p a c i t y of most p r a c t i c a l i n s t a l l a t i o n s .
For ponded d e p t h s below 0.40 f e e t , t h e flow was weir
controlled and t h e g e n e r a l flow e q u a t i o n was a p p l i e d t o t h e
l o g a r i t h m i c c u r v e s of F i g u r e 34. Once t h e v a l u e s o f C and n
were determined, a graph was constructed plotting these
numbers against the approach g u t t e r s l o p e of t h e roadway.
This i s shown i n F i g u r e 45.

6.5.4 Combination I n l e t
I t was noted from F i g u r e 35 t h a t t h e l o g a r i t h m i c r a t i n g

c u r v e s were each composed of two s e c t i o n s of c o n s t a n t s l o p e .

The lower s e c t i o n extended t o a d e p t h of ponding of 0.205

feet. From s e c t i o n 5.3.1, t h i s was r e c o g n i z e d a s t h e r e g i o n

 173

FIGURE 45: GUTTER INLET DESIGN CURVES

FIGURE 46: COMBINATION INLET DESIGN CURVES

i n which flow was w e i r c o n t r o l l e d i n t o t h e g u t t e r g r a t e w i t h
almost no flow e n t e r i n g t h e c u r b i n l e t . Beyond a d e p t h of

0 . 2 0 5 f e e t , t h e c u r v e s assumed a steeperI
slope, with the
test observations indicating o r i f i c e flow i n t o t h e g u t t e r

g r a t e and i n c r e a s i n g w e i r controlled flow into the curb

opening. Since t h e r e g i o n f a l l i n g below y = 0 . 2 0 5 f e e t i s

of l i t t l e concern i n t h e f i n a l inlet design, the general

flow equation was a p p l i e d o n l y t o t h e upper r e g i o n of t h e

r a t i n g curves. A s was done w i t h t h e r e s u l t s obtained from

t h e o t h e r i n l e t s , C and n were e v a l u a t e d and p l o t t e d a g a i n s t

the gutter slope S, approaching the inlet. his d e s i g n

curve appears i n Figure 46.

N o d i s c e r n a b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p c o u l d be found between the

combination inlet capacities and the capacities of t h e

component i n l e t s ( g u t t e r and undepressed c u r b ) .

6.6 EXTENSION OF THE D E S I G N FORMULAE

The formulae d e r i v e d i n s e c t i o n s 6.5.1 t o 6.5.4 applied
o n l y t o t h e Winnipeg s t a n d a r d i n l e t s , and t h e i r appropriate

grates, since the test data from which the equation

c o e f f i c i e n t s and exponents were evaluated were only for

these inlets.
In order to extend the design expressions t o other

inlet sizes, it would be necessary t o re-evaluate the

n
coefficient C i n t h e e q u a t i o n Q i = Cy , because of t h e f a c t

t h a t t h i s i s a g e n e r a l i z e d form of the weir and orifice

e q u a t i o n s , 3 . 4 and 3 . 6 . Thus, C i n t h e g e n e r a l i z e d e q u a t i o n
really c o n t a i n s t h e v a l u e of L ( l e n g t h of c l e a r opening of
i
t h e i n l e t ) , when t h e i n l e t i s o p e r a t i n g a s a w e i r , and t h e
value of A (the a r e a o f t h e c l e a r opening of t h e i n l e t ) ,
when i t i s o p e r a t i n g a s an o r i f i c e . Consider b o t h of these
possibilities:

(1) Inlet Operating as a Weir: Where t h e d e s i g n

n
e q u a t i o n f o r t h e i n l e t i s Q = Cy , - t h e v a l u e C may b e
i
d i v i d e d by t h e v a l u e L , t h e i n l e t opening l e n g t h f o r t h e
i
t e s t e d g r a t e , t o y i e l d a new c o e f f i c e n t C ' which i s

independent of t h e s i z e o f t h e inlet. When an inlet is

being designed which

i s e i t h e r l a r g e r o r smaller than t h e
n
t e s t e d appurtenance, t h e d e s i g n e q u a t i o n becomes Q = C8Li y
i

(2) Inlet .Operating a s an O r i f i c e : Again t h e d e s i g n

equation i s Q
i
= Cy
n
.
The c o e f f i c i e n t C i s d i v i d e d by t h e

area of t h e inlet opening A, to yield C' which is

independent of t h e s i z e of t h e i n l e t . For d e s i g n i n g an i n l e t
of d i f f e r e n t s i z e from t h e C i t y of Winnipeg s t a n d a r d i n l e t s ,

t h e d e s i g n e q u a t i o n t h e n becomes Q = C'Ay
i
n
.
Three n o t e s of c a u t i o n must be sounded w i t h r e g a r d s t o

the extension of t h e e m p i r i c a l l y d e r i v e d d e s i g n formulae.

First, s i n c e no t e s t s were conducted i n which t h e i n l e t s i z e

was t r e a t e d a s a v a r i a b l e , t h e above e x t e n s i o n i s a purely

theoretical analysis based on w e i r and o r i f i c e flow t h e o r y

a s o u t l i n e d i n Chapter I11 of this work. This extension

should n o t be a p p l i e d where any b e t t e r means of d e t e r m i n i n g
capacities is available. Furthermore, i f i t i s applied, a
clear understanding of i t s approximace n a t u r e must be w e l l

understood. Secondly, t h e e x t e n s i o n i s l i k e l y t o l o s e even

its approximate value if it i s applied t o i n l e t s with a

geometry d i f f e r i n g from t h a t of t h e t e s t g r a t e s . Thirdly, a

c o m p l i c a t i o n a r i s e s i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h combination and curb

i n l e t s which c a n n o t be accounted f o r by t h e e x t e n s i o n of t h e

design formulae derived above. In the case of the

combination i n l e t , t h e flow is handled by two separate

openings, and at no time d u r i n g t h e t e s t program was i t

determined how much flow passed through each. Hence, the

single coefficient C of t h e i n l e t design equation includes

both. t h e l e n g t h of i n l e t openings Li, and t h e a r e a of inlet

openings A. However, t h e e f f e c t of each w i l l n o t simply b e
a l i n e a r one a s w i t h e x c l u s i v e w i e r o r o r i f i c e c o n t r o l ; at
least such a supposition is t o t a l l y unwarranted w i t h o u t
extensive t e s t i n g . The g e n e r a l d e s i g n e q u a t i o n c a n n o t then

be extended to other s i z e s of combination i n l e t s w i t h o u t

f u r t h e r information being available. A similar problem

a r i s e s when a c u r b i n l e t g r a t e i s overtopped. In t h i s case,

the flow i s o r i f i c e c o n t r o l l e d through t h e g r a t e , and w e i r

c o n t r o l l e d over t h e g r a t e , t h e e x a c t proportioning of the

-

flow being unknown. Exactly the same difficulty is

encountered a s f o r t h e combination i n l e t : C c o n t a i n s b o t h Li
and A, and this fact p r e v e n t s t h e e x t e n s i o n of t h e c u r b
i n l e t design equation t o i n l e t s of varied size, for flow
d e p t h s e x c e e d i n g curb- t o p d e p t h .
 I
CHAPTER VII

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

7.1 CONCLUSIONS
The c o n c l u s i o n s drawn from this experimental study

follow logically from the results which were given i n

C h a p t e r VI. They are p r e s e n t e d below i n t h e same order in

which t h e r e s u l t s a p p e a r e d i n t h e p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r .

(I) The i n l e t r a t i n g c u r v e s p r e s e n t e d i n F i g u r e s 3 8 t o

41 may be used t o d e t e r m i n e t h e c a p a c i t y o f any s t a n d a r d

C i t y of Winnipeg sump i n l e t , providing that the approach

g u t t e r grade does n o t exceed s i x percent.

(2) The pavement crown slope was not a factor i n

d e t e r m i n i n g t h e flow through any of the inlets tested,
e x c e p t a t v e r y low f l o w s .

(3) The g u t t e r s l o p e d i d have an e f f e c t on a l l o f t h e

i n l e t s t e s t e d . F o r an u n d e p r e s s e d c u r b i n l e t , an i n c r e a s e i n

t h e g u t t e r s l o p e caused a decrease i n the inlet capacity,

f o r t h e range of slopes t e s t e d . T h i s d e c r e a s e w a s less t h a n

one percent for every one p e r c e n t i n c r e a s e i n t h e g u t t e r

slope.

For a d e p r e s s e d c u r b i n l e t , t h e slope of the gutter

seemed to have a n i n f l u e n c e , b u t t h e r e w a s no d i s c e r n a b l e
pattern t o that effect. Also, it w a s s o s l i g h t (less than
that observed for the undepressed inlet) t h a t it could

s a f e l y he ignored.
For g u t t e r g r a t e i n l e t s , an increase in the gutter
slope caused a decrease in the inlet capacity. This

decrease was much Less than one percent f o r every one

p e r c e n t of s l o p e i n c r e a s e ; thus, it was significant for

design purposes.

In the case of the combination i n l e t , t h e r e wds a

slight variance in the rating curves representing the
d i f f e r e n t g u t t e r slopes. I t s magnitude was v e r y s l i g h t and

t h e r e w a s no r a t i o n a l p a t t e r n t o t h e e f f e c t .

In summation, i t c a n be s t a t e d t h a t t h e g u t t e r s l o p e s
a p p r o a c h i n g a sump i n l e t o f t h e t y p e s t e s t e d i n this study
do have an e f f e c t on t h e amount of f l o w p a s s i n g t h r o u g h t h a t
inlet. Although this effect may be accounted f o r , by
i g n o r i n g i t t h e d e s i g n e r would n o t b e s i g n i f i c a n t l y a l t e r i n g
t h e f i n a l system design.

(4) The depressed curb inlet passes approximately

fifty percent more flow than does t h e same u n d e p r e s s e d
i n l e t , f o r t h e same d e p t h of ponding i n t h e sump.

(5) The i n c r e a s e i n t h e c a p a c i t y g a i n e d by depressed

inlets is simple due to the greater depth o f ponding

a l l o w a b l e a t t h e f a c e of t h e i n l e t o p e n i n g , r a t h e r t h a n the

local increase in the gutter slope afforded by the

depression.
(6) The design formula presented by Bauer and Woo 4
quite accurately predicts the behaviour of the City of
Winnipeg standard depressed curb inlet. This expression
could be used in design with very good results.
(7) The Johns Hopkins University formula 16) for
designing depressed and undepressed curb inlets gives
results which are conservative by about ten percent when
compared to the study test data. This expression could be
applied to the design of Winnipeg inlets of this type to
give reasonably accurate results.
(-8) The combination inlets tests showed that the flow
through that inlet could not be determined by adding the
gutter inlet and the undepressed curb inlet flows, for a
given depth of ponding.
(9) The dimensional analysis technique does not offer
useable solutions to problems dealing with sump inlets.
Perhaps it would prove useful if an accurate determination
1

of the flow velocities could be made in the immediate

vicinity of the inlet, in future test programs.
n
(10) The general flow equation Qi = Cy may be
successfully applied to the design of City of Winnipeg sump
inlets, after evaluating the coefficient and exponent from
the test data. Figures 43 to 46 may be used to find the
values of C and n for the various inlets, and these numbers
in turn can be applied to the general flow equation to
a r r i v e a t an a c c u r a t e d e s i g n of an i n l e t system.
(11) The g e n e r a l f l o w e q u a t i o n method o f d e s i g n may be
e x t e n d e d t o g u t t e r i n l e t s o f any s i z e (provided that the

grate geometry i s t h e same a s t h e s t a n d a r d Winnipeg g r a t e )

f o r any d e p t h of ponding below 0 . 4 1 f e e t . A l s o , any s i z e o f

c u r b i n l e t ( d e p r e s s e d o r u n d e p r e s s e d ) may b e d e s i g n e d using

t h i s method, f o r any d e p t h o f ponding below c u r b - t o p h e i g h t ,

provided that the grate geometry i s t h e same a s f o r t h e

i n l e t s t e s t e d i n t h i s study.

7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

During t h e c o u r s e o f t h i s work, i t became o b v i o u s t h a t ,

a l t h o u g h t h e i n l e t s were b e i n g i s o l a t e d from the over-all

storm water runoff system f o r purposes of s t u d y , t h e r e s u l t s

obtained would have l i t t l e meaning u n l e s s more i n f o r m a t i o n
became a v a i l a b l e c o n c e r n i n g t h e p a r t s o f t h e s y s t e m a d j a c e n t
t o the inlet. The i n l e t i s merely a part of the "inlet
system" l e a d i n g i n t o t h e s t o r m d r a i n s , which c o n s i s t s of t h e
following:

(a) t h e i n l e t .
(b) an i n l e t box i m m e d i a t e l y b e h i n d o r below t h e i n l e t
opening.

(c) a catch basin into which the flow moved befor

e n t e r i n g t h e storm d r a i n .

(d) t h e p i p i n g c o n n e c t i n g t h e i n l e t box w i t h t h e c a t c h

basin.
 182

It i s s u g g e s t e d that a laboratory test program be

established t o d e t e r m i n e t h e performance and e f f e c t s of t h e
s t a n d a r d i n l e t boxes and c a t c h b a s i n s which a r e in use in

t h e C i t y of Winnipeg.

It also became apparent during the tests t h a t one

i n v e s t i g a t o r w i t h l i m i t e d t i m e and f u n d s c o u l d n o t hope to

cover all of the various aspects of t h e design of storm

water i n l e t s . With t h i s in mind, it is suggested that

future investigations be conducted to deal with the

following matters:

(1) Further t e s t s a r e required u t i l i z i n g the standard

C i t y o f Winnipeg i n l e t geometry, b u t v a r y i n g t h e s i z e of t h e
t e s t e d opening.

(2) Sump i n l e t t e s t s which a r e t h o r o u g h l y i n s t r u m e n t e d

to r e c o r d t h e v e l o c i t y of t h e f l o w i n t h e r e g i o n o f ponding

a r e r e q u i r e d s o t h a t a more r i g o r o u s mathematical analysis

than t h a t which w a s conducted i n t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y c o u l d b e

attempted.

(3) More d e t a i l s a r e . r e q u i r e d on t h e standard gutter

inlet. Experimentation u s i n g a p p a r a t u s which i s c a p a b l e of

producing flows r e s u l t i n g i n o r i f i c e c o n t r o l of the inlet

would s u p p l y t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n .

(4) A s t u d y of c o m b i n a t i o n i n l e t s l o c a t e d i n sumps i s

r e q u i r e d which c o u l d d e t e r m i n e t h e r e l a t i v e a p p o r t i o n i n g of

t h e f l o w between t h e two components o f t h i s i n l e t .

In closing, o n e f u r t h e r p o i n t i s worth m e n t i o n i n g f o r
future consideration. The tests conducted in this study
have utilized standard grates installed using a standard
procedure. Future tests will quite ,likely follow this
approach as well. It would thus be extremely useful for the
designers of inlet systems to know how closely the field
installations of the City of Winnipeg standard inlets
conform with the practice of the laboratory investigators.
A survey of some of the existing inlets on city streets
would supply this information; the data would consist of the
area of the inlet opening, the length of the clear opening,
and the height of the curb at the inlet.
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L i , W. H., H y d r a u l i c Theory f o r t h e Design of Storm Water

I n l e t s , Highway Research Board P r o c e e d i n g s , Volume 33, 1954.

Li, W. H . , Geyer, J. C . , and Renton, G. S . , G u t t e r I n l e t s

With no D e p r e s s i o n , Sewage and I n d u s t r i a l Wastes, Volume 23,
1951.
L i , W. H . , Geyer, J. C. and S o r t e b e r g , K. K . , Flow I n t o
Curb Opening I n l e t s , Sewage and I n d u s t r i a l Wastes, Volume
23, 1951.
L i , W. H . , Geyer, J. C. and G o o d e l l , B. C., Flow I n t o
D e f l e c t o r I n l e t s , Sewage and I n d u s t r i a l Wastes, Volume 26,
1954.
L i , W. H . , Geyer, J. C. and G o o d e l l , B. C., Flow I n t o
Depressed Curb I n l e t s , Sewage and I n d u s t r i a l Wastes, Volume
2 6 , 1954.

L i n s l e y , R. X. and F r a n z i n i , J. B . , Elements o f Hydraulic

E n g i n e e r i n g , McGraw-Hill, 1955.
 Los Angeles, City of, Design Charts for Catch Basin
Openings Determined by Experimental Hydraulic Model Studies,
Office Standard 108, Storm Drain Design Division.
I

Metcalf, L. and Eddy, H. P., American Sewerage Practice,

Volume 2, Chapter 15, McGraw-Hill, 1928.
Nester, N. W. and Guillou, J. C., Public Works, July,
1955.
Nester, M. W. and Guillou, J. C., Public Works, May, 1954.
Rouse, H., Fluid Mechanics for Hydraulic Engineers,
McGraw-Hill, 1938.
Rouse, H,, Boota and Hsu, High Velocity Flow in Open
Channels: Design of a Channel Expansion, A.S.C.E.
Transactions, Volume 116, 1951.
Steel, E. W,, Water Supply and Sewerage, Chapter 16,
McGraw-Hill, 1960.
Tapley, G. S . , Hydrodynamics of Model Storm Sewer Inlets
Applied to Design, A.S.C.E. Transactions, Volume 116, 1951.
Tapley, G. S., Velocity Distribution in a Street or
Similar Channel, Highway Research Board Proceedings, Volume
34, 1955.
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Airfield Drainage Structure
Investigations, Hydraulic Laboratory Report, #54, Iowa City,
April, 1949.
U. S. Bureau of Public Roads, Design Charts for Open
Channel Flow, Hydraulic Design Series, # 3 , 1961.
Wasley, Re J., Hydrodynamics of Flow into Curb Opening
Inlets, A.S.C.E. Engineering Mechanics Journal, Volume 87,
1961.
Wasley, R. J., Uniform Flow in a Shallow Triangular Open
Channel, A.S.C.E. Hydraulics Journal, September, 1961,
Whittington, R. B., A Simple Dimensional Method for
Hydraulics Problems, A.S.C.E. Hydraulics Journal, Volume 89,
1963.
Wintz, W. A. and KUS, Y. H . ! A Study of Storm Water Inlet
Capacities, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and
Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1970.
 Yong, K. C., H y d r a u l i c Model I n v e s t i g a t i o n o f Curb I n l e t s ,
Water R e s e a r c h L a b o r a t o r y R e p o r t , #79, Manley Vale N.S.W.,
A u s t r a l i a , A p r i l , 1965.

Zwamborn, J. A . , Storm tilater I n l e t Design Code, MEG 433,

Hydromechanics Research Department, N a t i o n a l Mechanical
E n g i n e e r i n g R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e , C o u n c i l f o r S c i e n t i f i c and
I n d u s t r i a l R e s e a r c h , Union o f South A f r i c a , 1966. **u52,60,2
 APPENDIX A

FLUME CONSTRUCTION DETAILS WITH DRAWINGS

2" PLYWOOD
IRMING BOTTOM
-
zPRESSION

DETAIL I

DETAIL 3

DETAIL 2 \
ALL MEMBERS

A - I FLUME FRAMING PLAN

 3/4" DRYWALL SCREWS
DETAIL I

FLUME

1/2" PLYWOOD FOOTING RESTS

ON CONCRETE PIERS

DETAIL 2

A -2 FRAMING DETAILS
 '
I

I
e

b
0 * *

* b

TYPICAL FASTENINe f
PATTERN- 3/4" . . a .
DRYWALL SCREWS

0
-N
I

1/2" PLYWOOD SIDE WALLS

A - 4 COMPLETED FLUME PLAN VIEW

 APPENDIX B

EXPERIMENTAL DATA
 LIST OF SYMBOLS FOR THE STANDARD DATA SHEET

SYMBOL MEANING DIMENSIONS

H Measured h e i g h t o f w a t e r o v e r t h e Ft.x10-~
w e i r c o n t r o l l i n g t h e W e s t flow
source.
Amount of flow e n t e r i n g t h e c.f.s.
Qi
West end of t h e model.
P Measured p r e s s u r e u p s t r e a m of p.s.i.
t h e o r i f ice p l a t e c o n t r o l l i n g
t h e E a s t flow s o u r c e .
The amount o f f l o w e n t e r i n g t h e c . f .s.
Q2
E a s t e n d o f t h e model.

'n Zero r e a d i n g o f t h e m o b i l e t e s t Ft. x 1 0 - ~

gauge b e f o r e e a c h t e s t r u n .
Reading t a k e n from t h e s t a f f gauge ~t.xl0-3
Rn
u n d e r a p a r t i c u l a r flow c o n d i t i o n

Yn '
The d e p t h o f f l o w found by sub- Ft.x10-~
t r a c t i n g Z from Rn. The s t a n d a r d
n
l o c a t i o n s o f t h e s e r e a d i n g s may
b e found i n F i g u r e 31.
I n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e p a r t i c u l a r d e p t h None
EYn
measurement i s on t h e E a s t s i d e of
the i n l e t .
I n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e p a r t i c u l a r d e p t h None
Y
'n
measurement i s l o c a t e d on t h e West
s i d e of t h e i n l e t .
THE UNDEPRESSED CURB INLET
 *
INLET: U ~ D E P R E S S E D CURB CROWN SLOPE 0.50 INIFT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE J-00 %

DATE TESTED : /71 WEST GUTTER SLOPE : I * 00 %
r I
WEST EAST
EAST y l
FLOW FLOW EY2 EY3 E Y ~ WIESf Yl WY2 Wy3 wY4

QI IQ2 =liRl yl 2 2 ~ 2 l Y 22 3 R 3 Y3 Y4 Z I ' R I Y I 22 R 2 y2 Z3 R 3 y3 y4

I f
I
533 lsLf 672 518 147 670 su 533
%LOLL63 Q,I1q66 1^1831 28 47J 630 dB3 I^iB3!
-~bO403 BQIYOb lqs0 563qW 560413 '450
799&-_m.13---* 5 s 31-19 500 353 L(00~
hq18 0.35 1-90 0.3i 706 2$/ 700 2% 32.0 q30 2% L(33,26b 3w
I
1260 t ~ O24s
L 1 40253 I

I I
 t
INLET: UNDEPRESSED CURB CROWN SLOPE 0.50 IN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE 3.06 %

 5

INLET: UNDEPRESSED CURB CROWN SLOPE: O.SOIN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE Y.00 %

DATE TESTED : 171 WEST GUTTER SLOPE : %06%
WEST EAST
FLOW FLOW yi Ey3 Ey4 WEST Yl WY, Wy3 wy4

R l y1
- 22 R, yz 2,
- R, Y, -
- Y, Z, ,-
Rl - Z21R2
Y, - Ya -
Z3-
R3-Y3 y4

666 0.78 10.50 0.80 q27 680 qs3 YZ3 87. -

15q5 0.70, 6.25 0.7 1 -
.c

_ _ 1

50.5 0.5$ 5-600 - 8

373 4

>

y85' 0.52 4 s 6 0 0 . f ~ 749 32.L 750 327 - 308 382 502 393 -
q65 047 3.80 olq7 708231 7ra 2-87 - %3 327 I qhfl 354 I 4

,4450..l/ ~ . o o , o . ~ / I 666 234 660 237 - iY08272 ~(0Lfiz95 -

fZiz00.35 2-00 0.34 610 183. 616 187 360 , 3% 22C 350 z J / 350,
370 0.25 0~88o.z< r 537 0 ~ 0 11 5 3 7 ----
J
~q 320 1 2qb 160 290 18! 3X-
I
I

I
t
INLETr UN DEPRESSED CURB CROWN SLOPE 0.25 IN/FT
THE DEPRESSED CURB INLET
b

INLET: DEPRESSED CURES CROWN SLOPE 0.25 INIFT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE 3.09 %
DATE TESTED : /71 WEST GUTTER SLOPE : 2-96O
h
b 1

WEST EAST
EAST y l WEST y,
FLOW FLOW
- -
Ey2
-
EY3 Eyq
- W y ~ Wy3
- *y4
H QI P' ZIm 2, RX
Y 4 YqZI'RI- Ye 6

I 1 I I
,6801-26 t0.50 0.81 1~126 $66 q40 q2o 860 440 qr(0 €364 563 G5o 112r 542 430 048 524 0 6 5 547 482
7% 369 78f-l 368 705 qbrf
- 474 362 462 36q
-

47L( qq -
591 . 049'IO.SO 0-81 I 725 aq 750 330 738 q17 610 436 3q6. +PI
,551 0.73 8-50 0 . 7 ~ 680 254 695275
'
608 367 520 . 350 2%
324
336 23%
523 0.64 6-75, o . b J , a8 zozc.
I 61s 195 6 3 3 , 3 1 z 500 ,221 2~ t
316 zip,,
-
4-74 0.49 4-250395 15131087 4 6 1076 - L~BIIG~
- __-
400 1 , 1 0 2 0 7 ? - , 181 083 z ~ I!%
l ~ O O
,43610.3q 2.50 0.38
j5Oq 083 , 444 07q 391 070 350-171,
-
064 I 115 050 350 I

-
,500 0.56 5.30I o.sd I 5\7 08) 5% 545 s ~ o239 ( 273 208
510 0.60~6.00 0.60 521 095 540 1qo 1 565 2q4
- z b / 150
~ 276 17d 4 269 a6 -,

C 1 I I I I I
t I 1
 .

I-
LL.
\
7
.-
rn
w
ri
..
W
a
9
VI

s
0
K
0

dl
id
2
U

4
id
a
1J
ar:
OI
LJ
0
..
I-
W
J
2
e-c
&
 4

INLET: DEPRESSEO CUR0 CROWN SLOPE : 0.25 IN /FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 5.10 %

DATE TESTED : /?I WEST GUTTER SLOPE 5.02 %
i
t
WEST EAST
FLOtV FLOYd yl Ey2 Ey3 Ey4 WEST y, *YZ "y3 wy4
-- - -- ---

2, R, Y, 2 3 1 ~ 3 1 ~Y 43 zI-RIryl z2-R2-y2 z335 Y3 Yq

1

OS$ 380 097 b70 073 07 1 165 044 018 137 I 14 390
171 07j Lbq 098 Jq5 127 YoO,
2119 I 3 V - 170 073 I 103 211 183
-
1
542 0.70 7.50 0.67 ~-461 056 1 .Is8 06% I L((b2 175 490 ,
171 b ~ / 1 235 16J zqo 2 7 ~490.
672. I 23 I o .so1 0.80 715 310 7aS 335 7~014536 3 0 , 1 4b4, 36-71 457 386 q.30 420 $30.
1637 1-05 lowso0.80 6qz 302 643 406 6001 Yz\ 350 '0~ 680-
604 O*J3 10.s~
0-b 630 Z ~ D 1 650 363 580 388 zql 37d 303 377 . 359 58Ou
s80 10.8~t o . % 0.80) 606.216 1 646 359 550 1 312 275 373 30L 378 360 550,
703 1.30 11.00 '0.01 777 387 1 7 7 485
~ 642 1 1512qt5 510 L13q ( 512 99J 642
L74q,r . 6 ~, u.00 0.81 1 t 803413 1 8~15351663 J' 1 561,"(1 k 1546,q75 1 54b 528,663
[INLET: DEPRESSED CURB CROWN SLOPE : 0.25 IWFT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 6.00 %

DATE TESTED : /71 WEST GUTTER SLOPE : 6-00 %
WEST EAST I
FLOW fLQ\'d yi Ey2 Ey3 Ey4 MEST Yi Wy2 "y3 wy4
- -- - -- - -L---- -
Q, 2, R,jY, Z,R, Y2 z31R3 Y Y4 ZI R I YI
r
1 9 1 1
I
,%o U * B L ~ Y q59 OSL 383 J5q 071 1285 5631~?8!5&o096 183 085 06213q3 281 000 380 380 SCO
0-81l l s ~ O
3q9 0.31 0.70 0 . ~ 3 I .I40 037 1-134 O S ~ I 3 ~ . { 1 0 3 9 ' ~ 5 0 I 1751 074 I 1 . i ~ 083
t 070 070 300
,425 0-36 i.55 0*31 '146 0.13 4% 062 3 ,0461350

171 076 165 103

517 0-61 6;r5 0.61 1 458 055 452 ohq 3qq 423I
O ~ J 177 079 t 144 1 3 2 ,I
,530 0.66 7.60 0.68 I 460 057 / 452 069 178 080 1 253 191 1 1 290 288 460
555 0.74 8.80 0.73 4 460 057 q5J 011 1 4731 lb8
- 1 181 083 1 311 241 336 w-
1 I
I I 1 I 1 i
I 1 J
 >

'INLET: DEPRESSED CURB CROWN SLOPE 0.50 IN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 0.492 %

DATE TESTED : /71 WEST GUTTER SLOPE : 0.525%
WEST EAST
FLOW FLOW yl ~2 Ey4 WEST Yl Wr2 wy4
Ey3 Wr3
* -01 Q 2 ZIRI Y I 22 R 2 p 2 23 R 3 ( Y 3 Y4. 21 R l y, =2 R 2
--

Ye =, R, y3
-

Y4
I I I
 INLET : DEPRESS E D CURB CROWN SLOPE : 0.50 IN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE 2.95 %

DATE TESTED : /7t WEST GUTTER SLOPE 3-00 %
WEST EAST
E A S ~y,
FLOW FLOW y2 Ey3 Ey4 VEST y, Wy2 wy4

* Q~ Q2 Z~ R~ YI Z2 R2 y2 Z3 R ~ ' Y Z~ I ~f ~YYlI ~ Z2 R2 y2 z3
r

R3 y3 y4 ,

I / -7K-I 273 71228s I 11700 355600 , q23 a3 I ~ Z ?310 L.130 350 bM3,
538 040 8.00 o.?o 6(6# 227 670 656,311 550 400 260 I385 266 368 zgg 554

605 168 26q 12q 271 152 I43 113 450

189 107 q00,
,290 0.30 140 0.30 1 556 119 550 121 I Jdi I ub 330' 1 232 0 9 ~ 1 221 I O L f 159 07J 330,
1 I i I 1
THE GUTTER INLET
 <

INLET: GUTTER CROWN SLOPE : 0.50 IN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 2-OJOh

DATE TESTED : /?I WEST GUTTER SLOPE : 2.0 I
r

WEST EAST
EASryl
FLO'a FLOW Y2 &3 E Y , ~ WEST YI WY2 "y3 *~4

ZIIR, z,IR,
I

Q, P Q, Y, Y, Z ~ ygR y4 ~z1 R, YI z2 R~ Y* z3 R~ y3 y4

1- - q26 - - 630 630661910 6qd

! i

- - 1630
I

,q 08/2~~0,1l~s0.0~83
.15o,l~d11,%1 - - 1.16 7
- 445 155
7751 1~7811.500.83 R'lS ,395 I355 '410 660 "I! ?qO 5627 t 401
1.1 J
-669' II.SO0.83 1 680 230 1
679 23j 6ho 2 34 280 340 u
d 39J 239 I 35q 2 1 3 280,
s(P50.7811-50 0433 I 636'191 I 601 I81 220 1. 312. I'-& 323 168 311 165 220
1730,185(II.SO 0.63 I 722 267 Gb ~ ~ 3 5 0 .reo zq J q b i 306 458 312 350.'
752 1 67. 11.50 0.83~ - $03 3n 390 57d. 354 boo 3 6 487. 341,394
1527 0.64 7.00 0.65
1.
63 1 7 618 173 ! ,587 16; , lb0 3 137 b 151 1
2fiI 135 164
-455odJ 3.50 0.45 5?8148 1 '591 1qb 1 &132600 27q108 1 29;7113& 262 l l b IOUd

d I I I 1
+ 4

INLET: G u r r r q CROWN SLOPE : 0.25 IN f FT

I EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 1-02. %

INLET : G UTTER CROWN SLOPE : 0.25 IN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE 3.00 %

I
THE COMBINATION INLET
t
INLET: C O M B I N A T I O ~ CROWN SLOPE : 0.25 IN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 1 0 00 %

DATE TESTED : /71 WEST GUTTER SLOPE : lm00 %
i
WEST EAST
FLOW FLOW
EAST y,
~2 Ey3 Ey4 WEST Yl Wy2 w3 WY4

,--
z3p3 Y3 Y4 Zl l R l Y I - z2 R2_Y2 -
438 - 3- 6 0 3 3 4 338 - -
1 740 285 ! 1737 284 I 7.3029z 260 1 Y L O 276 4 07 4
210 T 398 &d 34016~ 34 1 253 6 0
680 z.12 l q o 375 231 360 222 270
6zj~86izo . 344 ,+zoo
620 165 611 15;. 1 613 175 060 1 3 1 2 168

457 0 . 4 ~ '350 0.q5 1 595 L ~ O 590 137 590 15z- 136

~ZRQ 27Y Id/ 283 145 --.
1 'f 574 \2l 'f 575 I - . 2 2 z 126d I Z -~
------- I [I

1
1 I
,
 1
INLET: C o ~ O t n I A r i o d CROWN SLOPE 0.25 INIFT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 2.06 %

DATE TESTED : 171 WEST GUTTER SLOPE : 2.0 1 %
WEST EAST
FLO'd FLOW
EAST y, ~2 Ey3 Ey4 WESTY, Wy2 WY, wv4

Q~ P [ Q Z Z I R~ YI 22 R21~21z3 R3 Y31Y4 R3 / ~3 Y4
650 203 4% 63b 19811123 6qO 217 1210 3qo 1220 zdo
760 324 1 766 3451310 "10 370 3qO
615 1 ~ 1 7 1616 1431
,351 0-738-75 0.73 I1
5 ~ 1671
0 150 307 168 1 3@ 180 I 307 187 160,
9 2 0.565.50 0.57 -5671120 1 565 I Z ~ / (512 089 060 1 290 611 1 12871 159 286 166 110
2.70 131 1
~

445!0.q I 3.00 on'-// 5"1 0093 26911~41 256 136, 060,

a5 0 1-50 6.3) -533 095 1 14% 0731- 246 107 2% 1 2 ~ 1 - .
-- t I- 1 - lzqo I 455 316 t -- - - 120,
1

I I I I
-- - - - ----------- ---

t
 'INLET: COMS~NATIUN CROWN SLOPE : 0.50 1NIFT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 0.99 OIo

DATE TESTED : /?I WEST GUTTER SLOPE : 0.97 %

WEST EAST
WEST Yl
FLOW FLOW yl ~2 EY3 Ey4 WY2 Wy3 wy4

I I 1

,%O 2.75 lI000 0.82 460 $95 435 ddb - - -- - 158602qq4 152 -- ~sz- -1-
'
763 1-85 I t.00 320 790 336 340 ~ B Q322
720 1-97 11.00 082 745 285 732 276 1 716 272 270 q2-f 26& 410 250 I"18 256 300
579 0.83 l l . 0 0 ~ o . 8 ~ - 680 220 1 676 220 677 233 180 I , 3431Ifi6 / 340 188. b.33 17R D O /
,475O.qq 4.000.40 I 613 157 572 328,do 1 31D 152 1 312 j60 3 0 I 070
so 2-26~ . o o0 . 0 ~$- 81.3 J - -r , -T1 15q5 387 - - - - 3W.

'J 1 t I

I I
-- -- - - . - - --

J, 1- I I
r +
INLET: C~MOINA
O MT I CROWN SLOPE: 0.50 INIFT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 2-02%

DATE TESTED : /?I LAJESTGUTTER SLOPE : 1.9 6 %
r

WEST EAST
EAST y l WEST Yl
FLOW FLOL'd EY2 Ey3 Eq Wy2 Wy3 wy4

-
y, --
z2 R2
- -
Y2--
z31~31Y3Y ~ I z ~ ~ z R ~ ~ ) ~Y2 z3
R Y ~ ~ ~ ~ l .-YY4 3
I . - - 1
- - 370
-
-
I 1 I I
-
,815 2-05 ll-00 0.82 L152 745 293 4 4 q30 1-159 q&3 31) idol-
. b37 -1 - qO0,
,751 1-65 11-00 0.82 690 238 640 2q1 b60 250 260 I q/q 260 q15'275 1 3q1 125q
,695@-/1i.a0.0-8&. 673221 6 7 5 2 2 6 , ,672, 2q2 3% 236 .lo0 Z ~ O 345 258 250,
,565 0.78 1 1 ~ 0 00.82 qQ 197 638 IB? I607 1 7 7 . 4 305 151 306 rb6 1283 1Lf6 22q
,435 0.39 2.75 0.40 1
597 1 ~ i 5 SBJ 13s I
$49 r 19 090 252 098 zq2 122 1
1-08 11-00 6-82 1 195 w0 191 I 680 1 7 8 1 ~ 1 0 1 8 344 202 1
- - - - - ! - -13q0.
,&5I 2-j0 r l -00 0.82 78.5 333 I -+40 378 1
4 1 I 1 1 t I
1
I 1 I I . t
I
 b

INLET: COMBINATION CROWN SLOPE: 0.50 IN/FT

EAST GUTTER SLOPE : 4.0 1 OA

DATE TESTED : /7l WEST GUTTER SLOPE : C.1-03 %

1
7

WEST EAST
FLOW FLOb'/ EnST yl EY2 Ey3 El',$ WEST Yl Wy2 Wy3 wy4

I
909&z;io 1 1 . 0 ~ 0.82 q3z 7'16,312 Jz) - - q03 - - 4
s
0 (37 322 185 1081- - 687 - - /70,
,7721 1-7711-00 0.02 1 616 1 8 ~ 6io 189 $5 1823501 320 183 338 230 290 203 380
,715 1.44 I L O O 0*82 613 I % ! '66~187 313 205
607 0.93 Il-OO 0.82 -610 I78 ! 612 I ~ I
,555.&74 9-000.7 607 175 603 \82. 1 .578 175 060
.454 0.43 3.24 0.43 580 140 , 5 8 0 154 1 538 135 020 1
267 130 . 125710qqf
roo 0.31 1.50 0~31 1 130' 1 513 110 010 / 23i N B ) 0191 1 180 093 NO
I
I 1

I
 APPENDIX C .

CHARTS SHOWING FLOW S P m A D v s . D E P T H O F

FLOW F O R C I T Y O F W I N N I P E G S T R E E T S
C - l DEPTH VS SPREAD FOR S, = 0.25 IN/FT

0.2 0.4
y FT.
C- 2 DEPTH VS SPREAD FOR S,= 0.50 IN /FT