By

Eng. Haumba Milton

ROAD DRAINAGE DESIGN

OUTLINE

 Introduction;
 Hydrological design; and

 Hydraulic Design
INTRODUCTION

 Structural performance of the roads is related

to surface and subsurface drainage;
 For Low Volume Roads especially, provision of
good drainage is very important;
 Drainage design involves estimation of runoff
and selection of structures with adequate sizes
to accommodated the estimated discharge;

HYDROLOGICAL DESIGN

 This is concerned with the establishment of the

design discharge;
 Several methods are used in the estimation of
runoff such as: Rational method, Modified
rational method, East African Model and SCS;
 Only Rational method and SCS are discussed
here.
RATIONAL METHOD
 The rational method is based on the formula:
Q = 0.278CiA
Where
C = the catchment runoff coefficient
i = the intensity of the rainfall (mm/hour)
A = the area of the catchment (km2)

Application of Rational method

▪The catchment area is not greater than 80 hectares
(0.8km2);
▪The distributed storage in insignificant;
▪The critical storm duration is not longer tan 20 minute;

COEFFICIENT C
 C is dimensionless fraction that accounts for
the aggregate effects of the interceptions,
infiltration, depression storage etc;
 C is selected from tables below for urban and
rural areas.

Values of C for Urban areas

COEFFICIENT OF C CONT.

Values of C for Rural areas

MAP Likely to be: Mean Annual Precipitation
For large catchment areas with different characteristics, the area should
be divided and C values of each segment multiplied by the area of the
segment and the sum of the products for all segments divided by the total
area

COEFFICIENT C CONT.
 The Above factor of C can be adjusted as follow:

1. For contour cultivated lands C = 0.80(Cs +Ck +Cv)

2. 100% dense wood : flat<3.5% C = 0.60(Cs +Ck +Cv)

steep>11% C = 0.80(Cs +Ck +Cv)

3. For lakes, swamps and dams C = 1.00(Cs +Ck +Cv)

RAINFALL INTENSITY (I)
 Design rainfall intensity represents the average
rainfall intensity of a duration equal to the time of
concentration (tc);
 The intensity of rainfall (i) is obtained from the
Intensity-Duration-Frequency charts or can be
calculated from daily rainfall assuming 3 hour
storm duration
 In many situations the charts will not be available
because rain stations often measure only the
rainfall in 24 hours, in such a case, use another
method

INTENSITY DURATION CURVES

TIME OF CONCENTRATION (TC)

 Time of concentration (tc) is the time taken for

water to flow from the farthest extremity of the
catchment to the crossing site;
 It is assumed that peak discharge happens
when the entire area is contributing to the flow
at the site;
 Time of concetration can be estimated as
follow:

1. USING VELOCITY CURVES

 Tc = Distance from farthest extremity (m) / Velocity of flow (m/s);
 The velocity of flow depends on the catchment characteristics and
slope of the watercourse;
 It is estimated from chart below
2. TIME OF CONCENTRATION FOR SCS METHOD

 While estimating time of concentration, the

flow is divided into three:
 Sheetflow (Overland flow);
 Concentrated flow; and

 Channelized flow.

SHEET FLOW

 This is flow over a plane surface;

 It should be considered for a maximum of
100 metres;
 It can be computed using a number of
formulas but here the SCS formula is used
0.87 L3 0.385
Tc = ( )
H
Where
L = flow path (m)
H = elevation difference (m)
 AVERAGE SLOPE/ HEIGHT (H)
Graphically balancing
the Area below and
above the slope

US Geological Survey
Method

CONCENTRATED FLOW

 After a maximum of 100 m, sheet flow becomes

shallow concentrated flow;
 Its velocity can be calculated from:

V = kS 0.5
L
Tc =
60V
Where
V = velocity (m/s)
L = flow length (m)
S = slope (%)
Tc = time (min)
CHANNELIZED FLOW
 Open channels are assumed to begin where surveyed
cross section information has been obtained, where
channels are visible on aerial photographs, or where blue
lines (indicating streams) appear on topographic maps
(1:50,000);
 Average flow velocity is usually determined for bank-full
elevation;
 Manning’s equation or water surface profile information
can be used to estimate average flow velocity.
R 2 / 3 S 1/ 2
V=
n
Hence:
V = Velocity (m/s) L
Tc =
R = A/P (m) where P = wetted perimeter and A = 60V
Area
S = slope (m/m)
n = manning’s coefficient

TOTAL TIME OF CONCENTRATION

Total time of concentration = Time for sheet flow +

time for concentrated flow + time for channeled flow
CATCHMENT AREA (A)

The catchment area is determined from

topographic maps and field surveys;
 For large catchment areas it might be
necessary to divide the area into sub-
catchment areas to account for major land use
changes

IDENTIFYING CATCHMENT BOUNDARIES

 Water flows perpendicular to contours from

higher to lower contours;
 By tracing, identify crests and valleys and
hence identify the water shed boundaries
Valley

Crest

1010m 1020m
1000m
EXAMPLE OF CATCHMENT AREA DEMACATION

2. SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE (SCS) METHOD

 The United States SCS method for calculating rates of

runoff requires much of the same basic data as the
Rational Method namely:
 catchment area;
 a runoff factor;
 time of concentration and rainfall.

 However, the SCS method also considers the time

distribution of the rainfall, the initial rainfall losses to
interception and storage, and an infiltration rate that
decreases during the course of a storm;
 It is more accurate than the rational method and more
applicable for large catchment areas
RAINFALL
 Unlike the rational method, the SCS is based on a
24-hour storm event;
 The characteristics of storms are defined in terms
of the relationship between the percentages of the
total storm rainfall that has fallen as a function of
time;
 Three basic types of storm are defined for three
levels of maximum intensity, Type I being the least
intense and Type III being the most intense. Type III
should be used in Uganda

DISCHARGE EQUATION
The method is based on the equation:

(P − I a )2
Q=
( P − I a ) + S 
Where:
Q = accumulated direct runoff, mm
P = accumulated rainfall (i.e. the potential maximum
runoff), mm
Ia = initial abstraction including surface storage,
interception, and infiltration prior to runoff, mm
S = potential maximum retention, mm
EQUATION CONT.

 S is related to the soil and cover conditions of

the catchment area through the Curve
Numbers, CN, described below.
S = 25.4(1000/CN – 10)
 The relationship between Ia and S was found to
be;
Ia = 0.2S = 50.8.(100/CN-1)
Hence,
Q=
P − 50.8(100 / CN − 1)
2

( P − 203.2(100 / CN − 1)

CN CURVES
RUNOFF AND CURVE NUMBER
 The relationship between rainfall and runoff (ie. CN
values) affected by the physical catchment area
characteristics such as:
 land use: Land use is the catchment area cover and it
includes agricultural characteristics, type of vegetation,
water surfaces, roads, roofs, etc
 land treatment: Land treatment applies mainly to
agricultural land use, and it includes mechanical practices
such as contouring or terracing and management practices
such as rotation of crops
 soil types: Soils are divided into four hydrologic groups
(Groups A, B, C and D) based on infiltration rates; and
 land slope.

SOIL GROUPS
RUNOFF CURVE NUMBER

CONVERSION FROM AVERAGE TO WET AND DRY

ANTECEDENT MOISTURE CONDITIONS
RECURRENCE INTERVAL AND 24 HOUR
RAINFALL DEPTH
 Using the 24 hour rainfall Data, at a suitable
occurrence interval, the table below can be
used to Determine P (mm)

RETURN PERIOD FOR DESIGN DISCHARGE

DETERMINATION OF PEAK DISCHARGE

 After determining Ia and P, calculate the ratio

Ia/P
 Using Ia/P and time of concentration (Tc),
determine the unit peak discharge Qu using the
chart below.

UNIT DISCHARGE
ALSO UNIT DISCHARGE CAN BE CALCULATED
FROM THE FORMULA

Where Co, C1 and C2 = regression coefficients

given in table below for various Ia/p; and
∝ = unit conversion factor equal to 0.000431
in SI unit; and

Tc = Time of concentration (hrs)

Units of qu m3/s/km2

COEFFICIENTS FOR THE DIFFERENT RAINFALL

TYPES
SUMMARY OF STEPS
 Determine the catchment area, A, and its soil and
land use characteristics;
 Determine the ‘curve runoff number, CN, from Table
45 and any adjustment based on the likely
antecedent soil moisture conditions;
 Calculate the value of Ia;
 Choose the appropriate design storm recurrence
frequency. This is based on the class of road and
the drainage structure being designed;
 For the recurrence frequency chosen, determine
the 24-hour rainfall (P) for the appropriate rainfall
region;

SUMMARY CONT.
 Determine the direct runoff (Q) for the rainfall
(P) and curve number (CN) obtained in steps iii
and v from graph;
 Determine the time of concentration;
 The next step is to determine the unit peak
discharge, Qu and this is done using graph of
Ia/P and the Time of Concentration; and
 Lastly, compute the design peak discharge = Qu
xQxA
DESIGN DISCHARGE

Design discharge = Qu x Q x A

Where
Q is in mm and
A is in units of 100 hectares or (km2)
Qu m3/s/(100 hectares)

HYDRAULIC DESIGN

 After determining the discharge, manning’s

equation can be used to design the size of
structure

AR 2 / 3 S 1/ 2
Q = AV =
n
Q = Discharge m3/s
V = Velocity (m/s)
R = A/P (m) where P = wetted perimeter and A =
Area
S = slope (m/m)
n = manning’s coefficient
 DESIGN OF CULVERTS USING MONOGRAPHS

Corrugated
steel pipes

DESIGN OF CULVERTS CONT.

 Concrete pipe
culverts with
inlet control
DESIGN OF CULVERT CONT.
 Concrete box
culvert with
inlet control

END OF PRESENTATION