Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Cabanatuan City

HYDROLOGIC & HYDRAULIC CONSIDERATIONS

FOR PLANNING AND DESIGN OF CULVERTS FOR

ROAD DRAINAGE

MICHELLE V. BAJACAN

MICAH V. VALLEJO

BSCE-4E

PCS 2: FLOOD CONTROL AND DRAINAGE ENGINEERING

Engr. Derick Aldrin L. Esteban

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Cabanatuan City

HYDROLOGIC & HYDRAULIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR PLANNING AND DESIGN OF

CULVERTS FOR ROAD DRAINAGE

Hydrologic- a science dealing with the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on and below the

earth's surface and in the atmosphere

Hydraulic- is a mechanical function that operates through the force of liquid pressure. In hydraulics-based

systems, mechanical movement is produced by contained, pumped liquid, typically through hydraulic

cylinders moving pistons.

1 INTRODUCTION

Govt. of India has an ambitious plan of connecting different parts of our country by constructing a

network of national highways, state and village roads under various development schemes e.g. Golden

quadrilaterals, North-South & East –West Corridors, Gram Sadak Yojna, NREGP, Bharat Nirman etc.

Drainage of road is one of the many components of a road project. The objective of road drainage is to

remove the storm water as rapidly as possible so that traffic may move safely and efficiently without any

loss of time

Road drainage- The primary purpose of a road drainage system is to remove the water from the road and

its surroundings.

The road drainage system consists of two parts:

1. dewatering

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Cabanatuan City

2. drainage

Culverts- culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway.

Typically embedded to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or

other material.

2. Necessity of drainage culverts

Drainage culverts are often used as cross-drains, as well as being used to relieve and drain ditches on the

roadside – preventing them from overflowing with water through the culvert drainage ditch. They are

mainly used to allow for the passage of water under a road at natural streams.

The Different Types of Drainage Culverts

1. Concrete Culvert Drainage Systems These drainage culverts are an effective solution to your drainage

problems, being recognized for their quality of manufacturing, consistent strength and is easy to place.

2. Galvanised Steel Drainage Culverts Our galvanised corrugated steel drainage culverts feature a system

based around curved, corrugated, galvanised steel sheets which are bolted together to form durable

structures that can be deployed in a variety of construction roles.

3. Box Culverts Box culverts is suitable for being situated in multiple areas, such as highways, storm water

or foul sewers, and many more. They can also be used as driveway drainage

culverts.

3. PLANNING OF CULVERTS FOR EFFECTIVE ROAD DRAINAGE

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Cabanatuan City

3.1 Location of Culverts

• It Is Recommended That the Provision of Culvert Under Roadway or Railway Are

Economical

• There Is No Need to Construct Separate Embankment or Anything for Providing Culverts.

• The Provided Culverts Should Be Perpendicular to The Roadway.

• It Should Be of Grater Dimensions to Allow Maximum Water Level And Should Be Located

In Such Way That Flow Should Be Easily Done.

3.1.1 Location of Culverts for new road projects

• A drainage culvert should be placed in a natural depression or valley points. area.

• In the hilly terrains, culvert locations are identified directly from the presence of

streamlets, not big enough to be spanned by a bridge. In the stretches where the road

is planned by cutting hill slopes, innumerable streamlets come down the hill slopes

cross the proposed road.

• Box or slab type culverts or small bridges are suitable for free

movement of the incoming water when it carries a lot of sediments and debris.

(Mazumder,2009)

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 Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Cabanatuan City

• In the plains, however, the available longitudinal slope along the proposed alignment

is generally very flat and roadside ditches are commonly aligned with available

longitudinal slope for economy.

• However, all natural dips may not be used as suitable culvert

locations. It depends on the available longitudinal slope and consequently the

required size of the roadside

ditches that govern the locations to be utilized as suitable culvert points.

3.1.2 Location of Culverts for Road Upgrading Projects

• For a road upgrading project, the task of selecting culvert locations reduces to selection

of locations for additional culverts only.

• For additional culverts, the locations shall be based on the natural dips along the

stretches of existing road vulnerable to overtopping.

• Such detailed inventory of culverts is very helpful in preparing an adequacy statement

and deciding which of the existing culverts require replacement by larger size culverts

or small bridges and to decide whether additional culverts will be needed or not.

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