RCTDS401: DRANAIGE SYSTEM MAINTENANCE
RCTDS401:Perform Dranaige System Maintenance
Elements of competence
1.Select materials ,tools, equipment and
prepare workplace
2.Perform open channel drainage maintenance
3. Perform subsurface drainage maintenance
LEARNING: Select materials, tools, equipment and prepare workplace
Description of materials used in reconstruction of road layers :
Water
Aggregate
Sand
Performance criteria
1.1. Proper selection of materials according to
the type of work.
1.2. Proper selection of tools and equipment with
respect to the work to be done
1.3. Convenient preparation of workplace
according to the work
2.1. Adequate identification of open channel
defects as per water flow
2.2. Proper reparation of open channel defect
according to defect type
2.3. Correct cleaning of tools, equipment and
workplace as per the environment impact
assessment
3.1. Adequate identification of subsurface
drainage defects as per water flow
3.2. Proper reparation of subsurface drainage
defects according to defect type
3.3. Correct cleaning of tools, equipment and
workplace as per the environment impact
assessment
Cement
Lattice
Blinding wire
Wood
Nails
Stones
Steel bars
Cement concrete structures

Description of tools used drainage system maintenance

Pick axes
Hoe
Forked hoe
Hummer
Spade
Tapes measure
Levels
Wheelbarrow
Excavation equipment
Compaction equipment
Concrete mixer
Loading machine
Cleaning machine
Cutting machine
Trucks
Concrete vibrator
Rock drill
Convenient preparation of workplace according to the work

Preparation of tools and equipment

Testing of equipment
Assessment of tools
 Preparation of workplace
Demarcation of work area
Addressing of obstacles
Positioning signs for safety measures

LEARNING UNIT TWO:Perform open channel drainage maintenance

Water retention within a pavement layer is a primary causeof pavement failure.

Without adequate underlying drainage, a pavement section is likely to fail
prematurely.
Engineered for Better Drainage
By providing excellent drainage, the RoaDrain™ System is the solutionthat greatly
extends the life of pavements and reduces maintenance costs. Easily installed, the
RoaDrain System can be placed under the base
course or under Portland Cement Concrete (PCC). Below are illustrations
of these various placements
DRAINAGE BENEATH PAVEMENT SURFACE
Placed directly beneath the pavement surface,the RoaDrain System rapidly
removes waterfrom the pavement. The RoaDrain Systemprovides excellent
drainage as defined byAASHTO, (50% of the water is removedfrom the pavement
structure withintwo hours.)
FIG1

DRAINAGE BENEATH BASE COURSE

Installed under the base course, the RoaDrainSystem shortens the drainage path,
requiringless select base material. Drainage providedby the RoaDrain System
allows for an increasein the structural support design value of thepavement system
through modification of the drainage coefficient or “m” values on PCC and asphalt
pavement applications
Fig2

Importance of drainage
It is essential that adequate provision is made for road drainage to ensure that a
road
pavement performs satisfactorily. The main functions of a road drainage system
are:
• To prevent flooding of the road and ponding on the road surface
• To protect the bearing capacity of the pavement and the subgrade material
• To avoid the erosion of side slopes

The principal types of drainage systems are:

Open Drain
Piped (positive) Drain
French drain
The type of road drainage which is selected for a particular road will depend on
such
factors as to whether it is a rural or an urban road, or if it is in cut or fill and also on
groundwater conditions
Open drains are used to carry away surface water and can also pick up some
subsoil
water (depending on depth). Open drains facilitate the early visual detection of
blockages but their use may be restricted by the lack of roadside space, safety
considerations and the risk that they may be closed in by agricultural machinery
A piped positive drain is normally associated with an urban situation and is used in
conjunction with gullies and kerbs/footways. It may also be used in some rural
embankment situations where it is deemed important that water from the road and
hard shoulder should not be allowed to drain onto the embankment. A piped
drainage system with gullies requires regular maintenance.

Photo 3.1 Gully is too far from kerb

Poor Maintenance – Grating is barely visible

Side entry gully – facilitates cyclists

Lockable Gully (should use for new installations)
Culverts
Road culverts would appear, from the data collected, to be neglected to a large
extent
with a very poor maintenance regime. Sometimes this can result in the collapse of
a
culvert.
3.5 Plant and Equipment
Open drainage systems and water inlets are almost exclusively maintained using
manual labour and also using 180º rubber wheeled hydraulic excavators (e.g. a
JCB -
see Photo no. 3.5). Specialised equipment such as the ‘ditchmaster’ (see Photo
no.3.6)
is used in only one county. The “ditchmaster” is a purpose built machine which is
used for cleaning open drains. The survey indicates that 360º rubber wheeled
hydraulic excavators (“rubber ducks” – see Photo 3.7) are used infrequently
A french drain is the most commonly used system on newly constructed roads
inrural areas. Open jointed pipes are laid in a trench which is backfilled with a
porous material. French drains are a useful method of providing both surface water
and subgrade drainage where space is limited
Photo 3.5 180 degree rubber wheeled hydraulic excavator

Photo 3.6 “Ditchmaster”

Photo 3.7 360 degree rubber wheeled hydraulic excavator

Effect of Drainage Requirements on Road Geometry
Drainage is a basic consideration in the establishment of road geometry and in
general this means that:
(a) crossfalls should be a minimum of 2.5% on carriageways, with increased
crossfalls of up to 5.0% on hard shoulders draining to filter drains;
(b) longitudinal gradients should not be less than 0.5% on kerbed roads;
(c) flat areas should be avoided and consideration of surface water drainage is
particularly important at rollovers, roundabouts and junctions
(d) outfall levels must be achievable;
(e) the spacing of road gullies should be sufficient to remove surface water whilst
achieving an acceptable width of channel flow. One gully for every 200sq. m
of paved surface is generally found to be satisfactory, however, reference
should be made to U.K. Highways Agency Advice Note HA 102/00 for more
detailed information on the spacing of road gullies

Types of Drainage Systems

Various types of drainage systems are available and the main types are briefly
described as follows:
Kerbs and Gullies
Road surface drainage by kerbs and gullies is commonly used in urban areas and in
rural embankment conditions. Surface water flows over the pavement to a kerb at
the edge of the road and is collected in gullies which are connected to longitudinal
carrier drains set within the road verge. Alternatively a side entry gully can
be used as shown in photo 4.2.

4.1 Kerbs & Gully (inset into verge)

4.2 Side Entry Gully

Combined Kerb and Drainage Block (see Photo 4.3)

These are precast concrete units either in one piece or comprised of a top and
bottom section
4.3 Combined Kerb and Drainage Block
Linear Drainage Channels (see Photo no. 4.4)
Linear drainage channels can be precast or formed in situ. They are set flush with
the
surface and contain a drainage conduit beneath the surface into which the surface
water enters through slots or gratings

Linear Drainage Channel

Surface Water Channels (see Photo no. 4.5)
Surface water channels are normally of rounded or triangular concrete section,
either
slip-formed, cast or precast and set at the edge of the road pavement and flush with
the road surface
Significant benefits can include ease of maintenance and the fact that long lengths
can be constructed quickly and relatively inexpensively
Surface Water Channel Surface Water Channel
Combined Surface and Ground Water Filter Drains (French Drains) - see
Photo no.
4.6
Open jointed, porous or perforated pipes are laid in a trench which is backfilled
witha porous media. These trenches are situated in verges adjacent to the low edge
of the road pavement. Surface water runs off the carriageway and enters the top
surface of the trench, passing through the filter material and into the pipe at the
base of the trench.
2.4. Side ditches:
Ditch is a channel provided to remove the run-off from the road pavement,
shoulders, and side slopes (either in cut or fill).
The depth of the ditch should be sufficient to remove the water without risk of
saturating the subgrade. Ditches may be lined to control erosion. Unlined ditches
should preferably have side slopes not steeper than4 to 1 horizontal to vertical and
they should never be used on important roads. The ditch is a hydraulic structure
that cannot perform alone without association with other structures such as:
gutters, turnouts, chutes, and intercepting ditches; to provide open road-side
drainage.
Gutter: is the channel at the edges of the pavement or the shoulder formed by a
kerb or shallow depression. Gutters are paved with concrete, brick, stone blocks, or
some other structural material. Spacing between outlets on kerbed road sections
depends on run-off, longitudinal gradient and water depth along the kerb.

Turnout or Mitre drain: It is a short, open, and skew (oblique or not straight)
ditches used to remove water from the side ditches or gutters.
Use of turnouts reduces the necessary size of the side ditches, minimizes the
velocity of water and thereby the risk of erosion. The interval between turnouts
depends on run-off, velocity of water and slope of the terrain. To prevent the flow
through turnouts from generating soil erosion at the outlet, the discharge end of the
turnout should be fanned out.
Chutes: A chute is an open, lined channel or closed pipe, used to convey water
from gutter or side ditch down fill slope, and from intercepting ditch down cut
slope.

On long slopes, closed (pipe) chutes are generally preferable to open chutes. The
inlet of chutes must be designed to prevent water bypassing the chute and eroding
the slope. The outlet must also be designed to prevent erosion at the outlet. The
distance between chutes will depend on the capacity of gutters or ditches.

Intercepting ditch or Cut-off ditch: It can be named “Overhead-ditch and it is

a ditch that located on the natural ground near the top edge of a cut slope to
intercept the run-off from a hillside before it reaches the road.
Intercepting the surface flow reduces erosion of cut slopes and side ditches, lessens
silt deposition and infiltration in the area of the road, and decreases the likelihood
of flooding the road in severe storms.
Intercepting ditches may be built at least 3 metres from the top of the cut slope and,
generally, should have a flat grade until the water can be spread or emptied into a
natural watercourse. However, because they are distant from the road, the
maintenance of intercepting ditches tends to be neglected. And poorly maintained
interceptors can result in slip failures in cutting slopes.
Side ditches may have various forms and dimensions according to the water flow
and the zone where they are located:
a) High longitudinal gradient: This is appropriate to the high run-off where the
wide area is provided for drainage.

Its width “L” may be about 2m

b) Medium longitudinal gradient: It is common and appropriate to medium water

flow where no sufficient area is provided
Its width “L” varies from 0.90m to 1.8m according to the water flow to be
channeled.
c) Little water flow: It is a triangular form side ditch. It is appropriate to low
quantities of water flow, generally, where low/no cut slope is provided.

Its width “L” may vary from 0.80m to 1.8m according to the water run-off to be
directed. It is made very easier by grader.
These two last forms are generally adopted to promote easy cleaning of road
ditches.

The Crossfall or Camber:

Two-lane roads should be provided with a camber consisting of a straight line
crossfall from the centre line to the carriageway edges, while straight crossfall
from edge to edge of the carriageway can be used for single-lane roads and for
each carriageway of divided roads

The crossfall should be sufficient to provide adequate surface drainage whilst not
being so great as to be hazardous by making steering difficult. The road surface
must be constructed with a sufficient camber or crossfall to shed rainwater quickly.
The ability of a surface to shed water varies with its smoothness and integrity. On
unpaved roads, the minimum acceptable value of crossfall should be related to the
need to carry surface water away from the pavement structure effectively, with a
maximum value above which erosion of material starts to become a problem.
Generally, a crossfall of 3% on paved roads and 4 to 6% on unpaved roads are
recommended. The crossfall of unpaved roads will reduce over time due to action
of traffic and weather, and rutting may develop. To avoid the ruts developing into
pot-holes, a crossfall of 5or 6% should be reestablished.
The following are examples of 3% crossfall of two-lane road pavements

The crossfall can be reduced to a minimum of 2% for cement concrete road

pavements and to 2.5% for asphaltic concrete pavements. Normally, it may be 3%
for the tarred-macadam road pavements. All unpaved road surfaces should have a
crossfall of not less than 4% and not higher than 6%.