Mustansiriyah University Highway & Transportation Dept.

College of Engineering Pavement Drainage System

Runoff

It is the flow or discharge of precipitation on the catchment through a surface

channel during a time till it reaches to the surface water. It thus represents the
output from the catchment in a given unit of time. The flow over land occurs
when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess water from rain. The portion
of runoff is called over land flow
During a precipitation a mass of total volume of rainfall onto and flow on soil.
Initial abstraction is water intercepted by vegetation IA, also there are
Evaporation, Transpiration, inFiltration and Initial abstraction, then the storage
change is written as
R (rainfall excess) =P-E-T-F-Ia
Over land flow: flow of water over the surface of land.
Inter flow: lateral flow of water in the surface of soil.
Flow open channel: flow of water in the through many channels to the stream.

Direct runoff: it is the part of runoff which enters the stream immediately after
the rainfall. So, it is the sum of overland flow and inter flow.
Base flow: It is the delayed flow that reaches the stream as groundwater. So, it
is the delayed inter flow and ground water.

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Mustansiriyah University Highway & Transportation Dept.
College of Engineering Pavement Drainage System

Runoff Mechanism
Natural Flow
Natural or true flow is stream flow in its natural condition, i.e. without human
intervention such as reservoirs and diversion structure on a stream. When there
exists storage or diversion works on a stream, the flow on the downstream
channel is affected by the operational and hydraulic characteristics of these
structures and hence does not represent the true runoff, unless corrected for the
diversion of flow and return of flow.
RN=Ro+Vd-Vr
RN: natural flow volume
Ro: observed terminal volume
Vd: volume diverted out of the stream for irrigation, domestic water supply and
industrial use.
Vr: volume return flow from irrigation, domestic water supply and industrial use.

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Mustansiriyah University Highway & Transportation Dept.
College of Engineering Pavement Drainage System

Example 1: the following table gives the values of the discharges at a stream
gages site. Upstream a weir built across the stream diverts 3 million m3 and 0.5
million m3 of water per month for irrigation and industry, respectively. The
return flows are estimated as 0.8 and 0.3 million m3, respectively. Estimate the
natural flow if the catchment area is 180 km2?
month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Gage
2 1.5 0.8 0.6 2.1 8 18 22 14 9 7 3
flow(Mm3)

Solution:
RN=Vo+Vd-Vr
VO=volume of flow
Vd=3+0.5=3.5Mm3
Vr = 0.8+0.3=1.1 Mm3
Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Vo 2 1.5 0.8 0.6 2.1 8 18 22 14 9 7 3
Vd 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
Vr 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1
RN 4.4 3.9 3.2 3 4.5 10.4 20.4 24.4 16.4 11.4 9.4 5.4
Total RN=116.8Mm3
Annual natural flow=annual runoff=116.8 Mm3
Area=180 km2
116.8
𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑓𝑓 = = 0.648𝑚 = 46.9 𝑐𝑚
180

Volume of Runoff
More complex methods for the determination of runoff are available. They
require a more detailed mathematical description of the watershed
characteristics. The volume of runoff may estimate as an annual or monthly or
daily or even for some hours.

1-Relation between P &R.

2-Emprircal equations.
3-Catchment area.

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Mustansiriyah University Highway & Transportation Dept.
College of Engineering Pavement Drainage System

4-Infiltration indices.
5-Rational equation.
6-Hydrograph.

1& 2 through many relations between Rainfall and Runoff like:

R=CP or R=aP+b or R=0.85P-30.5
3-It is the budget eq. O-I=∆S
4-Is explained before.
5- Rational equation, Q=C*I*A
6- (next section)

Rational equation(CIA)
The rational methods are one of the oldest and were originally used to estimate
the peak discharge. The simplest model of watershed runoff the rational equation
(Q=CIA).
Q: peak discharge,
C: runoff coef.,
I: rainfall intensity, it can be found from rainfall- frequency- duration curve,
A: watershed area.
In this equation the watershed is modeled with two watershed characteristics, the
rational coefficient(c) and the watershed area. The infiltration and depression
storage are incorporated into the value of (c). So the volume of runoff will
depend on the watershed area (the total surface area of the drainage basin).
This area can subdivide into two areas: pervious area and the impervious area.
The pervious area allows for soil infiltration where the impervious does not. If
the area were 100% impervious, then the infiltration term of the mass balance
would be zero.
If the area is subdivided into different sections, then the equivalent coefficient
can be used.
∑𝑵
𝟏 𝑪𝒊 𝑨𝒊
𝑪𝒆 =
𝑨

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Mustansiriyah University Highway & Transportation Dept.
College of Engineering Pavement Drainage System

Example: The land use of the area and the corresponding runoff coefficients
are given in the table. Calculate the equivalent runoff coefficient.
Land Use Area (ha) Runoff coefficient
Roads 8 0.7
Lawn 17 0.1
Residential area 50 0.3
Industrial area 10 0.8
Solution
[(0.7×8)+(0.1×17)+(0.3×50)+(0.8×10)]
𝐶𝑒 = = 30.3/85= 0.36
[8+17+50+10]

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Mustansiriyah University Highway & Transportation Dept.
College of Engineering Pavement Drainage System

Time of concentration:
The time of concentration (tc)is the longest travel time it takes a particle of
water to reach a discharge point in a watershed.
1-Izzard´s formula
Tc=41KL/i
Tc: time (min), L: over flow distances(ft.) , i:rainfall intensity(in/hr.)
K=0.0007 i + cr /s
S: slope, cr: retardnace coef.(kind of surface)

2-Kerby´s equation
Tc=c(Lns-0.5)
Tc: time, L: length of flow(ft), s: slope, c:0.83(for ft) and 1.44( for m)
N: retardance roughness coef.

3-Kirpich´s equation
tc=0.01947(L0.77 /S0.385)
tc: time (min)
L: length of travel(m)
S: slope (m/m)
tc=0.0078 (L0.77 /S0.385) when using US unit system

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Mustansiriyah University Highway & Transportation Dept.
College of Engineering Pavement Drainage System

Example 2: Design a pipe of storm sewer system that receive a drainage water
from area 10000 m2. The length and average slope of channel are 189m and
0.004 m/m, respectively. The estimated rainfall depth is 28.7 mm. the runoff
coefficient is 0.6. The Manning coefficient is 0.013 and the relevant slope is
0.005m/m.
Tc=0.01947* (189)0.77(0.004)-0.385
=9.487 min
I=p/t==181.5 mm/hr
𝑝 28.7
I= = = 181.5 mm/hr
𝑡 9.487/60

Q=CIA
181.5 1
=0.6* ∗ ∗10000=0.302 m³/s
1000 3600

From Manning`s Equation:

1
Q= R2/3 S1/2 A
𝑛
1
Q= (A/P)2/3 S1/2 A
𝑛

R=A/P=D/4
1 𝐷 3.21 𝑄 𝑛 3/8
Q= *( )2/3 S1/2  𝐷 = ( )
𝑛 4 √𝑠

3.21 ×0.302× 0.013 3/8

𝐷=( )  D=0.52 m
√0.005

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 Mustansiriyah University Highway & Transportation Dept.
College of Engineering Pavement Drainage System

Example 3: For the watershed shown in Figure, find the peak discharge from
the outfall. Use 50 yr. return period from the IDF curve below?
1 2 3
Area(acre) 3.9 7.1 8.9
C 0.4 0.4 0.4
Time(min) 5 6 7
Length(ft) 600 720
Velocity(ft/s) 2 2.5

1 2 3

Solution:

T2=L/V=600/2=300 s = 5 min
T3=720/2.5=288 s= 4.8 min
Max. t =5+5+4.8=14.8 min
From chart i=7 in/hr
=7/12*0.3048/3600=0.00005
m/s
Q=CIA
=0.4*0.00005*4046(3.9+7.1
+8.9)
=1.61 m3/s

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