Surface Drainage/Rational

Method

Transverse slope

Longitudinal slope

Longitudinal channel

Surface Drainage System Design

Tradeoffs: Steep slopes provide good hydraulic
capacity and lower ROW costs, but reduce
safety and increase maintenance costs and
erosion
Three phases
1.

2.
3.

Estimate of the quantity of water to reach the

system
Hydraulic design of system elements
Comparison of different materials that serve
same purpose
5

Hydrologic Analysis: Rational

Method
Useful for small, usually urban, watersheds
(<10acres, but DOT says <200acres)
Q = CIA (english) or Q = 0.0028CIA (metric)
Q = runoff (ft3/sec) or (m3/sec)
C = coefficient representing ratio of runoff to
rainfall
I = intensity of rainfall (in/hour or mm/hour)
A = drainage area (acres or hectares)
Iowa DOT Design Manual, Chapter 4, The Rational
Method

Runoff Coefficient

Coefficient that
represents the
fraction of runoff to
rainfall
Depends on type of
surface

Iowa DOT Design Manual, Chapter 4, The Rational Method

7

Runoff Coefficient

Iowa DOT Design Manual, Chapter 4, The Rational

8 Meth

Runoff Coefficient

Iowa DOT Design Manual, Chapter 4, The Rational Method

Runoff Coefficient

When a drainage area has distinct

parts with different coefficients
Use weighted average
C = C1A1 + C2A2 + .. + CnAn
Ai

10

Intensity

Average intensity for a selected

frequency and duration
Based on design event (i.e. 50-year
storm)

Overdesign is costly (what else?)

Underdesign may be inadequate

Duration
11

Intensity

Based on values of Tc and T

Tc = time of concentration

T = recurrence interval or design

frequency

As a minimum equal to the time of

concentration, tc, (in/hr)

12

Recurrence Interval (Design Event)

2-year interval -- Design of intakes and spread

of water on pavement for primary highways
and city streets
10-year interval -- Design of intakes and
spread of water on pavement for freeways and
interstate highways
50 - year -- Design of subways (underpasses)
and sag vertical curves where storm sewer
pipe is the only outlet
100 year interval -- Major storm check on all
projects
13

Time of Concentration (tc)

Time for water to flow from

hydraulically most distant point on the
watershed to the point of interest
Assumes peak runoff occurs when I
lasts as long or longer than Tc

14

Time of Concentration (tc)

Depends on:

Size and shape of drainage area

Type of surface
Slope of drainage area
Rainfall intensity
Whether flow is entirely overland or
whether some is channelized
15

Time of Concentration (tc)

Ti =

L
3600 V

where
Ti = travel time for section i in watershed
(hr)
L = flow length (ft)
V = average velocity (ft/sec)
16

Tc: Equation from Iowa DOT Manual

(See nomograph)
17

Nomograph Method

Trial and error

Estimate I
Determine Tc
Check I and Tc against values in Table
5 (Iowa DOT, Chapter 4)
Repeat until I ~ Tc
18

19

Example (Iowa DOT Method)

Iterative finding I and Tc

L = 150 feet
Average slope, S = 0.02
Grass
Recurrence interval, T = 10 years
Location: Keokuk
Find I
From Iowa DOT Design Manual

20

Grass Surface,
mannings roughness
coefficient = 0.4

21

Try I = 5 in/hr
22

Tc = 18 min

23

Example (continued)

Tc with first iteration is 18 min

Check against tables in DOT manual

24

Keokuk is in SE, code = 9

25

26

Convert intensity to inches/hour

27

From previous chart:

6.32 inches occurs over
5 days (120 hours) =
6.32 in/120 hours =
0.05 in/hr

28

From previous chart:

4.06 inches occurs over
18 hours =
4.06 in/18 hours = 0.34
in/hr

29

From previous chart:

1.26 inches occurs over
15 min =
1.26 in/0.25 hours = 5.0
in/hr
For intensity of 5
inch/hr, Duration is 15
min
Tc from nomograph was
18 min
30

Example (continued)
I < Tc
Next iteration, try intensity = 4.0 inch/hr

31

Slope = 0.02

I = 4.25
inches/hr
Tc = 20 min
For second iteration, tc = 20 min, OK!

32

Example (continued)
I < Tc
Next iteration,
try intensity =
4.25 inch/hr
I = 4.25 inches/hour is
somewhere between
30 min and 15 min
33

Example (continued)

I = 4 inches/hour is
somewhere between
30 min and 15 min
34

Example (continued)
Interpolate
I at 20 min = 4.3
inches/hour
Close so I = 4.25
inches/hour
35

Area

Area of watershed
Defined by topography
Use ArcView contours in lab

36

Flow

Q = CIA

Calculate once C, I, and A have been

found

37