CHAPTER 6: HIGHWAY

DRAINAGE SYSTEM AND

DESIGN

1
 6.1. INTRODUCTION
• Drainage Facilities to drain surface and subsurface water away
from the pavement to channels and then discharge to the natural
waterways.
Inadequate drainage will eventually result in:
• Serious damage to highway structure such as:
 Reduce pavement strength
 Swelling heave
 Stripping of asphalt
 Cause pumping in rigid pavements
 Frost heave and reduction of bearing capacity when melting
• Traffic operation problems
 Slow traffic movement by accumulated water on the pavement
 Cause traffic accidents as a result of hydroplaning and loss of
visibility from the splash and spray 2
 Cont..
• About 25% of highway construction cost is
estimated to be spent for erosion control and
drainage structures, such as culverts, bridges,
channels, and ditches.
• There are two sources of water that the highway
engineer is primarily concerned to provide
highway drainage facilities.
i. surface water, is that which occurs as rain or
snow. Ii. ground water, is that which flows in
underground streams.

3
 Surface Drainage
• The surface drainage system includes:
• Transverse Slopes: - These include crowning of
pavements and shoulders to facilitate the removal
of surface water from the pavement surface in the
shortest possible time.
• Longitudinal Slopes: - A minimum gradient in the
longitudinal direction of the highway is required
to obtain adequate slope in the longitudinal
channels, particular at cut sections.

4
 Cont..
• Longitudinal Channels: - These are ditches
constructed along the sides of the highway to
collect the surface water that runs off from the
pavement surface, subsurface drains, and other
areas of the highway right of way.
• Curbs and Gutters: - Curbs and gutters are facilities
more frequently in urban areas, particularly in
residential areas, where they are used in
conjunction with storm sewer systems to control
street runoff in addition to other functions, which
include preventing the encroachment of vehicles
on adjacent areas and delineating pavement edges.
5
 Cont..
• Cross-Drainage Structures: - constructed to carry traffic over
natural waterways that flow below the right of way of the highway.
• Sediment and Erosion Controls: - The methods used to prevent
erosion and control sediment include:
– Intercepting drains
– Curbs and gutters
– Turf cover on unpaved shoulders, ditches, embankments, and cut
slopes is an efficient and economic method of preventing erosion when
slopes are flatter than 3 to 1. The turf cover is commonly developed by
sowing suitable grasses immediately after grading.
– Slope and channel linings are more effective prevention of erosion than
any of those already described. For example, when cut and
embankment side slopes are steep and are located in mountainous
areas subjected to heavy rain or snow a commonly used method is to
line the slope surface with rip-rap or hand-placed rock. Channel linings
are also used to protect longitudinal channels from eroding. 6
 Cont..
• Protective linings are of two types: flexible (dense-graded
bituminous mixtures and rock rip-rap) and rigid (cement
concrete and soil cement). Rigid linings are much more
effective in preventing erosion under severe conditions,
but they are more expensive and, because of their
smoothness, tend to create high unacceptable velocities
at the end of the linings.

7
 Steps of surface drainage design
1. An estimate of the quantity of water (Q) that may
be expected to reach any element of the system;
2. The hydraulic design of each element of the
system; and
3. (optimization)The comparison of alternative
systems, alternative materials, and other variables
in order to select the most economical system
that can be devised. In the third phase, attention
must be given to selecting the system that has the
lowest annual cost when all variables are taken
into consideration.
8
 6.2.1 Flood Estimation
• The available methods of flood estimation may be
categorized into two groups:)
a. For Gauged sites: statistical analyses can be performed
on the recorded stream flow to provide an estimated
peak design flow for a given "return period." using SCS
(unit hydrograph method
b. For un gauged sites rational methods which is common
in highway. It is most suitable for small urban and rural
catchment areas, less than50 hectares, but is best suited to
urban storm drain systems and rural ditches. Provides peak
runoff. It shall be used with caution if the time of
concentration exceeds 30 minutes. Rainfall is a necessary
input. The basic form of the equation is: 9
 Cont..
•
• where: Q = flood peak at catchment exit
(m3/sec);
• C = rational runoff coefficient;
• I = average rainfall intensity over the whole
catchment (mm/hr) for a duration
• corresponding to the time of concentration; and
• A = catchment area in hectares.

10
 Rational method
The coefficients given in Tables 6.1 through 6.3 are
applicable for storms of 5-yr to 10-yr frequencies.
Less frequent, higher intensity storms will require
modification of the coefficient because infiltration and
other losses have a proportionally smaller effect on runoff
. The rational formula now becomes:

11
Table 6.1 : Runoff coefficient for soil types

12
Table 6.2: coefficient of runoff for land use

13
Table 6.: coefficient of runoff for composite
analysis

14
Table 6.4: frequency factors for rational
formula

15
 Procedures of rational method
• Time of Concentration: The time of concentration is defined
as the time required for the surface runoff from the remotest
part of the drainage basin to reach the point where the
drainage facility is located.
• The duration of rainfall is then set equal to the time of
concentration and is used to estimate the design average
rainfall intensity (I).
• For a specific drainage basin, the time of concentration
consists of an inlet time plus the time of flow in a closed
conduit or open channel to the design point.
• Inlet time is the time required for runoff to flow over the
surface to the nearest inlet and is primarily a function of the
length of overland flow, the slope of the drainage basin, and
surface cover. 16
 Cont..

• Pipe or open channel flow time can be estimated

from the hydraulic properties of the conduit or
channel. An alternative way to estimate the
overland flow time is to use Figure 6-1 to estimate
overland flow velocity and divide the velocity into
the overland travel distance.
• For design conditions that do not involve complex
drainage conditions, Figure 6-2 can be Used to
estimate inlet time.
• The pipe or open channel flow time could be
determined using Manning’s Equation and length
of channel. 17
Fig 6.1: Velocity for up land method of estimating time
of concentration 18
Fig 6.2: Over land time of flow 19
 Cont..
Rainfall Intensity(I): the average rainfall rate in
mm/hr for a duration equal to the time of
concentration for a selected return period. Once a
particular return period has been selected for
design and a time of concentration calculated for
the catchment area, the rainfall intensity can be
determined from Rainfall-Intensity-Duration curves.
Rainfall-Intensity-Duration curves for use in Ethiopia
are given in Figures 6.4 through 6.6

20
Table6.5: Design storm frequency (yrs) by geometric design
criteria

21
Fig 6.3 Rain fall region 22
Fig 6.4: Intensity-duration-frequencey regions A1&A423
Fig 6.5: Intensity-duration-frequencey
regions A2&A3 24
Fig 6.6: Intensity-duration-frequencey
regions B, C &D 25
 Cont..
• Run off coefficient determination discussed previously
• In case where the drainage area consists of different ground
characteristics with different runoff coefficients, a representative value
Cw is computed by determining the weighted coefficients as:

• Hydrological Soil Groups for Ethiopia

• Based on infiltration rates, the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) has
divided soils into four hydrologic soil groups as follows:
• Group A: Sand, loamy sand or sandy loam. Soils having a low runoff
potential due to high infiltration rates. These soils primarily consist of
deep, well-drained sands and gravels.
• Group B: Silt loam, or loam. Soils having a moderately low runoff
potential due to moderate infiltration rates. These soils primarily
consist of moderately deep to deep, moderately well to well drained
26
soils with moderately fine to moderately coarse textures.
 Cont..
• Group C: Sandy clay loam. Soils having a moderately high
runoff potential due to slow infiltration rates. These soils
primarily consist of soils in which a layer exists near the
surface that impedes the downward movement of water or
soils with moderately fine to fine texture.
• Group D: Clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay or
clay. Soils having a high runoff potential due to very slow
infiltration rates. These soils primarily consist of clays with
high swelling potential, soils with permanently-high water
tables, soils with a claypan or claylayer at or near the
surface, and shallow soils over nearly impervious parent
material.
27
Table 6.6: value of roughness coefficient n
(uniform flow)

28
Continued from above table

29
Continued from above table

30
Continued from above table

31
Cont..

32
Cont..

33
Cont..

34
Cont..

35
 example1
In road segment around Debre-Markos area(A2) , the
area from topographic map and field survey is found to
be35 hectares. The initial estimate is that the structure
required is as mall culvert. The road has a functional
classification of a Link Road, with a design standard of
DS3. Determine maximum rate of runoff.
The following data were measured:
• Length of overland flow = 45 m Average overland
slope = 2.0%
• Length of main basin channel = 700 m
• Slope of channel = 0.018 m/m = 1.8 %
• Channels not maintained, dense brush 36
• Land Use and Soil Data
From existing land use maps, land use for the drainage basin
was estimated to be:
• Residential (multi-units, attached) 40%
• Undeveloped (2.0% slope),with good vegetative cover 60%
• For the undeveloped area the soil group was determined
from field analysis to be: Group B 100%
• The land use for the overland flow area at the head of the
basin was estimated to be: Undeveloped, (Soil Group
B,2.5% slope) 100%

37
 Soln
• Overland Flow: The runoff coefficient (C) for the
overland flow area from Table 6.1 for soil group B
and slope of 2% is 0.12-0.17, let use average 0.14.
• Time of Concentration: From Figure 6-3 with an
overland flow length of 45 m, slope of 2.0 % and a
C of 0.14, the inlet time is 17 min.
• From table6.6 For channels un maintained covered
by by dense brush and normal, n= 0.08
• Assume hydraulic radius 0.6m.

38
 Cont..

• Substitute the value

• V=1.193 m/s is equal to 1.2
• T=l/v=700m/1.2m/s= 583.33sec= 9.72 min=10
• Total time (t)= t+T= 17+10=27 min
• From fig 6.5, for duration of 27 min, I=70mm/hr
• Run off c from table 6.1 for soil B 0.12-0.17 avg
0.14 and from table 6.2 for residential multi unit
attached 0.6-0.75 avg 0.68
• Cw=(c1*A1+c2*A2)/
(A1+A2)=(40*0.68+60*0.14)/100= 0.356
• Q=0.0028*0.356*70*35=2.44m3/s 39
 6.2.2 Hydraulic Design of Surface Drainage Structures
• The objective of the hydraulic design for any highway drainage
structure is to provide a suitable structure size that will economically
and efficiently dispose of the expected runoff without detrimental
erosion and sedimentation problem.
Design of Side Ditches
• With the quantity of water expected to reach any given point in the
drainage system known, the design of side ditches, gutters, stream
channels, and similar facilities is based on established principles of
flow in open channels. The principles also apply to flow in conduits
with a free water surface.
• In the design of open channels, an important design consideration is
the flow velocity. The flow velocity in the channel should not be as
low as to cause deposits of transported material, nor so high as to
cause erosion of the channel.
• The most appropriate channel gradient range to produce the
40
required velocity is between 1% and 5 %.
 Cont..
• For most types of linings, sedimentation is usually a problem
when slopes are less than 1 %, and excessive erosion of the lining
will occur when slopes are higher than 5 %. Consideration of
recommended maximum velocities that can be found in different
standards and literatures for particular-lining materials is vital for
preventing erosion problems.
• Attention should also be paid to the point at which the channel
discharges into the natural waterway. For example, if the drainage
channel at the point of discharge is at a much higher elevation
than the natural waterway, then the water should be discharged
through a spillway or chute to prevent erosion.
• The hydraulic design of an open channel drainage facility for a
given storm entails the determination of the minimum cross-
sectional area of the channel that will accommodate the flow due
to that storm and prevent water from overflowing the facility. 41
 Cont..
• The most commonly used formula to give reliable
capacity estimate is Manning's formula, which
assumes uniform steady flow in the channel:

where, Q = capacity (m3/sec); A = channel

cross-sectional area (m2); v = mean velocity
(m/sec); n = Manning roughness coefficient; R
= hydraulic radius (A/P) in m; S = slope (m/m);
and P = wetted perimeter (m). 42
 Cont..
• Critical depth is defined as the depth corresponding to the
change from tranquil to rapid flow. Critical velocity and critical
slope are the velocity and slope that correspond to uniform
flow at critical depth. Critical depth is independent of channel
slope and roughness, but the critical slope is a function of the
slope of the channel. Tranquil flow exists when the normal
depth of water in an open channel is greater than the critical
depth; conversely, when the depth is less than critical, the flow
is rapid. Theoretically, in any channel in which the water is
flowing at the critical depth, the velocity head (V2/2g, where V
is the velocity of the flow and g is the acceleration due to
gravity) is equal to one-half the mean depth of flow (mean
depth is defined as the water cross-sectional area, A, divided by
the free-water surface width, T). In other words, at critical flow,
43
 Cont..

Design Procedure: A simple design procedure that utilizes the

Manning equation may, however, be outlined as follows:
1. For the cover material in which the ditch will be running, select
the Manning roughness coefficient, n, the side slopes –
normally controlled by the angle of natural repose.
2. Using the Manning formula, calculate the maximum permissible
hydraulic radius.
3. Using the equation of continuity, calculate the minimum
permissible cross-section area required from the given
discharge and permissible velocity. Calculate the wetted
perimeter for this area.
4. Solve the expressions obtained in the step (3) simultaneously 44
 Cont..

5. Check the depth of flow whether it is greater than the

critical depth or not.
6. If the depth of flow is greater than the critical depth,
add a suitable freeboard and modify the section for
practicality. In the case of side ditches the freeboard
should at least be equals the height above the bottom
of the pavement. For other channels, a value about 0.5
m is added as a freeboard.
7. If the depth is less than the critical depth consideration
should be given to reduce the slope or provision should
be sought to protect from erosion. 45
 Design of Culverts
• Depending on the class of highway, the volume of the stream flow
to be crossed, the site conditions, and economic factors, the
flowing cross-drainage structures may be considered:
• Fords
• Drifts
• Culverts, and
• Bridges
• Fords are the simplest river crossings that utilize the existing
riverbed and are appropriate for shallow, slow moving
watercourses with little probability of flood. The traffic volume
may be up to about 100 vehicles per day. Gravel or stones can be
used to line the bottom of the ford to provide a firm footing for
vehicles. Drifts are crossing structures as fords, but here a concrete
slab is constructed where the bed of the river is not able to carry
vehicles. They are suitable as a crossing where fords cannot be
used due to risk of flood. 46
 Cont..
• Culverts are cross-drainage structures that convey water from
streams and side channels below the road. A culvert is usually,
although not always, differentiated from a bridge by virtue of the fact
that the top of the culvert does not form part of the travelled
roadway. More frequently, culverts are differentiated from bridges
on the basis of span length. On an arbitrary basis, structures having a
span of 6 m or less will be called culverts, whereas those having
spans of more than 6 m will be called bridges.
• Culverts also differ from bridges in that they are usually designed to
flow full under certain conditions, while bridges are designed to
pass floating debris or vessels.
• Culverts are to be found in three general locations: at the bottom of
depressions where no natural watercourse exists; where natural
streams intersect the roadway; and at locations required for passing
surface drainage carried in side ditches beneath roads and
driveways to adjacent property. 47
 Cont..
• Principles of Culvert Location. The majority of culverts are
installed in natural watercourses that cross the roadway, either
at right angles or on a skew. In addition to selecting the proper
location for the culvert crossing with respect to the centreline
of the road, the alignment and grade of the culvert are of
importance. The location of the centreline of the culvert on the
center line of the road may be determined by inspection of the
plans or in the field. This location will generally be on the
centreline of an existing watercourse or at the bottom of a
depression if no natural watercourse exists. The alignment of
the culvert should generally conform to the alignment of the
natural stream, and the culvert should, if possible, cross the
roadway at right angles in the interests of economy. Skew
culverts, located at an angle to the centreline of the road, are
needed in many instances. 48
 Cont..
• Hydraulic design of culverts involves the following
general procedure:
1. Obtain all site data and plot a roadway cross section at
the culvert site, including a profile of the stream
channel.
2. Establish the culvert invert elevations at the inlet and
outlet and determine the culvert length and slope.
3. Determine the allowable headwater depth and the
probable depth of tail water during the design flood.
4. Select a type and size of culvert that will accommodate
the design flow under the established conditions.
5. Examine the need for energy dissipaters, and, where
needed, provide appropriate protective devices to
49
prevent destructive channel erosion.
Cont..

50
 Cont..
• Culvert Types and Materials. Materials most commonly used in the
construction of culverts are reinforced concrete and corrugated metal. Less
frequently, culverts are made from timber, cast-iron pipe, vitrified-clay
pipe, and, occasionally, stone masonry. Reinforced-concrete pipe intended
for use in culverts is made in diameters of 300 to 3600 mm and in various
lengths, the usual length being 1.2 to 2.4 m.
• Reinforced-concrete culverts may be either circular or elliptical. For special
applications, concrete culvert pipe may be manufactured with a cross
section other than circular-elliptical and "arch" shapes being in quite
common use.
• Concrete box culverts are constructed in place with square or rectangular
cross sections; single box culverts vary in size from 0.6 to 3.6 m square,
depending on the required area of waterway opening. Both concrete pipe
and concrete box culverts are built with more than one opening where
additional waterway area is required and when it is desired to avoid the use
of excessively large single pipes or boxes. Such installations are called
"multiple culverts" and may, for example, be "double" or "triple" concrete 51
pipe or concrete box culverts.
 Cont..
• Concrete arches are sometimes used in place of
concrete box culverts, although difficulties attendant
on their proper design and construction have
somewhat restricted their use.
• The type of culvert selected for use in a given
location is dependent on the hydraulic requirements
and the strength required to sustain the weight of a
fill or moving wheel loads. After the hydraulic and
strength requirements are satisfied, the selection is
largely a matter of economics: durability and cost of
the completed structure including cost of transport
and installation. 52
 6.3 Subsurface Drainage
Subsurface drainage systems are provided within the pavement structure to drain water
that:
– has percolated through cracks and joints in the pavement to the underlying strata
– has moved upward through the underlying soil strata as a result of capillary action
– exists in the natural ground below the water table, usually referred to as ground
water.
• The design of subsurface drainage should be carried out as an integral part of
the complete design of the highway, since inadequate subsurface drainage
have detrimental effects on the stability of slopes and pavement
performance. The procedure usually adopted for subsurface drainage design
is first to determine the geometric and structural requirements of the
highway based on standard design practice, and then to subject these to a
subsurface drainage analysis to determine the subsurface drainage
requirements.
• It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to develop standard solutions for
solving subsurface drainage problems because of the many different
situations that engineers come across in practice. The experience gained from
field and laboratory observations for a particular location, coupled with good
engineering judgment, should always be used in conjunction with the design 53
 Cont..
• Subsurface drainage systems are usually classified into
five general categories:
• Longitudinal drains
• Transverse drains
• Horizontal drains
• Drainage blankets
• Well systems
• Longitudinal drains. Subsurface longitudinal drains
usually consist of pipes laid in trenches, within the
pavement structure and parallel to the center line of
the highway. These drains can be used to lower the
water table below the pavement structure or to
remove any water that is seeping into the pavement
structure. 54
• Transverse drains. Transverse drains are placed transversely
below the pavement, usually in a direction perpendicular to
the centreline, although they may be skewed to form a
herringbone configuration. An example of the use of
transverse drain is shown in Figure 10-4 where they are used
to drain ground water that has infiltrated through the joints of
the pavement.
• Horizontal Drains. Horizontal drains are used to relieve pore
pressures at slopes of cuts and embankments on the highway.
They usually consist of small-diameter, perforated pipes
inserted into the slopes of the cut or fill. The subsurface water
is collected by the pipes and is then discharged at the face of
the slope through paved spillways to longitudinal ditches.
55
• Drainage Blankets. A drainage blanket is a layer of material that has a
very high coefficient of permeability, usually greater than 10 m/day,
and is laid beneath or within the pavement structure such that its
width and length in the flow direction are much greater than its
thickness. The coefficient of permeability is the constant of
proportionality of the relationship between the flow velocity and the
hydraulic gradient between two points in the material.
• Drainage blankets can be used to facilitate the flow of subsurface
water away from the pavement, as well as to facilitate the flow of
ground water that has seeped through cracks into the pavement
structure or subsurface water from artesian sources. A drainage
blanket can also be used in conjunction with longitudinal drains to
improve the stability of cut slopes by controlling the flow of water on
the slopes, thereby preventing the formation of a slip surface.
However, drainage blankets must be properly designed to be
effective. 56
• Well Systems. A well system consists of a series of
vertical wells, drilled into the ground, into which
ground water flows, thereby reducing the water
table and releasing the pore pressure. When used
as a temporary measure for construction, the
water collected in the wells is continuously
pumped out, or else it may be left to overflow.

57
 6.3.1 Design of Subsurface Drainage
• The design procedure for subsurface drainage
involves the following:
1. Summarize the available data.
2. Determine the quantity of water for which the
subsurface drainage system is being designed.
3. Determine the drainage system required.
4. Determine the capacity and spacing of
longitudinal and transverse drains and select
filter material, if necessary.
5. Evaluate the design with respect to economic
feasibility and long-term performance. 58
 Summarize Available Data
• The data that should be identified and summarized can be
divided into the four following classes:
• The flow geometry  the flow geometry is given by the existing
subsurface characteristics of the area in which the highway is
located and by the geometric characteristics of the highway.
• The materials' properties  the material permeability that
indicates the extent to which water will flow through the
material.
• The hydrologic and climatic characteristics  indicate
precipitation rates, the sources of subsurface water, and the
possibility of frost.
• Miscellaneous information  all other information that will aid
in the design of an effective and economic subsurface drainage
system, including any impact the subsurface drainage system
may have on future construction. 59
 Determination of Discharge Quantity
• The net amount of water to be discharged consists of the
following components:
• Water due to infiltration
• Ground water
• Water due to melting of ice, but not a significant problem in the tropics
• Water evaporating vertically from the pavement structure
• (i) Water due to infiltration, (qi). This is the amount of surface
water that infiltrates into the pavement structure through cracks
in the pavement surface. It is extremely difficult to calculate this
amount of water exactly, since the rate of infiltration depends on
the intensity of the design storm, the frequency and size of the
cracks and/or joints in the pavement, the moisture conditions of
the atmosphere, and the permeability characteristics of the
materials below the pavement surface. The Federal Highway
Administration recommends the use of the following empirical
relationship to estimate the infiltration rate: 60
61
 (ii) Ground Water.
• When it is not possible to intercept the flow of ground water
or lower the water table sufficiently before the water
reaches the pavement, it is necessary to determine the
amount of ground water seepage that will occur. Figure 10-
2 and Figure 10- 5(a) demonstrate the two possible sources
of ground water of interest in this case. A simple procedure
to estimate the ground water flow rate due to gravity
drainage is to use the chart shown in Figure 10- 6. In this
case the radius of influence Li is first determined as:
• Li = 3.8 (H – H0)
• Where, H0 = thickness of subgrade below the drainage pipe
(ft)
• H = thickness of subgrade below the natural water table (ft)
• H – H0 = amount of draw down (ft) 62
• The chart shown in figure 6.6 is then used to
determine the volume of lateral flow per unit
length of the longitudinal drain (qL = q1 + q2),
where q1 is the inflow above the bottom of the
drainage layer, and q2 is the total upward flow
into one-half of the drainage layer. The average
inflow rate to the drainage layer is determined as:

63
• where, qg = design inflow rate for gravity
drainage (ft3/day/ft2of drainage layer)
• q2 = total upward flow into half of the drainage
blanket (ft3/day/linear ft of roadway)
• W = width of drainage layer (ft).
• If the pavement is sloped to one side and the
collector is installed only on one side, then

64
• For the case of artesian flow, the average inflow
rate is simply estimated using darcy’s law as:

• where, qa = design inflow rate from artesian flow

(ft3/day/ft2)
• H = excess hydraulic head (ft),
• H0 = subgrade soil thickness between the
drainage layer and the artesian aquifer (ft)
• K = coefficient of permeability (ft2/day)
65
Figure 6- 6. Chart for determining flow rate in horizontal blanket
66
• Net design flow. The net design inflow is the sum of inflow
rates from all sources less any amount attributed to vertical
outflow through the underlying soil. A set of relationships for
estimating the net design inflow rate (qd) has been
developed, taking into consideration the different flows that
occur concurrently. In the absence of inflow due to melting of
ice lenses, the design net inflow can be given as:
• If there is no frost, no ground water, and no artesian flow, qd
= qi – q v
• If there is no frost and artesian flows, and the inflows are only
due to infiltration and ground water, qd = q i + q g – qv
• If the inflows are only due to infiltration and artesian, then
• qd = qi + qa- qv 67