CON4382 HIGHWAY ENGINEERING CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4
HIGHWAY DRAINAGE DESIGN
Summary of the chapter:

• Brief introduction of hydrological cycle, surface runoff and runoff coefficient

• Measurement of rainfall severity and recurrence interval

• The rainfall intensity-duration-frequency relationship

• Catchment area and rational method

• Time of concentration in surface runoff and drainage system

• Urban stormwater drainage system piping scheme

• Ultimate and serviceability state considerations for highway gully design

• Concepts of normal roads and hard shoulder flows on expressways

• Gully spacing design and associated Highways Department’s Guidance Notes and technical
documents

• Brief introduction of highway sub-soil drainage

Module Intended Learning Outcomes:

Devise the drainage provisions for road gully systems for runoff collection on highway facilities
and the piping scheme for urban stormwater drainage systems in accordance to current practice
of the local authorities.

In compliance with the Copyright Ordinance in Hong Kong, the following material(s) is/are
recommended for this chapter:
 HKSAR Highways Department. Research & Development Division, 2010. GN035 Road
Pavement Drainage Design.
 Findley, D. J., Schroeder, B., Cunningham, C., & Brown, T. (2015). Highway
Engineering: Planning, Design, and Operations. Butterworth-Heinemann.
4.1 Brief introduction of hydrological cycle

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Highway drainage mainly concerned with the flow of surface water and subsurface water.
Surface drainage can be divided into two parts: hydrological study and hydraulic design. The
principles of hydrology necessary for understanding rainfall as a water source are included.

Hydrological study can be described as the science which deals with the operations governing
the circulation of moisture in its various forms, above, on and beneath the earth’s surface. The
various phases of the hydrologic cycle are precipitation, surface runoff, infiltration, evaporation
and transpiration. The two main phases of the hydrologic cycle in which the highway engineer is
most interested are precipitation and runoff.

Evaporation

Transpiration

Precipitation

Surface Runoff
Infiltration

Water table

Hydrologic Cycle

4.2 Surface runoff and runoff coefficient

Rate of surface runoff is the difference between the amount of rainfall during the time of
concentration and the losses due to infiltration, evaporation, transpiration, interception and
storage. Major factors governing amount of runoff are as follows:

1. Type and condition of the soil with respect to infiltration - rainwater will infiltrate into
granular soil until the soil is saturated before the runoff flows on the surface.
2. Kind and extent of cultivation and/or vegetation.
3. Length and steepness of slopes.
4. Number, arrangement, slope and condition of the natural and manmade drainage channels
in the catchment area.
5. Irregularity of ground surface.
6. Size and shape of catchment.
7. Temperature of air and water.
8. Changes in land use.

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Runoff Coefficient C is the ratio of surface flow to the amount of rainfall and is mainly
dependent on the impermeability of the surface. In general, the value of K may be taken as 1.0 i.e.
fully impermeable, for developed urban areas. In less developed areas, unpaved surfaces may be
given a K value less than 1.0, but consideration should be given to possible future development
and the possible saturation of soil with water before a rainstorm both of which will increase the
impermeability of the surface. In Hong Kong, the values of C with respect to types of surface
commonly encountered are:-

Character of surface C
Asphaltic 0.70 to 0.95
Concrete 0.80 to 0.95
Brick 0.70 to 0.85
Lawns (heavy soil) - Flat 0.13 to 0.25
- Steep 0.25 to 0.35
Lawns (sandy soil) - Flat 0.05 to 0.15
- Steep 0.15 to 0.20

The above coefficients are applicable for the more frequent storms (say 10-year and below). Less
frequent storms of higher intensity may require the use of different coefficients.

4.3 Measurement of rainfall severity and recurrence interval

Storm frequency is expressed as the recurrence interval or return period which is the average
period of years between occurrences of a storm equaling or exceeding a given rainfall intensity.
The longer the returned period, the higher the rainfall intensity and the bigger the drainage costs
in order to dispose of the increase in runoff. It is therefore necessary to consider the consequence
of flooding in order to determine what return period should be used in the drainage design.

Stormwater Drainage Manual HKSAR - Planning, Design and Management

Recommended Design Return Periods based on Flood Levels (Table 10):
Intensively Used Agricultural Land 2 - 5years
Village Drainage including Internal Drainage System under a Polder Scheme 10 years
Main Rural Catchment Drainage Channels 50 years
Urban Drainage Trunk Systems 200 years
Urban Drainage Branch Systems 50 years

4.4 The rainfall intensity-duration-frequency relationship

Rainfall intensity i is the amount of rainfall measured in mm at a specific location for a period of
one hour with a frequency of once in 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 or 200 years. It is inversely
proportional to the length of storm (duration of rainfall); i.e. the longer the rainfall, the smaller
the average rainfall intensity since the meteorological forces which cause a heavy rainfall in an
area are also continually causing it to move quickly to another area.

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The rainfall intensity i can be calculated using the following equation based on the Gumbel
solution for duration not more than 240 minutes.

𝑎
𝑖 =
(𝑡𝑑 + 𝑏)𝑐

where : i = extreme mean intensity in mm/hr and td = duration in minutes

Storm Constants for Different Return Periods (based on Gumbel Solution)

(Table 3, Stormwater Drainage Manual (2013) published by DSD, HKSAR)
Return period T (years) 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000
𝑎 548 573 603 639 687 722 766 822 855
𝑏 5.2 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.0
𝑐 0.51 0.47 0.44 0.43 0.42 0.41 0.39 0.39 0.39

4.5 Catchment area and rational method

The rate of surface runoff can be calculated by the Rational method, also known as the Lloyd-
Davies method. It is the most common method used. The equation is:-
𝐶×𝑖×𝐴 𝐶×𝑖×𝐴
𝑄= (litres/sec) or 𝑄= (m3/sec)
3600 3.6×106
where : Q= maximum runoff (litre/sec or m3/sec)
i= design mean intensity of rainfall (mm/hr)
A= area of catchment (m2)
C= runoff coefficient

The runoff coefficient is a function of land use. If land use within the area is non-uniform, it is a
common practice to use an equivalent runoff coefficient computed by area-weighted averaging.
For a catchment consisting of 𝑚 sub-catchments of areas 𝐴𝑗 each with different runoff
coefficients𝐶𝑗 , the peak runoff at the drainage outlet is given by the following expression:

𝑄 = ∑ 𝑄𝑗 = 𝐹 × 𝑖 ∑ 𝐶𝑗 𝐴𝑗

where : F is the conversion factor corresponding to the adopted units.

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4.6 Time of concentration in surface runoff and drainage system

The average slope in a watershed can be calculated using the Average Basin Slope method or the
Channel Slope method. Once the slope is determined, the time can be found by the application of
the above equation or by using a nomograph.

Distance L
Average slope H Catchment
Area
Design section
Drainage of natural catchment

In natural catchments where surfaces are generally unpaved and surface water travels along
natural lines of flow, the time of concentration may be estimated from the following equation
which is a modified form of the Brandsby William’s equation:-

L
t = 0.14465 ×
H 0.2 × A0.1

where t = time of concentration (minutes)

A = area of catchment (m2)
H = average slope (m per 100m) measured on the line of natural flow, from the
summit of the catchment to the point of design
L = distance (on plan) measured on the line of natural flow between the design
section and that point of the catchment from which water would take the
longest time to reach the design section (m).

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In urban catchments where surface water from paved surfaces, rooftops etc. is led directly to
established drainage channels or stormwater sewers, the time of concentration is the sum of
following two components: entry time te and time of flow tf.

t c = t e + tf
Entry time te is the time required for a raindrop to flow from the most remote part of the
catchment area to the point of entry to a drainage system. It varies with the nature of surface
cover, surface gradient, spacing of inlets, method of collecting and discharging roof drainage,
and the rainfall intensity. Generally, inlet time of 3 to 10 minutes may be used for well-
developed urban areas, the lower figure being applicable to areas where water flows quickly to
stormwater drains through closely spaced inlets and the upper figure applicable to areas which
are relatively flat with widely spaced inlets.

The time of flow tf is the time required for the water to flow from the most remote inlet to the
design section in the drainage system. It may be estimated closely from the hydraulic properties
of the stormwater drain usually based on full-bore velocity, i.e. the pipe is running full of water.

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It is common to estimate the pipe flow velocity using Colebrook-White equation which is
expressed in the following form in the DSD’s Stormwater Drainage Manual (Table 12):

𝑘𝑠 1.255𝜐
𝑉̅ = −√32𝑔𝑅𝑆𝑓 log10 ( + )
14.8𝑅 𝑅 √32𝑔𝑅𝑆𝑓

which is readily applicable for full flow in a circular pipe when the hydraulic radius 𝑅 is equal to
one quarter of the pipe diameter 𝐷, i.e. 𝑅 = 𝐷⁄4.

The time of concentration tc is the duration of rainfall commonly used in highway drainage
design and is the time required for a raindrop that falls on the most remote point of the catchment
area to flow to the point in the drainage system under design.

4.7 Urban stormwater drainage system piping scheme

The design of the stormwater sewer system is based on each individual section of a pipe run and
is an iterative process. A pipe run is the route in a drainage system along which the surface water
is carried from the most remote part to the outfall. In general, the slope of the pipe follows the
gradient of the road and the rate of runoff is calculated using the Rational method based on the
pipe running full. Some factors to be considered in the design of the storm sewer system:-

1. Construction costs increases with depth,

2. The slope of the pipe follows the general gradient of the surface to minimize cost,
3. The velocity of flow should be greater than 0.75 m/s to prevent silting up of the pipe,
4. The pipe should have sufficient cover to protect it against the loading at the surface,
5. Allowance should be made for the head loss at a manhole usually by means of having
lower invert elevation for the downstream pipe,
6. At a manhole, invert to invert connections are not favoured since they often prevent the
full capacity of the larger pipe being made available; the water cannot rise up to the soffit
level of the downstream pipe.

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Figure (left): Construction of a manhole on an in-service road.

Figure (right): Edge drain pipe offers quick drainage response.

Example: A sub-urban area is subjected to further development namely zone 1, 2, 3 and 4. Based
on the existing stormwater drainage system, the design engineer proposes new stormwater
drainage facilities to meet additional needs. Design the appropriate sizes of the pipe system given
the following design parameters and information.

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Pipes label for the new stormwater drainage system

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4.8 Ultimate and serviceability state considerations for highway gully design

Ultimate State Consideration

Under the kerb and gully arrangement, the height of flow along the channel will increase and
will depend on the flood width and the X-fall of the channel. The ultimate design consideration
is to prevent the flow from overtopping the kerb flooding the adjoining properties. The ultimate
design standard is based on a storm frequency of 1 in 50 years and a 5 minute rainstorm (270
mm/hr) for a kerb height of 125 mm plus a factor of safety of 1.2. A kerb height of 150 mm can
be used if necessary; otherwise the gully spacing should be adjusted by multiplying it with a
reduction factor RFult.

Serviceability State Consideration

Based on flood width limiting the flow under the wheel paths on high speed roads, and splashing
over footway on low speed roads. In general, for flat or near flat road, flood with equals to 0.75
m reducing to 0.7 m or below for steeper grade. With hard shoulder of 2.5 m or more, the flood
width can be increased to 1.0 m. For grade greater than 5% (3% on expressway), design will be
based on 5% grade (3% on expressway) with maximum spacing of gullies not exceeding 25 m.

4.9 Concepts of normal roads and hard shoulder flows on expressways

The drainage system should in principle be designed to accommodate a rainfall intensity for
heavy rainstorms with a probability of 1 in 50 years occurrence. If gullies are provided to limit
flooded width to 0.75 metre for Normal Roads^ at the design rainfall intensity of 120mm/hour, it
is expected that the design flooded width will be exceeded not more than 2 times per year and
will not exceed 0.81 metre by 1 time per year. This is considered acceptable in view of the
infrequent occurrence and the 0.75 metre flooded width will not encroach to the wheel track thus
causing water splashing.

Table: Maximum Rainfall Intensities and Flooded Widths for Different Storm Frequencies

^ Normal Roads - Roads other than expressways and expressways with a hard shoulder of less than 2.5 metres.

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4.10 Gully spacing design and associated Highways Department’s Guidance Notes and
technical documents

Gullies are usually placed along the kerb on the low side of the road. The spacing of the gullies
in Hong Kong can be determined in accordance to Road Note 6 - Road Pavement Drainage.
Gully spacing will be determined for a road grade of >5% or < 0.5%.

A road gully is a waterway inlet designed to collect water which flows off the carriageway
surface. It consists of a gully pot (which acts as a trap for silt and small debris) connected by a
pipe to an underground pipe drain, and a steel frame fitted with a cover or grating which bridges
the gully pot. Normally, precast/preformed gully pots should be used instead of in-situ
construction except in very special cases where physical or other constraints do not allow their
use. The following are some of the advantages of using precast/preformed gullies:

a) easier to install and maintaining;

b) have a smooth internal finish which allows easy cleansing as debris tends to adhere to
rough in-situ concrete walls; and
c) where outfall trapping is required, it is simply the choice of a precast trapped gully pot (it
is extremely difficult to build an acceptable gully by in-situ construction)

Figure (left): Gully type GA1-450 is commonly seen in Hong Kong.

Figure (right): Gully type GA2-325 is also used in Hong Kong.

Figure (left): Gullies are used in a paved road for pedestrians.

Figure (right): New forms of gully gratings are adopted in recent years.

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Figure (left): Gullies at pedestrian crossings.

Figure (right): A kerb overflow weir on roads with moderate and steep gradient.

Relevant Discussion

 Should an engineer decide to round up / round down / round off the spacing between any two
gullies? Why?
 What are the related considerations about the provision of edge drain?
 What are the related considerations about the provision of overflow weirs?
 What are the related considerations about the additional gullies at sag points?
 What are the related considerations about the double gullies immediately downstream of 5%
or more gradient?
 What are the related considerations about the location of gullies at pedestrian crossings?
 What are the related considerations about the design and required flow capacities of outlet
pipe?
 Comment on the following gully design on a road in Hong Kong.

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Design Workflow for gully spacing calculations

from Road Pavement Design Manual by Highways Department, HKSAR

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4.11 Brief introduction of highway sub-soil drainage

Sub-soil drainage deals with the drainage of water in the pavement structure underneath the
pavement surface. Subsurface drainage systems are provided within the pavement structure to
drain water in one or more of the following forms:

 Water that has permeated through cracks and joints in the pavement structure to the
underlying strata.
 Water that has moved upward through the underlying soil strata as a result of capillary
action.
 Water that exists in the natural ground below the water table, usually referred to as ground
water.

The function of a sub-soil drainage system is to collect and discharge water which may enter the
pavement structure through the surface course, surface cracks, granular shoulders or from the
subgrade. Sub-soil drainage prevents the build-up of moisture which could adversely affect the
strength and stability of the granular layers and subgrade. A sub-soil drainage system may
include sub-soil drains, open-graded drainage layer, and other pre-manufactured drainage
systems placed under a roadway to collect, remove and carry the water to the stormwater
drainage system. Subsurface drainage systems are usually classified into five general categories:

 Longitudinal drains
 Transverse drains
 Horizontal drains
 Drainage blankets
 Well systems

The design of pavement is based on the certain moisture content of the soil in the field. If the
moisture content exceeds this amount, then the design conditions no longer apply and the
pavement may fail. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that water is kept out of the pavement or
that if water enters the pavement, it is removed as safely and quickly as possible. An alternative
to this approach is to construct a pavement that can withstand the traffic load with excess water
pressure in the soil. This would be very expensive and as it is difficult to predict the stresses
developed in a pavement when water is present, the pavement so constructed may not be
adequate when subject to continuous traffic loads.

Creation/Revision Record

Version Date Revised by

1.0 28 August, 2017 Benson K.H. HUNG
1.1 11 October, 2017 Benson K.H. HUNG
2.0 2 August, 2018 Benson K.H. HUNG
2.1 11 January, 2019 Benson K.H. HUNG

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