Coupled Surface-Subsurface Model for Simulating Drainage from Permeable Friction Course Highways
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 1
Abstract
Permeable friction course (PFC) is a porous asphalt pavement placed on top of a regular impermeable roadway. Under small rainfall intensities, drainage is contained within the PFC layer; but under higher rainfall intensities, drainage occurs both within and on top of the porous pavement. A computer model—the permeable friction course drainage code (Perfcode)—is developed to study this two-dimensional unsteady drainage process. Given a hyetograph, geometric information regarding the roadway layout, and hydraulic properties of the PFC media, the model predicts the variation of water depth within and on top of the PFC layer through time. The porous layer is treated as an unconfined aquifer using Darcy’s law and the Dupuit-Forchheimer assumptions. Surface flow is modeled using the diffusion wave approximation to the Saint-Venant equations. A mass balance approach is used to couple surface and subsurface phases. Straight and curved roadway geometries are accommodated via a curvilinear grid. The model is validated using steady-state solutions that were obtained independently. Perfcode was applied to a field monitoring site near Austin, Texas, and hydrographs predicted by the model were consistent with field measurements. For a sample storm studied in detail, PFC reduced the duration of sheet flow conditions by 80%. In a second sample storm, PFC prevented sheet flow conditions completely. The model may be used to improve the drainage design of PFC roadways.
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Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge the research support provided by the Texas Department of Transportation through the Center for Transportation Research at The University of Texas at Austin. We especially thank Gary Lantrip of TxDOT for his interest in PFC research.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 1 • January 2012
Pages: 13 - 22
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 12, 2010
Accepted: Jun 13, 2011
Published online: Jun 15, 2011
Published in print: Jan 1, 2012
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