Hydraulic Efficiency of Grate and Curb Inlets for Urban Storm Drainage
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Abstract
A curb inlet and two combination inlets (with a grate and curb opening) used for storm-water drainage were tested under varying road conditions, and equations were developed for their application. The need for this study arose from a general uncertainty in matching the inlets tested to previously published methods. This uncertainty relates to sizing inlets and in determining the flow captured. A one-third Froude-scale model of a two-lane road section was designed and built for testing. A total of 120 tests were performed for longitudinal street slopes from 0.5 to 4%, cross slopes from 1 to 2%, gutter prototype flow depths from 0.1 to 0.15 m, and prototype inlet lengths from 1 to 4.6 m. Collected test data on inlet efficiency were compared to previously published methods for the inlets and were found to deviate by as much as 45% and an average of 13% at typical design depths of 0.1–0.15 m. Existing methods for the curb inlet were modified, and empirical design equations were developed for the combination inlets. Dimensionless parameter groups developed for empirical equations are based largely upon flow characteristics and may be applicable to other inlets. New methods were found to deviate by as much as 19% and by an average of 5% from the observed test data for typical design depths of 0.1–0.15 m.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank Ken Mackenzie of the UDFCD for funding and guidance, Dr. James Guo for shaping and guiding the project, and Dr. Larry Roesner for advice. Model development and data collection were greatly aided by Barry Tanaka, Michael Scurlock, Merrell Bennett, and Andrew Fisher.
References
Comport, B. (2009). “Hydraulic efficiency of grate and curb inlets for urban storm drainage.” MS thesis, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). (1977). “Hydraulic and safety characteristics of selected grate inlets on continuous grades.” Vol. 1 of Bicycle-safe grate inlets study, Burgi, P. H., and Gober, D. E., eds., Publication No. FHWA-RD-77-24, U.S. National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). (2009). “Urban drainage design manual.” Hydraulic engineering circular No. 22, Brown, S. A., Schall, J. D., Morris, J. L., Doherty, C. L., Stein, S. M., and Warner, J. C., eds., 3rd Ed., Publication No. FHWA-NHI-10-009, U.S. National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA, 4–47.
Li, W. H. (1956). The design of storm-water inlets, Johns Hopkins Univ., Dept. of Sanitary Engineering and Water Resources, Baltimore, MD.
Sturm, T. (2001). Open channel hydraulics, McGraw-Hill Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Textbook Series, New York, 512.
Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (UDFCD). (2008). Urban storm drainage: Criteria manual, Vol. 1., Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, Denver, 6–21.
Uyumaz, A. (2002). “Urban drainage with curb-opening inlets.” Global Solutions for Urban Drainage, Proc., 9th Int. Conf. on Urban Drainage, ASCE, Reston, VA.
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© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 9, 2010
Accepted: Jan 3, 2012
Published online: Sep 14, 2012
Published in print: Oct 1, 2012
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