ECE 2410: HYDROLOGY II CAT II

SOLUTIONS
QUESTION ONE

Risk R  0.1 Life span of bridge n = 50 years

50
 1
= 1   = 1 0.11/ 50 = 0.9979 meaning T = 474 years
1
R  0.1 = 1  1  
 T  T
Apply Gumbel’s distribution to estimate the flood magnitude with this return period.
Length of record (n) = 32 years. From the given tables for n = 32 y n = 0.5380 and  n = 1.1193
  T    474 
 In  In
yT   In  In r  =   6.1602
  474  1 
  Tr  1 
y  yn 6.1602  0.5380
K T   5.0246
Sn 1.1193
Design flood for the bridge xT = xT  K n1 = 30,000 + (5.0246x 15,000) = 105,369 m3/s

QUESTION TWO

Time of concentration t c  50 minutes

Rainfall intensity for this duration I
35 = I
35 = 35 = 35  7.384 cm/hr.
t  100.38 50  100.38 600.38 4.739

Since the airport is paved, C may be taken as falling between 0.9 and 1.0

Discharge Q is then given by Q  2.778CIA  2.778x0.9 x 2.5 x7.384  46.154m 3 / s (if C = 0.90)
Q  2.778CIA  2.778x0.95x 2.5 x7.384  48.717m 3 / s (if C = 0.95)
Q  2.778CIA  2.778x1.0 x 2.5 x7.384  51.282m 3 / s (if C = 1.0)

The Engineer must design the drainage system for a discharge of either of the three
depending on the C value selected. Ideally for paved areas where infiltration is assumed zero
C can be taken as 1.0. For purposes of this CAT values of C below 0.9 are not considered
wise choices.