Engr. Larry C.

Zafico
Faculty, Civil Engineering Department
University of Cebu Main Campus
Highway engineers are primarily concerned with three
properties of rainfall:

Intensity the rate of fall

Duration the length of time for a given intensity

the probable number of years that will elapse before a given

Frequency
combination of intensity and duration will be repeated
 Rainfall Intensity-Frequency-Duration

285

265

245

225
Intensity (mm/hr)

205

185

165

145

125

105

85

65

45

25
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135

Duration(mins)

5 10 25 50
Other hydrologic variables that the engineer uses to determine
surface runoff rates are:

is the area of land that contributes to the runoff at the point

Drainage Area where the channel capacity is to be determined. This area is
normally determined from a topographic map.

Runoff Coefficient is the ratio of runoff to rainfall for the drainage area.

is the time required for the runoff to flow from hydraulically

Time of Concentration
most distant point of the watershed to the point of interest.
Watershed Delineation
 Determination of Runoffs
(Rational Method)
• The rational method is based on the premise that the rate of
runoff for any storm depends on: (1) the average storm
intensity, (2) the size of the drainage area, and (3) the type of
drainage area surface.
• Requires that the storm duration be at least equal to the time
of concentration, which is time required for the runoff to flow
from the farthest point of the drainage area to the outlet.
• To be used for relatively small drainage areas not greater
than 200 acres.
 Determination of Runoffs
(SCS Method, TR-55)
• A method developed by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (SCS)
(now known as the National Resources Conservation Service) is
commonly used in determining surface runoffs in highway
engineering.
• Referred to as TR-55, can be used to estimate runoff volumes
and peak rate of discharge.
• The fundamental premise used in developing this method is that
the depth of runoff depends on the rainfall. Some of the
precipitation occuring at the early stage of the storm, known as
initial abstraction, will not be part of the runoff.
Runoff Curve Number, CN

• In order to determine the values for CN, the

Soil Conservation Service (SCS) has developed
classification systems for:
– soil type
– cover
– antecedent soil moisture
Soils are group into four groups as
follows:
Group Type Runoff

A deep sand, deep loess, aggregated silts low

B shallow loess, sandy loam moderately low

clay loams, shallow sandy loam, soils low in

C moderately high
organic content, and soils usually high in clay

soils that swell significantly when wet, heavy

D high
plastic clays, and certain saline soils
USDA Texture Triangle
Chart is read as follows:

• Spaces vertically upward starting from zero at

the bottom, represents clay.
• Spaces from left to right diagonally downward
starting with zero at the left, represents silt.
• Spaces from right to left diagonally downward
starting with zero at the right, represents
sand.
The hydrologic condition is considered in terms of the level of
land management which is given in three classes:

Heavily grazed or regularly burned. Less

than 50% of the ground surface is
Poor
protected by land cover, bushes or tree
canopy.

Moderate cover with 50% to 75% the

Fair
ground surface protected by vegetation.

Heavy or dense cover with more than

Good
75% of the ground surface protected
The effect of antecedent moisture condition (AMC) on rate of
runoff is taken into consideration by classifying soil conditions
into three categories:

soils are dry but not to wilting point;

Condition I
satisfactory cultivation has taken place

Condition II average condition

heavy rainfall, or light rainfall and low

Condition III temperatures, have occurred within the
last five days; saturated soils