DesignGuidance:

HydroplaningRiskAnalysis
Introduction
ThisdocumentprovidesguidanceontheanalysisofhydroplaningriskassessmentusingtheHPprogram
releasedinMay2014,andonestimatingexpecteddriverspeedduringrainfallevents.

Qualitativeresultsfromthe2012FloridaGulfCoastUniversity,EvaluationofDriverBehaviorto
HydroplaningintheStateofFloridaUsingDriveSimulation,wereusedtocorrelatestormintensitytoa
predictedspeedreductionduringwetweatherroadwayconditions.Thestudyinvolvedexamining
driverresponsetorainfallinbothadrivingsimulatorandusingrainfall/fieldspeeddatafromlimited
accessfreewaysacrossFlorida.Thestudyshowsthatduringlightrainevents(0.010.24in/hr)driver
speedsarerelativelyunaffected.Heavyrainfall(>0.25in/hr)causesdriverstoslowdownbetween6to
12mph.

HPcomputersoftwareisahydroplaningassessmenttooldevelopedbyFDOTandUniversityofSouth
Florida.Theprogramisavailablefordownloadat
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/rddesign/Drainage/ManualsandHandbooks.shtm,andhastwocomponents:

1. Amethodologytopredictwaterfilmthickness(WFT)onthepavementbeinganalyzed;and
2. AmethodologytopredictpotentialhydroplaningspeedgiventheWFTdetermined

HPoffersfourdifferentformulasforcalculatingtheWFTandthreedifferentformulasforpredictingthe
potentialhydroplaningspeed.TherecommendedHPoptions(theGallawayformulaforWFTtogether
withthePAVDRNformulaforpotentialhydroplaningspeedprediction)producewhathasbeenfoundto
bethebestpredictorofFloridaswetweathercrashdata.

ThePAVDRNcalculationsarebasedontestingperformedatatirepressureof24psiandthepavement
characteristicsbelow:

PavementType MTD(mm) Manningsn

PCC 0.91 0.031
DGAC 0.91 0.0327
OGAC 1.5 0.0355

Sources:
EvaluationofDriverBehaviortoHydroplaningintheStateofFloridaUsingDriverSimulation,2012,
FloridaGulfCoastUniversity.
HydroplaningonMultilaneFacilities,2012,UniversityofSouthFlorida
TRBPaper145288,2013,EvaluationofWidelyUsedHydroplaningRiskPredictionMethodsUsing
Florida'sPastCrashData

HydroplaningEvaluationProcedure
Step1

Estimatethepredicteddriverspeedduringrainfalleventsfrom0to4inchesperhourusingTable1,
below.Table1speedreductionsshouldbeappliedtothedesignspeedforthelistedintensities.

Table1:PredictedDriverResponse

Predicted
Intensity Speed PredictedDriver
(in/hr) Reduction1 Speed(mph)
(mph)

0.1 0 DesignSpeed0

0.25 0 DesignSpeed0

0.5 6 DesignSpeed6

1 8 DesignSpeed8

2 12 DesignSpeed12

3 Assumed45

4 Assumed45

1:PredictedspeedreductionstakenfromContractStudy
BDQ22performedbyGulfCoastUniversity.Highintensity
speedreductionsarenotknown;therefore45mphwas
conservativelyestimated.

Step2

UseHPtocalculatethewaterfilmthickness(WFT).

a. Entertherainfallintensityininches/hour.Sincepermeabilityisameasureofstormwater
passingthroughthepavementintotheground,leavethepermeabilitysettozero,sincethe
imperviousasphaltsurfaceunderthefrictioncoursepreventsdischargeofstormwaterinto
theground.
b. DefinethegeometricalpropertiesoftheroadwayintheLaneGeometrysection.
1) Waterfilmthicknessequationshavebeendevelopedbasedonfreeflowoverporous
homogeneous(havingaconstantslopeinanydirectionandconstructedofthesame
material)surfaces.Therefore,themostaccurateestimatesofwaterfilmthickness
(WFT)canbeobtainedbycombininglanesalongthepavementcrosssectionand
inputtingtheslopedatafortheoutermostlane.Forexample,insteadofcoding212
ft.lanesat0.02ft/ftcrossslopeand112ft.laneata0.03ft/ftslope,groupthelanes
andcodeas136ft.laneat0.03ft/ft.Thetotalwidthofthepavementwillaccountfor
themassofwatertravellingacrossthesectionandtheoutermostlanescrossslope
definestheflowdynamics.
2) Roadwaylongitudinalslopeaddstotheflowlength,increasingtheWFT,andlowering
thepotentialhydroplaningspeed.Therefore,enterthesteepestlongitudinalslope
expectedtooccurwithinthesectionofpavementbeinganalyzed.

 c. Select the type of pavement from the Pavement Surface Material section. The program
automaticallyprovidesadefaultvaluesforthemeantexturedepth(MTD).
PCC:Portlandcementconcrete;MTD=0.010.044in
DGAC:Densegradedasphalticconcrete;MTD=0.0090.065in
OGAC:Opengradedorporousasphalticconcrete;MTD=0.040.161in
d. ProceedandclicktheCalculateWaterFilmThicknessbutton.Therecommendedmethodis
theGallawayformula.
Gallaway Equation

0.003726 L0.519 I 0.562 MTD 0.125

t MTD
S 0.364

t = Water film thickness (in)

L = Plane length of flow path (ft)
I = Rainfall intensity (in/h)
MTD = Mean texture depth (in)
S = Pavement slope (ft/ft)

TheHPprogramcalculatestheWFTusingfourdifferentequations,theresultsofwhicharedisplayed,
alongwiththeformulaname,directlybelowtheCalculateWaterFilmThicknessbutton.Ensurethe
GallawayEquationisthemethodselectedforcalculatingWFT.

Step3

UseHPsoftwaretocalculatethePotentialHydroplaningSpeed.

a. Atthispoint,theuserhascalculatedtheWFT(usingtheGallawayEquation)andtheoutermost
lane water film thickness is displayed in the box labeled WFT selected. Because the Gallaway
EquationcalculatesthehighestWFT,theusercandoublecheckthatthecorrectfilmthicknessis
being used for the formula selected, by clicking on the WFT Variation or Highest WFT plot
buttonatthebottomofthedialogueboxandverifyingtheWFTresults.

b. The PAVDRN formula is recommended for calculating the predicted hydroplaning speed for
projectswithinFlorida.ThePAVDRNformulaforcalculatingHydroplaningSpeedhaspresettire
pressureandwheelloadsofthevehicle;thereforethesevariablesarenotenteredbytheuser.
ProceedtothefinalstepbyclickingtheCalculateHydroplaningSpeedbutton.

 PAVDRN Equation

For water film thicknesses less than 0.1 inches,
v p 26.04t 0.259

For water film thicknesses greater than or equal to 0.1 inches,

v p 3.09 A

Where, A is the greater of the values calculated using the following expressions
10.409 28.952
t 0.06 3.507 t 0.06 7.817( MTD)
0.14
or


vp = Hydroplaning speed (mph),
t = Water film thickness (in)
MTD = macro-texture depth (mm) (multiply inches by 25.4 to convert to mm).

TheHPprogramallowstheusertocalculatetheHydroplaningSpeedusingthreedifferentformulas.The
resultsofwhicharedisplayed,alongwiththeformulaname,directlybelowtheCalculateHydroplaning
Speedbutton.Notethereportedhydroplaningspeedisfortheoutermostlane,wherethewaterfilm
isthethickest.SelectthePAVDRNmethodologyforcalculatingthehydroplaningspeed.

Step4

Thelaststepistocomparethepredictedhydroplaningspeedtothepredicteddriverspeedtoseeif
thereisariskofhydroplaningforthesectionofroadway.Laneswherethepredicteddriversspeedis
greaterthanorequaltothehydroplaningspeedshouldbenotedandconsideredinthepotential
correctiveactionbenefit/costevaluationforthechosentypicalsection.

SampleProblem
Analyzeaproposedtypicalsectionwithtwo12ftlanesslopedat2percentandtwo12ftlanesata3
percentslopedtotheoutside.TheDistricthasrequestedthatahydroplaninganalysisbeperformed,
sincethissectionhasbeenproposedwithadesignspeedof70mphandSection2.1.5.1ofthePPM
requiresthatthedesignspeedbelessthanorequalto65mph.Themaximumlongitudinalslopeonthe
projectis1%.

1. TypicalsectiondesigndataisenteredintotheHPprograminterfaceforeachrainfallevent,as
illustratedbelowfora2/hrrainfall.Designdataincludesalongitudinalslopeof1percentand
thepavementtypeisopengradedfrictioncourse.

Note:Theentiresectionisenteredunderpavementwidthtoaccountforthevolumeofrunoff,
butonlytheoutermostlanecrossslopeisenteredtocharacterizetheflowhydraulics.

 2. SelecttheGallawayEquationforcalculatingWFTandclicktheCalculateWaterFilmThickness
button.Then,clicktheCalculateHydroplaningSpeedbuttonandselectthevalueshownonthe
PAVDRNEq.box.EnterthepredictedspeedintoTable1below,whichisanexcerptfromthe
spreadsheetavailableontheDrainagewebsite,
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/rddesign/Drainage/ManualsandHandbooks.shtm.Repeatthe
processwithdifferentrainfallintensitiesuntilthetableisfullypopulated.Typically,the2/hr
intensityisthemostcritical.Forlowerrainfallintensities,theWFTcanbenegative,indicating
thatthepavementwaterisbelowthetopofthepavement.Insuchcases,theprogramwill
reportanegativeWFTbutinternallyuseaWFTjustgreaterthanzerotocalculatethepredicted
hydroplaningspeed;fortheselowWFTs,alargehydroplaningspeedwillresultwhichindicates
hydroplaningisnotaconcern.

3. ThepredictedspeedreductionsfromTable1aresubtractedfromthedesignspeedtoestimate
thepredicteddriversspeed.Ifthehydroplaningspeedislessthanorequalto,thenthecellis
highlightedasanareaofconcern;resultsaretabulatedinthespreadsheetbelow:

Crossslope 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03

Rainfall
Intensity PredictedDriver
(in/hr) Lane1 Lane2 Lane3 Lane4 Speed(mph)

0.1 n/a 70
0.25 n/a 70

0.5 n/a 64
1 83 62
2 58 58

3 51 45

4 48 45

Noteabove,thatforonlyonerainfallintensity,thepredicteddriversspeedsequalsthespeedat
whichhydroplaningcouldoccur.Forthisoccurrence,thecostsavingsassociatedwiththe
proposedtypicalsectionmightjustifytheacceptanceofahydroplaningrisk.Prudent
investigationintodriverbehaviorandcrashhistoryoftheroadshouldbefactoredintothe
decisionmakingprocess.Thedecisiontoallowthesectionandaccepttheriskwouldneedtobe
supportedbytheDistrictthroughthedesignvariationprocess.