© Definition

© Importance
© Requirements
© Types of drainage
© Surface Drainage
© Sub Surface Drainage
© “Process of removing and controlling
excess surface and sub soil water within
the right of way”
© 1. Surface drainage System
© 2. Sub Surface drainage system
 Highway drainage is important because of following reasons:

© Excess moisture in soil sub grade lowers of

Pavement Stability
© Reduction in pavement material strength
© Increase in volume of soil
© Waves and corrugations formation
© Stripping of bitumen from aggregate
© Mud pumping, failure of slopes.
© Frost action
© Effective removal of surface water
© Preventing the entry of water into pavement
from adjoining land
© Drains – sufficient capacity & longitudinal slope
© Sub Surface drainage system
© GWTL- 1.2 m below the GL
© Water logged area- Special precautions
© Collection of Surface Water
© Design of Surface Drainage System
© Hydrologic Analysis
© Hydraulic Analysis
© “The process of removal and diversion of
surface water from the roadway and adjoining
land is known as Surface Drainage”
© First the water is collected in side drains and
then disposed off into the nearest stream.
© 1. Collection of surface water
© 2. Design of surface drainage system
Water is removed by providing camber or cross slope.
Slope depends on rainfall and pavement type.
1. Rural Areas: Water drained off from surface has to be
drained across the shoulders. So, shoulders should be with
suitable cross slope. Usually open drains are laid along the
length of the road, so called as longitudinal drains. When
there is restriction of space deep open drains are
undesirable particularly when road is in cutting in such
locations covered drainages are constructed.
Layers of Coarse sand and gravel may be provided
2.Urban Areas: Due to limitation of land width
and road facilities, it is necessary to provide
under ground longitudinal drains. Water
drained from surface can be carried in
longitudinal direction between kerb and
pavement for short distances. This water can
be collected in catch pits at suitable intervals.
© 1. Hydrologic Analysis
© 2. Hydraulic Analysis
 Runoff: A portion of precipitation during rainfall
infiltrates into the ground as ground water and
small portion gets evaporated. The remaining
portion which flows over the surface is termed as
run-off.
 Factors affecting run-off are rate of rainfall, type of
soil and moisture condition, topography of area,
type of ground cover etc.,
 Estimation of Surface Run-off
Q= C * i * Ad
Q= run-off in m3 /sec
C= run off coefficient (Run off/rate of rain fall)
i = intensity of rain fall
Ad= drainage area in 1000m2
Type of Pavement Run of coefficients ,
Surface C
Bituminous or CC Roads 0.8-0.9
Gravel and WBM Roads 0.35 – 0.70
Impervious Soil 0.40- 0.65
Soil Covered with turf 0.30-0.55
Pervious Soils 0.05-0.30
 Time for water to flow through the drain
between inlet and outlet points is
determined based on allowable velocity
of flow in drain ranging from 0.3 to 1.5
m/sec, depending on type of soil.
 After
estimation of Q- The next step is to design
the drain capacity by principles of open
channel flow.

The area of the cross section is calculated by

Q= AV
Where Q= Quantity of surface water
A = Area of the cross section of the channel in m2
V= The allowable velocity of flow in m/sec
 Soil Type Allowable Velocity
(m/sec)

Sand and Silt 0.3- 0.5

Loam 0.6- 0.9

Clay 0.9 – 1.5

Gravel 1.2- 1.5

Good Soil with Turf 1.5- 1.8



Type of soil Roughness Coefficient

Ordinary Earth 0.02
Earth with vegetation 0.05-0.1
Lined Channels 0.013- 0.04
© Total Road length and width
© Run-off coefficients for different surfaces
© Type of the soil
© Roughness coefficients
© Allowable velocity
© Rainfall data
© Total area of the drainage Ad in 1000m2
© The values of C1, C2,C3 are computed
© Run off quantity Q is computed
© A = Q/V
© Required depth of flow is computed
© Slope is determined by using Manning’s co-
efficient
Lowering of high water table in permeable soils
Sub-surface drainage
system with
transverse drains
Granular Capillary Cut-off
Impermeable capillary cut-off