Methodology to study the surface runoff in urban streets and the design of drainage inlets systems: application in a real case study

Abstract

Barcelona is located in the Mediterranean area in the North of Spain and this increases its hydrological problems concerning urban environment. Recently a big effort has been done to increase the capacity of the city sewers but still there are flood problems although the sewer capacity shows to be enough. This is the case of the North Bus Station area. The aim of this study was to solve the problems concerning the frequent floods in this area so a specific hydraulic analysis based on a simulation modeling of the behavior of the pipes was carried out. The results of the simulation showed that local pipes had sufficient capacity and floods were caused by a lack of inlets. To avoid floods it was necessary to design a correct drainage system in the whole urban basin. The hydraulic behavior of the involved streets was analyzed with HECMOD. According to a design storm, it was calculated the number of necessary inlets to fulfill the risk criteria associated to the surface runoff. Finally it was possible to know the flow evolution in this catchment and the related values of some hydraulic parameters (water depth and velocity) responsible for the security of pedestrian and vehicular circulation.