Tentative Design Procedure For Riprap-Lined Channels

Abstract

The purpose of highway drainage channels is to transport excess water from the highway surface and surrounding area to places of disposal, such as natural streams or other declivities. Such channels constructed through local natural materials must be designed to convey the prescribed discharges without serious erosion of the boundaries. It is the purpose of this report to discuss the characteristics of flow in open channels and the means by which erosion resistant channels may be designed. The suggested design procedure as outlined is based on information and practices that have been reported in the literature and on limited experimentation in areas where the literature appeared to be deficient in some respect. Stable channels represent a special case of the sediment transport problem and much of the data come from this discipline. A number of papers (1, 2) on this and related aspects have been helpful in organizing the data and developing the procedure.