WFU
Hydrologic Design of a Stormwater Detention Basin: Wake Forest Watershed
In this module, you will use the engineering design process to design a detention basin for use in protecting an area of urban development from flooding. In doing so, you will learn about specific topics in hydrology.
Problem Statement
Flooding is common in developed areas where runoff from rainfall quickly accumulates in coulees and cannot drain fast enough. A flash flood is a sudden and rapid rise in stream water depth resulting from heavy, localized rainfall. With a growing population, developing neighborhoods in terrain susceptible to flash floods have become more common and therefore increased the potential for damage to private property and public infrastructure.
Hydrologists are frequently required to design flood protection infrastructure to protect people and property from the impacts of flash flooding. This module is based on a localized student flood protection project for the Wake Forest Campus Watershed, Winston-Salem, NC.
Module Overview
In this module you will use the engineering design process to design a detention basin for use in protecting an area of urban development from flooding. In doing so, you will learn about specific topics in hydrology.
Topics Covered
Precipitation, Runoff and Infiltration, Outflow Hydrographs, Detention Basin Design
Pre-requisites
N/A
Learning Objectives
At the end of this case study, you should be able to describe and implement the steps involved in: acquiring and analyzing precipitation and soils data, developing a design storm hyetograph, developing a runoff hydrograph, and designing a detention basin to provide flood protection.
This will be accomplished through activities within each section. Results from each activity will be recorded in specified results templates. The results templates for each activity can be found at the beginning of each activity. The results templates are organized such that results from one activity can easily be used in successive activities.
Course Authors
Courtney Di Vittorio, PhD
Wake Forest University. Contact: divittoc@wfu.edu
Emad Habib, PhD, PE
University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Contact: emad.habib@louisiana.edu
Olivia LaHaye, Graduate Research Assistant
University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Contact: C00121316@louisiana.edu
Target Audience
Junior/Senior Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering Courses
Tools Needed
Computer with access to Internet, Excel, and free HEC-HMS software
Course Sharing and Adaptation
This course is available for export by clicking the "Export Link" at the top right of this page. This course can cited as follows:
DiVittorio, C., (2020). Hydrologic Design of a Stormwater Detention Basin: Wake Forest Watershed. HydroLearn. https://edx.hydrolearn.org/courses/course-v1:WFU+EGR-324-1+Fall-2020/about
If you are an Instructor seeking the answer keys, please contact the course creators using your official University email account.
Expected Effort
The module developers estimate that this module will take between 30 to 35 hours to complete.