Predicting urban stormwater flooding using geomorphic information

Stormwater flooding has emerged as a major challenge in urban areas due to its widespread and adverse impacts on transportation and the normal functioning of the economy. It can also cause loss of life. To predict the depth and duration of flooding at a specific locale, one could use the tools developed for river flooding (due to backwater). These include accurately mapping the terrain and running hydrologic software such as SWMM or HEC-HMS followed by hydraulic engineering software such as HEC-RAS. However, due to the high number of flooding locations, such a task is cost prohibitive. For this reason, the research team proposes to develop empirical correlations that could predict the discharge and the depth of sheet flow and their durations based on easily measurable quantities, such as upslope, downslope, area, land-use, etc.. To obtain these correlations, the team will select twenty archetypical sites in the City of Newark along with standard design storms to conduct the standard hydrologic modeling approach followed by hydraulic engineering calculations. The team will then correlate various aspects of the hydrographs and water depths with the geomorphic factors stated above. The team believes that such an approach, if successful, would allow rapid evaluation of flooding in Newark and other similar cities, such as New York City, and will thus allow contingency planning and appropriate allocation of transit resources.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $100,001.00
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  University Transportation Research Center

  City College of New York
  Marshak Hall, Suite 910, 160 Convent Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10031
• Performing Organizations:

  New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)

  Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
  University Heights
  Newark, NJ  United States  07102-1982
• Principal Investigators:

  Boufadel, Michel

• Start Date: 20230901
• Expected Completion Date: 20240831
• Actual Completion Date: 20240831
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Floods; Forecasting; Geomorphology; Hydrographs; Hydrology; Urban areas
• Geographic Terms: Newark (New Jersey)
• Subject Areas: Environment; Hydraulics and Hydrology; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01941736
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: University Transportation Research Center
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 5 2025 3:51PM