MEMORANDUM

TO:
FROM

AVP DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING

CIVIL ENGINEER

DATE:
SUBJECT:

DECEMBER 24, 2007

REPORT ON THE ADEQUACY OF DRAINS CONSTRUCTED
UNDER HIGHWAY 2000 FOR RECLAMATION AREA, R1

As per your request, kindly see the attached report on the captioned subject.

David Mudahy
/sh
Attachment

ADEQUACY OF DRAINS CONSTRUCTED UNDER HIGHWAY 2000

ALONG THE WEST BOUNDARY OF RECLAMATION AREA, R1

INTRODUCTION
In order to facilitate the expansion of the Kingston Container Terminal, part
of Hunts Bay to the west of the Old Portmore Causeway was reclaimed using
materials dredged from the Kingston Harbour, and the Old Causeway realigned to western boundary of the reclaimed area. This reclaimed area, is
commonly referred to as R1.
To facilitate the adequate drainage of the reclaimed area the developers of
the re-aligned Causeway, Transjamaican Highway, constructed drains under
the roadway. Five drains consisting of 900mm and 1,200mm diameter pipe
culverts were put in place. The as-built drawings of the roadway provided
by National Road Operating and Construction Company Limited (NROCC)
indicates the location of each drain, the size and number of culvert in each
drain, the length of each drain and the invert levels at the inlet and outlet
end of each drain.
CAPACITY OF THE DRAINS
Using the information given in the as-built drawings, the capacity of each
drain has been calculated. Three sets of capacities have been determined
for each drain. One for the drain flowing full (d/D=1), one for the drain
flowing 70% full (d/D = 0.7) and the other for the drain flowing 50% full (d/D
= 0.5). The drain description, the diameter and numbers of its constituent
culverts and the three sets of capacities are indicted in Table 1.
TABLE 1 CAPACITY OF DRAINS
Runoff Capacity (m3/s)
d/D =
d/D =
d/D = 1
0.5
0.7
Culvert 2
900
1.66
2.78
3.32
Culvert 3
1,200
3.32
5.56
6.65
900
1.66
2.78
3.32
Culvert 4
1,200
1.79
2.99
3.58
3.45
5.77
6.90
Culvert 5
900
3
2.28
3.81
4.55
Culvert 6
900
3
2.49
4.17
4.99
STORMWATER RUNOFF FOR TEN YEAR AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS
RAINFALL EVENTS
Drain
Description

Culvert Dia.
(mm)

No. of
Culver
ts
2
2
2
1

In order to determine the expected runoff from R1 during a ten year or

twenty-five year storm, the overall area had to be broken up into five (5)
distinct catchment basins, each contributing to a drain. Each basin will
consist of two areas, a paved area and an unpaved (undeveloped) area. The
unpaved or undeveloped area is due to the existence of a 45m wide buffer
zone parallel to the Highway 2000 carriageway. It has been agreed (PAJ/TJH)
that this area will remain undeveloped to ensure that the works involved in
the expansion of the container terminal will have little impact on the
settlement of the roadway.
For the purpose of runoff calculations it has been, therefore, assumed that
whilst the paved areas will be fully impermeable and have a runoff
coefficient (C) of 1, the unpaved areas will be treated as being semi
permeable and assigned a run-off coefficient of . All runoff calculations
have been conducted using the rational method. The results of the runoff
calculation for each catchment basin are given in Table 2.

TABLE 2 RUNOFF FOR CATCHMENT BASINS IN R1

Catchment Description

Area

Runoff (m3/s)

(Ha)

10 year
storm

25 year
storm

2.62
1.35
3.98

0.90
0.20
1.10

1.13
0.26
1.39

9.97

1.88

2.42

2.20

0.18

0.22

12.27

2.06

2.68

12.51
1.55

2.25
0.22

2.87
0.28

8.32

2.47

3.15

6.77

1.48

1.88

1.55

0.13

0.17

8.32

1.61

2.05

1.43

0.57

0.71

Unpaved, A11

1.16

0.16

0.19

Total

2.59

0.73

0.90

Area contributing
Culvert 2
Paved, A2
Unpaved, A7
Total
Area contributing
Culvert 3
Paved, A3
Unpaved, A8
Total
Area contributing
Culvert 4
Paved, A4
Unpaved, A9
Total
Area contributing
Culvert 5
Paved, A5
Unpaved, A10
Total
Area contributing
Culvert 6
Paved, A6

to

to

to

to

to

Capacity of Existing Drains to accommodate Expected Runoff

In open channel flow, pipe culverts do not fill up totally, and so it is not
practical to consider using the flowing full capacity to determine the
adequacy of this type of culvert. If one considers that in most instances the
culverts will contain some amount of debris, then it is best to use the
capacity of drains flowing 70% full to consider its capacity for
accommodating the expected run-off. The comparison of the drain capacity
(flowing 70% full) and the expected runoff for a twenty-five year storm for
each drain is summarized in Table 3.

TABLE 3
Drain
Description

Culvert
Culvert
Culvert
Culvert
Culvert

Contributing
Catchment
Area (Ha)

Runoff Capacity
d/D = 0.7

3.98
12.17
14.82
8.32
2.59

2.78
5.56
5.77
3.81
4.17

2
3
4
5
6

Expected
Runoff
for 25 year
storm
(m3/s)
1.39
2.68
3.15
2.05
0.90

Based on the information provided in Table 3, the capacity of all five drains
far exceeds the expected runoff from the respective catchment basins. As
such there should be no flooding of the R1 area from a twenty-five year
storm or any rainfall event of lesser significance.
The adequacy of the five drains may be jeopardized by any of the following:

Accumulation of debris in the culverts.

Paving of significant portion of the buffer zone
Poor design and or construction of the stormwater drainage network
for the area.

Continuous and deliberate efforts will have to be made to ensure that none
of these things happen if flooding of area is to be averted. In addition, it
must be recognized that if the area is subjected to a rainfall event of lesser
frequency (50 years or 100 years), the area may be temporarily flooded. It
is not conventional to design drains for light industrial areas to
accommodate such major rainfall events.
A Plan of the Reclamation Area R1 showing the various catchment basins is
attached for further information.

Prepared by: David Mudahy

Date: December 24, 2007