Discharge Capacity for Curb‐Opening Inlets

Abstract

Curb-opening inlets have been used extensively in urban and highway drainage systems. Until quite recently, the numerical solution of equations for determining the water-surface profile and curb-opening inlet discharge was tedious. The result was that approximate methods were used based on experiments conducted over a limited range of the many variables involved. This study develops a new hydraulic design procedure for curb-opening inlets based on experimental data. The results are presented in graphical form for practical use. The experiments cover supercritical regimes and observed water surface profiles, for which the interception ratio of curb-opening inlets to main street discharge can be presented by dimensionless parameters related to length of curb-opening inlets, Froude number, and width of spread.