Duration of a Design Rainfall for Urban Drainage System Modelling

In the presented paper the determination of the design rainfall duration for which the outflow from the urban catchment reaches maximum intensity and the evaluation of the relation between determined design rainfall duration and selected catchment characteristics were discussed. The analysis based on the outflow simulation results in SWMM5 obtained for eight existing urban catchment located in Bydgoszcz (Poland) with area ca. 35-280 ha. The calculations were made for the Euler hyetographs with the rainfall durations from 15 min to 360 min and the rainfall frequency of occurrence c = 2 years. For each catchment the relations between the catchment characteristics (total area, impervious area, length of the flow path and the longest flow time through the sewers) and the rainfall duration were determined. It was shown, that the design rainfall duration, represented by the Euler hyetograph, should be at least three times longer than the flow time through the catchment.