FLOOD03746

• County: Boulder
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Human Stability in a High Flood Hazard Zone
• Date: 8/1/1989
• Prepared For: CWCB
• Prepared By: David Love & Associates
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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Human Stability in a High Flood Hazard Zone

EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM

A series of 71 tests were conducted in a pilot experi,
mental program in which six tests were with a monolith
subject and 65 tests were with human subjects. Tests
were conducted in a flume with slopes of 0.005 and
0.015. Two flume slopes were used to provide a varia-
tion in flow depths and flow velocities.

DESCRIPl'ION OF FACILITY

The test facility was a steel flume 200 ft (61 m) in
length, 8 ft (2.44 m) in width, and 4 ft (1.22 m) in depth.
The facility is located at the Engineering Research
Center of Colorado State University, Fort Collins,
Colorado. The flume slope can be varied from zero to
nearly 3 percent and has a discharge capacity of ap-
proximately 100 cfs (2.83 m3/s),
The interior of the flume was segmented into three
sections: a flow development section extending 100 ft
(30.48 m), a test section extending 75 ft (22.86 m), and a
tail water control section, The test section was divided
into four reaches; each reach prepared with a different
surface with length of 10-25 ft, The test surfaces were
simulated turf, smooth concrete, steel, and chip. The
chip was comprised of a sand and gravel mixture with a
maximum grain diameter of 0.375 inches (0.95 cm),
The discharge was regulated by sequencing a series
of pumps in conjunction with control valves in the inlet
pipes, The discharge was measured with orifice plates
in the inlet pipes to an accuracy of f3 percent. The ve-
locity was determined using a Marsh McBirne~ mag-
netic flow meter. The depth of flow was measured with
pressure transducers mounted flush with the flume
floor in each test section. The flow depth was periodi-
cally checked with a staff gage mounted on the flume
sidewall

DESCRIPl'ION OF SUBJECTS

The experimental program (Abt, 1988) was con-
ducted using a single monolith subject and twenty hu-
man subjects. A monolithic concrete subject was fabri-
cated for a verification of the toppling envelope curve
presented in Fig. 2. The monolith was constructed to be
five feet tall, one foot wide and one-half foot thick as
recommended by Love (1987). The footprint of the
monolith was one foot wide by one-half foot thick, pro-
viding the monolith a foundation of seventy two square
inches (446,5 em").

The monolith was constructed with a styrofoam core
shrouded with reinforcing wire fabric. A light-weight
aggregate was mixed with the cement paste and vi-
brated into and around the styrofoam and wire. A ce-
ment veneer coat was then applied, shaped and finished
to the desired dimensions.
Twenty human subjects who ranged in weight from
approximately 90 to 201 pounds (40.9 to 91.4 kg) and in
height from 60 to 72 inches (152-183 em) were tested, A
summary of human subjects' sex, age, height, and
weight is shown in Table 1, All subjects were in good
health.

TABLE 1. Teat Subject Summary
Ace Height Weight
Subject" S- (Yean) (inches) (em) (po1lIlII8) (kg)
1 male 39 67.0 170.2 160.7 73.0
2 female 27 68.0 172.7 124.5 56.6
3 female 29 60.0 152.4 90.0 40.9
4 male 29 70.0 177.8 189.0 85.9
5 male 26 72.0 182.9 130.0 59.1
6 male 30 71.0 180.3 201.0 91.4
7 male 31 68.0 172.7 161.0 73.2
8 male 43 72.0 182.9 198.2 90.1
9 male 54 72.0 182.9 160.2 72.8
10 male 41 70.0 177.8 187.5 85.2
11 male 36 69.5 176.5 187.4 85.2
12 male 30 72.0 182.9 163.1 74.1
13 male 21 70.5 179.1 154.4 70.2
14 male 22 70.0 177.8 173.5 78.9
15 male 21 73.5 186.7 185.6 84.4
16 male 20 75.0 190.5 199.6 90.7
17 male 20 69.0 175.3 165.8 75.4
18 male 22 70.0 177.8 153.4 69.7
19 male 19 71.0 180.3 183.2 83.3
20 male 28 71.0 180.3 175.5 79.8
21 monolith 60.0 152.4 117.5 53.4
*All human subjects were in good health.

In order to establish a consistent data base, subjects
were requested to wear similar clothing. Subjects gen-
erally wore jeans or slacks and pull-over shirts.
Footwear worn included tennis shoes, thongs and light
boots. Clothing that altered the frontal projection, Le"
dresses, etc., were not tested,

Test Procedure

The safety of the human subject was paramount
throughout the experimental program. A two'piece
harness was fit to each subject and tethered to a hoist
through a steel frame mounted to the flume walls as
shown in Figure 3. The subject also wore a safety

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