FLOOD08298

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Computer Determination of Flow Through Bridges
• Date: 2/1/1979
• Prepared For: US
• Prepared By: COE
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

COMPUTER DETERMINATION OF FLOW THROUGH BRIDGES 1
2 3
By Bill S. Eichert, M. ASCE, and John Peters, A.M. ASCE

INTRODUCTION

.

Many thousands of miles of water surface profiles are computed each

year by engineers throughout the world in order to evaluate flood damage

potential and to design channels that will reduce future flooding, Many

of these studies require the determination of profiles through various

types and shapes of bridges, Because of the repetitious nature of these

studies and the large amount of engineering labor required, it is desir-

able that digital computer programs for determining water surface profiles

include comprehensive bridge routines that will handle the variety of

bridge flow conditions that can be encountered in a typical study, A

brief comparison of bridge loss routines from several sophisticated

computer programs is contained in reference 1. This paper describes

comprehensive bridge flow routines that are incorporated in The Hydrologic

Engineering Center Program on Water Surface Profiles (reference 2), which

is now in use in many offices in the United States. Theoretical aspects

of procedures used in The Hydrologic Engineering Center's (HEC) computer

program for low flow through bridges (where the water surface is not in

contact with the low chord of the bridge) are presented. Theory of weir

.

1
Published in the Journal of the Hydraulics Division, ASCE, vol. 96, no. HY7,
July 1970, pp. 1455-1468.

.

2
Assistant Director, The Hydrologic Engineering Center, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers; Davis, California.

3
Hydraulic Engineer, The Hydrologic Engineering Center, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers; Davis, California.