Group 8 Final Report 1-3-2012

8/10/2019 Group 8 Final Report 1-3-2012

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Sustainable Project Design Management

Final Report

Topic: The Suhua Roadway Improvement Project:

Stormwater Runoff Quantity

Group 8:

Reggie Clarita Lim

John Harrison

Henry Chen

George Jatta


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Project Overview

The Suhua roadway improvement project is

currently underway in North-eastern

Taiwan. There are three section of the

road that will be improved. The budget for

this project is stated to be 46.5 billion NT

dollars. It is to be completed in 2017-18.

It is noted that the project, which started

this year, is already behind schedule (Taipei

Times, 2011).

Purpose of Studying the Suhua Roadway ProjectThis area of Taiwan is of unique geography and geology. The average total annually

rainfall for Hualien is 2176.8mm and for Yilan is 2837.7mm (CWB, 2011), thus making it

a very wet location for most of the year. Seasonal typhoons often make landfall in the

Hualian/Yilan region of Taiwan. Coupled with the complex geology found in this area,

creates engineering challenges to stabilize weak or easily eroded bedrock. Therefore

not only environmental issues are affected but living and traveling in this area becomes

hazardous. Yet, roadways are continuously damaged, then repaired to maintain

accessibility to larger regional centers for economic purposes. This includes trade andtourism that relies on the roadway being open to truck and bus traffic. Finally, the high

cost of this project has raised questions about the sustainability of such a project,

whereas as alternatives to a road could be more viable and cheaper.


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Problems Identified

Figure 1 shows a framework for highway stormwater runoff. Four areas have been

identified as management criteria. These four have been adapted from the Greenroads

credit rating system (2011). The Environment and Water section of the manual

describes eight categories that highway projects can obtain credits from. From the

eight, EW-2 Runoff Flow Control and EW-3 Runoff Quality are deemed within the scope

of this study.

Runoff Quantity ControlIt has been determined that runoff quality is not an issue for this project. This is

because of the massive quantity of annual precipitation that the project area receives.

The Environmental Impact Assessment completed for this project reports annual

average precipitation of 4309.6 mm (EIA, Su-ao, 2009). It is also stated that

precipitation is driven by the rainy season and the affects of typhoons hitting the area.

Therefore, for this study, quantity and control of water have been identified as a matter that

requires a specific management approach to handle such enormous amounts of precipitation,

and the latter, runoff.

Goals/Objectives

The aim of this study is to design and propose a sustainable management approach for

roadway stormwater runoff quantity specifically for the Suhua project. Within this

approach, such issues can be addressed: 1. Minimizing downstream flooding, 2.

Mitigating against alterations to the local ecology, 3. Reducing runoff volumes requiring

treatment 4. Maximizing the efficiency of sediment control. Structures and designs

will be investigated based on their maximum flow rate and volume capacities.


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Therefore, stormwater management can help to avoid impacts such as preservation or if

possible to restore the natural features. It is also a way to protect as much undisturbed

land as possible and to be able to minimize the hydrologic alteration of the site.

Methodology

The Best Management Practice is technique, measure or structural control that is used

for a given set of conditions to manage the quantity and improve the quality of storm

water runoff in the most cost-effective manner. Moreover, The goals of all storm water

best management practices is to reduce or eliminate the contaminants collected by

storm water from being transported into the natural

waterways and other bodies of water so that the quality

of the water can be maintained thus protecting both theenvironment and the public from potential damages

caused by exposure to pollutants (Safe, Drain 2011). In

addition, the BMP can be designed with sufficient

storage volume and/or infiltration capacity to accept the

stormwater runoff from the site after development in

addition to runoff from all areas upstream. Figure 1

shows the workflow of the BMP/LID selection process.

Figure 1: BMP/LID Workflow


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In the table7.1, it shows a matrix about the BMP where it listed down several methods

or techniques that can be used for runoff volume. Likewise, it also stated the potential

application of these methods; for example, it can be applied to roadway. Furthermore,

through this list of methods, it also illustrates the stormwater quantity function that

ranges from low to high which can be a factor in choosing a more sustainable methodmanagement.

Table 1: BMPs and Factors, from Bui (2011).


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It is noticeable that the BMP and LID are interrelated to each other as both concepts are

for water management. Likewise, most of them have the techniques and methods to

manage water whether for quantity or quality. Furthermore, the BMP and LID

incorporates pollution prevention and treatment, flood control and watershed

management are other functions of the two concepts. Thus, through these concepts it is

evidently seen that it will be effective application for stormwater runoff.

In the table below, it shows the common Best Management Practices and Low Impact

Development strategies for the stormwater runoff especially for the water quantity. The

group used several journals such as Tsai & Chang (2011), as they mentioned in the

sustainable items: drainage is one of indicators that can be associated with roadway in

which it mentioned several strategies for sustainable flow of the storm water.

Table 2: BMP candidates chosen for Suhua Sample Roadway Section.

BMP Steep

Slopes

Quantity

Control

Runoff

Reduction Rate

1.Grass Swales 40-60

2.Infiltration Basin - 50-80

3.Pervious Pavement - 40-75

4.Bio-retention

40-805.Vegetated Swales - 40-60

Bioretention has been chosen as the most suitable BMP/LID approach for this prject

based on it performance on steep slopes and quantity control potential. This will be

analysed in later sections.

Indicators

Greenroads is a rating system available specifically for designing and constructingsustainable infrastructure projects. The Green roads is also a collection of sustainability

best practices which can be applied to any roadway project, including new,

reconstruction and rehabilitation, and bridges. Therefore, this study will be adapting

green roads credits system to analyze if the management methods suit a project such as

SuHua Roadway Improvement project..

Greenroad Credit Example: EW 2, Stormwater Runoff Control

The goal of this credit is to mimic the hydrological right of way and minimize the offsite

stormwater control. Within this credit example, five requirements must be met to


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achieve the 1-3 points. They are as follows; 1. Develop a stormwater management plan

for the site using BMP for flow control, 2. Use LID BMP to the maximum extent, 3.

Compute the 90th percentile average annual rainfall event values for predevelopment

and post construction conditions, 4. Provide BMPs for the stormwater control, 5.

Demonstrate that the planned BMPs meet the flow control criteria.

Sustainable Items

Tsai and Chang (2011) have developed a sustainable items list for the application to

highway design. The list includes the aspect of drainage as an indicator, with five

techniques identified. They include runoff reduction, vegetated or gravel ditches,

rainwater catchments, infiltration trenches or catch basins, and sediment ponds (2011).

Design and Sustainable Process

In the paper of Waage (2007) which is, ``Reconsidering Product Design: a Practical Road

Map for Integration of Sustainability Issues`` where it has discussed a model of product

design processes that involves successive phases: Understand, Explore, Define and

Refine and Implement. We have adopted these four phases to achieve a sustainable

management approach for the Su-Hua stormwater runoff, specifically the matter of

water quantity. We did satisfied phase 1 and 2, which we try to understand and explore

more about the stormwater runoff particularly in the water quantity. As we explore theand have more in depth learning about the storm water quantity, the group realized that

water quantity and water control are interrelated because through the water control it

also tries to measure the water quantity. This is the phase 3 where we refine more of our

topic in order to be more meaningful. Furthermore, through the further research

methods, checklist, and other matters that can be help for the more efficient handling of

the water quantity in Su-hua roadway are being stated and discussed. This is the final

phase where in the group will provide the simple strategies that is feasible and can be

implemented in the Su-Hua roadway project.

Analysis - Sample Highway Section

The roadway section from 104k +726m, to 120k+000m was chosen as the sample

location to analyse BMP and LID methods. The infiltration capacity of soils along the

roadway is an important factor when determining total runoff values. The EIA report

notes that this area is made up rugged terrain with steep and narrow catchments.

Such geography includes shallow soils with mixed geology. Furthermore, it can be


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assumed that during the rainy season and typhoon events that infiltration capacities

would be quickly reached and overland runoff would then occur.

The Su-hua roadway project has three sections that need to be improved. We chose the

Suao-Dongao section as a case study.

The base road conditions:

Width : 8 m

Length : 9.8 km

Average slope(S) : 5%

There are some characteristics with this section:

Too many curves

High accident rate

According to the above situation, government plans to improve Suao-Dongao section as

following :

Width : 14~18 m

Length : 9.8 km

Add 3 tunnels (4km), 5 bridges (4.4km)

Open Roadway length: 1.4 km

Figure 3 shows eight years of rainfall data for the Su-ao area, from 2003-2010 (CWB,2012). It is noted that there was a lack of precipitation data at the time of data

collection.

Figure 3: 90thPercentile for Su-ao, 3000 mm, CWB (2012)

Below is the data available based on the requirements for the Greenroads EW-2 credit

category (2011).

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Rainfall(mm

)

Probability (%)

90th Percentile for Su-ao Area

Rainfall (mm)


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Pre-Construction Total Runoff Volume

Given Data: Open Roadway length = 1.4 km

Roadway Width = 8m

90thPercentile Total Annual Rainfall = 3000 mm

Sample Roadway Area =

= 1,400 8

= 11,200

Total Roadway Runoff = 90

= 3000 11,200

= 33,600

Post-Construction Total Runoff Volume

Given Data: Open Roadway length = 1.4 km

Roadway Width = 18m

Total Annual Rainfall = 3000 mm

Sample Roadway Area = = 1,400 18

= 25,200

Total Roadway Runoff = 90

= 3000 25,200

= 75,600

= 90th Percentile Post-Construction 90th Percentile Pre-Construction = 90th Additional

Highway Runoff

= , , = ,

Run-on Calculation

This calculation was not done because there is lack of data for this section. Data

required would include through flow groundwater rates.

Rv Calculation

= Vtotal-post/Vtotal-pre = Rv


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= 75,600/33,600

Rv = 2.25

When we compare our value to table EW-2.1 from the Greenroads Manual, under the

existing alignment, the sample roadway sections does not earn any credits.

Bioretention BMP Analysis

Table 1 shows that Bioretention can reduce runoff quantities by 40-80%. We assume

that a reduction rate would be between the range for this BMP. The value of 60% is

chosen for this calculation. The reduction calculation is as follows;

= Vtotal-post 60% = Potential Reduction by Bioretention

= 75,600 *0.4 = 30,240 m3

Furthermore, an Rv value can be calculated as follows;

Rv = Vtotal-post/Vtotal-pre

Rv = 0.9

This new Rv value can then be compared to table EW-2.1, under the existing alignment.

A total of 2 points can be earned with this BMP method.

Discussion

The use of the Bioretention system to control runoff quantities seems to be the ideal

solution to gain points from the Greenroads credit system. This extra effort may

theoretically be worthwhile, but may in fact may add additional man hours and cost to

the project. As seen in the above calculations, a considerable runoff reduction is

needed to earn two Greenroads points.


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Conclusion

This study investigated a sustainable management approach that could be developed

and applied to a roadway improvement project in an area of Taiwan that is prone to

enormous amounts of annual rainfall. Therefore, such large amounts of precipitation

pose great challenges in the design and sustainable management of such a project. The

Greenroads ideology provides a basic framework to improving construction methods

used, but may require too much effort to the design phase of a project such as the Su-ao

Improvement project.

Division of Work

The workload for this project has been divided evenly amongst our group. Henry andReggie have been responsible for gathering EIA data that is in Chinese. George and

John have been gathering and reviewing literature for the quantity issues related to

runoff. Despite the division of work, we had weekly meetings to discuss progress and

difficulties that we had encountered. This allowed for group members to openly share

ideas with others to help build on our final project. This created a well-balanced effort

from all members.

Barriers

There was a language barrier that we faced in analysing data in Chinese. Only half our

group can read Chinese. Lack of data on our topic resulted in certain analysis to be

carried out. This also includes the fact that this project is under construction and some

measurements are not available. An example of this is the data for Run-on values,

which is not reported to be measured. Other barriers include lack of knowledge in the

background of civil engineering techniques for highway construction.

Reflections

This course allowed our group to learn more about the design and management of a

roadway project in Taiwan. We attempted to apply Greenroads philosophies to such a

project. Though it was difficult at times, we feel that we have gain valuable insight to

this field of study. The course work was somewhat heavy, due to the amount of smaller

assignments due on short notice. This forced our group to organise ourselves quickly

and efficiently. This was stressful at times, but we managed to integrate our strengths

to fulfill our given tasks.


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References

National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 565.(2006). Evaluation of Best

Management Practises for Highway Runoff Control. Transportation Research Board.

Washington D.C.

SuHua Highway Project Environmental Impact Assessment Report (in chinese).

Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov.tw/

Greenroads Manual, volume 1.5 (2011)

Tsai, C. Y., Chang, A. S., Framework for developing construction sustainability items: the

example of highway design, Journal of Cleaner Production (2011),

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.08.009

Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan. Precipitation Mean 1981-2010. Retrieved from:

http://www.cwb.gov.tw/V6e/index.htm

Azapagic, A., Millington, A., Collett, A., 2006. A methodology for integrating sustainability

considerations into process design. Trans IChemE (part A), 439-452.

Spangenberg, J, H., Fuad-Luke, A., Blincoe, K., 2010. Design for Sustainability (DFS): the

interface of sustainable production and consumption. Journal of Cleaner Production 18,1485-1493.

Safe Drain. (2011). Storm Water Pollution Prevention

LID Manual for Michigan. Chapter 7: Structural Best Management Practices. Retrieved

fromhttp://www.semcog.org/uploadedfiles/Programs_and_Projects/Water/Stormwate

r/LID/LID_Manual_chapter7.pdf

Natural Resources Defense Council. Chapter 12: Low Impact Development. Retrieved

from http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/storm/chap12.asp

Waage, S. A., (2007) Re-Considering Product Design: a practical road-map for

integration of sustainability issues. Journal of Cleaner Production, 15, 638-649.

LID Strategies and Tools for NPDES Phase II Communities. Retrieved from

http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/lidphase2/practices_controls.htm
http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/lidphase2/practices_controls.htmhttp://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/lidphase2/practices_controls.htm


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Campbell, Ashley J. (2009). A Multi-Criteria Approach for Rating Roadway Sustainability.

U.S.A: Florida State University

J.B. Ellis, J.-C. Deutsch, J.-M Mouchel, L. Scholes, M. D. Revitt. (2004). Multi-criteria

Decision Approaches to support Sustainable Drainage Options for the treatment of

Highway and Urban Runoff. Journal : Science of the Total Environment (2004) 251-260

Documents

Group 8 Final Report 1-3-2012