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Time of Concentration and Travel Time

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34 views16 pages

Time of Concentration and Travel Time

Uploaded by

aishahawar908
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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College of Engineering –water

resources department

Time of concentration and travel time


By : aysha hawar
What is the time of concentration &
travel time
 Time of concentration is a concept used in
hydrology to measure the response of a
watershed to a rain event.
 It is defined as the time needed for water to flow
from the most remote point in a watershed to the
watershed outle .
 Travel time ( Tt ) is the time it takes water to
travel from one location to another in a
watershed. Tt is a component of time of
concentration ( Tc )
Time to peak, which is sometimes called lag time, is the time from the
midpoint of the precipitation period to the peak flow.
In this simplified example, the watershed outlet is located at the bottom of the
picture with a stream flowing through it. Moving up the map, we can say that
rainfall which lands on all of the places along the first yellow line will reach the
watershed outlet at exactly the same time. This is true for every yellow line, with
each line further away from the outlet corresponding to a greater travel time for
runoff traveling to the outlet.
Factors Affecting Time of
Concentration

Factors that affect the time of concentration


are the length of flow , the slope of the flow path,
and the roughness of the flow path, Channel .
(NRCS) Method for estimate time of
concentration Tc
Velocity method :
Another method for determining time of concentration
normally used within the NRCS is called the velocity
method. The velocity method assumes that time of
concentration is the sum of travel times for segments along
the hydraulically most distant flow path.

where :
Tc = time of concentration (hr)
m = number of flow segments
The segments used in the velocity method may be of
three types :
• sheet flow ()
• shallow concentrated flow ()
• open channel ()
Sheet flow :
is defined as flow over plane surfaces. Sheet flow
usually occurs in the head waters of a stream .

Where :
𝑻 𝒕 =𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟕¿¿
Tt = travel time, h
n = Manning’s roughness coefficient (table 15–1)
= sheet flow length, ft
P2 = 2-year, 24-hour rainfall, in
S = slope of land surface, ft/ft
Shallow concentrated flow :
After sheet flow, shallow concentrated flow happens in
swales, small rills, and gullies with a flow depth of 0.1 to
0.5ft where there is not a well-defined channel. The shallow
concentrated flow length usually is less than 1000ft , it can be
calculated by :

Where :
L = the length of the shallow channel in (ft)
S = the catchment slope
channel flow () :

After shallow concentrated flow, the begins as an open


channels and they generally are visible on aerial
photographs or on USGS quadrangle maps as blue line
streams is calculated by

Where
L= the length in (ft)
R= the hydraulic radius in (ft) (R=A/P)
S= the slope
n= the manning number
Other Formulas to calculate the time of concentration
Tc :

 SCS Lag equation :

SCS Lag equation is used to calculate time of concentration and is


applicable for watersheds under 2000 acres.

In the above equation,


CN = SCS runoff curve number
S = average watershed slope
L = hydraulic length of the watershed - longest
flow path, ft
 Kirpich formula :

The Kirpich formula is used to estimate the time of concentration used


in surface runoff design. The Kirpich equation was developed in 1940
from a study of 7 small (1.25 acres – 112 acres) rural catchments in
Tennessee with well-defined channels and steep slopes (3%-10%). A
further study by Roussel et al. 2005 concluded that the method was
suitable for catchment sizes between 0.25 and 150 square miles, for
slopes between 0.002 and 0.1 m/m.
Kirpich Formula Calculations

tch = time of concentration (minutes)


K = a units conversion factor taken as 0.0195 for Si units or 0.0078 for
US units
L = channel flow length (m)
S = dimensionless main channel slope
S=
= is the difference in elevation between the farthest point on the
catchment and the outlet
References
https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_concentration
https://
intrans.iastate.edu/app/uploads/sites/15/2020/03/2
B-3.pdf
https://
www.hydrocad.net/pdf/TR-55%20Chapter%203
OpenNonWebContent.aspx (usda.gov)
Thank you

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