Topic 1

Title:  Using Wetlands for Storm Water Management
State Job Number: 14636
Final Report, August 2000 (10,040 KB)
Executive Summary, (81 KB)

Implementation Plan, (74 KB)

Highway traffic, maintenance, natural background sources, and deposition of air pollutants contribute to buildup of contaminants on highway surfaces. Consequently, during a rainfall runoff event highways can produce an exorbitant per area loading and concentration of contaminants, which can subsequently degrade receiving water quality. This research investigated the capacity of a wetland to mitigate pollutants, particularly metals, in highway runoff.  For this study, storm water runoff from a portion of two 30,000 average daily traffic highways, one near Findley, Ohio, and one near Lancaster, Ohio, was analyzed. The Findley wetland was studied over a six month period. Metals occurring in highest concentration were zinc, iron, lead, and nickel, in that order. Investigation of the mitigating benefits provided by the approximately 1.5 ha (3.7 acre) wetland indicated that reduction in metals' concentrations occurred for the majority of rainfall-runoff events. Results indicated that the wetland neutralized the alkaline storm water runoff. Analysis of the Lancaster wetland involved a one year study of the runoff. Storm water runoff was analyzed.

 

Topic 2

Title: Techniques for Estimating Selected Flow Characteristics of Rural, Unregulated Ohio Streams
State Job Number: 14743
Final Report, November 2001 (1,535 KB)
Executive Summary, (27 KB)

Implementation Plan, (72 KB)

This report provides equations for estimating mean annual streamflow, mean monthly streamflows, harmonic mean streamflow, and streamflow quartiles (the 25th-, 50th-, and 75th-percentile streamflows) as a function of selected basin characteristics for rural, unregulated streams in Ohio. The equations were developed from streamflow statistics and basin-characteristics data for as many as 219 active or discontinued streamflow-gaging stations on rural, unregulated streams in Ohio with 10 or more years of homogenous daily streamflow record. Streamflow statistics and basin-characteristics data for the 219 stations are presented in this report.

 

Topic 3

Title: Bench Scale Development & Field Testing of a Partial Exfiltration Trench (PET) for Controlling Highway Runoff Quality
State Job Number: 14684
Final Report, January 2002 (14,203 KB)
Executive Summary, (196 KB)

Implementation Plan, (88 KB)

The physical-chemical characterization and control of highway storm water and snowmelt runoff represent very significant challenges to the Ohio Department of Transportation. This research examined specific physical, chemical and hydrologic aspects of storm water and snow from a series of highway sites around Cincinnati, Ohio. Examination of storm water focused on a previously developed experimental site located on southbound 1-75 in Cincinnati. A series of ten highway snowmelt sites located around the Cincinnati area, were also examined. A control site for both rainfall and snowfall was located in urban Cincinnati, but located several kilometers from 1-75 to avoid any direct exposure to highway influences. This research focused on a passive structural best management practice, a partial exfiltration reactor (PER) configured as a linear trench which was also located at the experimental site on southbound 1-75. This system was examined for a series of discrete storm water events and was loaded directly by lateral pavement sheet flow, qsf from the 1-75 pavement.

Topic 4

Title: Qualifying the Effects of Highway Construction on the Peak Rate & Volume of Storm Water Runoff in Rural & Moderately Urbanized Watersheds
State Job Number: 14753
Final Report, June 2003 (3,4631 KB)
Executive Summary, (50 KB)

Implementation Plan, (99KB)

To determine the effects of highway construction on the timing and quantity of storm water runoff, three hydrologic models using SWMM4.4h were developed. The first type of hydrologic model was developed to simulate the storm water runoff from an existing highway within a moderately urbanized watershed. This hydrologic model was calibrated using recorded precipitation and stream flow data. The second type of hydrologic model was developed to simulate the storm water runoff from an existing watershed which was completely rural. This hydrologic model was calibrated using recorded precipitation and stream flow data. After calibration, the construction of a highway was simulated. The third type of hydrologic model.

Topic 5

Title: Techniques for Estimating Flood-Peak Discharges of Rural Unregulated Streams in Ohio
State Job Number: 14740
Final Report, August 2003 (1,863 KB)
Executive Summary, (26 KB)

Implementation Plan, (114 KB)

Reliable estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods at ungaged streams in Ohio are required to design highway and railroad stream crossings, delineate flood plains and flood-prone areas, and manage water-control structures and water supplies.   The objectives of the study were to (1) compute flood-frequency information for gaged sites using the most up-to-date annual peak-flow data, (2) develop new equations for estimating peak flows at ungaged and unregulated sites in Ohio using traditional regional analysis and the region-of-influence method, and (3) compare the predictive ability of the region-of-influence method with that of equations developed by means of the regional-regression method.

 

Topic 6

Title:  Risk Assessment & Update of Inspection Procedures for Culverts
State Job Number: 14813
Final Report, February 2005 (4,655 KB)
Executive Summary, (108 KB)

Appendix E,  (71 KB)  

Appendix F,  (133,979 KB)  

Culvert Management Manual  (Page Link)

Implementation Plan,  (82 KB)

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) estimates there are over 100,000 culvert structures associated with Ohio’s primary and general highways. Some of these culverts have reached the end of their defined service life, and there have been a few cases of culvert failure in recent years. While there are mandatory annual inspections of all bridges with a span of at least 10 ft (3.0 m), previously a mandatory inspection program for culverts was not required. Beginning in 2003 with ODOT’s new Culvert Management Manual culverts with spans between 1 ft (0.3 m) and 10 ft (3 m) are to be inspected once every five years. The 2003 Culvert Management Manual introduced a new and more detailed culvert inspection rating system, which needs to be independently validated. ODOT conducted a comprehensive culvert durability study in 1982; since then new coatings and new pipe materials have been used for culverts. The wide variety of materials can lead to failure mechanisms that did not exist 20 years ago. Loss of culvert integrity could result in temporary roadway closure and considerable remediation costs; total collapse of culverts could pose a major safety risk to motorists. ODOT is facing a large number of aging infrastructures with limited amounts of available funding. Detailed information on new innovative techniques for repairing and replacing aging culverts will be highly beneficial to ODOT and can be tied into the “better, smarter, faster bridge” strategic initiative.

 

Topic 7 

Title: A Streamflow Statistics (StreamStats) Web Application for Ohio

State Job Number: 134265
Final Report, October 2006 (804 KB)
Executive Summary, (50 KB)

Implementation Plan, ( KB)

A StreamStats Web application was developed for Ohio that implements equations for estimating a variety of stream­flow statistics including the 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, 100-, and 500- year peak streamflows, mean annual streamflow, mean monthly streamflows, harmonic mean streamflow, and 25th-, 50th-, and 75th-percentile streamflows. StreamStats is a Web-based geo­graphic information system application designed to facilitate the estimation of streamflow statistics at ungaged locations on streams.

Topic 8 

Title: Long-Term Monitoring of Pipe Under Deep Cover

State Job Number: 14797(0)
Final Report, September 2007 (3.5 MB)
Executive Summary, (155 KB)

Implementation Plan, ( KB)

In the study described in this report, the ORITE research team monitored from 2000 to 2005 the field structural performance of the eighteen thermoplastic pipe structures at the deep burial project site located in Albany, Ohio. In the fall of 2004, the team introduced controlled cuts or notches to the select pipe structures and recorded the pipe wall responses to the defects using strain gages. The team also removed small coupon specimens from the end sections of the select 7-year old thermoplastic pipes and examined them by the standard tensile modulus/strength test method in the laboratory.

The long-term field data indicated that the pipe deflections had been fairly stable since the first year, while the soil pressures acting around the pipes had been fluctuating seasonally in each year. According to theoretical analysis, seasonal changes in the air temperature were responsible for the soil pressure fluctuations, not the seasonal changes in the soil moisture conditions.