Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Civil Engineering

Committee Chair

Claudio Meier

Committee Member

Daniel Foti

Committee Member

Farhad Jazaei

Abstract

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has established a new standard for bridge-deck drainage, which features a side-inlet positioned at the end of the bridge adjacent to the roadway. This inlet serves as a lateral weir or spillway, connecting to a riprap-lined flume or chute that extends down the embankment. The hydraulic performance of this standard - encompassing capture efficiency, bypassed flow, water spreads and depths on the pavement, flow depths and velocities in the flume, and the potential for embankment erosion - must be evaluated across a variety of bridge conditions, including longitudinal and cross slopes, as well as varying incoming discharges. Using the OpenFOAM software, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed to simulate the flow for different combinations of longitudinal and cross slopes, and design discharges. The model was validated with laboratory measurements of a similar experimental study from literature. The simulations reveal that TDOT’s current design is unable to adequately capture the design discharge, highlighting the necessity for enhancements in TDOT’s bridge-deck-end drainage design, to ensure effective drainage, ultimately lowering the risks of hydroplaning and visibility impairment due to splashing.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open Access

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