Influence of storm drain inlet locations on urban pluvial flooding hazard at local scale

Abstract

The assessment of the impact of surface drainage conditions and the related effect on urban flooding is the general aim of the present research study. Aim of the work presented here is to assess the impact of surface drainage conditions and the related effect on urban flooding. The main objective is to analyze the surface drainage efficiency by evaluating the influence of storm drain inlet location on pluvial flooding. In this study the FLURB-2D propagation model has been used, a two-dimensional inertial model based on the Saint Venant equations and it was, originally, developed with a different purpose. This study focuses on the impact of surface drainage system, in terms of positioning, number, on pluvial flood hazard, actually, four different hypothetical scenarios for the location of the drain inlets were considered. The methodological approach presented in this study is applied in a real case study in the town of Messina (Italy) The area is, entirely, densely urbanized, with streets and blocks with limited pervious parts. The drainage system is mainly separated from the sewer system and there is no stormwater drainage system.