RAINFALL FACTORS THAT AFFECT EROSION

Soil erosion from highway construction sites should be considered a significant environmental factor in the design of highway drainage systems. Although the problem of predicting soil erosion has been studied rather extensively over the past 40 years, there is still no consensus as to which predictive method is superior. Many causal factors contribute to soil erosion, some of them misunderstood and some mistreated in application. This paper isolates the most significant factor, rainfall, and demonstrates how that factor has evolved as the needs of researchers have changed. Some of the literature on the subject is reviewed, from the first studies performed to the present time. Three distinct rainfall parameters--30-min maximum rainfall intensity, rainfall energy, and direct runoff--have proved to be good indicators of soil erosion from land surfaces, and the time distribution of rainfall has recently proved to be of relative significance in predicting sediment yield. /Author/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1977/642/642-013.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=RAINFALL+FACTORS+THAT+AFFECT+EROSION&author=A.+Miller&author=D.+Daily&publication_year=1977
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309026717
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Environmental Factors Except Frost. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Miller, Arthur C
  • Daily, Daniel A
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 57-61
• Monograph Title: Soil taxonomy and soil properties
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 642
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction sites; Drainage; Erosion; Forecasting; Highway design; Rainfall; Road construction; Sediments; Soils
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00179013
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309026717
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 19 1978 12:00AM