Highway Hydraulics – Fundamental Concepts

This course introduces the fundamental hydraulic principles essential to the analysis and design of highway drainage systems. It provides a foundational understanding of the continuity, energy, and momentum equations as they apply to open channel and closed conduit flow, offering insight into real-world engineering scenarios such as culvert sizing, stormwater management, and hydraulic grade line evaluation. Through clear explanations and practical example problems, engineers will learn to classify different flow types—such as laminar vs. turbulent and subcritical vs. supercritical—and understand how these classifications impact design decisions.

The course also explores key applications relevant to highway infrastructure, including hydrostatics, weirs, and orifices, highlighting how these concepts are applied in bridge design, roadway overtopping, and flood management. Participants will gain experience with flow calculations, velocity estimation, and hydraulic head loss assessments, enhancing their ability to evaluate and solve common hydraulic challenges encountered in civil engineering practice.

Learning Objectives

This course is intended to provide you with the following specific knowledge and skills:

• Explain the principles of continuity, energy, and momentum as applied to highway hydraulics.

• Distinguish between various flow types (e.g., uniform vs. nonuniform, steady vs. unsteady, laminar vs. turbulent).

• Apply the continuity and energy equations to compute flow velocities and head losses in open channels and pipes.

• Analyze forces acting on hydraulic systems using the momentum equation.

• Describe hydrostatic pressure distribution and its impact on channel and pipe flow.

• Evaluate flow conditions across weirs and orifices, and apply discharge equations in practical design situations.

• Solve example problems involving typical highway drainage features such as storm drains, bridge openings, and road overtopping.

Download the Course to review and begin earning your PDH credits.

We provide technical courses for PDH credits that meet Board requirements for Professional Engineers, Geologists and Land Surveyors. This courses is guaranteed to be accepted in AK, AL, AR, AZ, DE, GA, FL, IA, IL, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, and WY. Before purchasing this course, please confirm that your state Board is listed above.