THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

Examinations of April/May 2015

Code and Name of Course: CVNG 2011 Engineering Hydrology Paper:

Date and Time: Wednesday 13th May 2015 at 9:00 AM Duration: Three (3) hours

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

This paper has six (6) pages and five (5) questions.

Answer all five (5) questions

Only non-programmable calculators may be used.

Statistical Tables and Graph Paper will be provided.

 The University of the West Indies Course Code: CVNG 2011 2015……/ 03……/ 15……

DO NOT WRITE OR TYPE ON THE BACK OF THIS SHEET: USE ONE SIDE ONLY

INSTRUCTIONS: Each page must be signed by the Examiners and where applicable, the University
Examiner and/or the External Examiner. Where the examination does not require a University Examiner, the
form must be signed by the First and Second Examiners. Completed forms should be handed to the Assistant
Registrar (Examinations). The EXTERNAL EXAMINER is requested to sign the question paper and return it
with comments, if any, (on a separate sheet), to the Assistant Registrar (Examinations).
…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
First Examiner University Examiner

…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
Second Examiner External Examiner (where applicable)

Date: 20……/……/…… Date: 20……/……/……

 Page 2

1(a) A dam is to be built across a river in Trinidad's Northern Range of Mountains for creating
a reservoir for water supply, flood management and hydro-power generation. There is a
village downstream of the proposed dam and many villagers live near the river banks.
There is also a likelihood of deforestation and quarrying activities in the watershed of the
river before the dam. Briefly discuss the aspects of economics, ecology, health, risk,
safety and sustainability associated with the proposed construction of this dam. [10]

You may use the following equation in your discussion.

1 n
Risk of failure , R  1  (1  )
Tr

Where: Tr = Return Period in years of an hydrologic event, and n = design life of a

hydraulic structure

1(b) The infiltration rates for a St. Augustine loam soil are shown in Table 1. Using the
Horton’s Equation for infiltration, and K for St. Augustine loam soil as 4.2 h-1

i. Estimate the infiltration rate after 0.75 h. [4]

ii. How much water is infiltrated after 2 h? [5]

iii. State any assumptions made. [1]

The Horton’s equation is given as:

f(t)  fc  (f o fc )e Kt

Table 1: Infiltration Rates for St. Augustine Loam

Time, t (h) Infiltration rate (cm/h)

0.0 3.50
0.5 0.90
1.0 0.59
1.5 0.50
2.0 0.50
2.5 0.50

 The University of the West Indies Course Code: CVNG 2011 2015……/ 03……/ 15……

DO NOT WRITE OR TYPE ON THE BACK OF THIS SHEET: USE ONE SIDE ONLY

INSTRUCTIONS: Each page must be signed by the Examiners and where applicable, the University
Examiner and/or the External Examiner. Where the examination does not require a University Examiner, the
form must be signed by the First and Second Examiners. Completed forms should be handed to the Assistant
Registrar (Examinations). The EXTERNAL EXAMINER is requested to sign the question paper and return it
with comments, if any, (on a separate sheet), to the Assistant Registrar (Examinations).
…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
First Examiner University Examiner

…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
Second Examiner External Examiner (where applicable)

Date: 20……/……/…… Date: 20……/……/……

 Page 3

2(a) A precipitation measuring 150 mm occurred over a catchment. If the total of infiltration,
interception, depression storage losses was 80 mm what was the direct runoff from this
storm? What was the total runoff? What assumptions have you made? [5]

2(b) Table 2 shows the 1-h Unit Hydrograph for a river in Trinidad’s Northern Range. The
Base-flow was estimated at 45 m3/s. The hyetograph ordinates for the storm on July 5,
2014 is shown in Table 3. Determine the total hydrograph for this river from the given
storm. [15]

Table 2: Unit hydrograph

Time (h) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Flow 0 50 150 225 175 125 75 50 25 0
(m3/s)

Table 3: Hyetograph Ordinates for the storm of July 5, 2014

Time (h) 0-2 2-4 4-6 6-8

Precipitation 3 2 2 0
(cm)

3 There are 7 rain gauging stations in a watershed. Table 4 shows the precipitation at each
station and bi-sectional area for the Theissen polygon associated with each station.

(a) What is the areal precipitation for the watershed using Theissen Polygon method?

[6]

(b) What is the difference in rainfall values between the Theissen Polygon Method and
the simple arithmetic method? [3]

Table 4: Data on rain gauges

Station Precipitation Bi-sectional area

(mm) (km2)
1 15 2.5
2 19 12.5
3 20 8.0
4 16.2 9.0
5 25 12.0
6 22 11.5
7 28 13.0

 The University of the West Indies Course Code: CVNG 2011 2015……/ 03……/ 15……

DO NOT WRITE OR TYPE ON THE BACK OF THIS SHEET: USE ONE SIDE ONLY

INSTRUCTIONS: Each page must be signed by the Examiners and where applicable, the University
Examiner and/or the External Examiner. Where the examination does not require a University Examiner, the
form must be signed by the First and Second Examiners. Completed forms should be handed to the Assistant
Registrar (Examinations). The EXTERNAL EXAMINER is requested to sign the question paper and return it
with comments, if any, (on a separate sheet), to the Assistant Registrar (Examinations).
…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
First Examiner University Examiner

…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
Second Examiner External Examiner (where applicable)

Date: 20……/……/…… Date: 20……/……/……

 Page 4

(c) You are to estimate the design flow for the installation of a culvert. For such a design
the Local Government specifies that this flow should have a return period of 75 years.

Use the lognormal and Log Pearson distributions for the historic data provided in
Table 5, and determine the respective peak flows for the same? [8]

(d) How can you incorporate the impact of Climate Change in the design flow? [3]

The frequency factors for the Log person Type III distribution are given in Table 6.

Table 5: Summary Statistic for stream flow data

Parameter Historic Log10 of

Data historic
(m3) data
Mean 2600 2.65
Standard Deviation 1200 0.90
Coefficient of skewness -1.20
(Cs)

Table 6: Frequency Factor K for Log Pearson Type III Distribution

Recurrence Intervals in years

Skewness 1.01 2 5 10 25 50 100 200
Coefficient Percent Change (≥ ) =1-F
Cs 99 50 20 10 4 2 1 0.5
- - - - - - - - -
-0.9 -2.957 0.148 0.854 1.147 1.407 1.549 1.660 1.749
-1.0 -3.022 0.164 0.582 1.128 1.366 1.492 1.588 1.664
-1.1 -3.087 0.180 0.848 1.107 1.324 1.435 1.518 1.581
-1.2 -3.149 0.195 0.844 1.086 1.282 1.379 1.449 1.501
-1.3 -3.211 0.210 0.838 1.064 1.240 1.324 1.383 1.424
- - - - - - - - -

 The University of the West Indies Course Code: CVNG 2011 2015……/ 03……/ 15……

DO NOT WRITE OR TYPE ON THE BACK OF THIS SHEET: USE ONE SIDE ONLY

INSTRUCTIONS: Each page must be signed by the Examiners and where applicable, the University
Examiner and/or the External Examiner. Where the examination does not require a University Examiner, the
form must be signed by the First and Second Examiners. Completed forms should be handed to the Assistant
Registrar (Examinations). The EXTERNAL EXAMINER is requested to sign the question paper and return it
with comments, if any, (on a separate sheet), to the Assistant Registrar (Examinations).
…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
First Examiner University Examiner

…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
Second Examiner External Examiner (where applicable)

Date: 20……/……/…… Date: 20……/……/……

 Page 5

4(a) Comment on the validity of the following statements with a brief explanation:

(i) A confined aquifer has a water table. [2]

(ii) Specific retention and specific yield of any saturated medium are the same. [2]

(iii) Base flow takes place in an effluent stream. [2]

(iv) Mechanical mixing entirely controls hydrodynamic dispersion. [2]

4(b) An approximate analytical solution for upconing of a sharp and stationary seawater
interface beneath a pumping well is:

Define the terms in the above equation with a proper sketch. [6]

The vertical distance from the base of a pumping well to the freshwater-saltwater
interface is 100 m. The pumping rate is 3000 m3/d, and the hydraulic conductivity is 10
m/d. What will be the magnitude of upconing of the interface? The density of freshwater
is 1,000 kg/m3 and of seawater is 1,025 kg/m3. [4]

4(c) What measures can you propose to protect the water quality of a well located near the
coastline of a Caribbean island? [2]

5(a) The equation for the drawdown curve in an unconfined aquifer with uniform recharge is:

Draw a suitable sketch, and define the terms in the above equation. [6]

5(b) An unconfined aquifer mainly comprising sand and gravel lies between two streams, and
Figure 1 shows its idealized cross-section. The hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer is
86.4 m/d. If the water level is 6.5 m and 4 m above the bottom of the streams I and stream
II respectively, and the distance between these two streams is 150 m, estimate the
discharge per unit width through the aquifer under steady flow conditions. Work from
first principles. [8]

 The University of the West Indies Course Code: CVNG 2011 2015……/ 03……/ 15……

DO NOT WRITE OR TYPE ON THE BACK OF THIS SHEET: USE ONE SIDE ONLY

INSTRUCTIONS: Each page must be signed by the Examiners and where applicable, the University
Examiner and/or the External Examiner. Where the examination does not require a University Examiner, the
form must be signed by the First and Second Examiners. Completed forms should be handed to the Assistant
Registrar (Examinations). The EXTERNAL EXAMINER is requested to sign the question paper and return it
with comments, if any, (on a separate sheet), to the Assistant Registrar (Examinations).
…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
First Examiner University Examiner

…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
Second Examiner External Examiner (where applicable)

Date: 20……/……/…… Date: 20……/……/……

 Page 6

Figure 1: Schematic of groundwater flow through an unconfined aquifer

Darcy’s equation for flow in a homogeneous and isotropic porous media is:

dh
V  K
dx
3(c) State Dupuit assumptions and explain the reason for the difference between the actual and
the computed water tables shown in Figure 1. [6]

 The University of the West Indies Course Code: CVNG 2011 2015……/ 03……/ 15……

DO NOT WRITE OR TYPE ON THE BACK OF THIS SHEET: USE ONE SIDE ONLY

INSTRUCTIONS: Each page must be signed by the Examiners and where applicable, the University
Examiner and/or the External Examiner. Where the examination does not require a University Examiner, the
form must be signed by the First and Second Examiners. Completed forms should be handed to the Assistant
Registrar (Examinations). The EXTERNAL EXAMINER is requested to sign the question paper and return it
with comments, if any, (on a separate sheet), to the Assistant Registrar (Examinations).
…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
First Examiner University Examiner

…………………………………….. ……………………………………..
Second Examiner External Examiner (where applicable)

Date: 20……/……/…… Date: 20……/……/……