23

STUDY AREA

This chapter describes the characteristics of the selected study area, the drainage
system in Phnom Penh, pump stations, channel, and ground surface characteristics in
the study area.

3.1 Study area

The capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, covers an area of 678 km 2 and is
home of population of 2.2 million (NIS, 2017). It is spread out over a flat alluvial
floodplain where an intersection of the Mekong River, Tonle Sap River and Bassac

gradient feature of Phnom Penh is slightly inclined from north to south and from west
to east. The overall elevation difference of the city is around 10 m where the high land
area with elevation of 14 m is situated at Pochentong Airport and the low land with
elevation 4 m is at Tumpun area. Phnom Penh capital city is governed by tropical
monsoon climate. The annual average rainfall from 1985 to 2013 is around 1,414 mm.
The difference in annual rainfall is high where the maximum was 2,150 mm in 2000
and the minimum was 1,100 mm in 2006. Figure 3-1 presents the annual rainfall from
1985 to 2013 and 5-year moving average, suggests a slight increasing trend of annual
rainfall in Phnom Penh city.
 24

Figure 3-1: Annual rainfall of Pochentong station (1985-2013) and 5-year moving
average

An independent catchment in Phnom Penh city covering an area of 12.5 km 2 as

shown in Figure 3-2 is selected for this study. This area consists of residences,
commercial companies, roads and many municipal administrations such as Royal
Palace, Olympic Stadium and embassies and it is adjacent to the Tonle Sap River at the
east. The land use for the study area is divided into road, building, and open spaces. As
described earlier, water is drained from the north to south to the Beoung Trabek Station,
P1, and from west to east. Since the elevation at the outfall is higher, water is pumped
out by four pumping stations located as shown in Figure 3-2.

Flood simulation in this study is carried out based on the polder system concept
by assuming that the inflow to the study area is from the accumulation of rainfall within
the study area only. A polder is known as a lowland area prevented the inflow from
outside by dikes or embankments, that forms an artificial hydrological system (Segeren,
1983). Thus, the selected area is considered as polder system since it is protected from
overflow from rivers by natural levees along the Mekong/Sap River at eastern part and
Tumpun Dike at southern part. The boundary at northern part and western part are
Russian Federation Boulevard and Yothapol Khmarak Phoumin Boulevard,
 25

accordingly. The elevation of the boulevards is relatively high preventing the inflow
from neighboring areas.

Figure 3-2: Map of study area

3.2 Drainage system in Phnom Penh

Urban drainage facilities in Phnom Penh have been built, operated and
maintained by Ministry of Public Works and Transport (DPWT) and local authorities,
Khan and Sangkat. DPWT is in charge of maintenance and operation work of drainage
main pipe network with diameter of 600 mm or more while local authorities control the
drainage pipe network with diameter smaller than 600 mm (JICA, 2016). According to
JICA (1999) on the study on drainage and sewerage improvement project in Phnom
Penh, the sewage network mainly consists of circle-shape concrete pipe with
longitudinal gradient ranging from 1/500 to 1/2000. The total length of drainage pipes
and number of manholes are gradually increasing (JICA, 2016). At the end of 2013,
total length of pipes is about 478 kilometers and number of manholes is about 34,000.
The total length of drainage pipe and number of manholes constructed in 2006-2013,
 26

are shown in Table 3-1. Total length of drainage canals is around 55 kilometers and the
amount of pumping stations is 12. Details of drainage canals and pumping stations
managed by DPWT as of September 2014, are shown in Table 3-2 and Table 3-3
respectively.

combined functions of draining storm water and domestic wastewater. During a period
of Pol Pot regime from 1970 to 1975, civil war began and all infrastructures including
drainage system were deteriorated due to superannuated age and poor maintenance.
Consequently, Phnom Penh is being frequently affected by floods and poor
environmental conditions during the rainy season. With this regard, a study team of the

Study on Drainage Improvement and Flood Control in the Municipality of Phnom

Based on this master plan, three projects for
flood protection and drainage improvement had been completely implemented under

summarized in Table 3-4 (JICA, 2017). The area of each project is shown in Figure 3-3.
 27

Table 3-1: Total length of drainage pipe and number of manholes from 2006 to 2013

Drainage pipe (m)

Pipe size 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Ø200 cm
Ø180 cm 301 301 301 301
Ø160 cm 85 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Ø150 cm 8,331 9,631 10,847 13,918 17,966 17,966 18,752 19,782
Ø120 cm 775 17,820 17,820 17,820 18,187 18,187 18,187 18,187
Ø100 cm 42,837 57,962 65,620 81,250 82,110 82,417 84,325 87,876
Ø80 cm 26,675 41,712 46,317 50,601 50,939 51,452 51,452 52,125
Ø60 cm 124,106 142,125 147,297 157,628 158,068 160,173 160,545 162,049
Ø50 cm 51,753 59,873 64,488 64,488 66,237 66,237 66,237 66,237
Ø40 cm 13,815 18,942 22,049 22,049 22,105 22,105 22,105 22,105
Ø30 cm 33,883 42,902 46,115 46,755 46,755 47,173 47,536 48,412
U-drain 320 320 320 320
Total (m) 302,260 391,052 420,638 454,594 463,073 466,416 469,845 477,479

Length of
pipe
88,792 29,586 33,956 8,479 3,343 3,429 7,634
installed
in a year

Manholes
Size 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Rg200x130 45 45 61 127
Rg130x130 1,993 3,420 3,701 4,510 4,530 4,558 4,617 4,785
Rg110x110 1,395 1,669 1,823 2,025 2,025 2,025 2,025 2,052
Rg90x90 5,171 8,080 8,545 9,120 9,142 9,233 9,266 9,354
Rg70x70 6,629 9,103 9,334 16,662 16,682 16,822 16,895 17,104
Total 15,188 22,272 23,403 32,317 32,424 32,683 32,864 33,422
Manholes
installed 7,084 1,131 8,914 107 259 181 558
in a year
 28

Table 3-2: Total length of drainage canals managed by DPWT

Improved
Total
No Name length Canal Type
length (m)
(m)
Beoung Trabek Upper
1 2,410 2,410 Reinforced Concrete Canal
Canal
Beoung Trabek
2 850 0 Earth Canal
Downstream Canal
3 Beoung Tumpun Canal 3,710 3,710 Improved Earth Canal
4 Stoung Mean Chey Canal 1,900 0 Earth Canal
East & West Tuol Sen Improved to Reinforced
5 1,118 1,118
Canals Concrete Canal
Improved Earth Canal (887
6 Beoung Salang canal 1,260 887
m)
7 Canal Baraing 3,700 Earth Canal
8 Canal Lou Pram 1,700 Earth Canal
9 Tuol Poung Ror Canal 7,500 Earth Canal
10 Prey Speu Canal 7,000 Earth Canal
11 O Akuch Canal 4,200 Earth Canal
12 598 Canal 1,850 Earth Canal
13 Tuol Sampoeuv Canal 5,000 Earth Canal
14 Kop Srov Canal 4,700 Earth Canal
15 Bak Touk Canal 3,800 Earth Canal
16 O Veng Canal 4,150 Earth Canal
Total 54,848 8,125
Improved to Reinforced
3,528
Concrete Canal
Improved in Earth Canal 4,597
Normal Earth Canal 46,723
 29

Table 3-3: List of pumping stations managed by DPWT

Electrical Engine Driven Diesel Engine Driven Total

Observation
Capacity/ Capacity Discharge
Station Name Power Power/ (Date of
Pump Capacity
Nos Pump type /Unit Unit Nos Unit /Unit Equipment)
type 3
(kW) (m3/sec) (HP) (m3/sec) (m /sec)
Operation
Boeng 1 unit of Backup Generator,
1 8 Horizontal 132 1.00 8.00 since 2003
Trabek 1000KVA
(ADB Loan)
Operation
Boeng Submergible 2 units of Backup Generator, 700 since 2004
2 5 280 3.00 15.00
Tumpun Pump KVA each (Japan's Grant
Aid)
Tuol Vertical Constructed in
3 2 Vertical shaft 45 0.47 2 145 0.69 2.32
Kork I shaft 1970's
Tuol Vertical Constructed in
4 1 Vertical shaft 45 0.47 2 145 0.69 1.85
Kork II shaft 1970's
Operation
Chak 1 unit of Backup Generator, 200 since 2010
5 2 Pump gate 45 0.70 1.40
Tomuk KVA (Japan's Grant
Aid)
Operation
Preah
since 2004
6 Kumlung 1 Pump gate 0.20 - 0.20
(Joint Reseach
1
with Kubota)
Operation
Preah
since 2010
7 Kumlung 2 Pump gate 22 0.35 - 0.70
(Japan's Grant
2
Aid)
Operation
Phsar 1 unit of Backup Generator, 200 since 2010
8 2 Pump gate 45 0.70 1.40
Kandal KVA (Japan's Grant
Aid)
Operation
Phsar 1 unit of Backup Generator, 200 since 2010
9 2 Pump gate 45 0.70 1.40
Chaas KVA (Japan's Grant
Aid)
Svay Pak
Submergible Vertical Operation
10 Kun 4 75 0.13 3 190 0.38 1.66
Pump shaft since 2006
No.9
Operation
11 Kop Srov 5 Vertical shaft 400 2.80 - 14.00
since 2010
Tuol Submergible Operation
12 3 0.66 - 1.98
Sampeo Pump since 2014
 30

Table 3-4: Completed Projects under Grant Aid (JICA, 2017)

Project Project Period Target Area Project Components

Southwest area of the city Reinforcement, Drainage

Phase I 2001 - 2004
(Tompun watershed) Channel, Pumping Station,
Sluiceway, Bridge, Road
City center and northeast
area of the city (Central
Market Area, Royal
Phase II 2006 - 2010 Drainage Pipe, Underground
Palace & National
reservoir, Pumping Station
Museum Area, Wat
Phnom Basin)

Chamber, Drainage Pipe

Trabek Area (Southeast of
(21km)
the city) (Catchment area
Phase III 2010 - 2015
of Trabek Pumping
Equipment of Drainage pipe (8
Station)
units)

Although drainage conditions in the most part of city center have greatly
improved by Phase I, Phase II and Phase III, areas in the northern part of city center
such as the Tuol Kork Basin and Wat Phnom North (Figure 3-3) are still experiencing
serious flooding in the rainy season. Therefore, the RGC requested implementation of

s as shown in
Figure 3-3. As a result, the GOJ accepted to carry out a Preparatory Survey on the
Project through JICA and this work is ongoing.
 31

Figure 3-3: Area of the project under the

to August 1999 (JICA, 2017)

3.3 Flood protection

The construction of outer ring dikes for the protection of Phnom Penh City from
flooding of neighboring rivers, lakes and swamps had started i . Phnom
Penh is defended against flooding coming from overflow of the Mekong and Tonle Sap
rivers by Kop Srov Dike at northern part, natural levees along the Mekong/Sap rivers,
and Tumpun Dike at southern part, as shown in Figure 3-4. When the Master Plan of
1999 was carried out, Kop Srov Dike built a part of the northwest administrative
boundary of the Municipality of Phnom Penh, linking National Road 4 with National
Road 5. Due to urbanization of the Phnom Penh administrative area, the function of
Kop Srov Dike has turned into a dike which does not just protect the city from river
overflow flooding, but also works as a ring road to bypass the city downtown. In the
 32

same way, Tumpun dike has two roles: acts as a dike and a ring road. The crests of
these two dikes are made from concrete or asphalt.

Figure 3-4: Map of dikes in and around Phnom Penh City (JICA, 2016)

3.4 Pump stations

In the selected study area, there are 4 pumping stations as shown in Figure 3-2.
The Beoung Trabek pumping station (P1) located at the south of the study area where
is the outlet of the whole pipeline network. It has the total capacity of 8 m 3/s. The
information of all 4 pumping stations in the study area are list in Table 3-5. For the
pumps (P2, P3, and P4), there are underground reservoirs which store the flooded water
before draining out from the study area. To control the operation of these pumps, the
pump rating tables were created by setting up to start operating if the headwater depth
 33

is 0.5 m above the elevation of the bottom of the storage reservoir. It is noted that, rating
tables set up in the model for this study were based on the interview with the pumping
operators. The rating tables are listed in Figure 3-5, Figure 3-6, and Figure 3-7 for
pumps P2, P3, and P4 respectively. For pump P1, it is installed at the end of channel
and operated to pump the water out from the study area directly without underground
reservoir. Likewise, rating table shown in Figure 3-8 is created at the inlet of the pump
P1 to control pumping operation.

Table 3-5: Information of pumping station in study area

Pumping station Capacity/unit Total capacity

Pump unit
ID m3/s m3/s
P1 8 1.00 8.00
P2 2 0.70 1.40
P3 2 0.35 0.70
P4 2 0.70 1.40

Pumping P2
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 0.3 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 2.7
Water depth in underground reservoir (m)

Figure 3-5: Pumping rating table for pump P2

 34

Pumping P3
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.3 0.5 0.8 1 1.5 1.8 2 2.5
Water depth in underground reservoir (m)

Figure 3-6: Pumping rating table for pump P3

Pumpin P4
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 0.2 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Water depth in underground reservoir (m)

Figure 3-7: Pumping rating table for pump P4

 35

Pumping P1
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Water depth in underground storage (m)

Figure 3-8: Pumping rating table for pump P1

3.5 Drainage channels

There are several of main drainage channels in the study area as shown in Figure
3-2 and summarized in Table 3-6. For the total channel length, 70 percent are made
from concrete, and 30 percent are made from earth. Initial values of roughness
coefficient of each channel are determined based on their material as recommended by
Chow (1959). However, these values are recommended only for channel with good
maintenance. Thus, the roughness coefficient of each channel in this case is expected
to increase since the channels were constructed long time ago with poor maintenance.
The Beoung Trabek open channel (B1 to B2) has a role as the outlet of storm drain
while another channel (A1 to A2) works as a connection between two storm drains.

Due to lack of cross-section data, creating channels and their slopes in the model
was based on the elevation of the grid elements. It is noted that the elevation of the grid
elements belonging to the channels from upstream to downstream do not constantly
decrease. Thus, the elevation of channel bed slopes has been adjusted to be constant
based on the upstream and downstream elevation of the grid element. As the results,
the adjusted slopes of each channel were in the range between 0.00092 and 0.00179.
 36

Table 3-6: Information of open channels in study area

ID Manning
Channel Length Height Width
coefficient
type (m) (m) (m)
Start End n

A1 A2 Concrete 585.3 3.0 4.0 0.014

B1 B2 Concrete 970.5 3.0 8.0 0.014
b1 b2 Concrete 594.7 3.0 3.0 0.014
b3 b4 Concrete 162.7 3.0 4.0 0.014
B2 B3 Earth 970.5 3.0 15.0 0.025

3.6 Surface characteristics

The depth of the overland flow is relatively varied with topography and
roughness of the surface layers. In this study, Phnom Penh raster image with 2 m
resolution is used to categorize the characteristics of the land use. Four land use types
were classified such as building, street, dense turf, and average grass cover with the
roughness coefficient of 0.03, 0.02, 0.30, and 0.20 respectively. The roughness values
in Table 3-7 selected for land use types are based on FLO-2D reference manual
( )
shown in Figure 3-9.

Table 3-7: ( )

Surface n-value
Dense turf 0.17 - 0.80
Average grass cover 0.20 - 0.40
Open ground with debris 0.10 - 0.20
Open ground, no debris 0.04 - 0.10
Asphalt or concrete 0.016 - 0.05

Building roof 0.03

 37

Figure 3-9