Stormwater Drainage Design for Parking Lots - a PDH Online Course for Engineers & Architects

Stormwater Drainage Design for Parking Lots

Course Outline

Parking lots can be seen almost everywhere, from shopping centers to office buildings to schools. Stormwater drainage design is an integral component in the design of parking lots. This course covers the basics of designing an adequate storm drainage system for a parking lot. Design methods are presented for evaluating rainfall and runoff magnitude, pavement drainage, gutter flow and drainage inlets. Concept for the design of detention/retention facilities is also discussed. Several examples are presented to illustrate the detailed procedures for designing storm drainage system of a parking lot. The basic principles discussed in this course can be applied not only to parking lots, but to parking decks, paved streets and highways as well. This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the student will be able to:

Understand the basic principles of storm drainage design;
Perform simple storm runoff analysis for parking lots;
Select appropriate types of inlets;
Position inlets at proper locations;
Understand the concept of stormwater detention/retention; and
Utilize the rainfall data published by the federal, state and local governments.

Course Content

In this course, you need to study the following document:

Stormwater Drainage Design for Parking Lots (, 59 pages, 3.6 MB)

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

FHWA - Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 22: Urban Drainage Design Manual (Second Edition)
Design Standards For Parking Lots – Department of Public work, City of Lincoln, NE

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.org or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.