Combined sewer overflow over an oblique weir at Rat Creek in Edmonton, Alberta

Abstract

Oblique weirs are commonly used in urban drainage systems to remove excess flow from a sewer, in particular, a combined sewer system that has limited conveyance capacity. It is important to understand the hydraulics of these weirs to properly monitor the amount of the overflows as well as to design and improve sewer systems. The Rat Creek structure in Edmonton, Alberta, is a combined sewer overflow structure with a weir at an oblique alignment to the centerline of the sewer. A physical model study of the structure was conducted. The results show that both the approach flow conditions and the chamber geometry can significantly affect the hydraulic performance of the weir and invalidate the application of standard weir equations. A unique flow regime with a linear head–discharge rating curve was observed. The effects of modifying the weir and the hanging baffle wall downstream of the weir were also studied and reported. The results of this case study help to improve the understanding of the hydraulics of oblique weirs in sewer systems.