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Section 2: Documentation Requirements and Guidelines

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Documentation Requirements for Existing Locations

When replacing a structure, prepare a comparative 100-year hydraulic analysis between existing and proposed structures. When rebuilding, improving, or rehabilitating a roadway, consider associated drainage facilities such as improvements, extensions, paralleling, replacements, and leaving the facility unchanged.

Whatever action is taken, the plans and submission information should document sufficient data, along with basic pertinent hydrologic and hydraulic information.

  • In most cases, refer to the Data Documentation Requirements table for items to be included in the plans.
  • If verified, use data from the original documentation file.
  • If previous hydraulic data are available and applicable, provide a note on the proposed plans referring to the Control Section and Job number (CSJ), and state verification of the data.

Documentation of experience with the past performance of a facility is also useful. Such experience may include operation during flood events, erosion activity, structural response to flood events, failures, maintenance required (and for what reason), and description and cost of maintenance.

District offices should develop and maintain systematic documentation files of facility experiences either at the district or at the local level.

Refer to the stipulations found in 23 CFR §650.117 for absolute requirements on federally funded projects. Pertinent information from this document is in the Federal Aid Policy Guide (FAPG) in Policy. The detail of design investigation and documentation should be proportional to the risk associated with encroachment and other economic, engineering, social, or environmental concerns. Consult resource agencies for assistance with documentation. See Resources for primary resource agencies.

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Documentation Reference Table

The following tables indicate the required documentation of various facility types for preliminary review, PS&E (Plans, Specifications, and Estimates) review, and field change requests. The tables also indicate whether the information should reside in construction plans. The construction plans constitute part of the permanent file, but not all project information resides in the construction plans.

The following table shows the data documentation requirements:

Anchor: #i1003945Data Documentation Requirements

Documentation Item (by facility type)

Stage

Location of Information

 

Preliminary Review

PS&E Review

Field Changes

Construction Plans

Permanent File

Data

 

 

 

 

 

Field survey data

X

X

X

 

X

Historical data

X

X

X

X

X

FEMA FIS summary data and maps (where applicable)

X

X

X

 

X

Soil maps

X

X

X

 

X

Land use maps

X

X

X

X

X

Stream gauge data (where applicable)

X

X

X

 

X


The following table shows the hydrology documentation requirements:

Anchor: #i1004012Hydrology Documentation Requirements

Documentation Item (by facility type)

Stage

Location of Information

 

Preliminary Review

PS&E Review

Field Changes

Construction Plans

Permanent File

Hydrology

 

 

 

 

 

Drainage area map(s) showing boundaries, outfalls, flow paths, etc.

X

X

X

X

X

Relevant watershed parameters (e.g. areas, runoff coefficients, slopes, etc.)

X

X

X

X

X

Assumptions and limitations

X

X

X

 

X

Hydrologic method(s) used

X

X

X

X

X

Hydrologic calculations

X

X

X

 

X

Peak discharges for design and check floods

X

X

X

X

X

Runoff hydrographs for design and check floods (where applicable)

X

X

X

X

X


The following table shows the channel documentation requirements:

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Documentation Item (by facility type)

Stage

Location of Information

 

Preliminary Review

PS&E Review

Field Changes

Construction Plans

Permanent File

Channels

 

 

 

 

 

See Hydrology for runoff determination

X

X

X

X

X

Channel cross sections and thalweg profile

X

X

X

X

X

Plan showing location of sections

X

X

X

 

X

Cross section subdivisions and "n"-values

X

X

X

X

X

Assumptions and limitations

X

X

X

 

X

Hydraulic method or program used

X

X

X

X

X

Water surface elevations and average velocities for design and check floods

X

X

X

X

X

Analysis of existing channel for comparison (if improvements proposed)

X

X

X

X

X


The following table shows the culvert documentation requirements:

Anchor: #i1004167Culvert Documentation Requirements

Documentation Item (by facility type)

Stage

Location of Information

 

Preliminary Review

PS&E Review

Field Changes

Construction Plans

Permanent File

Culverts

 

 

 

 

 

See Hydrology for discharge data

X

X

X

X

X

See Channels for tailwater data

X

X

X

X

X

Design criteria (Allowable headwater, outlet velocities, FEMA etc.)

X

X

X

X

X

Culvert hydraulic computations

X

X

X

 

X

Unconstricted and through-culvert velocities for design and check floods

X

X

X

X

X

Calculated headwater for design and check floods

X

X

X

X

X

Estimated distance upstream of backwater effect

X

X

X

X

X

Magnitude and frequency of overtopping flood

X

X

X

X

X


The following table shows the bridge documentation requirements:

Anchor: #i1004248Bridge Documentation Requirements

Documentation Item (by facility type)

Stage

Location of Information

 

Preliminary Review

PS&E Review

Field Changes

Construction Plans

Permanent File

Bridges

 

 

 

 

 

See Hydrology for discharge data

X

X

X

X

X

See Channels for highwater data

X

X

X

X

X

Design criteria/parameters/assumptions (velocities, backwater, FEMA, etc.)

X

X

X

X

X

Bridge hydraulic computations

X

X

X

 

X

Unconstricted and through-bridge velocities for design and check floods

X

X

X

X

 

Calculated maximum backwater for design and check floods

X

X

X

X

 

Estimated distance upstream of backwater effect

X

X

X

X

 

Magnitude and frequency of overtopping flood

X

X

X

X

X

Scour calculations

X

 

 

 

X

Estimated scour envelope

X

X

X

X

 


The following table shows the storm drain documentation requirements:

Anchor: #i1004343Storm Drain Documentation Requirements

Documentation Item (by facility type)

Stage

Location of Information

 

Preliminary Review

PS&E Review

Field Changes

Construction Plans

Permanent File

Storm Drains

 

 

 

 

 

See Hydrology for discharge data

X

X

X

X

X

See Channels for tailwater data

X

X

X

X

X

Storm drain schematic/layout showing trunklines, laterals, inlets, outfall etc.

X

X

X

X

 

Storm drain hydraulic computations

X

X

X

X

X

Storm drain plan/profile sheets w/ hydraulic grade line

 

X

X

X

X

Outfall considerations and information

 

 

 

 

X

Flow direction arrows

X

X

X

X

 

Evaluation of existing facility (if present)

X

X

 

 

X


The following table shows the pump station documentation requirements:

Anchor: #i1004424Pump Station Documentation Requirements

Documentation Item (by facility type)

Stage

Location of Information

 

Preliminary Review

PS&E Review

Field Changes

Construction Plans

Permanent File

Pump Stations

 

 

 

 

 

See Hydrology for discharge data

X

X

X

X

X

See Channels for tailwater data

X

X

X

X

X

See Storm Drains for inlet and outlet conduit data

X

X

X

X

X

Stage/storage curve

X

X

X

X

 

Pump capacity and performance computations

X

X

X

 

X

Pump hydraulic performance curves

X

X

X

X

 

Design peak and attenuated peak discharges

X

X

X

X

X

Maximum allowable headwater elevation

X

X

X

X

X

Switch-on and cut-off elevations

X

X

X

X

 

Sump dimensions

X

X

X

X

 

Head loss calculations and total dynamic head

X

X

X

 

X

Pump sizes

X

X

X

X

 

Pump station details

 

X

X

X

 


The following table shows the facility documentation requirements:

Anchor: #i1004540Other Facility Documentation Requirements

Documentation Item (by facility type)

Stage

Location of Information

 

Preliminary Review

PS&E Review

Field Changes

Construction Plans

Permanent File

Other Facilities

 

 

 

 

 

Drainage area maps

X

X

X

X

X

Design criteria/parameters/assumptions

X

X

X

 

X

Hydrologic computations

X

X

X

X

X

Hydraulic computations

X

X

X

X

X

Plan/profile and details

X

X

X

X

 

Design and check flood before and after conditions (highwater, velocities, etc.)

X

X

X

X

X


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TxDOT Recommended Guidelines

The following checklist files, intended for use by both designer and reviewers, aid in the documentation process:

  • Culvert hydraulic documentation checklist (File 3c).
  • Bridge hydraulic documentation checklist (File 3b).
  • Storm drain hydraulic documentation checklist (File 3d).
  • Pump station hydraulic documentation checklist (File 3e) and checklist for hydraulic design project references (File 3a).

TxDOT recommends the following approach to documenting hydrologic and hydraulic designs and analyses:

  • Compile hydrologic and hydraulic data, preliminary calculations and analyses, estimates of structure size and location, and all related information used in developing conclusions and recommendations in a permanent documentation file.
  • Document all design assumptions and selected criteria, including the decisions related to the design.
  • Make the amount of documentation detail for each design or analysis proportional to the risk and the importance of the facility. Characteristics governing detail and resulting documentation include facility importance, traffic load, adjacent property, drainage complexities, and requirements of other agencies (e.g., FHWA, FEMA, and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission).
  • Organize documentation in a concise and complete manner to lead readers logically from past history through the problem background into the findings and through the performance. This ensures that future designers can understand the actions their predecessors took.
  • Include all related references in the documentation files, such as published data and reports, memos and letters, and interviews.
  • Include dates and signatures where appropriate.
  • Include data and information from the conceptual development stage through service life of the project.
  • Include an executive summary at the beginning of the documentation that provides an outline of the documentation file to assist users in finding detailed information.
  • Document all data sources in the files.
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