Good highways are so interwoven with every phase of our daily activities that it is almost impossible to imagine what life would be like without them. One of the most important considerations in locating and designing rural highways and city streets is providing adequate drainage. Adequate and economic drainage is absolutely essential for the protection of the investment made in a highway structure and for safeguarding the lives of the persons who use it.

This 4-hour interactive online course discusses some of the fundamental concepts of highway and street drainage. Surface drainage in essentially rural areas is discussed in considerable detail; accompanying this is a discussion of measures for the prevention of erosion of shoulders, sideslopes, and side ditches. Considerable space is devoted to the location, design, and construction of culverts. Material is also presented relative to subdrainage, and the course concludes with a brief discussion of drainage in municipal areas. This is the sixth course in a series on highway engineering.

• Be familiar with the principles of surface drainage, and how it forms the basis for understanding specific cases and design elements
• Learn how open channels are created, as well as why they are used
• Understand the design, construction and maintenance of culverts, and why they are important for drainage and highway design
• Have a knowledge of the general principles of road drainage, why it is important, as well as the practicalities of design and implementation
• Be familiar with survey techniques, including the use of modern computing power
• Understand the importance of and the mechanics of final mapping plans