Roof Runoff Structure Design (NRCS Standard 558)

Learn how roof gutters and drip trenches are designed on agricultural projects.

What you'll learn:

• Design roof gutters for barns and agricultural buildings
• Compute peak flows for roof runoff structures
• Size underground outlets under gravity flow conditions

Roof runoff structures are essential for diverting clean rain water around and away from contaminated areas. This course will show conservation professionals how to design and construct these fundamental structures. At the end of this course you will be able to design roof gutters and drip trenches as part of agricultural conservation projects.

Lectures are interspersed with exercises to complete on your own. A course project caps the project and ensures that that students have learned the required techniques. Students will need a printer to complete the class exercises. They should have a scanner to send in their course project but postal mail is accepted as well.

The course should take approximately 4 hours for an entry level employee to complete. Runoff Hydrology is not a required prerequisite as roof runoff structures are sized using simplified methods. Students should take this course in order to improve their conservation planning and design skills.