Urban drainage manual
The Queensland Urban Drainage Manual is a joint venture of the department, the Queensland Division of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia, and the Brisbane City Council.
The purpose of the manual, which deals primarily with the hydrology/hydraulics of drainage systems, is to provide local governments and stormwater professionals with a standardised approach to planning and designing urban stormwater drainage.
The manual has traditionally dealt mainly with passing run-off through and away from urbanised areas to meet flood mitigation, public safety and convenience objectives. However, as the impact of stormwater on the environment, and the need to manage it as an integral part of the urban water cycle are now widely recognised, the latest edition of the manual provides guidance in addressing these issues when planning and designing the system. The manual also now highlights the comprehensive planning approach necessary to achieve best practice.
Manual in sections
- Preface, Amendments to volume 2, Symbols and abbreviations (PDF, 320K)*
- Introduction (PDF, 494K)*
- Stormwater planning and Legal aspects (PDF, 399K)*
- Catchment hydrology (PDF, 578K)*
- Detention/retention systems and Computer models (PDF, 403K)*
- Urban drainage (part 1) (PDF, 329K)*
- Urban drainage (part 2) (PDF, 377K)*
- Urban drainage (part 3) (PDF, 427K)*
- Urban drainage (part 4) (PDF, 539K)*
- Stormwater outlets (PDF, 434K)*
- Open channel hydraulics (PDF, 472K)*
- Waterway crossings (PDF, 364K)*
- Environmental considerations (PDF, 374K)*
- Safety aspects (PDF, 346K)*
- Miscellaneous matters (PDF, 241K)*
Complete manual with higher quality images
Queensland Urban Drainage Manual (PDF, 5.4M)*
The manual is also available on compact disk from the The department service centres for $21.10.
Contact us
If you have any queries, suggestions or comments, please:
- Email Queensland Urban Drainage Manual, or
- phone (07) 3239 3226.
If you have problems downloading any of these documents please contact:
Office of the Water Supply Regulator
GPO Box 2454
Brisbane 4001
Email: Office of the Water Supply Regulator
* Requires Acrobat Reader
Last updated: 19 March 2009