A Study on Evacuation Safety at Inundated Stairs by using Real-scale Hydraulic Model Experiment

Abstract

In recent years, sudden and local downpours in Korea have become more frequent. These rainfall patterns increase load on drainage system and reduce ability to exclude inland water, leading to flooding. If such rainfall patterns lead to flash floods especially in dense urban areas, sudden submergence of underground spaces by floods can be a fatal threat to life. Therefore, it is very important to secure evacuation routes in case of inundated underground spaces. In this study, we tried to determine evacuation safety by understanding hydraulic characteristics of inundated stairs that could become evacuation routes in underground spaces. For this purpose, water depth and volume flow rate were measured at each point of inundated stairs, and data obtained from results were used to evaluate evacuation safety at each step.