I'm trying to write a letter and I need the name of those concrete structures, apparently mostly in cities, that act like canals to channel excessive water caused by storms; otherwise they are dry. In the movies, kids ride their bikes in them or car chases end up in them, both of which are probably illegal in real life.

 

This is embarrassing ... any help out there?

 

I know what will happen. As soon as I read the name that someone supplies, I'll recognize it immediately.

 

Thanks!

Well, in Australia we have storm water drains to do that - is that what you're after?

 

Edit: the pictures on wiki don't look like what you're talking about, but I think they are the same thing. I don't think the giant, open-topped concrete things are particularly common.

Flood control channel

Okay, "flood control channel" sounds close to what I'm thinking, so I'll give it a ½ or even ¾ of a .

 

Are there common, vernacular expressions for them?

 

GOOGLE HITS -- NAME

2,200 K -- flood control channel

370 K -- flood channel

102 K -- flood canal

43 K -- flood control canal

25 K -- flood control ditch

10 K – storm ditch

7 K – storm canal

 

Okay, at 80% of the hits, "flood control channel" receives top honors .

 

Unfortunately, none of these names as well as "drainage ditch" (too far afield, literally) and "storm channel" (too ambiguous, sounds like the TV station to turn to for weather forecasts) seems exactly what I was thinking of, except for "flood canal" and "storm canal" (which add up to a lousy 4%). I would say that one of these is what I was thinking of. Apparently, my recall isn't what it used to be. (Please call our 800 number for customer service. Thank you, and have a nice day.)

 

Thanks Spyman and hypervalent_iodine.

Culvert is another word they use for the wide, open-topped concrete drainage channels in Los Angeles (although most people in LA just call it the River). Most culverts are closed at the top and aren't very long.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grating

These?

No, these things ...

 

I think those are stormwater canals.

I was thinking "swale". Usually a flood control swale has a grassy/earthen bottom however. ??

 

 

 

Stormwater Management

Edited March 22, 201213 yr by Acme