Gene-Expression Programming for Sediment Transport in Sewer Pipe Systems

Old sewerage systems were designed based on empirical rules to minimize sediment problems and a list of codes for self-cleansing sewers. These codes were applicable to noncohesive sediments (typically storm sewers). This study presents gene-expression programming (GEP), which is an extension of genetic programming (GP), as an alternative approach for modeling the functional relationships of sediment transport in sewer pipe systems. A functional relation has been developed using GEP. The proposed relationship can be applied to different boundaries with partial flow. The proposed GEP approach gives satisfactory results (r(2) = 0.97 and MSE = 0.0054) compared to the existing predictor. (C) 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.