Memorandum
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration

The FHWA Office of Bridge Technology is pleased to announce the release of version 7.0 of the FHWA's Culvert Hydraulic Analysis Program, HY-8. The HY-8 program operates within a graphical user interface compatible with the Windows operating system. The HY-8 program is a computerized implementation of FHWA culvert hydraulic approaches and protocols. The HY-8 program is a free, public domain software.

The FHWA publication "Hydraulic Design Series 5, Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts," (HDS-5) [publication FHWA-NHI-01-020, May 2005 revision] documents the technical methods applied in the HY-8 program and should be considered the primary technical reference for the software.

Attached to this memorandum is a copy of the "HY-8 Quick Start" document that provides information about downloading and installation of the program, some important differences between the older DOS version and this new Windows version, a simple tutorial problem to introduce users to the basic operation of HY-8, and means to report bugs or other problems to FHWA via e-mail at CommentsOnHY8Version7.0@fhwa.dot.gov. The HY-8 Quick Start document contains the links to download the HY-8 installation package. We strongly recommend that users read the installation instructions contained in this document before downloading the HY-8 program.

As described in the HY-8 Quick Start document, the HY-8 installation file includes the HDS-5 document as a portable document format (PDF) file. The HDS-5 document is also accessible from the HY-8 program help menu. A hard copy of HDS-5 can be created by printing the PDF file.

The HY-8 program has extensive on-line help that assists users in the understanding operations and features of the software. This is in the form of a hyper-linked help file available from the help menu or by selecting help buttons or icons from the graphical user interface. While the help file is organized to provide context-sensitive help, it can be printed out and organized into a hard copy manual.

A copy of this memorandum and attachment is being e-mailed directly to the hydraulics unit in each State department of transportation.

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Joe Krolak, Senior Hydraulics Engineer, at (202) 366-4611.

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