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Cross drainage waterway and transitions, Q 56

Short answer

Siphon aqueduct selected as HFL (268.20m) exceeds canal bed (267.00m). Drainage waterway: 13 spans of 8m (clear 104m) using Lacey's regime perimeter. Canal flumed to 16m wide rectangular trough (1.98m depth). Transitions: inlet 2:1 (13.9m), outlet 3:1 (20.9m). Bed levels/FSL: Sec1 (267.000/268.980), Sec2 (266.866/268.846), Sec3 (266.821/268.801), Sec4 (266.872/268.852). Head loss 0.128m.

Design drainage waterway, canal waterway and canal transitions of a cross drainage work for a canal having discharge 56 m³/s, bed width 24 m, full supply depth 1.98 m, and bed level 267.00 m. The drainage has a high flood discharge of 425 m³/s, high flood level of 268.20 m, general bed level of low water cross-section of 265.50 m, and general ground level of 267.20 m.

The canal (QQ = 56 m³/s) crosses a drainage of QQ = 425 m³/s. Design is done in four steps: type of work, drainage waterway, canal waterway (flumed trough) and bed/water levels of the trough.

Assumptions: Side slope of canal 1.5:1; Lacey's ff = 1; trough nn = 0.015.

1. Type of structure

HFL of the drainage (268.20 m) is above the canal bed (267.00 m) by 1.20 m, so the trough cannot be kept above HFL without a very high, costly structure. The drainage is passed under the trough through barrels flowing under pressure (siphonic action). A siphon aqueduct is suitable. Drainage depth at HFL = 268.20 − 265.50 = 2.70 m.

2. Drainage waterway

Lacey's regime perimeter (for a natural stream):

P=4.75Q=4.75425=97.9 mP = 4.75\sqrt{Q} = 4.75\sqrt{425} = 97.9\ \text{m}

Provide 13 spans of 8 m with piers 1.2 m thick: clear waterway = 13 × 8 = 104 m (> 97.9 m). Overall length = 104 + 12 × 1.2 = 118.4 m.

Check: mean velocity = Q/(L·d) = 425/(104 × 2.70) = 1.51 m/s. Lacey's regime depth R=0.47(Q/f)1/3R = 0.47(Q/f)^{1/3} = 3.53 m (with ff = 1); foundations of piers and abutments are taken about 1.5R = 5.3 m below HFL, with cut-offs and aprons for scour.

3. Canal waterway (flumed rectangular trough)

Normal canal: area A1=(B+zD)DA_1=(B+zD)D = (24 + 1.5 × 1.98) × 1.98 = 53.40 m², V1V_1 = 56/53.40 = 1.049 m/s, hv1=V12/2gh_{v1}=V_1^2/2g = 0.0561 m. Top width T=B+2zDT=B+2zD = 29.94 m.

To save cost, the canal is flumed to a rectangular trough of width BtB_t = 16 m, with the same full supply depth 1.98 m (the trough is as long as the drainage waterway, 118.4 m).

  • Trough area = 16 × 1.98 = 31.68 m²; VtV_t = 56/31.68 = 1.768 m/s (acceptable, < 2.5 m/s); hvth_{vt} = 0.1593 m
  • Froude number = 0.40 < 1, flow is subcritical, so there is no hydraulic jump.
  • Hydraulic radius R=A/PR=A/P = 31.68/19.96 = 1.587 m; friction slope S=(nV/R2/3)2S=(nV/R^{2/3})^2 = 0.000380 (Manning's n = 0.015); friction loss in trough hf=S Lh_f=S\,L = 0.000380 × 118.4 = 0.045 m

4. Transitions and levels

  FSL ---.                            .--- FSL
         '--.______________________.--'
  bed ---.                            .--- bed
         '--.______________________.--'
  normal  inlet     flumed trough     outlet  normal
  canal   (2:1)                      (3:1)   canal

Wing-wall (straight) transitions: inlet splay 2:1 (contraction) and outlet splay 3:1 (expansion), measured on each side:

  • Inlet length = 2 × (T − B_t)/2 = 29.94 − 16 = 13.9 m
  • Outlet length = 3 × (T − B_t)/2 = 20.9 m

Bernoulli's equation between sections (loss in contraction = 0.3 Δh_v, in expansion = 0.5 Δh_v; Δh_v = difference of velocity heads):

W2=W1+hv1−hvt−0.3(hvt−hv1)W3=W2−hfW4=W3+hvt−hv1−0.5(hvt−hv1)\begin{aligned} W_2 &= W_1 + h_{v1} - h_{vt} - 0.3(h_{vt}-h_{v1}) \\ W_3 &= W_2 - h_f \\ W_4 &= W_3 + h_{vt} - h_{v1} - 0.5(h_{vt}-h_{v1}) \end{aligned}

W1W_1 = 268.980 m, so W2W_2 = 268.846 m, W3W_3 = 268.801 m, W4W_4 = 268.852 m. Trough bed = water level − 1.98 m.

SectionLocationBed level (m)FSL (m)
1Normal canal, start of inlet transition267.000268.980
2End of inlet transition = start of trough266.866268.846
3End of trough = start of outlet transition266.821268.801
4End of outlet transition = normal canal266.872268.852

Total loss of head = 268.980 − 268.852 = 0.128 m, so the canal bed downstream of the work is 0.128 m lower than upstream.

Check: with trough slab 0.6 m thick, soffit of the barrels = 266.22 m, i.e. 0.72 m above the drainage bed; HFL stands 1.98 m above the soffit, which gives the siphonic head. Since the clear height is less than 1.5 m, the drainage bed is depressed under the barrels to RL 264.72 m (1.5 m clear height) with a 1 in 4 slope at both ends.

Answer: drainage waterway 104 m clear (13 × 8 m, overall 118.4 m); canal flumed to 16 m wide trough; bed/FSL at the four sections = 267.00/268.98, 266.87/268.85, 266.82/268.80, 266.87/268.85 m.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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