I.

River Design Structure

What is meant by Flood?

Floods of all natural hazards capable of producing a disaster, a flood is the

most common in causing loss of life, human suffering inconvenience, widespread
damage to buildings, structures, crop, infrastructures, and other national assets.

Human response to Flooding:

 Flood Protection – decreases risk of bank full capacity being exceeded.

 Flood Abatement – reduces storm flow and reduces peak discharge levels.
 Behavioral responses – societies adopt different coping strategies
 Most activity tends to increase flood risk, by reducing the interception store
and thus increasing the amount of surface run-off.
 Deforestation
 Urbanisation
 Cultivation

Type of Flood Control Structures

1. Check Dams
- protect gullies from being eroded by rainfall and run-off impact.
- these types of structures are located in small or medium-sized gullies to
stabilize riverbed slopes and prevent soil erosion.
2. Retaining Walls
- these are rock/concrete block structures built on steep slopes anywhere in the
watershed, where the erosion of the base foundation threatens lands and
homes.
3. Bunding
- these are U-shaped concrete structures designed to quickly remove water from
highly susceptible erodible areas such as road-sides, under-bridges and steep
slopes.
4. Levees
- these serve the purposed of confining flood waters to the stream and to
portions of the flood plain.

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 5. Reservoirs
- are one of the most direct methods of flood control through storing surface

II. Design Flood Discharge

Protection against floods is possible by construction of some engineering

structure, but their dimensioning needs to scientific calculations, where flood design
discharge plays the major role.

Design flood is the value of the instantaneous peak discharge adopted for the
design of a particular project or any of its structures. In addition to the considerations of the
flood characteristics, frequencies and potentiality of the contributing drainage area above the
structure, social, economic and other non-hydrologic considerations which are likely to have
influence are considered in deriving a design flood.

The Probable Maximum Flood (PMF)

- it is the flood that would result from the most severe combination of critical
meteorological and hydrologic conditions considered physically possible in
the region under consideration.

For major structures like big dams it is not sufficient to consider design flood only. It
calls for estimates of extreme flood like Probable Maximum Flood (PMF). In deriving PMF
attempt is made to analyse the causative factors responsible for the production of flood with a
view to arriving at a most critical combination of meteorological and hydrologic factors.

Among the factors producing severe floods the important ones are the following:
1. Occurrence of very intense storm.

2. Centering of the storm over the catchment so as to produce maximum runoff.

3. Critical time sequence and movement of storm.

4. Occurrence of the storm at a time when the drainage basin is already saturated by
preceding rainfall.

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Inflow design flood for dam safety
- it is the flood for which the dam should be safe against overtopping and
structural failure. The criteria for classification of dams are based on size
and hydraulic head.

Inflow design flood for various types of dams

Type of Hydraulic head Storage Capacity Inflow design

Dam (m) (million m3) flood

Small 0.5 - 10 7.5 - 12 10 year

Intermediate 10 - 60 12 - 30 SPF

Large > 60 > 30 PMF

SPECIFIC DISCHARGE:

Using the specific curve or equation, design discharge or probable discharge is obtained as
follows:

1. Obtain catchment area (A) for which the discharge is necessary.

2. Determine the return period or safety level.

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 3. Read specific discharge from the relevant curve of corresponding to region, return
period and catchment area, or compute specific discharge from the equation, using
catchment (A) and constant (C) corresponding to region and return period.

4. Obtain specific discharge (Q) as the product of the specific discharge in (3) and
catchment area (A)

III. Flood Types

Flood

A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense
of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area
of study of the discipline hydrology and are of significant concern in agriculture, civil
engineering and public health.

Flooding may occur as an overflow of water from water bodies, such as a river, lake,
or ocean, in which the water overtops or breaks levees, resulting in some of that water
escaping its usual boundaries, or it may occur due to an accumulation of rainwater on
saturated ground in an areal flood. While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary
with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, these changes in size are unlikely to be
considered significant unless they flood property or drown domestic animals.

Floods can also occur in rivers when the flow rate exceeds the capacity of the river
channel, particularly at bends or meanders in the waterway. Floods often cause damage to
homes and businesses if they are in the natural flood plains of rivers. While riverine flood
damage can be eliminated by moving away from rivers and other bodies of water, people
have traditionally lived and worked by rivers because the land is usually flat and fertile and
because rivers provide easy travel and access to commerce and industry.

Some floods develop slowly, while others can develop in just a few minutes and
without visible signs of rain. Additionally, floods can be local, impacting a neighborhood or
community, or very large, affecting entire river basins.

The word "flood" comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic
languages (compare German Flut, Dutchvloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float;
also compare with Latin fluctus, flumen).

Two Factors to determine if an Area is prone to Flooding:

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 1. Amount of water entering the area over time

Examples: heavy rains, overflowing dams, rapid sea level rise

2. Topographic setting of the affected are

Examples: low lying areas, coastal and riverside area

Types of Flood

 Areal

Floods can happen on flat or low-lying areas when water is supplied by rainfall or
snowmelt more rapidly than it can either infiltrate or run off. The excess accumulates in
place, sometimes to hazardous depths. Surface soil can become saturated, which
effectively stops infiltration, where the water table is shallow, such as a floodplain, or
from intense rain from one or a series of storms. Infiltration also is slow to negligible
through frozen ground, rock, concrete, paving, or roofs. Areal flooding begins in flat
areas like floodplains and in local depressions not connected to a stream channel, because
the velocity of overland flow depends on the surface slope. Endorheic basins may
experience areal flooding during periods when precipitation exceeds evaporation.

 Riverine (Channel)

Floods occur in all types of river and stream channels, from the
smallest ephemeral streams in humid zones to normally-dry channels in arid climates to
the world's largest rivers. When overland flow occurs on tilled fields, it can result in
a muddy flood where sediments are picked up by run off and carried as suspended matter
or bed load. Localized flooding may be caused or exacerbated by drainage obstructions
such as landslides, ice, debris, or beaver dams.

Slow-rising floods most commonly occur in large rivers with large catchment
areas. The increase in flow may be the result of sustained rainfall, rapid snow
melt, monsoons, or tropical cyclones. However, large rivers may have rapid flooding
events in areas with dry climate, since they may have large basins but small river
channels and rainfall can be very intense in smaller areas of those basins.

Rapid flooding events, including flash floods, more often occur on smaller rivers,
rivers with steep valleys, rivers that flow for much of their length over impermeable
terrain, or normally-dry channels. The cause may be localized convective
precipitation (intense thunderstorms) or sudden release from an upstream impoundment

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created behind a dam, landslide, or glacier. In one instance, a flash flood killed eight
people enjoying the water on a Sunday afternoon at a popular waterfall in a narrow
canyon. Without any observed rainfall, the flow rate increased from about 50 to 1,500
cubic feet per second (1.4 to 42 m3/s) in just one minute. Two larger floods occurred at
the same site within a week, but no one was at the waterfall on those days. The deadly
flood resulted from a thunderstorm over part of the drainage basin, where steep, bare rock
slopes are common and the thin soil was already saturated.

Flash floods are the most common flood type in normally-dry channels in arid
zones, known as arroyos in the southwest United States and many other names elsewhere.
In that setting, the first flood water to arrive is depleted as it wets the sandy stream bed.
The leading edge of the flood thus advances more slowly than later and higher flows. As
a result, the rising limb of the hydrograph becomes ever quicker as the flood moves
downstream, until the flow rate is so great that the depletion by wetting soil becomes
insignificant.

 Estuarine and coastal

Flooding in estuaries is commonly caused by a combination of sea tidal surges

caused by winds and low barometric pressure, and they may be exacerbated by high
upstream river flow.

Coastal areas may be flooded by storm events at sea, resulting in waves over-
topping defenses or in severe cases by tsunami or tropical cyclones. A storm surge, from
either a tropical cyclone or an extratropical cyclone, falls within this category. Research
from the NHC (National Hurricane Center) explains: "Storm surge is an abnormal rise of
water generated by a storm, over and above the predicted astronomical tides. Storm
surge should not be confused with storm tide, which is defined as the water level rise due
to the combination of storm surge and the astronomical tide. This rise in water level can
cause extreme flooding in coastal areas particularly when storm surge coincides with
normal high tide, resulting in storm tides reaching up to 20 feet or more in some cases."

 Urban flooding

Urban flooding is the inundation of land or property in a built environment,

particularly in more densely populated areas, caused by rainfall overwhelming the

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 capacity of drainage systems, such as storm sewers. Although sometimes triggered by
events such as flash flooding or snowmelt, urban flooding is a condition, characterized by
its repetitive and systemic impacts on communities that can happen regardless of whether
or not affected communities are located within designated floodplains or near any body of
water. Aside from potential overflow of rivers and lakes, snowmelt, storm water or water
released from damaged water mains may accumulate on property and in public rights-of-
way, seep through building walls and floors, or backup into buildings through sewer
pipes, toilets and sinks.

In urban areas, flood effects can be exacerbated by existing paved streets and
roads, which increase the speed of flowing water.

The flood flow in urbanized areas constitutes a hazard to both the population and
infrastructure. Some recent catastrophes include the inundations of Nîmes (France) in
1998 and Vaison-la-Romaine (France) in 1992, the flooding of New Orleans (USA) in
2005, and the flooding in Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Brisbane during the 2010–2011
summer in Queensland (Australia). Flood flows in urban environments have been studied
relatively recently despite many centuries of flood events. Some recent research has
considered the criteria for safe evacuation of individuals in flooded areas.

 Catastrophic

Catastrophic riverine flooding is usually associated with major infrastructure

failures such as the collapse of a dam, but they may also be caused by drainage channel
modification from a landslide, earthquake or volcanic eruption. Examples
include outburst floods and lahars. Tsunamis can cause catastrophic coastal flooding,
most commonly resulting from undersea earthquakes.

IV. Causes of Flood

Floods are natural occurrences where an area or land that is normally dry abruptly
becomes submerged in water.

Flooding is experienced all over the globe and for a variety of reasons. There are
several human causes of flooding, including poorly designed infrastructure. There are also
natural reasons flooding happens.

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Here are eight of the most common causes of flooding, both natural and human-induced. And
the consequences of flooding can be savage.

1. Heavy Rains

- The simplest explanation for flooding.

- Rain is the leading contributor to most of the flooding cases witnessed across
the world.

Too much rain causes water to flow overland contributing to flooding. In particular, it
is due to high rainfall intensity over a prolonged period.

Depending on the rainfall distribution, the amount of rain, and soil moisture content,
short rainfall period can also result in flooding. Light rains for longer periods – several days
or weeks, can also result in floods. The rain water erosive force can weaken the foundations
of buildings, causing tumbles and cracks.

2. Overflowing Rivers

- Rivers or streams can overflow their banks.

This happens when the river or stream holds more water upstream than usual, and it
flows downstream to the neighboring low-lying areas, typically referred to as the
floodplains. As a consequence, this creates a sudden discharge of water into the adjacent
lands leading to flooding.

3. Broken Dams

- Dams are man-made structures used to hold water from flowing down from a
raised ground.

The potential energy stored in the dam water is used to generate electricity. At times,
the walls can become weak and break because of overwhelming carriage capacity. Due to this
reason, breakage of the dam can cause extensive flooding in the adjacent areas.

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 Flooding occurs when the embankments built along the sides of the river to stop high
water from flowing onto the land breaks. Sometimes, the excess water from the dam is
deliberately released from the dam to prevent it from breaking thereby causing floods.

EXAMPLE:

Much of America’s infrastructure was built in the 20th century, so it is getting old.
When heavy rains come, and water levels rise, aging dams can fail and unleash torrents of
water on unsuspecting households.

This is part of what happened after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.
Levees failed and made the flooding far worse than it would have been otherwise. While we
have come to depend on 20th-century architecture, and much of it does its job well, there is
always a possibility that a structure will fail.

4. Clogged Drainages

- Many of our cities are made of mostly concrete and other impermeable
material.

When you have an urban drainage basin that is made of concrete, there is no ground
for water to sink into. So, when those drainage basins fill up, it is going to mean flooding for
low-lying areas.

The areas remain flooded until the storm water systems or waterways are
rectified.Instances where the systems or water ways are not rectified, the areas remain
flooded until the excess water evaporates or is transpired into the atmosphere by plants.

5. Storm Surges and Tsunamis

Rain is not always the culprit when it comes to flooding. Storm surges related to
hurricanes and other storms can lead to significant flooding, as can tsunamis that are
sometimes caused by underwater earthquakes.

Given modern technology, we often know about storm surges and tsunamis before
they arrive, but this is not always the case. For example, in 2004, an earthquake off the coast
of Indonesia created a tsunami that gave little warning before coming ashore.

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 6. Channels with Steep Sides

Flooding often occurs when there is fast runoff into lakes, rivers and other reservoirs.
This is often the case with rivers and other channels that feature steep sides. It is a similar
issue to having a lack of vegetation.

7. A Lack of Vegetation

Vegetation can help slow runoff and prevent flooding. When there is a lack of
vegetation, however, there is little to stop water from running off. This can be a bit of a
conundrum after a drought.

While area residents likely welcome the rain, the lack of vegetation after the drought
can cause flash flooding. This does not always happen given that basins and reservoirs are
close to empty, but it can occur in cases of extreme rains following long periods of drought.

8. Melting Snow and Ice

In the cold regions, ice and snows build up during the winters. When the temperature
rises in summer, the accumulated snows and ice are subjected to melting resulting in vast
movements of water into lands that are normally dry. Regions with mountains that have ice
on top of them also experience the same outcome when the atmospheric temperature
rises. This type of flooding is usually termed as snowmelt flood

V. Flood Control Structure

Flood Control

- methods that are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood
waters.

Flood Control Structure

- These are structures used to control floods including dams, levees, floodways, and
channels. Dredging of river channels, clearing of debris along riverbanks, and
stabilization of riverbanks also moderate the effects of floods.

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History of flood control structures

- The oldest river control structure in the world is the Old River Control
Structure. It was completed in 1963 and expanded in 1990. It regulates the flow of water
leaving the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya River, thereby preventing the Mississippi
river from changing course. It was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a side
channel of the Mississippi known as “Old River”, between the Mississippi’s current
channel and the Atchafalaya Basin.

- The first two floodgates are the Low Sill Control Structure, which regulates
routine flow in the waterway, and the Overbank Control Structure, in use only when the
Mississippi exceeds its banks.

Types of Flood Control Structures

- Check Dams - Paved Drains

- Retaining walls - Reservoirs
- Bunding
- Sausage groynes
- Gabion/mattress groynes

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 Different Flood Control Structures around the Globe

 Morganza Spillway

- a 4,159-foot (1,268 m) controlled spillway using a set of floodgates

- Is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and was opened during the
1973 and 2011 Mississippi River floods.
- Is located in the state of Louisiana along the western bank of the Lower
Mississippi River at river mile 280, near Morganza in Pointe Coupee Parish.

(The Morganza Spillway, between the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya Basin,
shown while open in 1973. Water flows from the Mississippi (upper right) into the
Morganza Floodway (lower left))

 Red River Floodway

It is an artificial flood control waterway in Western Canada that was opened in 1968. And
is a 47 km long channel which, during flood periods, takes part of the Red River's flow
around the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba to the east and discharges it back into the Red River
below the dam at Lockport.

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 Maeslantkering

- Opened in 1997 with a height of 20meters the Maeslantkering is a storm surge

barrier on the Nieuwe Waterweg, in South Holland, Netherlands. Controlled by a
supercomputer, it automatically closes when Rotterdam is threatened by floods.
- Designed by Architect Wim Quist
- It is the only storm surge barrier in the world with such large moveable parts.

 The Thames Barrier

- The Thames Barrier prevents the floodplain of most of Greater London from
being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the
North Sea. It has been operational since 1982. When needed, it is closed during
high tide; at low tide it can be opened to restore the river's flow towards the sea.
- It has 10 steel gates that can be raised into position across the River Thames.

 Mose Project

- Also known as (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, Experimental

Electromechanical Module)
- It is a project intended to protect the city of Venice, Italy and the Venetian
Lagoon from flooding. This project is also an integrated system consisting of rows
of mobile gates installed at the Lido, Malamocco, and Chioggia inlets that are able
to isolate the Venetian Lagoon temporarily from the Adriatic Sea during acqua
alta high tides.

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 - Together with other measures, such as coastal reinforcement, the raising of
quaysides, and the paving and improvement of the lagoon, MOSE is designed to
protect Venice and the lagoon from tides of up to 3 metres (9.8 ft).

VI. Flood Control Structures in the Philippines

The Philippines lies in the path of tropical cyclones. An annual average of twenty
tropical cyclones enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility and out of this, seven to eight
directly hit the country causing enormous water-related damages to human lives and
properties. According to the reports of the Office of Civil Defense, approximately 1,000
people every year are killed and/or missing due to floods brought about by cyclones.

Therefore, the Government has requested a technical cooperation project to develop

the capacities of engineers by means of establishing “Flood Control and Sabo Engineering
Center” to the Government of Japan. In response to the request, Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) has started “The Project for Enhancement of Capabilities in
Flood Control and Sabo Engineering of the Department of Public Works and

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 Highways” (herein after referred to as “the Project”) on 10 January 2000.

River Basin Region Catchment Area

Code No.
(km2)

Cagayan Region II 25,469 02001

Mindanao Region XI and XII 23,169 12342

Agusan Region XIII 10,921 10315

Pampanga Region III 9,759 03059

Agno Region III 5,952 03070

Abra Region I 5,125 01036

Pasig-Laguna Bay NCR and Region IV-A 4,678 04076

Bicol Region V 3,771 05114

Abulug Region II 3,372 02028

Tagum-Lubuganon 3,064 11303

Region XI

Ilog-Hilabangan 1,945 06235

Region VI and VII

Panay 1,843 06197

Region VI

Tagoloan Region X 1,704 10331

Agus Region XII and ARMM 1,645 12336

Davao Region XI 1,623 11307

Cagayan Region X 1,521 10332

Region VI
Jalaur 1,503 06205

Buayan-Malungun Region XI 1,434 11364

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RIVERS IN THE PHILIPPINES

The National Water Resources Council (NWRC) identified the principal and major
river basins nationwide in the “Principal River Basins of the Philippines” October, 1976. The
principal river basins are defined as those having at least 40 km2 of drainage area. The river
basins with area of at least 1,400 km2 among the principal river basins are classified as major
river basins. There are 421 principal river basins identified with catchment area ranging from
40 to 25,469 km2 including 18 major river basins.

The 18 major river basins are tabulated in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 18 Major River Basins

Common Flood Control Structures in the Philippines

1. Dikes
A dike (spelled dyke in British English) is a body of rock, either sedimentary
or igneous, that cuts across the layers of its surroundings. They form in pre-existing
fractures, meaning that dikes are always younger than the body of rock that they have
intruded into.
Dikes are normally very easy to find when looking at an outcrop. For starters,
they intrude the rock at a relatively vertical angle. They also have a completely
different composition than the surrounding rock, giving them unique textures and
colors.

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 What defines a dike is that it cuts vertically across the bedding planes of the
rock it intrudes. When an intrusion cuts horizontally along the bedding planes, it is
called a sill. In a simple set of flat-lying rock beds, dikes are vertical and sills are
horizontal. In tilted and folded rocks, however, dikes and sills may be tilted too. Their
classification reflects the way that they were originally formed, not how they appear
after years of folding and faulting.

Figure 1. Asphalt dike in Amburayan river

2. Floodgate
Floodgates, also called stop gates, are adjustable gates used to control water
flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be
designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates
in sluices and canals, or they may be designed to stop water flow entirely as part of a
levee or storm surge system. Since most of these devices operate by controlling the
water surface elevation being stored or routed, they are also known as crest gates. In
the case of flood bypass systems, floodgates sometimes are also used to lower the
water levels in a main river or canal channels by allowing more water to flow into a
flood bypass or detention basin when the main river or canal is approaching a flood
stage.

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3. Revetments

Revetments are always made as sloping structures and are very often
constructed as permeable structures using natural stones or concrete blocks, thereby
enhancing wave energy absorption and minimising reflection and wave run-up.

However, revetments can also consist of different kinds of concrete slabs,

some of them permeable and interlocking. In this way their functionality is increased
in terms of absorption and strength.

A newly-constructed revetment wall of 9

meters tall in Tullahan River in SSS Village,
Barangay North Fairview, Quezon City.

4. Sabo Dams/Check Dams

Sabo dams are built in the upstream areas of mountain streams where they
suppress the production and flow of sediment. Those built at the exits of valleys work
as a direct barrier to any debris flow that might occur.

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5. Parapet Walls
A parapet wall is a low or dwarf wall built along the edge of the roof, terrace,
walkway, balcony etc. Parapet walls can be constructed using different materials like
reinforced cement concrete, steel, aluminium, glass etc.

6. River Wall
In hydraulic engineering, a wall made to confine a river within definite
bounds, either to prevent denudation or erosion of the banks, or overflow of the
adjacent land, or to concentrate the force of the stream within a smaller area for the
purpose of deepening a navigable channel.

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VII. Importance of Flood Control

What is flood control?

- Flood control refers to all methods used to reduce or prevent harmful effects
of flood water.
- Flood control is the technique or practice of preventing or controlling floods
with dams, artificial channels, etc.

Common techniques used for flood control

 Installation of rock berms

 Sandbags

 Construction or expansion of drainage channel

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Effects of Floods

Flooding has many impacts. It damages property and endangers the lives of
humans and other species. Rapid water runoff causes soil erosion and concomitant
sediment deposition elsewhere. Financial losses due to floods are typically millions of
peso each year, with the worst floods in recent Philippine history having cost billions.

Benefits of flooding

There are many disruptive effects of flooding on human settlements and

economic activities. However, flooding can bring benefits, such as making soil more
fertile. The viability for hydrologically based renewable sources of energy is higher in
flood-prone regions.

Methods of flood management

1. Dams
2. Diversion Canals
3. Floodplains and groundwater replenishment
4. Coastal defenses

Significant Vulnerabilities and Threats Without Updated Flood Control

Without flood control animal habitat and people are put at risk. Here are some
well-known instances where natural disasters occurred and caused significant damage
due to lack of updated flood control systems

Deadliest Cyclone (2004-2013)

RANK STORM DATES OF DEATHS

IMPACT
1 YOLANDA 2013, November 7–8 6,300
2 PABLO 2012, December 2–9 1,901
3 WINNIE 2004, Nov. 27–29 1,593
4 FRANK 2008, June 20–23 1,410
5 REMING 2006, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 1,399

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Importance of flood Control

1. Minimize flood damages and the violence of flood events.

2. Prevent unwise encroachment and development within floodplains.
3. Protect the life and property of citizens living within floodplains.
4. Protect public health.
5. Reduce financial burden on communities with land subject to flood damages.
6. Enhance wildlife, recreation and riparian habitats along watercourse and
floodplains.
7. Help people have water to drink and provide water for industry, water for
irrigation and other needs.

VIII. Types and Purpose of Flood Control Structure

Flood control structures are designed to protect coastal and river-bank areas, including urban and
agricultural communities, homes, and other economically valuable areas, and the people located
within them. These structures are used to divert flows of water, by re-directing rivers, slowing natural
changes in embankments and coastlines, or preventing inundation of vulnerable coastlines or
floodplains.

Types of flood control structures in the Philippines:

 Dikes
A dike has water only on one side, a dam has water on both sides. The main purpose
of a dike is protecting the land behind it from flooding.
 Seawalls

It is designed to prevent coastal erosion and other damage due to wave action and
storm surge, such as flooding.

 Gabions

Protect slopes and streambanks from the erosive forces of moving water.

 Retaining walls
Are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at
different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a
slope that it would not naturally keep to (typically a steep, near-vertical or vertical slope).
 Riprap

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 To protect slopes, streambanks, channels, or areas subject to erosion by wave action.
Rock riprap protects soil from erosion due to concentrated runoff. It is used to stabilize slopes
that are unstable due to seepage.
 Conventional drainage systems
Are designed to achieve a single objective — flood control during large, infrequent
storms.

Other types of flood control structures:

 Spurs
Serves one or more of the functions :
1. Training the river along the desired course to reduce concentration of
flow at the point of attack, guiding or deflecting the axis of flow;
2. Creating a slack flow zone with the object of silting up the area in the
vicinity of river bank.
 Levees
The main purpose of an artificial levee is to prevent flooding of the adjoining
countryside; however, they also confine the flow of the river resulting in higher and faster
water flow.

IX. River Training Works

River training works The river flowing in alluvial plains meander in wide
widths. River discharges also vary widely. In certain years, the flood season
discharges may be as high as 500 times the discharge of low flow season. Therefore,
rivers carry different sediment loads at different times of the year according to
variation in discharge . Due to non uniform variation in discharge and sediment load ,
the rivers enlarge and contract their channel width and gradually change their courses
from time to time. When a barrage is constructed across a river , the river is made to
forced or guided to flow through it. More ever , fluming of water ways barrages
results in afflux, which may some times be several feet. The effect of afflux is felt up
to several miles up stream of the barrage . A high afflux may submerged large tracts of
costly land and properties along the river, if these are not protected. Therefore to
insure that the river flows through the barrage and protect the submerging of large
tracts of costly land and property upstream , certain works upstream of barrage are
constructed. These works are called river training works.

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River training works
 Guide banks
The works required in the river to guide the passage of river water through
weir or barrages are called guide banks. The guide banks consist of two heavily built
set of embankments with heavily protected curved ends in the shape of bell mouth.
The width of water way is kept equal to the width of the structure from abutments.
The river side slops of guide banks are pitched with stones.

 Marginal banks
With the construction of weir or barrage, the level of water in the river
upstream is raised by a few feet in all season. This is called afflux. The rise of water
level is felt up to several miles upstream. If this rise is felt unattended, it will part
from threatening the safety of structure , will submerge large areas upstream.
Therefore to protect properties from submergence and destruction, a set of
embankments are constructed both sides of the river upstream of the barrage. These
embankments are called marginal banks. Since the marginal banks are permanent
structures these are aligned in such a way that they do not interfere with the river
meander. They are tied or joined to the high ground upstream so that the river flows
with in the two marginal banks and is not allowed to out flank the barrage and also
not submerged areas up stream.
Marginal banks are usually provided with a top width of 6m with river side
slope 3:1 to 5:1 and land side slope of 4:1 to 6:1. the river side slope is protected with
stone pitching and flexible stone apron.

 Spurs
Spurs are heavily fortified embankments constructed in the river bed
transverse to the river banks. Their main function is to control the river channel so
that it may run along a specified course and protect the river banks from scouring
by keeping the river course away from it.
Spurs may be aligned in such a way that they may hold, repel or attract a
river course.Types of spurs according to functions

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 Holding spurs: spurs are constructed to the river current. They should be
short in length and should be constructed perpendicular to the bank. Such spurs
are utilized to hold the channel in position and protect the banks.
Attracting spurs: spurs should be constructed pointing towards upstream of
the flow to attract the river current towards the bank. The angle of inclination may
vary from 60 degree to 80 degree. This attract river flow towards the banks from
which the spurs are very strong in construction as they have to bear the full frontal
attack of the river flow.

 Repelling spurs
Spurs constructed to repel the river current should be aligned pointing
towards downstream. The angle of inclination with normal to bank varies from 40
to 60 degrees. The head of the spur should be heavily protected to resist swirling
action of the current. The distance between the two spurs is kept 1 to 2 times the
length of the spurs. On bends the distance between the spurs is kept more in case
of convex banks and small for concave banks.
The classes of the spurs:
1. Impermeable spurs
Impermeable spurs as name implies are those spurs which do not allow
water to seep through them.
Types:
• Bar spurs
• Hockey spurs
• Inverted hockey spur
• T- head spur
• Sloping spur
2. Permeable spurs
A permeable spurs allows water to seep through it. However, as the silt laden
water passes through the voids in the material of such spurs, its velocity is reduced
considerably, which allows water to drop its entire silt load in the pores of spurs
gradually making it full impermeable.
Types :
• Tree spur
• Wire crated stone spur

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 Pitched island
A pitched island is an artificially created island in the river. It is made of earth
with pitched side slopes and stone apron. Sometimes an existing natural island in the
river is reshaped and pitched and provided with aprons.
Pitched island cause redistribution of tractive force, velocity and sediment
charge of river flow. The tractive force near a pitched island begins to increase rapidly
after construction of island which creates a deep scour around the island thus drawing
the river channel near it and holding it there permanently. Therefore pitched island are
used to correct the river approach conditions by attracting the river course above the
weir and holding it there. It decreases the intensity of flow along a marginal banks and
guide banks and protect them from damage. It also deepens the river channel, which
helps the silt distribution before the head regulator of off-taking channels and
navigation purposes. Pitched island are particularly suitable in deep channels. In
shallow channel with flash floods, they are not suitable.

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References:

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/water/hydrograph-theory/design-flood-definition-and-
computation-of-design-flood-hydrograph/60604

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/design- flood

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/bridge-construction/top-6-methods-for-estimation-of-flood-
discharge/93346

https://www.jica.go.jp/project/philippines/0600933/04/pdf/Manual_on_FC_Planning.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood

https://www.chiefscientist.qld.gov.au/publications/understanding-floods/what-factors-contribute

https://b-air.com/2018/02/common-causes-flooding/

https://www.eartheclipse.com/natural-disaster/what-is-flood-and-what-causes-flooding.html

https://www.classzone.com › earth_science › terc › content › investigations

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Old_River_Control_Structure

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Morganza_Spillway

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Maeslantkering

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Barrier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSE_Project

https://www.wordnik.com/words/river-wall

https://theconstructor.org/building/parapet-walls-types-uses/28646/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parapet

http://www.sabo-int.org/dott/river.html

https://www.unisdr.org/archive/46701

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1016867

http://www.coastalwiki.org/wiki/Revetments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floodgate

https://www.nj.gov/dep/floodcontrol/usacepompton.htm

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-are-dikes-and-how-do-they-form-3893130

http://open_jicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/11775665.pdf

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