Aswan High Dam

ENGINEERING GEOLOGY, RIVER ENGINEERING AND HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES

Course title “Engineering

Geology”
By: Birhanu Ermias (Ph.D.)
Slalale University
Salale, Ethiopia (2022) 1
Gibe III dam
UNIT 7: ENGINEERING GEOLOGY, RIVER ENGINEERING AND
HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES
7.1. River Engineering
• River engineering can be broadly defined as the practical application of science to further the
understanding of a river’s behavior.
• This combines skills in sediment transport analysis, hydrology and hydraulics, fluvial
geomorphology, and a strong practical background in the selection, design and impacts of
river and watershed training structures and modifications.
• The subject of river engineering is a very wide-ranging one. The main reason for the
complexity of river engineering is that river flow in alluvium has no really fixed boundaries
and geometry compared with, say, pipe flow or open-channel flow in rigid canals.
• Despite a very substantial and sustained research effort, our knowledge in the field of
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sediment transport and river morphology is still somewhat imprecise.
7.2. Some basic principles of open-channel flow
• Open-channel flow may be laminar or turbulent, depending on the value of the Reynolds
number Re.
• Reynolds number, named after Osborne Reynolds who investigated experimentally the
transition of flow from the orderly kind that we call “laminar flow” to the more chaotic type
of flow termed “turbulent flow”.
• For flow in a circular tube of diameter D at an average velocity V , the Reynolds number
Re is defined as follows:

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• In rivers and canals there is always turbulent flow. Furthermore, open channel flow may
be steady if the discharge, Q, is a function of distance only (or constant), and unsteady if Q
is also a function of time t.
• In natural rivers, flow is normally unsteady whereas in canalized rivers and canals flow is
predominantly steady non-uniform or uniform. 4
7.3 Sediment transport
• The sediment concentration in rivers varies enormously with time and between continents,
countries, and even catchments.
• From the point of view of source sediment, transport can be divided into washload
comprising very fine material moving in rivers and canals in suspension and bed material load
moving as bedload and suspended load depending on sediment size and velocity.
• For river engineering and navigation canals bedload is the important element of sediment
transport, as it determines the morphological erosion and sedimentation aspects;
• suspended load may be important in river engineering only in reservoir sedimentation
and, exceptionally, in sedimentation at canal intakes.

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(Novak et al., 2007).
• The important properties of sediment and sediment transport are:
the sediment size (d),
shape,
density ρs (usually 2650kgm3),
fall velocity (ws),
bulk density and porosity, and
sediment concentration (C) (volumetric, ppm, or mgl-1).

• According to size, we usually distinguish:

clay (0.5µm<d<5µm),
silt (5µm<d<60µm),

sand (0.06mm<d<2mm) and

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gravel (2mm<d<60mm).
7.4 River morphology and régime
• River morphology is concerned with channel configuration and geometry, and with
longitudinal profile; it is time dependent and varies particularly with discharge, sediment
input and characteristics, and with bank material.
• River morphology can be substantially influenced by engineering works, although this
influence is not necessarily beneficial.
• Natural river channels are:
• straight (usually only very short reaches),
• meandering, i.e. consisting of a series of bends of alternate curvature connected by short,
straight reaches (crossings), or
• braided, i.e. the river divides into several channels which continuously join and
separate. 7
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7.5 River surveys
• The river engineer needs reliable maps for river
investigations and for the design and execution of
engineering works.
7.5.1. Mapping - Maps compiled by the usual
terrestrial surveying techniques are often incomplete
and unreliable, but aerial photographic techniques and
satellite images can provide accurate valuable data on
river systems.
7.5.2. Water levels (stages) - are obtained from gauges (non-recording or recording types)
installed at gauging stations.
• Figure 8.5 is automatic recording gauge. Shallow streams and low-flow stages may be waded
and measured with the help of a graduated staff. 9
10
• In alluvial streams with fast-moving flows the gauge may be suspended from a fixed
reference point, e.g. a bridge, parapet wall.
• Gauge recordings are indispensable for design purposes and for hydrological studies.
• The data are equally valuable for the purposes of navigational studies and for high (flood
predictions) and low (water quality, aquatic life) water management.
• Stage readings at a gauging station combined
with discharge measurements yield stage–
discharge (rating curves) relationships.
• Telemetry is used to transfer
water level data from remote
stations, either continuously or
at predetermined intervals 11
The stage-discharge relationship
• The relationship between the amount of water flowing at a given point in a river or stream
(usually at gauging stations) and the corresponding stage is known as stage-discharge
relationship or rating curve.
• The rating curve is usually plotted as discharge on x axis versus stage on y axis.

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7.5.3 Bed levels Echosounders calculate water
depth by measuring the time it takes
• Bed levels can be determined using for acoustic signal to reach bottom
and echo to return to the ship.
a graduated sounding rod with a
base plate fixed at the bottom end.
• The base plate prevents the rod
from penetrating into the river
bed and also helps to keep it in a
vertical position.

• The bed topography can also be obtained by sounding

techniques from the water surface.
• In river engineering bed level measurements have to be
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made periodically.
7.5.4 River discharges
a) Area–velocity methods
i. Float
 River discharges are usually computed from velocity measurements, the simplest method being timing the
movement of a float over a known distance.
ii. Current meters - Current meters are sensors that measure the rate of flow of water.
 The flow velocities can be measured using current meters at systematically distributed points over the cross-
section. The area of the cross-section is determined from soundings and the discharge obtained as: Q = ∑AiVi.
b) Dilution methods
• Dilution gauging is an
alternative solution in
streams with steep
gradients, and in
shallow torrents where
conventional current
metering techniques
cannot be used. 14
(Novak et al., 2007).
c) Gauging structures
• Discharges (modular flows) can also be measured using the standard gauging structures
(artificial control) such as:
• the broad-crested weir,
• the Venturi flume and
• the Crump weir, etc.,
Lamprey passage at crump weirs

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Venturi flume
d) Natural control
• The natural control of a river reach is a particular section (gauging station) where
discharges and their corresponding stages are measured and a unique relationship (called the
rating curve) between them is established.
• This relationship can then be used to estimate discharges from observed stages.
• The rating curve, once established, has to be checked periodically for its validity and, if
necessary, adjustments have to be made.
• Considerable deviations may occur as a result of morphological changes of the river bed
(scouring, deposition, vegetal growth, etc.), the presence of flood waves and any changes
introduced along the reach of the river in the vicinity of the control section, both upstream and
downstream of it.

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(Novak et al., 2007).
• After defining specific monitoring periods it is possible to specify threshold
ranges for the values of individual data fields.
• The threshold ranges are valid only during the defined monitoring periods.
• A monitoring period's threshold ranges are evaluated against the data collected
only if the collection date and time falls within the monitoring period.
• You can specify a lower and an upper threshold value for any element and
field.
• All defined monitoring periods and threshold values apply to all defined
dashboards. 17
7.6. River improvement
• The objectives of river improvement works are to:
 aid navigation,
 to prevent flooding,
 to reclaim or protect land or
 to provide water supply for irrigation, hydropower development or domestic and industrial use.

• Flood-protection works include high-water river training (mainly by dykes), diversion and
flood-relief channels with or without control structures, and flood-control reservoirs.
• Flood protection schemes require a careful cost–benefit analysis to determine a suitable
design discharge which depends on the type of land, structures and property to be protected
and the processes involved.
• It is extremely important in river training to adopt a holistic approach and to incorporate
environmental impact assessment and socioeconomic considerations in any design. 18
• Bank protection is carried out by:
 planting, faggotting (faggots or fascines are bundles of branches, usually willow),
 thatching, wattling, mattresses, rubble, stone pitching, gabions, bagged concrete, concrete slabs, asphalt slabs,
 prefabricated concrete interlocking units with or without vegetation,
 articulated concrete mattresses, soil–cement blocks, asphalt and asphaltic concrete,
 geotextiles (woven and non-woven fabrics, meshes, grids, strips, sheets and composites of different shapes and
constituents),
 used tyres, etc., all used with or without membrane linings (e.g. nylon, rubber, polythene, etc.).

• The choice of material is influenced by:

 the extent of the area to be protected,
 hydraulic conditions, material availability, material and labour costs, access to the site,
 available mechanization, soil conditions, design life, required impermeability,
 robustness, flexibility, roughness, durability, environmental requirements, etc.

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(Novak et al., 2007).
7.7. Diversion Works
7.7.1. Weirs and barrages
• Weirs and barrages are relatively low-level dams constructed across a river to raise the river
level sufficiently or to divert the flow in full, or in part, into a supply canal or conduit for the
purposes of irrigation, power generation, navigation, flood control, domestic and industrial
uses, etc.
• These diversion structures usually provide a small storage capacity.
• In general, weirs (with or without gates) are bulkier than barrages, whereas barrages are
always gate controlled.
• Barrages generally include canal regulators, low-level sluices to maintain a proper approach
flow to the regulators, silt excluder tunnels to control silt entry into the canal and fish ladders
for migratory fish movements. 20
(Novak et al., 2007).
7.7.2. Cofferdams
• Cofferdams are temporary structures used to divert water from an area where a
permanent structure has to be constructed. They must be as watertight as practicable,
relatively cheap and, if possible, constructed of locally available materials.
• Diversion facilities such as tunnels or canals, provided to divert the flow from the site area,
are sometimes used as part of the permanent facilities (e.g. penstocks, spillways, sluices,
conveyances to turbines, or discharge channels from turbines, etc.). If the construction work
proceeds in two stages, part of the structure completed in the first stage may be used as a
diversion facility (spillway or sluice) during the second stage of construction (Fig. 9.1)
(Linsley and Franzini, 1979; Vischer and Hager, 1997).
• The selection of the design flood for these diversion works depends on the risk that one is
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prepared to take (see equation. (Novak et al., 2007).
Concrete gravity barrage dam

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(B) Shih Kang Dam (Taichung, Taiwan)
Energy dissipation
• At the downstream end of the spillway system, the excess in kinetic energy must be
dissipated before the flow re-joins the natural stream.
• Energy dissipation may be achieved by a hydraulic jump stilling basin downstream of the
steep chute, a high velocity water jet taking off from a flip bucket and impinging into a
downstream plunge pool (USBR 1965; Novak et al. 2001; Chanson 2015).
• The design of a stepped chute may assist also in energy dissipation (Figs. 1C and 2B). A
hydraulic jump stilling basin is the common type of dissipaters for small dams and weirs.
• Most kinetic energy is dissipated in the hydraulic jump, sometimes assisted by appurtenances
(step, baffles) to increase the turbulence.
• A hydraulic jump is the rapid and sudden transition from a supercritical to subcritical flow.

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(Radecki-Pawlik et al., 2018).
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7.7.4. Hydraulics of culverts
• A culvert is a covered channel designed to pass flood waters, drainage flows, and natural
streams through earthfill and rockfill structures (e.g., roadway, railroad).
• A culvert consists of three sections: the intake or inlet, the barrel or throat, and the diffuser
or outlet. The cross-sectional shape of the barrel may be circular (pipe) or rectangular (box
and multi-cell box); a culvert may be designed as a single cell or multiple cell structure.
• The hydraulic characteristics of a culvert are the design discharge, the upstream total head and
the maximum acceptable head loss from inlet to outlet.
• The design discharge and upstream flood level are deduced from the hydrological
investigation of the site in relation to the purpose of the culvert. Head losses must be
minimized to reduce upstream flooding. From a hydraulic engineering perspective, a
dominant feature is whether the barrel runs full or not. 25
Fig. 8. Box culverts. (A) Muscat, Oman on 31 Oct. 2010
afternoon; (B) Culvert outlet below Ridgewood St, Algester (QLD,
Australia) in August 1999; (C) Culvert along Gin House Creek,
Carrara, Gold Coast (QLD, Australia) on 5 Dec. 2007.

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Fig. 9. Minimum energy
loss culvert along
Norman Creek beneath
Ridge Street, Brisbane
(Australia).
(A) Inlet operation on 7
Nov. 2004 for Q ≈ 80
to 100 m3/s;
(B) (B) Outlet on 13 May
2002.

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7.8. Geologic factors in the design and construction of weirs and river diversions
• Prior to designing hydraulic structures, it is essential to carry out the following investigative
works:
i. Topographic investigation works, in which, on the basis of geodetic measurements a
locality plan is worked out and data for drawing various profiles and sections in the zone of
the structure and the storage reservoir space, is obtained.
ii. Engineering-geological and hydro-geological investigation works, the aim of which is to
throw light on the geological structure of the region of a hydraulic scheme, the physical
and mechanical properties of its minerals, hydro-geological conditions, and to determine
occurrences of natural materials for construction of the structures. These investigative
works can commence with the analysis and interpretation of satellite photographs, which
enable a wide view of the project location. 28
(Tanchev 2014).
iii. Geotechnical investigation works, by means of which we can determine the elastic and
deformational characteristics of the rock materials at the dam site and in the foundations
of some more significant structures, as well as of the rock materials which will be used for
construction of the dam’s body; they are effectuated through field and laboratory
investigations.
iv. Geomechanical investigation works, which determine the characteristics of non-rock
(soil) materials in the foundation, as well as in the borrow pits for local earth materials. For
their realization, field and laboratory equipment has been developed, as well as precisely
described methods and procedures.
v. Hydrological investigation works, which are useful for studying the hydrological regime of
a watercourse planned for utilization, in which we can determine flows of the watercourse
and their variation, the regime of flow in different seasons, and processes in the riverbed.
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(Tanchev, 2014).
vi. Constructional output investigation works, for instance, connection of the construction
site with the existing traffic network, for sources of supply of construction materials,
water and electric power, conditions for settling down, supply and the living
accommodation of workers, etc.
vii. Other investigation works, which help clarify the existing water utilization of the considered
water resource. Then comes abundance of the river with fish and conditions for fishing, kinds
of soil and vegetation in the region in which the hydraulic structure might be set up, as well as
basic economic branches (industries) in the zone in which the planned hydraulic scheme will
have an influence.

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