Table Of ContentSource: HYDRAULIC DESIGN HANDBOOK
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Larry W. Mays
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Arizona State University
Tempe,Arizona
1.1 OVERVIEW
Since the Egyptian’s and Mesopotamian’s first successful efforts to control the flow of
water thousands of years ago,a rich history of hydraulics has evolved. Sec. 1.2 contains a
brief description of some ancient hydraulic structures that are found around the world.
During the 20th century,many new developments have occurred in both theoretical and
applied hydraulics. A number of handbooks and textbooks on hydraulics have been pub-
lished, as indicated in Fig. 1.1. From the viewpoint of hydraulic design, however, only
manuals,reports,monographs,and the like have been published,mostly by government
agencies. Unfortunately,many aspects of hydraulic design have never been published as
a compendium. This Hydraulic Design Handbookis the first effort devoted to producing
a comprehensive handbook for hydraulic design. The book covers many aspects of
hydraulic design,with step-by-step procedures outlined and illustrated by sample design
problems.
1.2 ANCIENT HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES
1.2.1 A Time Perspective
Although humans are newcomers to earth,their achievements have been enormous. It was
only during the Holocene epoch (10,000 years ago) that agriculture developed (keep in
mind that the earth and the solar system originated 4,600 million years ago). Humans have
spent most of their history as hunters and food-gatherers. Only in the past 9,000 to 10,000
years have humans discovered how to raise crops and tame animals. Such changes prob-
ably occurred first in the hills to the north of present-day Iraq and Syria. The remains of
the prehistoric irrigation works in Mesopotamia and Egypt still exist. Table 1.1 presents a
chronology of knowledge about water.
Figure 1.2 illustrates the chronology and locations of various civilizations ranging
from India to Western Europe. This figure,from O. Neugebaur’s book titled The Exact
Sciences in Antiquity, illustrates the Hellenistic period the era of “ancient science,”
during which a form of science developed that spread later from Europe to India.
This ancient science was dominant until the creation of modern science dominant in
Isaac Newton’s time.
1.1
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INTRODUCTION
1.2 Chapter One
Abbott’s Computational Hydraulics (1980) 1980
Freeze and Cherry’s Groundwater (1979)
Fischer et al.,Mixing in Inland and
Coastal Waters (1979)
Graf’s Hydraulics of Sediment Transport
(1971)
1970
Streeter and Wylies’Hydraulic Transients
(1967) U.S. Geological Survey’s Roughness
Characteristics of Natural Channels (1967)
Hendersons’Open-Channel Flow(1966)
Daily and Harleman’s Fluid Dynamics
Leliavsky’s River and Canal Hydraulics (1966)
(1965)
Linsley and Franzini’s Elements of
Morris and Wiggert’s Applied Hydraulics
Hydraulic Engineering(1964)
in Engineering(1963)
USBRDesign of Small Dams(1960) 1960
Chow’s Open-Channel Hydraulics(1959)
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Hydraulic
Design of Stilling Basin and Energy
Dissipators (1958)
Stoker’s Water Waves(1957)
Leliavsky’s An Introduction to Fluvial
Parmakiams’Waterhammer Analysis Hydraulics(1955)
(1955)
Addison’s Treastise on Applied
King’s Handbook of Hydraulics(1954) Hydraulics (1954)
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Hydraulic
Laboratory Practice(1953)
Rich’s Hydraulic Transients (1951)
Rouse’s Engineering Hydraulics(1950) 1950
FIGURE 1.1 A selected list of books on hydraulics published between 1900 to 1980.
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction 1.3
1950
Allen’s Scale Models in Hydraulic
Engineering(1947)
ASCE’s Hydraulic Models(1942) Davis and Sorersen’s Handbook of
AppliedHydraulics (1942)
Woodward and Posey’s Hydraulics of
Steady Flow in Open Channels(1941)
1940
Rouse’s Fluid Mechanics for Hydraulic
Engineers(1938)
Daugherty’s Hydraulics (1937)
Muskat’s The Flow of Homogeneous
Fluids Through Porous Media(1937) Bakhmeteff’s The Mechanics of Turbulent
Flow(1936)
Bakhmeteff’s Hydraulics of Open
Channels(1932)
1930
Schoder and Dawson’s Hydraulics (1927)
Le Conte’s Hydraulics (1926)
1920
Hoyt and Grover’s River Discharge
(1916)
Hoskins’s A Text–Book on Hydraulics
(1911)
1910
Merriman’s Treatise on Hydraulics(1904)
1900
FIGURE1.1 (Continued)
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INTRODUCTION
1.4 Chapter One
TABLE 1.1 Chronology of Knowledge About Water
Prehistorical period Springs
3rd –2nd millennium B.C. Cisterns
3rd millennium B.C. Dams
3 millennium B.C. Wells
Probably very early† Reuse of excrement as fertilizer
2nd millennium B.C. Gravity flow supply pipes or channels and drains,pressure
pipes (subsequently forgotten)
8th-6th c. B.C. Long-distance water supply lines with tunnels and bridges,
as well as intervention in and harnessing of karst water
systems
6th c. B.C. at the latest Public as well as private bathing facilities,consisting of:
bathtubs or showers,footbaths,washbasins,latrines or
toilets,laundry and dishwashing facilities
6th c. B.C. at the latest Use of definitely two and probably three qualities of water:
potable, subpotable, and nonpotable, including irrigation
using storm runoff,probably combined with waste waters
6th-3rd c. B.C. Pressure pipes and siphon systems
*Indicates an element discovered,probably forgotten,and rediscovered later.
†Indicates an educated guess.
Source:Crouch,1993.
1.2.2 Irrigation Systems
1.2.2.1 Egypt and Mesopotamia. In ancient Egypt,the construction of canals was a major
endeavor of the Pharaohs beginning in Scorpio’s time. Among the first duties of provincial
governors was the digging and repair of canals,which were used to flood large tracts of land
while the Nile was flowing high. The land was checkerboarded with small basins defined by
a system of dikes. Problems associated with the uncertainty of the Nile’s flows were recog-
nized. During high flows,the dikes were washed away and villages were flooded,drowning
thousands of people. During low flows,the land was dry and no crops could grow. In areas
where fields were too high to receive water directly from the canals,water was drawn from
the canals or from the Nile by a swape or shaduf(Fig. 1.3),which consisted of a bucket on
the end of a cord hung from the long end of a pivoted boom that was counterweighted at the
short end (de Camp,1963). Canals continued to be built in Egypt throughout the centuries.
The Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia built city walls and temples and dug canals
that were the world’s first engineering works. It also is of interest that these people,fought
over water rights from the beginning of recorded history. Irrigation was vital to
Mesopotamia,Greek for “the land between the (Tigris and Euphrates) rivers.”An ancient
Babylonian curse was,“May your canal be filled with sand”(de Camp,1963),and even
their ancient laws dealt with canals and water rights. The following quotation from
approximately the sixth century B.C.,illustrates such a law (de Camp,1963):
“The gentleman who opened his wall for irrigation purposes, but did not make
his dyke strong and hence caused a flood and inundated a field adjoining his,
shall give grain to the owner of the field on the basis of those adjoining.”
Because the Tigris and Euphrates carried several times more silt per unit volume of water
than the Nile did,flooding problems were more serious in Mesopotamia than in Egypt. As
a result the rivers in Mesopotamia rose faster and changed course more often.
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction 1.5
FIGURE 1.2 Chronology and location of different civilizations ranging from India to Western Europe.
(Neugebauer,1993)
The irrigation systems in both Mesopotamia and the Egyptian Delta were of the basin
type,opened by digging a gap in the embankment and closed by placing mud back into
the gap. (See Fig. 1.4 for a comparison of the irrigation works in Upper Egypt and in
Mesopotamia.) Water was hoisted using the swape,Mesopotamian laws required farmers
to keep their basins and feeder canals in repair; they also required everyone else to wield
hoes and shovels when the rivers flooded or when new canals were required or old ones
needed repair (de Camp,1963). Some canals may have been used for 1,000 years before
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INTRODUCTION
1.6 Chapter One
FIGURE 1.3 Shadufs of the Amarna period,from the tomb of Nefer-Hotep at Thebes.
Note irrigation of date palms and other orchard trees and the apparent tank or pool (lower
right). The water pattern in the lowest margin suggests lifting out of an irrigation canal.
(Davies,1933,pls. 46 and 47). Figure as presented in Butzer (1976).
they were abandoned and others were built. Even today, 4,000 to 5,000 years later, the
embankments of the abandoned canals remain. In fact, these canal systems supported a
larger population than lives there today. Over the centuries, Mesopotamian agriculture
began to decline because of the salty alluvial soil. In 1258, the Mongols conquered
Mesopotamia and destroyed its irrigation systems.
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction 1.7
FIGURE 1.4 Comparative irrigation networks in Upper Egypt and Mesopotamia. A.Example of linear,
basin irrigation in Sohag province,ca. AD 1850. B.Example of radial canalization system in the lower
Nasharawan region southeast of Baghdad,Abbasid (A.D. 883–1150). Modified from R. M. Adams (1965,
(Fig. 9) Same scale as Egyptian counterpart) C.Detail of field canal layout in B.(Simplified from R. M.
Adams,1965,Fig. 10). Figure as presented in Butzer (1976).
The Assyrians also developed extensive pubic works. When Sargon II invaded Armenia
in 714 B.C.,he discovered the ganãt(Arabic) or kariz(Persian),a system of tunnels used
to bring water from an underground source in the hills down to the foothills (Fig. 1.5).
Sargon destroyed the system in Armenia but brought the concept back to Assyria. Over the
centuries,this method of irrigation spread across the Near East into North Africa and is
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INTRODUCTION
1.8 Chapter One
FIGURE 1.5 Details of the ganãt system. (Biswas,1970).
still used. Sargon’s son Sennacherib also developed waterworks by damming the Tebitu
River and using a canal to bring water to Nineveh,where the water could be used for irri-
gation without the need for hoisting devices. During high water in the spring,overflows
were handled by a municipal canebrake that was built to develop marshes used as game
preserves for deer,wild boar,and birds. When this system was outgrown,a new canal 30
mi long was built,with an aqueduct that had a layer of concrete or mortar under the upper
layer of stone to prevent leakage.
1.2.2.2 Prehistoric Mexico. During the earliest years of canal irrigation in Mexico,
the technology changed little (Fig. 1.6) and the method of flooding tended to be hap-
hazard. The technological achievements were relatively primitive until about 600 or
500B.C.,and few of the early systems remain. Whereas the earlier systems were con-
structed of loosely piled rocks,the later ones consisted of storage dams constructed of
blocks that were mortared together. Some spillways were improved, and floodgates
were used in some spillways. (Some dams could be classified as arch dams.) The
canals were modified to an extent during this time:Different cross-sectional areas were
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction 1.9
FIGURE 1.6 Regional chronology and dates of developments in various aspects of canal irrigation
technology in Mexico. (Doolittle,1990)
used,some were lined with stone slabs,and the water for irrigation of crops was more
carefully controlled.
Between 550 and 200 B.C.,the irrigation-related features and the entire canal systems
were significantly improved. The channelization of stream beds,the excavation of canals,
and the construction of dams were probably the most significant improvements. However,
the technology stopped improving after 200 B.C., and no significant developments
occurred for approximately 500 years. Around 300 A.D.,a few new improvements were
initiated, but the technology remained essentially the same through the classic period
(A.D.,200 – 800/1000) and early postclassical period (A.D.800/1000–1300). Figure 1.7 is
a map of fossilized canals in the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico.
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INTRODUCTION
1.10 Chapter One
FIGURE 1.7 Map of fossilized canals on the Llano de la Taza in the Tehuacan Valley.
(Woodbury and Neely,1972,as presented in Doolittle,1990)
1.2.2.3 North America. The canal irrigation systems in the Hohokam and Chaco
regions stand out as two major prehistoric developments in the American Southwest
(Crown and Judge,1991). The two systems expanded over broad geographic areas of sim-
ilar size (the Hohokam in Arizona and the Chacoans in New Mexico). Although they were
developed at similar times, they apparently functioned independently. Because the two
systems evolved in different environments,their infrastructures also differed considerably.
The Hohokam Indians inhabited the lower Salt and Gila River valleys near Phoenix,
Arizona. Although the Indians of Arizona began limited farming nearly 3000 years ago,
construction of the Hohokam irrigation systems probably did not begin until the first few
centuries A.D. Who originated the idea of irrigation in Arizona, whether the technology
was developed locally or it was introduced from Mexico, is unknown. Figure 1.8 illus-
trates the extensive system in the Phoenix area,and Fig. 1.9 provides a schematic of the
details of its major components.
In approximately 1450 A.D.,the Hohokam culture declined,possibly for a combination
of reasons: flooding in the 1080s, hydrologic degradation in the early 1100s, and the
recruitment of laborers by surrounding populations. The major flood in 1358 ultimately
destroyed the canal networks, resulting in movement of the people. Among the Pima
Indians, who were the successors of the Hohokam Indians, use of canals was either
limited or absent. Although the prehistoric people who lived outside the area of Hohokam
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