Soil and water conservation engineering

BOOK REVIEW Soil and Water Conservation Engineering (3rd Ed.) G. O. Schwab, R. K. Fievert, T. W. Edminster and K. K. Banes John Wiley and Sons, 1 9 8 1 , 7 0 4 pp., $39.90/£21.00 This is a third edition of the book originally published in 1955. In their Preface, the authors state that in comparison to the earlier editions, more emphasis is given in the present one to engineering design of soil and water conservation practices. Indeed, throughout the book the engineering solutions are extensively presented and discussed, Altogether, the book focuses attention on six phases of the engineering activities related to soil and water conservation: (wind and water) erosion control, (surface and subsurface) drainage, irrigation, flood control, moisture conservation and water resources management and development. In the introduction, the authors define soil and water conservation engineering as 'the application of engineering principles to the solution of soil and water management problems', with the conservation of these resources implying 'utilisation without waste'. The main interest of the authors seems to be in the increase of food production. For them, this serves as the main objective of soil and water management. The figures they give, in the introduction and in subsequent chapters, of land use, investment in soil and water conservation, land erosion, drained wetlands, irrigation, etc., relate to the US. Chapter 2 deals with precipitation, since 'moisture, whether too much, too little, or poorly distributed is one of the major limitations to agricultural production'. The same is true for Chapter 3 on infiltration, evaporation and transpiration and for Chapter 4, on runoff, where the emphasis is on hydtograph analysis. Nevertheless, the inclusion of these subjects in this volume is important as they provide the essential input information to the considered engineering practices. Chapter 5 deals with practices of control of water erosion and Chapter 6 deals with wind erosion and its control. Chapter 6 deals with wind erosion and its control and Chapter 7 considers vegetated waterways, where the vegetation's objective is to stabilise the channel and protect it against the development of gullies. Chapter 8 discusses terracing as an erosion control technique. Design details and the methodology for planning terrace systems are reviewed. Chapter 9 describes temporary and permanent structures constructed along channels with the objective of taking up most of the fall along the channel in order to dissipate the energy of the falling water and thus to maintain along the channel non-silting and non-scouring velocities. Chapter I0 deals with earth embankments and farm ponds. The theoretical aspects of seepage through earth embankment is limited to a simple Dupuit-based expression. The information presented is sufficient only for the initial planning phases if the embankment is a large one. Otherwise, all the important elements: foundation, side slopes, and berm, top width, free brand, compaction arrd settlement, and spillway, are properly described. Chapter 1 1 deals with the control of runoff at the headwater. The role of reservoirs in reducing flood peaks is discussed in detail, and flood routing techniques are presented. Chapters 12-1 5 deal with surface and subsurface drainage. Many design details are included. Spacing formulae for parallel drain systems, and information of cost estimation are also given. Chapter 16 gives some basic facts about pumps, their construction and operation. This is, again, a review of A D V A N C E S IN ENGINEERING SO FTW A R E ADVANCES IN WATER APPLIED OCEAN RESEARCH RESOURCES Editor: C. L KIRK Associate Editor: C. C. MEi ISSN 0141 1187 Modern ocean (in particular, offshore) technology ff growing rapidly as a new discipline and profession, and a research journal of high standard is needed to support and advance it. Many established journals are characterized by their historical development and papers relerant to ocean technology are at best an infrequent portion of their coverage, A major characteristic of modern ocean technology is its dependence on many disciplines and their interactions, In order that ideas in component areas can be transferred readily among researchers of different backgrounds, a new Journal which promotes the interaction of many existing disciplines for modern ocean industry seems desirable, ISSN 0141 1195 Advances in Engineering Software is a new international quarterly publication which prevides accurate and up to date information on Engineering Software. ISSN 1309 1708 Engineering software is the term used to Advances in Water Resources is a procover all computer programs, specialised fessional journal designed to act as an packagesand large analysis and design international forum for the interchange systems. of scientific and technical information, The aims of the journal are to proAdvances in Water Resources provides an vide a forum for the presentation and important alternative to existing journals discussion of recent advances in engineerfor those scientists and engineers who ing software, and act as a link between are interested in the more quantitative the originators of software and the aspects of the water sciences, engineering community. The main body The Journal considers for publication of the journal consists of articles describTapers in most areas of water resources ing a particular piece of software, its ut editorial policy is to encourage papers theory, scope and application. Computer on basic developments, simulation techlistings will be published when necessary. Advances in Engineering Software also niques and papers that emphasise the practical applications of the work publishes articles on commercially availdescribed. The emphasis is on new conable software. cepts and techniques. Case histories will The cost of one year's subscription only be published if they enhance the Publishedquarterly. (four issues) of Advances in Engineering presentation and understanding of new Software is UK £39.00, overseas £45.00 technical concepts. ($98). North America (including Canada and Published quarterly. Mexico) to be sent to Springer Verlag, 44 Hartz Way, Secaucus, NJ 10010, USA. Tel. (201) 348 4033. $103 incl. p&p. Subscriptions: North America including Canada and Mexico) to be sent to Springer Veriag, 44 Haxtz Way, Secaucus, NJ, USA. Tel: (201) 348 4033. $126 incl. p&p. Other Countries to be sent to CML Publications, Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst, Southampton SO4 2AA. Tel: (0421) 293223. UK £49. Elsewhere £55.00 ($120). Editor: G. F. PINDER Associate Editor: C.A. BREBB1A CML PUBLICATIONS Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst, Southampton SO4 2AA Adv. Water Resources, 1982, Volume 5, September 191 standard material, but well presented and needed here to complete the practical engineering aspects. Chapter 17, on water supply and quality, in the form presented, is not directly related to the general scope of the problem (except that the material on water measurement could be included in one of the earlier chapters). Too little on water quality, and only a brief glance at groundwater. On the other hand the detailed description of irrigation principles and (surface and subsurface) practices (Chapters 18-21) is good and most useful. Of special value to planners is the material on trickle irrigation (a large portion of which is taken from a publication by Karmeli and Keller, 1975). A number of practical appendices (runoff determination, Dynamic Analysis of Offshore Structures Edited by C. Kirk Recent developments in fixed and floating offshore structures have shown that dynamic analysis is the single most i m p o r t a n t issue in the design of safe and reliable structures. Manning Roughness coefficients pipe and conduit f l o w , Because of the c o m p l e x nature of new types of floating and c o m p l i a n t structures, dynamic analysis loads on underground conduits, filter design criteria) con- studies at the preliminary design stage are essential elude the presentation, Altogether, this is an excellent, clearly w r i t t e n and com- for predicting m o t i o n s and dynamic stresses which are generally d i f f i c u l t and expensive to obtain f r o m prehensive presentation of almost every engineering aspect related to soil and water conservation, l emphasise engineering (as do the authors also), as management (e.g. economic) model tests. Theoretical analysis is a valuable design tool to the offshore engineer in enabling a wide range of design aspects (and tools) briefly mentioned. authors use the SI version tables. The o f soil and water conservation are only It may be o f interest to note that the system o f unit, giving appropriate conb o o k should be a most useful profes- parameters to be considered, and the purpose of the present volume is to present a Wpical cross section of problem areas in offshore structural dynamics. Since the subject is continually growing the volume is sional text for civil and agriculture engineers, foresters, and unable to consider all aspect and it is intended to others engaged in this i m p o r t a n t field. It is written also in a way (including exercises) that should make it a good t e x t b o o k for teaching this subject at college and university keep engineers up t o date w i t h new developments in future volumes. Softback£14.00 12pp ISBN0905451074 levels. J. Bear CML PUBLICATIONS A S H U R S T LODGE, A S H U R S T H A M P S H I R E SO4 2 A A Israel Institute of Technology ENGLAND COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS publications FINITE ELEMENTS IN WATER RESOURCES FINITE ELEMENTS IN WATER RESOURCES Proc0edings of the 3rd In~rnational Conference held at University of Miuissippi, USA, Moy 1980 Proc0edings of the 4th International Conference held in l-lannover, June 1982 Edited by S. Wang, C. Alonso, C. Bmhbia, W. Gray and G. Pindar Edited by P. Holz, U. Meissner, C. A. Brabbia, G. Pindar, W. Gray and W. Zielke This book contains the edited proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Finite Elements in Water Resources held at the University of Mississippi, in May 1980. The book contains approximately 90 papers presented at the conference. Topics covered include: ground water and seepage;transport phenomena; viscous flows; river, lake and ocean modelling; sedimentation processes;finite element techniques, The conference attempted to present a state of the art of Finite Elements in Water Resources and consequently 40 of the papers contained in the proceedings were presented by distinguished invited speakers. The other 50 papers were carefully selected to complement the invited papers and to make the proceedings an essential requirement for anyone working in the field of numerical methods in water resources. Hardback £35.00 llOOpp. approx 1980 ISBN 0 905451 04X This book contains the edited proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Finite Elements in Water Resources. The papers published in this volume constitute the most up-to-date research in the theory and applications of finite elements for a large variety of problems. Like the previous three volumes, this book is an essential reference work for scientists and engineers interested in the numerical solution of water resources problems. Hardback £45 1100pp.approx. ISBN 0 905451 09 0 The t w o v o l u m e set is available a t a special p r i c e o f £ 7 2 CML 192 PUBLICATIONS, Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst, Southampton Adv. WaterResources, 1982, Volume 5, September SO4 2AA, England