CHAPTER-3

Hydraulic Structures-II
CROSS DRAINAGE WORK

By: Yonas Mathewos

Wolkite University
 Cross drainage works
 Is a structure which is constructed at the crossing
of a canal and a natural drain so as to dispose of
a drainage water without interrupting the
continuous canal supplies.
 Cross drainage works
Types of Drainage Works:
The drainage water intercepting the canal can be disposed off in
either of the following ways.
1. By passing the canal over the drainage
2. By passing the canal below the drainage
3. By passing drain through the canal
 1. By passing the canal over the drainage: This may be
accomplished either through
i. Aqueduct
ii. Syphon-aqueduct
Advantage: -The canal is open to inspection
-The damage done by the flood is rare
Disadvantage: -Heavy floods may scour the foundation
-The waterway of the drain may be chocked with
trees
 If silt laden is a problem, use silt ejector
 If the stream carries floating debris, use trash rack
Applicable especially when the drain is very big in comparison of
the section of the canal
Types of Aqueducts according to cross section of canal over the
culvert (Barrel):

Aqueduct (Type-I) or Syphon aqueducts:

 The cross-section of the canal is not changed.
 The cross –section of the canal with normal side slopes
 It is suitable when canal width is small (less than 2m)
Types of Aqueducts according to cross section:

Aqueduct (Type-II):
 The outer slopes of the canal banks are discontinued and
replaced by retaining wall.
 The length of the barrel is reduced but cost of retaining
wall is added.
 Suitable when width of canal is moderate(2.5 to 15m)
Types of Aqueducts according to cross section:

Aqueduct (Type-III):
 The entire earth section of the canal is discontinued and
replaced by concrete or masonry trough over the
drainage.
 It is suitable when the width of the drainage is very
large(>15m)
 The cost of trough and canal wing wall is less in
comparison to the saving resulting from decreasing the
length of barrel.
 The canal can be easily flumed which reduces further the
length of the barrel.
 The canal FSL is well above the stream HFL the choice between
aqueduct and siphon aqueduct is made depending on the stream
discharge
2. By passing the canal below the drainage: This may
be accomplished either by
i. Supper passage
ii. Canal syphon generally called a syphon
3. By passing drain through the canal so that the canal water
and drainage water allowed to intermingle with each other
i. A level crossing
ii. Inlets and outlets.
i. A leveling crossing:
 This arrangement is generally provided when a huge sized
canal crosses a large stream carrying a very high but short
lived drainage flood discharge
 Where there are no floods, the drainage regulator is generally
kept closed and the outgoing canal regulator is kept fully
open so that the canal flow without any interruption
 During floods, canal regulator closed and the drainage
regulator is opened so as to pass the flood discharge
 ii. Inlets and outlets.
 An inlet is constructed to allow drainage water to enter the
canal and get mixed with the canal water.
 However, this structure is generally adopted when the drainage
discharge is small
 Moreover, the drain water must not admit heavy load of silt
into the canal.
 Similarly, the outlet is another open cut in the canal bank with
bed and sides of the cut properly pitched. The escaping water
from the outlet is taken away by a lead channel to some
nearby drain on the downstream side of the surface outlet
If the bed and water levels of the canal and stream at
the crossing site are approximately the same, a level
crossing is provided
Selection of Cross-Drainage Works:
 Relative levels and discharges: The relative levels and
discharges of the canal and of the drainage mainly affect type
of cross drainage works.
i. If the canal bed level is sufficiently above the HFL of
drainage aqueduct is selected.
ii. If the canal bed level is only slightly below the HFL of
the drainage and the drainage is small a syphon aqueduct
is provided.
iii. If the FSL of the canal is sufficiently below the bed level
of the drainage a supper passage is provided.
iv. If FSL of the canal is slightly above the bed level of the
drainage and the canal is of small size canal syphon is
provided.
v. If the canal bed and the drainage bed are almost at the
same level crossing is provided.
Selection of Cross-Drainage Works:
 Performance: As far as possible the structure having an open
channel flow should be preferred. Therefore aqueduct is
preferred to a syphon aqueduct.
 Provision of road: Aqueduct is better than a supper passage
b/c in the former, a road bridge can easily be provided along
with the canal trough at small extra cost.
 Size of drainage:
• When the drainage is of small size, a syphon aqueduct will be
preferred to an aqueduct as the latter involves high banks and long
approaches.
• If the drainage is of large in size, an aqueduct is preferred.
 Cost of earth work: The type of cross drainage work which
doesn’t involve large quantity of earth work is advantageous.
Selection of Cross-Drainage Works:
 Foundation: The type of cross drainage work should be
selected depending on the foundation available at the site.

 Cost of construction: The cost of cross drainage work

should not be excessive.

 Over all cost: The overall cost of the canal banks and the
cross drainage works, including maintenance cost should be
minimum.
Design considerations:
 At the site, the drainage should cross the canal alignment at
right angle.
 The stream at site should be stable.
 For economical design the foundation at site should be
strong and firm.
 The site should be such that long and high approaches are
not required.
 The length and height of the marginal bank and guide bank
for the drainage should be small.
 The water table at the site should not be high.
 As far as possible the site should be selected d/s of the
confluence of two streams.
 A cross drainage work should be combined with a bridge, if
required.
 Cross drainage works
The Design Aspect:
 The following steps may be involved in the design of cross
drainage works.
o Determination of maximum flood discharge.
o Fixing the waterway requirement.
o Size of the Barrels.
o Afflux and head loss through the syphon barrels
o Fluming of the Canal
o Canal Transitions
o Design of Pucca Canal Trough
o Design of Bottom Floor.
o Foundation of cross-drainage works.
o Bank Connections
o Clearance and Free Board
 The design procedure for aqueduct and siphon aqueduct is
done in the same way with that of super-passage and siphon
except interchanging the canal and drain each other.
1. Determination of max flood discharge
o For small drain –empirical formula
Dicken’s formula
Ryve’s formula
Rational formula
Inglis formula
Ali nawab fromula
Myer’s formula---etc.

o For large drain – hydrograph analysis

• Preferable formula as per the condition of area of
intercept can be adopted.
2. Fixing the waterway requirement for aqueduct and siphon
aqueducts.
P = 4.75√Q ----Lacey’s formula
Where, P----wetted perimeter (m) and Q----total discharge (m3 /s)
o For wide drain--- p is equal to width of drain
o No extra width is provided for piers
o Max. allowable reduction to Lacey’s perimeter is 20%
o The clear water width is checked by suitable no. of bays
 Size of the barrel
o After having fixed the waterway width and no. of
compartments, the height of drain barrel is fixed as follows.
 For aqueduct
o The difference between HFL and drainage bed level.
 For siphon aqueduct
o By using permissible velocity
A=Q/V-----permissible
h=A/water way width
3- Afflux and head loss through syphon barrel
 Higher amount of afflux requires longer marginal banks
One can determine the afflux Δh from the following
empirical formula proposed by Yarnell:

where,
−h3 is the depth of flow sufficiently downstream of the piers,
and
−F3 is the corresponding Froude number.
−α is the ratio of the width of pier with the spacing (centre-to-
centre) of the piers, and
−K is dependent on the shape of the pier
 The head loss (h) through syphon barrels and the velocity (V)
through them are generally related by Unwin’s formula:

Where,
h- the sum of the losses at the inlet and outlet and the friction loss.
f1- coefficient of head loss at entry: 0.505 for unshaped mouth
and 0.08 for bell mouth

f2- coefficient of head loss due to surface friction through the

barrel
f2 =a(1+b/R)
a and b are constants and depend on barrel surface material.
V- the velocity through the barrel is limited to 2 to 3 m/s
Va- the approach velocity
R-Hydraulic mean radius of the barrel
 The u/s HFL of the drain will get added up by an amount
equal to head loss or afflux.
 By permitting high afflux the x-sectional area can be reduced,
but it results increase in the cost of guide bank, marginal
bund and down stream protection.

4. Fluming of the Canal

 The contraction in the waterway canal reduces the length of
barrel or width of the aqueduct.
 The maximum fluming is governed by the velocity
(subcritical) to avoid hydraulic jump, economy and
permissible loss of head.
 The greater is the fluming, the greater is the length of
transition.
 An economic balance should be done to decide the extent of
fluming.
 The transition between normal and flumed canal section has
to be smooth to avoid eddies and sudden transition.

Design of channel transition

i) Mitra’s Hyperbolic transition method: the assumptions are-
o The water depth remains constant
o The rate of change of velocity per unit length of the
transition remains constant.
 The final equation for the shape of transition is:
 Example
• Design an expansion transition for a canal using
Mitra’s method.
 Length of flume, Lf=16m
 Width of throat or flume, Bf = 9m
 Width of canal, Bn = 15m
Solution:

Substituting the given values and Bx= 2160/(240-6x)

Then find the values of Bx for desired x and join Bx
values to a get a smooth expansion transition curve
ii. Chaturvedi’s/Semi cubical parabolic transition/-Assumptions:
 The lateral velocity is a function of depth but the longitudinal
velocity remains constant
 The water depth remains constant
 The equation is formulated by experimental results:

 By choosing convenient value x and Bx can be computed.

Solve the previous example using Chaturvedi’s approach
iii. Hind’s Method /Parabolic water surface profile/
This method can be used when the water depth in trough
& the normal section of the canal constant or vary.
Let V1, V2, V3 & V4 be the velocities of the canal at
section 1-1, 2-2,3-3 and 4-4 respectively.
 Let y1, y2, y3 & y4 be the water depth of the canal at d/t
sections
Step-I: Let the total energy level, water surface level
and bed level at section 4-4 be known.
• The FSL at section 4-4= Bed level at 4-4 +y4
• TEL at section 4-4= FSL at 4-4 + V42/2g
Step II: the energy loss due to expansion of section b/n 3-3
& 4-4 may be taken as equal to 0.3 * (V 3 2gV 4 )
2 2

• The friction loss is small & may be neglected.

• Since the through dimensions at section 3-3 is known, the
velocity V3 can be determined as Q/A

(V 32  V 4 2 )
Step III: TEL at section 3-3= TEL at section 4-4 + 0 .3 *
2g
• FSL at section 3-3=TEL at section 3-3 - V32/2g
• Bed level at section3-3= FSL at section 3-y3
Step IV: The channel section in the flume (trough) from
section 3-3 to 2-2 remains constant. The only loss of head
in this section is due to friction, which can be determined
2 2
by manning’s formula.Q  1 AR 2 3 S 12 since  S  HL  > >>
L
H 
(Q n L )
L 2 4/3
n   A R
• TEL at section 2-2= TEL at section 3-3 + Loss of head
2

• FSL at section 2-2 = TEL section 2-2- V 2

2g
• Bed level at section 2-2 = FSL at section 2-2 – y2
• The depth and velocity in the trough are constant throughout
and hence the TEL, water surface level and bed line are
parallel to each other from section 2-3

Step-IV: The Loss of energy b/n section 1-1 & 2-2 due to
contraction is generally taken as equal to 0.2 * (V  V )
2
2
1
2

2g
• Neglecting Friction loss in this section
(V  V )
2 2
2 1

• TEL at section 1-1= TEL at section 2-2 + 0.2 *

2g
2

• FSL at section 1-1 = TEL at section 1-1 - V 2g

1

• Bed level at section 1-1 =FSL at section 1-1-y1

Step-V: Having determined the TEL at salient sections, the
water surface profile at any consecutive sections the drop in
water surface level may result due to:
i. Drop in TEL between the two sections
ii. Increased velocity head in contraction
iii. Decreased velocity head in expansion
 The drop in water surface can be negotiated using two
parabolic curves
a. Contraction transition (approach): convex upward
followed by concave upward
b. Expansion transition (departure): Concave upward curve
followed by convex upward curve
• From the figures above:
• L= length of transition (contraction or departure= 2x1 and
2y1 = total drop or rise in water surface.
• The point ‘m’ is the midpoint of transition length and is
situated to divide the total drop as well as length equally.
• Taking water surface at section point as the origin,
equation of the parabola is given by y= Cx2. Substituting
the known values of y1 and x1, C=y1/x21 >>>y=(y1/x21)x2
Step-VI: Calculating the velocity from velocity head
 First, draw total energy line and water surface profile over
the whole length, and determine the velocity head (ha) by
measuring the vertical distance b/n the TEL & the water
surface line at any point.
 Then, the velocity head can be converted in to equivalent
velocity by the formula:
V  2 gha
 In this way the velocity at each point can be calculated.
Step-VII: Determine the width:
 The cross-sectional area required to the given discharge is
given by: A= Q/V
 In a trapezoidal channel, with water depth D, bed width B
and side slopes s:1 the area is given by: A= BD+sD2
Example
 Culvert
• When highways cross natural drainage channels or
canals, provision must be made for appropriate
cross-drainage works.
• Highway cross-drainage is provided by culverts or
bridges
• Culverts are usually of shorter span of less than
6m, whereas, bridges are high-level crossing
structures
 Culvert
• Culverts are short drainage conduits that convey storm
water through highway and railway embankments.
• They are also used as outlet structures for detention
basins.
• Most culverts are circular, rectangular (box), or
elliptical in cross-section. Other commonly used shapes
include arch and pipe-arch culverts.
• Most culverts are made of concrete, corrugated
aluminum, and corrugated steel. Concrete culverts may
be reinforced.
• The inlet configuration plays an important role in
the hydraulic performance of culverts.
• A variety of prefabricated and constructed-in-
place inlet installations are commonly used.
• These include projecting culvert barrels, concrete
headwalls, end sections, and culvert ends mitered
to conform to the fill slope
• A variety of flow types can occur in a culvert, depending
on the upstream and downstream conditions, the inlet
geometry, and the conduit characteristics.
• A culvert may flow full, partially full (in subcritical or
supercritical flow conditions), or a combination of both
• Flow in a culvert can be controlled either by the inlet
(upstream) or by the outlet (downstream).
• Inlet control occurs when the culvert barrel has the
capacity to carry more water than the inlet can accept.
This means that the size of the inlet controls the amount
of water in a culvert, not the barrel size.
• The inlet control point is just beyond the entrance of the
culvert, resulting in super-critical flow immediately past
the control point.
 Fig-a:
 Neither the inlet nor outlet end of the culvert is submerged.
 The flow passes through critical depth just downstream of the
culvert entrance and the barrel flow is super-critical.
 The barrel flows partly full over its length, and the flow approaches
normal depth at the outlet end.
 Fig-b:
 submergence of the outlet end of the culvert does not assure
outlet control.
 In this case, the flow just downstream of the inlet is super-critical
and a hydraulic jump forms in the culvert barrel.
 Fig-c:
 It is a more typical design situation.
 The inlet end is submerged and the outlet end flows freely.
 Again, the flow is super-critical and the barrel flows partly full
over its length.
 Critical depth is located just downstream of the culvert entrance,
and the flow is approaching normal depth at the downstream end
of the culvert.
 Fig-d:
 It is an unusual condition illustrating that even submergence of
both the inlet and the outlet ends of the culvert does not assure
full flow.
 In this case, a hydraulic jump will form in the barrel.
 The median inlet provides ventilation of the culvert barrel.
 If the barrel were not ventilated, sub-atmospheric pressures could
develop which might create an unstable condition causing the
barrel to alternate between full flow and partly full flow
• Factors that affect inlet control include head-water
elevation, inlet area, inlet edge configuration and inlet
shape.
• Several charts are available in the Hydraulic Design for
Highway Culverts (FHWA, 1985).
• These charts can be used to determine the head-water
depth that is required for adequate flow through the
culvert.
THE END
 Reading assignment

Dam surveillance and instrumentation