WEIRS AND BARRAGES (Contd..

)
 Afflux
If the flood in the river is less than the
design flood, then some of the gates
would be fully opened but the remaining
opened to such an extent which would
permit the maintaining of the pond level.
However, when a design flood or a higher
discharge pass through the barrage
structure, all the gates have to be opened.
 Afflux
Nevertheless, the structure would cause a
rise in the water level on the upstream
compared to level in the downstream at
the time of passage of a high flood (equal
to or more than the design flood) with all
the gates open. This rise in water level on
the upstream is called afflux.
River Level for Normal Flow
River Level for Normal Flow
River
Level
for
High
Flow
Afflux at u/s water level with
full gates open
 Afflux
The amount of afflux will determine the top
levels of the guide bunds and marginal
bunds, piers, flank walls etc. Naturally a
smaller waterway would result in larger
afflux and vice versa.
Hence, reduction in water way may cause
in lowering the cost of the barrage
structure but may result in higher afflux
and a resulting larger height of bunds and
piers.
 Free Board
Once the permissible afflux is decided
then the necessary water way can be
accordingly worked out.
Hence, the upstream water level can also
be estimated for the design flood.
 Free Board
On the basis of stage-discharge curve,
downstream as well as on the upstream of
the water way, sufficient Free Board has to
be provided so that there is no overtopping
of the components like abutments, piers,
flank walls, guide bunds, afflux bunds etc.
 Free Board
The Free Board to be provided depends
on the importance of the structure. In
general 1.5 to 2 meters free board above
the afflux water level on the upstream and
above the high flood level on the
downstream is provided.
A freeboard is provided over an afflux
water level due to a flood with 1 in 500
year frequency.
Free Board
 Pond Level
Pond level is the level of water,
immediately upstream of the barrage,
which is required to facilitate withdrawal of
water into the canal with its full supply.
The pond level has to be carefully planned
so that the required water can be drawn
without difficulty.
 Pond Level
By adding the energy losses through the
head regulator to the Full Supply Level
(F.S.L) of the canal at its starting point just
downstream of the canal head-works, the
pond level is evaluated.
Pond Level
Waterway
Waterway
However, it should be remembered that
Laceys formula is based on studies of
canals in the alluvial regime and may not
be quite correct for large rivers, and also
for rivers in boulder or clayey reaches.
Nevertheless, application of the Laceys
waterway would require the following
calculations as given in Bureau of Indian
standard Code IS: 6966-1989 Guidelines
for hydraulic design of barrages and weirs:
Part 1 Alluvial Reaches.
 Waterway
The Equation is given as
P = 4.83 Q1/2
(1)
Where

Q is the design flood discharge in m3/s for the

50 year frequency flood.
 Silt Factor
Silt factor f is calculated by knowing the
average particle size d50 in mm of the soil
from the following relationship
f =1.76 (d50)1/2 (2)
 Cut-off
Cut-offs are barriers provided below the
floor of the barrage both at the upstream
and the downstream ends.
They may be in the form of concrete lungs
or steel sheet-piles.
The cut-offs extend from one end of the
barrage up to the other end (on the other
bank). A cutoff increases the flow path and
reduces the uplift pressure, ensuring
stability to the structure.
Cut-off
 RETROGRESSION
Retrogression is a very important
phenomenon which occurs after the
construction of weir or barrage in a river
flowing through alluvial soil.
As a result of back-water effects and the
increase in depth, the velocity of the
water decreases resulting in the
deposition of the sediment load.
 RETROGRESSION

Therefore, the water overflowing the

barrage having less silt, picks up silt
from the d/s bed.
This results in the lowering of the d/s
river bed for a few miles. This is known
as retrogression.
 RETROGRESSION
Retrogression may occur for the first
few years and bed levels often recover
their previous level.
The phenomenon is temporary because
the river regime adapts to the new
conditions of flow created by the barrage
within a few years and then the water
flowing over the weir has a normal silt
load.
 RETROGRESSION
The d/s cycle than reverses due to the
greater depth, silt is then deposited and
the d/s retrogressed bed recovers to the
point of equilibrium.
Retrogression value is minimum for a
flood discharge and maximum for a low
discharge.
The values vary from 2 feet to 8.5 feet.
 Accretion
Accretion is the reverse of retrogression and
normally occurs u/s although may also occur
d/s after the retrogression cycle is complete.

There is no accurate method of calculating

the values of retrogression and accretion but
the values that have been recorded at
various barrages may serve as guidelines.
UNDERMINING OF WEIRS

When the seepage velocity in the microscopic

flow channels in the sub-soil under the apron is
such that the seepage force at the exit point
becomes greater than the submerged weight and
friction of the soil, very fine soil particles become
displaced.
UNDERMINING OF WEIRS

This can be observed as muddy water emerging

from the soil surface.
With this process continues and a subsoil
consisting of fine particles which were
surrounding larger particles removes, will cause
unequal settlement of the subsoil, and ultimately
the collapse of the structure.
This phenomenon is called as piping.
 Barrage profile

H
A M
B D E G H J K M1

C F I L

creep line
 The quantity of seepage and the uplift
force depends on:
Differential head
Characteristics of sub-soil
Geometry of structure
Hydraulic gradient = H/L Where 'L' is the
distance travelled by a particle.
Exit gradient means the hydraulic
gradient at the exit. Similarly the entrance
gradient is the hydraulic gradient at
entrance.
 The critical path for a particle will be just along
the boundary of structure and is called Creep
Length.
 The critical value of le = 1. lf le is more than
1 then the piping phenomenon will take place,
and the structure may collapse.

So le should be less than 1 and we can make

le less than 1 by increasing the value of 'L'.
The creep length may be increased by
providing the sheet piles.
 Bligh's Creep Theory

Bligh's (1912) assumed that, when

seepage takes place underneath a
hydraulic structure, the hydraulic gradient
remains constant.
The length of line of contact of the
structure foundation with the porous
medium including cut off, sheet piles etc. is
termed as "Creep Length".
 Bligh's Creep Theory

The intensity of uplift force from heel to the toe is

dependent on the creep length.
L = V+S
Where
L = Creep length
V = Vertical distances
S = Horizontal distances
Therefore, according to Bligh's creep theory for
the weir in figure shown before, the creep
length is the distance travelled
along ABCDEFGHIJKLM1M and the
hydraulic gradient is constant .
 Along this path. We can find the head
loss at any point e.g. Head loss up to F
= (creep length up to 'F) / (Total creep
length)
=(AB+BC+CD+DE+FE)/
[AB+BC+CD+DE+EF+FG+GH+HI+IJ+J
K+KL+LM]
 Bligh discovered that piping occurs along
the line of creep.
It can be avoided if the average hydraulic
gradient H/L, (Where H is total head
during flow and 'L' is total creep length)
does not exceed 1/C.
Where 'C' is a constant which depends
upon the type of porous material.
 A number of structures were built
according to Bligh's creep theory.
Some of them were successful while
others failed and further investigations
were required to find a more sound and
scientific basis for weir design .
The SUKKUR BARRAGE was the last to
be built on the basis of Bligh's creep
theory. It is still standing today because it
happened to be a safe structure by later
design requirements.
 Lane's weighted Creep theory

Lane (1935), found that the drop in head

from head water to tail water depends on
the weighted creep length.
The weight creep length was defined as
the sum of all the vertical distances plus
1/2 of the horizontal creep distance.
 Lane's weighted Creep theory

The horizontal creep distance includes all

the faces inclined at an angle less than 450.
The weighted creep ratio is the ratio of the
weighted creep length to the head
difference between the head water and the
tail water.
 According to Lane's weighted creep theory,
the weighted creep length is given as
Lw = (0.5S+V )
Where
S = The sum of all the horizontal contacts
and of all the sloping contacts less than 450.
V = The sum of all the vertical contacts plus
the sloping contact greater than 450.
 To ensure safety against piping the average
hydraulic gradient H/Lw must not exceed 1/C,
the value of 'C' are as given below:-

Material C(Lane's Value) C(Bligh's

value)
Very fine sand
& silt 8.5 18
Fine Sand 7.0 15
Coarse Sand 5.7 12
 C values
Material C(Lane's Value) C(Bligh's value)
Gravel & sand 3.5 to 3 9
Boulders 2.5 to 3 4 to 6
gravel and
sand 3.0 to 1.6 -------
Clayey soil