WEIRS AND BARRAGES

WEIRS AND BARRAGES

• A hydraulic structure constructed across a river can
be termed as a dam, a weir or a barrage depending
on the purpose it serves.

• A weir is a structurally safe streamlined wall, built at

a suitable site across a river. It is a low head
structure for the purpose of diverting river water.

• For if a weir is provided with gates then it is termed

as barrage.
 Paper No. 709

EVOLUTION OF
DESIGN OF
BARRAGES IN
INDUS PLAINS
DR. IZHAR-UL-HAQ and
RIAZ NAZIR TARAR
Tanusa Barrage
Jinnah Barrage
 Purpose of a Barrage:
• To divert the required quantity of water from the
river to canals
• To raise the level of supply so that water can
reach the area proposed for irrigation by gravity
flow
• To allow proper silt control
• To provide permanent head works for the canals
in order to protect them during floods by complete
closure
• To provide better regulation than a weir
 Site Selection:
• The following considerations should be kept in
mind
• The site must have a good command over the
area to be irrigated and must also be not too far
distance to avoid long feeder channels
• The width of the river at the site should be
preferably minimum with a well defined and stable
river approach.
• A good land approach to the site will reduce the
expense of transportation and, therefore, the cost
of the barrage
 Site Selection:
• Easy diversion of the river during and after
construction
• If it is intended to convert the existing inundation
canals into perennial canals, site selection is
limited by position of the head regulator and the
alignment of the existing inundation canals.
• A rock foundation is the best but in alluvial plains
the bed is invariably sandy.
 Important Definitions:
– Khadir
– Khadir is known as the flood plain of the river.
– Khadir Axis
– Flood plain axis or khadir axis is the line passing through the
centre of the river course, between the two high banks up to the
back water effect.
– Barrage Axis
– It is a line along which the crest of the barrage is laid.
– River Axis
– It is a line parallel to khadir axis at the centre of the barrage axis
between the abutments
– Headwork Axis
– It is a line perpendicular to the barrage axis at the centre of the
weir abutments
Basic layout of a barrage plan
 Layout of a barrage:
• It is a common practice in Pakistan to build a barrage on
dry land in a river and after completion to divert water from
the river.
– Some of the guidelines for setting a barrage are proposed by
Irrigation Research Institute, Lahore.

– The recommendations are based on extensive hydraulic model

experiments

– Where the angle between headwork axis and the river axis,
exceeds 100 the problem arises from concentration of flow on one
side and island formation (due to heavy silting) within the guide
banks on the other side as has happened in case of Islam, Sidhnai
and Balloki barrages in Pakistan
 Layout of a barrage:
– If the river axis is to the right of the headwork axis, the
concentration of the flow is generally on the left side with the
consequent tendency to form an island on the right and vice versa.

– When the barrage is located below the confluence of two rivers, it

should be located sufficiently far below the confluence.

– The barrage should be located as far as possible in the centre of

the flood plain.
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
Barrage-Cross-Section
Barrage X Section
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• The following are the components of a
barrage
• Main barrage portion
– u/s concrete floor
– A crest at the required height
– u/s glacis having necessary slope
– d/s glacis of suitable shape and slope as well length
so the hydraulic jump is formed on the d/s glacis, and
hence, more stable than to form on pucca floor at d/s
– d/s floor which is built of concrete to avoid erosion at
d/s
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• Sheet Piles
– There are generally three or four sheet piles made of
mild steel, 1.5 - 2 feet in width and half inches thick.
The length is adopted according to the design having
groves to link with other sheet piles.

– Typical cross section of Larssen steel sheet pile (Fig 3.3, Iqbal Ali)
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• Sheet Piles
 Barrage profile

H
∆H
A O
B D E G I K L N

C F J M
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• From the functional point of view the sheet piles are
classified into three types.
• i) u/s sheet piles are situated at the u/s end of the u/s
concrete floor. These piles are driven deep into the soil
beyond maximum possible scour that may occur. The
main functions are
– To protect barrage structure from scour
– To reduce uplift pressure on the barrage floor and
– To hold the sand compacted and densified between two sheet
piles in order to increase the bearing capacity when the barrage
floor is designed as a raft e.g. Qadirabad and Chashma
barrages are the examples
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• ii) Intermediate Sheet Piles
• are situated at the end of U/S and D/S glacis. These serves as
second line of defence.
• For in the events of U/S or D/S sheet piles collapsing due to
advancing scouring or undermining, then these sheet piles give
protection to the main body of the barrage.
• The intermediate sheet piles also help to lengthen the path of
seepage and hence reducing the uplift pressure.
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• iii) D/s Sheet Piles
• are placed at the end of the d/s concrete floor and their main
function is to check the exit gradient. The depth should be
greater than the maximum possible scour.
• Inverted Filter:
• An inverted filter is provided between the d/s sheet piles and
the flexible protection. It would typically consist of 6" sand, 9“
coarse sand and 9” gravel. The filter material may vary with
the size of the particles forming the river bed. It is protected
by the concrete blocks placed over of sufficient weight and
size (4 x 2.75 x 4 as used in Kalabagh barrage).
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• Silts (Jhiries):
• are left between the blocks to allow water to escape.
• The slits are filled with sand. The length of the filter should be
2 x d/s depth of the sheet piles.
• Its primary function is to check the escape of fine soil
particles in the seepage water.
• D/S Flexible Protection:
• A flexible apron is placed d/s of the filter and consists of
boulders large enough not to be washed away by the highest
likely water velocity.
 COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• Figure shows the typical barrage plan.
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE
Barrage plan
 COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• Under sluices:
• A number of bays at the extreme ends of the barrage adjacent to the
canal regulator will have a lower crest level than the rest of the bays.
• The main function is to draw water by the formation a deep channel
in lower river flow and
• Secondly, to help control the flow of silt into the canal by reducing the
water velocity by the formation of deep channel in front of the canal.
• Accumulated silt can be washed away easily by opening the under
sluice gates to high velocity currents generated by lower crest levels
or a high differential head.
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:

• Divide Wall:
• The divide wall separates under sluice bays from the normal
bays.
• Its length on the U/S side has to be sufficient to keep the heavy
turbulence at the nose of the wall well away from the protection
of the sluices.
• Similarly, in the d/s side it should extend to cover the hydraulic
jump and the resulting turbulence.
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:
• Fish Ladder:
• It is constructed along the divide wall.
• It is a device designed to allow fish to negotiate the artificial
barrier in either direction.
• In the fish ladder the optimum velocity is 6 to 8 ft/sec, that can be
obtained by creating a spatially varied flow as in the fish ladder
as done in Marala, Qadirabad and Chashma barrages.
COMPONENTS OF A BARRAGE:

• Guide Banks:
– Guide banks are earthen embankment with stone
pitching to guide the river through the barrage.
These river training works are provided for rivers
flowing in plains, upstream and down stream of the
hydraulic structures.
• Marginal Bunds:
– Marginal Bunds are flood embankments in
continuation of the guide banks designed to
contain the floods within the flood plain of the river.
• 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.