General Design Principles

and Procedure
Scope of This Chapter
 Demonstrate and highlight the overall
procedure and methodology to be followed in
the planning and design of an irrigation
scheme
Planning & Designing an Irrigation
Scheme
 Step 1: Preliminary Soil and Topographic Survey

 Step 2: Detailed Soil and Topographic Survey

 Step 3: Prepare a Contour Map and Design the

Alignment of Canals and Drains

 Step 4: Determine Method of Irrigation

 Step 5: Determine Crop Factor and Crop Water

Requirements
Planning & Designing an Irrigation
Scheme
 Step 6: Design of Longitudinal Sections

 Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures

 Step 8: Design of Channel Cross-Section

 Step 9: Design of the Drainage System

 Step 10: Design of the Pumping Stations

 Step 11: Project Infrastructure

 Step 12: Project Costing and Bill of Quantities

 Step 13: Prepare setting out sheets for excavating the canals and
various structures
 Step 1: Preliminary Soil and
Topographic Survey
Step 1: Preliminary
Prelim. soil survey  to ensure that the area to
be developed can suitably sustain crops
Topographic survey 
(a) determine the type of irrigation system to
be used weather (gravity or pumping)
(b) gain an overall idea on the planning and
the alignment of the irrigation units
 Step 2: Detailed Soil and
Topographic Survey
 detailed soil surveys is performed to
determine the type of crops to be sown in the
area.
 Topographic maps are produced to the scale
of 1:10,000 up to 1:20,000 maximum.

 Beacons were established with a grid size of

2 kmX2 km a parts to facilitate the setting out
of canals.
Step 3: Design the Alignment of
Canals and Drains
 General principles to be followed  canals
must be situated in ridges and drains in
depression
 Contours at interval of 25 cms shall be used
in the alignments and to generate longitudinal
sections
 Main canals must be situated along the main
ridge and branch canals along secondary
ridges
Step 3 Continue: Design the
Alignment of Canals and Drains

 Branch drains to be placed in the depression

between branch canals.
 Branch drain shall discharge into main drain and
main drain must be situated in the lowest depression
 Step 4: Determine Method of
Irrigation
 Depending upon the topographic condition,
determine the irrigation method gravity versus
pumping.
 Pumping Scheme
(a) the location of pump site has to be determined
(b) records of river flows at the pump site would be
needed to establish the minimum and maximum
water levels.
(c) Total head against which the pump has to work
should be estimated.
Step 5: Determine Crop Factor and
Crop Water Requirements
 Determine the total area to be irrigated, crop mix in
one year from January to December and estimate the
crop factor for each crop.
 Determine the Penman Evaporation from the climate
of the area using meteorological data such as Pan
Evaporation method
 Apply the crop factor formula to obtain actual
evapotransiprartion for each crop:

 Add losses of water to find factor at minor head, then

losses to determine factor at major head and then
losses to determine factor at main canals. Typical
losses are 3% at minor, 5% at major and 5% at main
canal
Growing Seasons for Crops
Crop Factor Tabulation
 Step 6: Design of Longitudinal
Sections
 Normally starts with the Longitudinal Section for the
Abu XX, then Minor Canal, major canal and finally the
main Canals. Start with the Tail and proceed
upstream.
 Set the Full supply level at the tail equal to 50 cm and
proceed upstream to determine the location of the
cross structures along the longitudinal profile.
 The profile or longitudinal section for minor canal
shall be drawn at scale of maximum 1:20,000 and for
major and main canal at scale of 1:50,000.
 Proceed to the longitudinal section of major canal
and superimpose the locations of the minor canals on
the profile and repeat the same procedure.
Design of Longitudinal Sections
Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures:
R.S.G Structures
 Used to regulate flows on Main Canals, Branches and major canals.
 Basic Formula:

Where:
Cd= coefficient of discharge and is given value of 3
A = area of the gate opening in m2
H = head losses through gate in m
Q=Full Supply (F.S.) discharge plus 25%
 The width of the gate is selected to satisfy the following criteria:
(a) The opening required for maximum discharge should be less than two-third
(2/3) of the height of the groove
(b) To maintain submergence the underside of the gate should be a minimum of
0.6 m below the downstream water level
(c) With the gate closed there should be a freeboard of 0.3 m from F.S.L to the
top of the gate.
Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures:
Movable Weir Structures
 These are the Butcher’s weir which were developed
to meet the particular irrigation requirements in the
Sudan.
 The weir consists of round-crested movable gate with
guiding grooves and a self-sustaining hand gear for
raising and lowering it.
Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures:
Movable Weir Structures
 There are two series: Movable Weir Series I (M.W.I) and
Movable Weir Series II (M.W.II). They are designed to discharge
up to 5.2 m3/s.
 The regulator structure consists of Reinforced Concrete (R.C.)
floor with masonry superstructure and incorporate 6 m bridge.
 The minimum head through the structure is 0.3 m.
 The width of the weir is selected to pass the F.S.L discharge
with a maximum head over the weir of 0.7m based on the
following formula:

Where: w = weir width in m; h = head over the weir in m and Q=

F.S.L. discharge in m3/s.
Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures:
Well Head Regulators W.H.R
 Installed at Minor canals and Pipe Diameter m Net Cultivable Area Served in
Feddans
Double Abu XX off-take
structures where the 0.35 0-200

required head is above

0.5m. 0.50 200-400

 W.H.R consist of 12.5 m

long steel pipes (2.5 m long 0.76 400-900

each). The pipes passes

under 6.0 m road with a brick 0.91 900-1890

well at the upstream end. A

screw operated steel under 1.01 1890-2340
gate is fitted to the upstream
side of the brick wall well. 1.24 2340-3630

 The minimum head loss from

F.S.L upstream to F.S.L 2X0.91 3630-3780

downstream is 0.3 m.
2X1.01 3780-4540
Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures:
Circular Night Storage Weirs
 Used as minor canal cross-regulators. Pipe Dia Net Cultivable Area at Head
(m) of Minor –Feddans
 The structure consist of circular brick well
erected on a reinforced concrete slab.
1.0 0-1000
 The weir is designed to pass a maximum
discharge at a head of 0.2 m over the weir
crest. 1.5 1000-1500
 The size of the weir could be based upon
the following formula:
2.0 1550-2050

Where:
Q=F.S.L discharge in m3/s.
2.5 2050-2650
b = length of the weir crest measured at the
internal circumstances
h = upstream head over the weir crest in m. 3.0 2650-3200
Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures:
Field Outlet Pipes
Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures:
Field Outlet Pipes
 The field outlet pipes carry the water flow from the minor canal into the Abu XX.
 Usually one FOP supplies Abu XX which irrigate 90 Feddans.
 The FOPs are spaced 292 m apart and their discharge is given by:

Where:
 D is the diameter of the pipe in m
 h is the head over the pipe in m.
 The FOP was originally designed to pass a discharge of 10,000 m3/day when
the head across it is 15 cm (i.e. 5000 m3/12 hrs).
 The Abu XX will thus be able to irrigate the 90 feddans plot in 7 days if watering
in the field continues for 12 hrs from sunshine to sunset (The crop factor is
assumed 400 m3 per feddan per irrigation).
 The above situation represents the ideal situation or the original design.
However, due to the poor performance of the FOP and the problems
encountered associated with small heads in the minor canal, the discharge
passing through the FOP is far less than 5000 m3/12 hrs . Sometimes it is even
less than 20% of the required discharge.
Step 7: Design of Cross-Structures:
Bridges
 Road bridges are provided on supply canals,
main and major canals.
 Bridge carry 6.0 m road constructed on
reinforced concrete span.
 Abutment and peirs are constructed using
masonary on a reinforced concrete footings.
 The distance apart on Supply and Main
canals are 10 km.
 On Minor canals pipe bridges are used where
needed
 Step 8: Design of Channel Cross-
Section
 Design the sections of the canals using Manning
formula and double check using Lacey formula.
 Manning formula:

Where:
n = Manning roughness coefficient
A = Cross-sectional area of flow
R = Hydraulic radius (m)
S = Channel bed slope.
 Step 8: Design of Channel Cross-
Section
 Lacey Equation :

Where:
 Ws = Water surface top width (m)
 e = width factor; Q= full supply discharge (m3/s)
 b = bed width (m); Dm = mean depth= A/Ws (m)
 V = mean velocity (m/s); f = silt factor
 E = Wetted perimeter /Ws
 S = Water surface slope.
 Step 8: Design of Channel Cross-
Section
 Establish the cut areas. To balance the earth work and to avoid borrow
soil, Half of the cut area of the cross-section shall be used to establish
the Right Overbank and the other Half shall be used to establish the left
overbank.
Step 9: Design of the Drainage
System
 According to the layout of canalization the
drainage system is laid out.
 Minor drain  Drain the field
 Collector drain parallel to major drain 
collecting all minor drain out falling into a
main drain which takes the water out from
canalized area to natural drainage paths.
Step 9: Design of the Drainage
System: Drainage Requirements
 The current equation to calculate the drainage is:

Where:
Q = Discharge of frequency 1 in 5 wet years (m3/s);
A = Cacthment area in Feddans
C = Runoff coefficient/Factor.

The above equation drain the area in 5 days and is

based on the M.O.I experience to drain basin
irrigation in Gezira canalization system . However,
the above empirical formula is not applicable to drain
an area irrigated by furrows.
Step 9: Design of the Drainage
System: Drainage Requirements
 A revised method based on field storage of 48 hrs
and constant surface could be used. The design
discharge is given by the simple balance equation:

Where:
Q = Design flow;
RF = Rainfall of frequency 1 in 5 wet year
SMD= Soil Moisture Deficit
ET = Evapotranspiration.
Step 9: Design of the Drainage
System: Drainage Requirements
 The 1 in 5 year “wet” rainfall for each hydrometrological region
is predicted from the relationship:

Where:
V= mode of the two-days annual maximum rainfall given by:
V= X-0.5772a
X=mean of two days annual maximum rainfall
a= scale factor given by:

σ=standard deviation of two days annual maximum rainfall

Y=Probability of occurance of 1 in 5 years wet rainfall.
Step 9: Design of the Drainage
System: Drainage Requirements
 Arial Reduction Factors

 The above factors are selected from 30 minutes

aerial reduction curves derived from networks of
drainage in USA and recommended for worldwide
applications by the World Metrological Organization.
 The soil moisture deficit assumes varies from 20 mm
in the north to 5 mm in the south while
evapotranspiration is taken as the mean for each
zone during July and August.
Step 9: Drainage Requirements for
the areas from Kamlin to Roseries
 Step 10: Design of the Pumping
Stations
 This step could be omitted in the event that the
terrain of the scheme support gravity irrigation.
 The design of the pumping station shall be planned
after the following design tasks is completed:
 Completion of the layout of the canalization
system
 Determination of the full supply water level in the
supply canal
Design discharge is fixed according to the mode of
crop rotations of the scheme
 Step 10: Design of the Pumping
Stations
 The optimum position of the pumping station is
established along the river according to the
canalization layout and other economic and
hydrological factors.
 Utilizing the river gauging stations upstream and
downstream of the proposed pump site, the water
levels of the river at the pumping station are
determined. This shall include the average, lowest
and highest water levels.
 The maximum and minimum head of the pumping
stations are then determined from the maximum and
minimum water level of the river at the pump site and
the supply canal water level.
 Step 10: Design of the Pumping
Stations
 In addition to the design discharge, maximum and
minimum head against which the pump should work,
water analysis and water quality information shall
also be supplied to the pump manufacturer as design
specification for the design of the pumping station.
 The number of the pumping units is specified with
allowance of one unit as standby. With the aid of
these information, the pump manufacturer will be
able to design the pumping units by calculating the
total head losses and added to the static head.
Pumping arrangements and pump house for the all
the units are then specified.
 Step 10: Design of the Pumping
Stations
 The pump manufacturer shall supply construction
drawings which shall include the following
information:
 Details and layout of inlet channel
 Details, sections and plan and elevation views of the
pumping house and delivery pipes.
 Details of the discharge basin
 Electrical and mechanical drawings of the pump
station.
 The drawings are then passed to the design office for
review, feedback on the final arrangements of the
pumping units.
Step 11: Project Infrastructure
 The overall planning of irrigation scheme
shall be a complete unit with basic
infrastructures integrated as part of the
original design and planning consideration of
the scheme. This shall include system
administration requirements, accommodation
and housing scheme of the staff, mode of
transportation (highways), water supply,
telecommunication and other requirements
Settlement within the Project Area

 Project Headquarters
 Divisional Headquarter
 Sub-divisional Headquarters
 Pumping station colonies
 Villages for tenants
 Water control personal along canal structures
 Drinking Water Supply System
 Telephone System
Administration and Staff
Requirements
Housing Schemes
Step 12: Project Costing and Bill of
Quantities
 Step 13: Finalization of
Construction Drawings
 After completing the layout of canalization, the
following steps should be followed:
The center lines of all canals should be laid out first
with the aid of Bacons. A team of surveyors shall set
out the center lines of canals on the ground.
 Along the C.L. of each canal the actual ground
levels were measured at 200 m spacing. These spot
levels shall be handed over to the design engineer to
finalize the longitudinal section as required.
Perform the design the various canals, using
Manning Charts and check with Lacey formula.
Prepare setting out sheets for excavating the
canals and various structures.
Thanks for Attention