UNIVERSITY OF JUBA

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

FIFTH YEAR
SEMESTER-10

ACADEMIC YEAR 2023-2024

AIRPORT, SEAPORT AND RAILWAY ENGINEERING
ASSIGNMENT NO. 3

PREPARED BY STUDENTS

NAMES INDEXES
LYDIA JOHN KANGATINE 18-CEN-363
LIENY JUL MACHOK 16-CEN-151
TAP NIANG TAP BANAK 16-CEN-269
ANGUEI YEL MAWIEN 16-CEN-027
MAKUR MAREK MANYIEL 16-CEN-174

CHECKED BY:
ENG. PANTHEER MAJAK

Submitted on 03/10/2023
Question:-What are the ways of preventing flooding and why is dredging
important to prevent flooding?

Ans: The following are the solution that can mitigate the flooding in South Sudan:-
About Gray Infrastructure
Gray infrastructure is an engineered infrastructure that is built from hard, impervious materials
such as concrete. Often, gray structural types are used in conjunction with one another and/or in
tandem with green infrastructure projects to reduce flood risk. There are multiple kinds of gray
flood infrastructure, six of these structure types are discussed below.

Levees
Levees are man-made structures that are located along rivers, streams, creeks, and tributaries as
well as lakes and on the coast. Levees are embankments that are typically made of earthen
materials such as clay and other soils that are impervious. These structures work to protect
surrounding areas from certain levels of flooding; once this level is exceeded levees can be
overtopped. Levees are built parallel to waterways to keep them from flooding the land. Land
behind levees is still subject to flooding from waterways as these structures can fail or be
overtopped depending on the flood scenario.

Fig. Showing Levees

 Seawalls
Seawalls are structures located parallel to shorelines that are built to protect the land behind them
from storm surges and wave action. Seawalls are made of concrete, masonry, or sheet pile and
typically are placed between the transitions from the beach to the mainland. The heights of
seawalls vary depending on the height of storm surge they protect for. Seawalls typically at least
reach the height of the mainland elevation and add a few feet of freeboard above the mainland
elevation to protect against waves overtopping. These structures vary in length and the number
of properties that they protect; individuals can build a seawall to protect their property or cities
can build a seawall that stretches across miles of properties such as the ones in Virginia Beach,
Stamford, and Galveston.

Galveston Seawall - Galveston, Texas

 Tide gates
Tide gates operate to prevent backflow during high tides. Tide gates are typically placed in areas
where streams and other riverine waterways meet the ocean. The most common way a tide gate
operates is that it is installed on the downstream end of a culvert. The tide gate then opens or
closes due to water level differences between the upstream and downstream ends of the culvert.
Since they only open one way, the tide gate opens for downstream flow and closes for tidal flow
thus preventing backflow during high tides.

A system of tide gates - West River, New Haven, Connecticut

Pump stations
Pump stations work to reduce tidal flooding and flooding from stormwater. A pump station
reduces the amount of standing water in low-lying areas. Pump stations can also be used in
tandem with levees and other flood barriers to provide extra capacity to move water that floods
the dry side during storm events out of communities. They are placed in areas where water
cannot be moved by gravity; the energy from the pump station is needed to move the water out
of these areas. Pump stations are connected to drainage systems in order to quickly and
efficiently remove water from drainage pipes so that the system is not overwhelmed and does not
flood.
 Fig. Showing Pump station

Channels
This gray infrastructure type is used to prevent bank erosion and control flooding in existing
waterways. Rivers and other waterways are engineered to be wider or deeper in order to increase
the capacity of water flow volume. This then leads to less damage to banks because water can
move more efficiently through the channel. Channels must be maintained to prevent debris and
other material from building up and causing jams that lead to flooding. Federal channelization
projects are done by the USACE across the U.S.

Flood channel example image

 Dams
Dams provide flood control and also serve many other purposes: water storage, recreation,
navigation, electrical generation, and irrigation. Flood control dams keep floodwaters impounded
and either release floodwaters in controlled amounts downstream to the river below or store or
divert water for other uses.

Fig. Showing Dam

Why is dredging important to prevent flooding?

1. Dredging is most commonly used at low cost to enable land drainage in low-lying landscapes
which are too wet to be used for farming and living (animals & humans). Drainage channels,
and rivers, allied to pumping, drain water from the land. This helps the land stay dry and
helps it avoid frequent flooding. Dredging can also be used to enable navigation.
2. Dredging is an important step in waterway maintenance. By removing the accumulated
debris, dredging can restore the waterway to its original depth and condition. Dredging also
removes dead vegetation, pollutants and trash that have gathered in these areas.

Fig. Showing Dredging

REFERENCE
1. https://riskfactor.com/solutions/flood
2. https://riskfactor.com/solutions/flood#:~:text=Flood%20control%20measures,and%20channe
ls%2C%20help%20reduce%20flooding.
3. https://www.ciwem.org/news/floods-and-dredging-reality