Chapter 4

Cross Drainage and Drop Structures

 What is Cross Drainage Structures

• In an Irrigation project, when the network of main

canals, branch canals, distributaries, etc.. are provided,
then these canals may have to cross the natural
drainages like rivers, streams, etc. at different points
within the command area of the project. The crossing
of the canals with such obstacle cannot be avoided. So,
suitable structures must be constructed at the crossing
point for the easy flow of water of the canal and
drainage in the respective directions. These structures
are known as cross-drainage structure.
 Cross Drainage structure

• Irrigational Canals while carrying water from

headworks to crop field, have to cross few natural
drainage streams, etc.. To cross those drainages safely
by the canals, some suitable structures are required to
construct, which are cross the drainage structures. At
the meeting point of canals and drainages, bed levels
may not be same. Depending on their bed levels,
different structures are constructed and accordingly
they are designated by different names.
 Necessity of Cross Drainage Structures
• The water-shed canals do not cross natural drainages. But
in actual orientation of the canal network, this ideal
condition may not be available and the obstacles like
natural drainages may be present across the canal. So, the
cross drainage structure must be provided for running the
irrigation system.
• At the crossing point, the water of the canal and the
drainage get intermixed. So, for the smooth running of the
canal with its design discharge the cross drainage works are
required.
• The site condition of the crossing point may be such that
without any suitable structure, the water of the canal and
drainage can not be diverted to their natural directions. So,
the cross drainage works must be provided to maintain
their natural direction of flow.
Necessity of Cross Drainage Structure
 Types of Cross Drainage Structure
Type I (Irrigation canal passes over the drainage)
(a) Aqueduct
(b) Siphon Aqueduct

Type II (Drainage passes over the irrigation canal)

(a) Super passage
(b) Siphon super passage

Type III (Drainage and canal intersection each other of

the same level)
(a) Level crossing
(b) Inlet and outlet
 Selection of Type of Cross Drainage
Structure

• Relative bed levels

• Availability of suitable foundation
• Economical consideration
• Discharge of the drainage
• Construction problems
 Types of Cross Drainage Structure

Type-I Irrigation canal passes over the

Drainage:
This condition involves the construction of following:
Aqueduct
• The hydraulic structure in which the irrigation canal is
taken over the drainage (such as river, stream etc..) is
known as aqueduct. This structure is suitable when
bed level of canal is above the highest flood level of
drainage. In this case, the drainage water passes
clearly below the canal.
Aqueduct
Aqueduct
 Aqueduct
An Aqueduct:
When the HFL of the drain is sufficiently below the bottom
of the canal such that the drainage water flows freely under gravity,
the structure is known as Aqueduct.
• Canal water is carried across the drainage in a trough supported
on piers.
• Bridge carrying water
• Provided when sufficient level difference is available between
the canal and natural and canal bed is sufficiently higher than HFL.
Aqueduct
 Siphon Aqueduct

• In a hydraulic structure where the canal is taken

over the drainage, but the drainage water
cannot pass clearly below the canal. It flows
under siphonic action. So, it is known as
siphon aqueduct. This structure is suitable
when the bed level of canal is below the highest
flood level.
Siphon Aqueduct
Siphon Aqueduct
 Siphon Aqueduct
Advantage
• The canal running perennially is above ground and is open to
inspection.
• Damage done by floods is rare.

Disadvantage
• During high floods, the foundation can be scoured
 Types of Cross Drainage Structure

Type-II: Drainage passes Over the

irrigation Canal.
Super Passage
• The hydraulic structure in which the drainage is
taken over the irrigation canal is known as
super passage. The structure is suitable when
the bed level of drainage is above the full
supply level of the canal. The water of the canal
passes clearly below the drainage.
Super Passage
 Super Passage

Bank of
|Bank of a canal

Canal

Fig: Super Passage

 Siphon Super Passage

• The hydraulic structure in which the drainage is

taken over the irrigation canal, but the canal
water passes below the drainage under
siphonic action is known as siphon super
passage. This structure is suitable when the
bed level of drainage is below the full supply
level of the canal.
Siphon Super Passage

HFL

NATURAL STREAM
LEGEND

FSLfULL SUPPLY LEVEL

CBL:CANAL BED LEVEL
HFL HIGH FLOOD LEVEL
SBL:STREAM BED
LEVEL
 Siphon Super Passage

H.F.L. Bank of a canal

F.S.L. Stream

Piers
Canal

Concrete floor
Fig: Siphon Super Passage
 Types of Cross Drainage Structures

Type III: Drainage and Canal Intersect

each other at the same level.
Level Crossings
• When the bed level of canal and the stream are
approximately the same and quality of water in canal
and stream is not much different, the cross drainage
work constructed is called level crossing where water
of canal and stream is allowed to mix. With the help of
regulators both in canal and stream, water is disposed
through canal and stream in required quantity. Level
crossing consists of following components (i) crest wall
(ii) Stream regulator (iii) Canal regulator.
 Types of Cross Drainage Structures
The level crossing consists of the following
components.
1. Crest Wall: It is provided across the drainage just at
the upstream side of the crossing point. The top level of
the crest wall is kept at the full supply level of the canal.
2. Drainage Regulator: it is provided across the
drainage just at downstream side of the crossing point.
The regulator consists of adjustable shutters at different
tiers.
3. Canal Regulator: it is provided across the canal just
at downstream side of the crossing point. The regulator
consists of adjustable shutters at different tiers.
 Level Crossings

NATURAL STREAM
LEGEND

FSL:FULL SUPPLY LEVEL

CBLCANAL BED LEVEL
HFL HIGH FLOOD LEVEL
SBL STREAM BED LEVEL
Level Crossing
 Types of Cross Drainage Structures

Inlet and Outlet

• When irrigation canal meets a small stream or drain at
same level, drain is allowed to enter the canal as in
inlet. At some distance from this inlet point, a part of
water is allowed to drain as outlet which eventually
meets the original stream. Stone pitching is required at
the inlet and outlet. The bed and banks between inlet
and outlet are also protected by stone pitching. This
type of CDW is called Inlet and Outlet.
Inlet and Outlet
 Fluming of Canal
• After deciding the normal canal section and the flumed canal section,
the transition has to be designed so as to provide a smooth change
from one stage to the other, so as to avoid sudden transitions and the
formation of eddies, etc For this reason, the u/s or approach wings
should not be steeper than 26.5 and the d/s or departure wings should
not be steeper than 18.5. Generally the normal earthen canal is
trapezoidal, while the flumed pucca canal section is rectangular. It is
also not necessary to keep the same depth in the normal and flumed
sections. Rather, it may sometimes be economical to increase the
depth and still further reduce the channel width in cases where a
channel encounters a reach of rocky terrain and has to be flumed to
curtail rock excavation. But an increase in the water depth in the canal
trough will certainly increase the uplift pressure on the roof as well as
floor of the culvert, thus requiring larger roof and floor sections and
lower foundations. Due to these reasons, no appreciable economy may
be obtained by increasing depth.
Fluming of Canal
 Fluming of Canal

CON TRACTl ON EX PAN SION

TRASITION TRANSITION

FLUMED PORTION
D RAIN
22-5

r- =NORMAl l^i Bf=FLUMED WIDTH

* I D T H |

D RAIN
D PRARTUR
(PLAN) WINGS
i * WIN GS
___I 7 2 q_ _TEL _ _J ) 1 L ? 9 _
2//

WSL

(l-SECTION)
 Fluming of Canal

The following methods may be used for designing the

channel transitions:
• Mitra’s method of design of transition (when water
depth remains constant)
• Chaturvedi’s method of design of transitions(when the
depth remains constant)
• Hind’s method of design of transitions (when water
depth may or may not vary).
 Fluming of Canal

• Prof R.S Charturvedi, Head of Civil Engineering Dept,

in Roorkee University, on the basis of his own
experiments, had proposed the following equation for
the design of channel transitions when water depth
remains constant.
 FLUMING
 Reduction of width of waterway of canal

 CD works become economical

 Possibility of hydraulic jump

 To avoid this we have to control velocity of

water.
 TRANSITION

 Provides smooth change

 Avoid sudden transition and formation of
eddies
 At U/S section splay of 2:1 and at D/S splay
of 3:1

Methods for design of transition:-

1.Mitra’s transition method
2.Chaturvedi’s method
 MITRA’S TRANSITION METHOD

Bn=Bed width of the normal channel section

Bf=Bed width of the flumed channel section
Bx=Bed width at any distance x from the flumed section
Lf= Length of transition
CHATURVEDI’S TRANSITION METHOD

Bn=Bed width of the normal channel section

Bf=Bed width of the flumed channel section
Bx=Bed width at any distance x from the flumed section
Lf= Length of transition
 CUTOFF WALL

 Built under the floor of hydraulic structure

 Reduces uplift pressure

 Reduces seepage of water

 Depth of cut-off is decided from the scour

depth
 From lacey’s Normal regime scour Depth*
= R =0.473(Q/f)1/3

From Lacey’s Normal Scour depth*=

R=1.35(q²/f)1/3
Where
Q= Discharge w.r.t drainage
f= slit factor , normally taken as 1
q= intensity=max. velocity*max. depth
 At U/S cut-off 1.5 R and D/S cut-off 2R
 FLOOD ESTIMATION:
The various methods for estimation of
design flood are broadly classified as
under:
 Maximum Probable flood/Application of
suitable factor of safety
 Return period

 Rational method

 Empirical flood formulae

 DESIGN CONSIDERATION
I) SELECTION OF TYPE OF C.D WORK
II) HYDRAULIC DESIGN
 Estimation of flood.
 Design of drainage Section.
 Estimation of HFL.
 Design of drainage waterway.
 Design of canal waterway.
 Scouring
 Head loss and bed level at different levels.
 Design of transitions
 CONT…
III) STRUCTURAL DESIGN
 Design of Trough .

 Design of Pier.

 Design of Abutment.

 Design of Retaining wall.

 HYDRAULIC PARTICULARS OF THE CANAL
AND DRAIN
 CANAL DATA U/S D/S
 Design discharge 4.905cumecs 4.905cumecs
 Bed width 5.30m 5.30m
 Bed level 285.596m 285.382m
 Full supply level 286.846m 286.632m
 Free board 0.50m 0.50m
 Left bank top level 287.346m 287.132m
 Right bank top level 287.346 287.132m
 Left bank width 5.00m 5.00m
 Right bank width 1.50m 1.50m
 Velocity 0.662m/sec 0.662m/sec
 Side slope 1 in 1.50 1 in 1.50
 Water surface slope 1 in 4000 1 in 4000
 DRAIN DATA

 Catchment area 28.67km2

 Observed high flood level 282.930m

 Deepest bed level 280.500m

 Average bed level 281.600m

 Left bank level 286.46m

 Right bank level 283.74m

 Angle of crossing 90degree

 Direction of flow Right to left

 Type of soil/Foundation Hard soil/DI/Rock Foundation

 Safe bearing capacity 35t/ m2

 Step3: Estimation of High Flood level (HFL)
Stage discharge curve was plotted at crossing point for drain
and will adopt HFL accordingly, Qp (198.2 cumecs)

Stage-Discharge curve at C.D site

284.5

284

283.5
Stage

283 y = 0.0131x + 281.72

282.5

282

281.5
0 50 100 150 200 250
Discharge
 Step4: Design of drainage waterway
We have lacey’s regime waterway
=4.75√Q
Clear span between piers be 9m and thickness be 0.7 m

Using 7 bays of 9m each, clear waterway= (9×7) m=63 m

Using 6 piers of 0.7m each, we have got length occupied

by piers =6×0.7 m=4.2 m

Total length of waterway=67.2 m.

Step5:- Design of canal waterway.

• Providing a splay of 2:1 in contraction, the length of

contraction transition =( (5.3-3)/2)x2 = 2.3

• Providing a splay of 3:1 in expansion, the length

of expansion transition = ( (5.3-3)/2)x3=3.45 m
 Step6:- Scour
a)Scour in Drain

(i) From lacey’s Normal regime scour Depth*= R’r

=0.473(Q/f)1/3 .
From this formula we found safe scour level at RL 277.58m
which is 2.92m below deepest nallah bed.

(ii) From Lacey’s Normal Scour depth*= R’=1.35(q²/f)1/3

q= maximum velocity × maximum depth of flow
From this formula we found safe scour level at RL 278.1m which
is 2.4m below deepest nallah bed.
(b)Scour in canal

Upstream:-
Assume scour factor=1.25
Safe scour depth below FSL= SF×R
Safe scour level=284.096m
So, the bottom R.L of upstream cut-off is fixed at
284.096
Downstream:-
Assume scour factor =1.50.
Downstream cut off 1m below NSL i.e. =282.882m
Step7: Head loss and bed levels at different sections

Fig- Plan and Section of Canal Trough

Step9:-Design of transitions

(a) Contraction transitions:-Since the depth is kept

constant, the transition can be designed on the basis of
Mitra’s hyperbolic transition equation given as
BX= (Bn .Bf. Lf)/Lf. Bn –x (Bn-Bf)
where
Bf=3m, Bn=5.3m, Lf=2.3m

(b) Expansion transitions: - In this case, Bn=5.3, Bf=3,

Lf=3.45m
Using above equation, we have, calculated BX