Department of Civil Engineering

University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar

CE-402: Irrigation Engineering and

Water Management

Lecture 14
Canal Regulation Works

8th Semester (4th Year)

Civil Engineering
Spring 2022

Lecturer: Alamgir Khalil

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University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar

Canal Regulation Works

➢ Any structure constructed to regulate the discharge, full supply level or flow
velocity in a canal is known as a regulation work.
➢ These structures are necessary for the efficient working and safety of an
irrigation channel.
➢ The various regulation works may be classified as follows:
1) Head Regulator
2) Cross Regulator
3) Canal Escape
4) Canal Fall
5) Canal Outlet

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Head Regulator
➢ Regulators constructed at the off-taking point are called head regulators.
➢ When it is constructed at the head of main canal, it is known as canal head
regulator.
➢ When it is constructed at the head of distributary, it is called distributary head
regulator.

Functions

✓ To control the entry of water either from

the reservoir or from the main canal.
✓ To control the entry of silt into off-taking
or main canal.
✓ To serve as a meter for measuring
discharge of water.

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Cross Regulator
➢ A regulator constructed in the main canal or parent canal downstream of an off-
take canal is called cross-regulator.
➢ It is generally constructed at a distance of 9 to 12 km along the main canal and
6 to 10 km along the branch canal.

Functions

✓ To control the flow of water in canal system.

✓ To feed the off taking Canals.
✓ To enable closing of the canal breaches on
the d/s.
✓ To provide roadway for vehicular traffic.

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Cross Regulator (cont.)

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University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar

Cross Regulator (cont.)

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Cross Regulator (cont.)

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Cross Regulator (cont.)

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Canal Escape
➢ It is a channel constructed to remove surplus water from an irrigation channel
(main canal, branch canal, or distributary etc.) into a natural drain.
➢ The water in the irrigation channel may become surplus due to:
✓ Difficulty in regulation at the head.
✓ Excess rainfall in upper reaches.
✓ Outlets being closed by cultivators as they find the demand of water is over.

Types of Canal Escapes

1) Weir type
2) Regulator type (Sluice type)

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Canal Escape (cont.)

1) Weir type or surface escapes

➢ In this type, the crest of the

weir wall is kept at R.L. equal to
canal FSL, When water level
rises above FSL, it gets escaped.

➢ These are constructed in the form of

weirs, without any gate or shutter and
spills over when the water level of the
canal goes above its crest level.

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Canal Escape (cont.)

➢ The weir type escape may, however, be provided at the tail end of the canal and
is useful in maintaining the required FSL in the tail reaches of the canal. This
escape is then called a Tail escape.

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Canal Escape (cont.)

2) Regulator type (Sluice type)

✓ These are gated escapes

with a very low crest
height. Hence, these
sluices can empty the
canal much below its full
supply level and at a very
fast rate.
✓ They enable the canal to be emptied
quickly for repairs and maintenance and in
some cases, these escapes act as scouring
sluices to facilitate removal of sediment.
✓ This type of escapes are preferred now-a-days as they give better control and can
be used for employing the canal for maintenance.
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Canal Escape (cont.)

➢ The 'regulator type' may, however, be constructed for the purpose of scouring off
excess bed silt deposited in the head reaches, from time to time. In that case, it is
known as a Scouring escape.

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Canal Falls

➢ Whenever the available natural ground slope is steeper than the designed bed
slope of the channel, the difference is adjusted by constructing vertical 'falls' or
'drops' in the canal bed at suitable intervals, as shown in Fig.

➢ Such a drop in a natural canal bed will not be stable and, therefore, in order to
retain this drop, a masonry structure is constructed. Such a structure is called a
canal fall or a canal drop.

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Canal Falls (cont.)

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Canal Falls (cont.)

➢ A fall is an irrigation structure constructed across a canal to lower down its water
level and destroy the surplus energy liberated from the falling water which may
otherwise scour the bed and banks of the canal.

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Location of Canal Falls

➢ The location of a fall in a canal depends upon the topography of the country
through which the canal is passing

✓ In case of the main canal, which does not directly irrigate any area, the site of a fall
is determined by considerations of economy in 'cost of excavation and filling' versus
'cost of fall’.
✓ In case of branch canals and distributary channels, the falls may be located d/s of
the outlets as this helps in increasing the command area, and in improving the
efficiency of outlets.
✓ The location of the falls may also be influenced by the possibility of combining it
with a bridge, regulator, or some other masonry work, since such combinations
often result in economy and better regulation. When a fall is combined with a
regulator and a bridge, it is called a fall-regulator with road bridge.
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Canal Falls (cont.)

Necessity of Canal Falls

➢ Irrigation canals are designed for a prescribed bed slope so that velocity becomes
non silting or non scouring.

➢ This slope may vary from 1 in 4000 for a discharge of about 1.5 m3/s to about
1 in 8000 for a discharge of 3000 m3/s.

➢ This slope is quite flat in comparison to the available ground slope of an average
value of 5 to 20 cm/km length (i.e., 1 in 200 to 1 in 50).

➢ The ground slope in nature is always very much steeper than the design bed slope
of irrigation canal, based on the silt theories.

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Necessity of Canal Falls
➢ When the ground slope suddenly changes to steeper slope (Fig.1), the
permissible bed slope can not be maintained and requires excessive earthwork
in filling to maintain the slope.
➢ In this case, falls are provided to avoid excessive earthwork in filling and dissipate
the excess energy liberated from falling water.
➢ When the slope of the ground is more or less uniform (Fig.2), and the slope is
greater than the permissible bed slope of canal.

Fig.1 Fig.2
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Canal Falls (cont.)

Necessity of Canal Falls
➢ In cross-drainage works, when the difference between bed level of canal and that
of drainage is small or when the F.S.L of the canal is above the bed level of drainage
then the canal fall is necessary to carry the canal water below the stream or
drainage.

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Types of Canal Falls
➢ The following are the different types of canal falls that may be adopted according
to the site condition:

✓ Ogee Fall
✓ Rapid Fall
✓ Stepped Fall
✓ Trapezoidal Notch Fall
✓ Vertical Drop Fall
✓ Glacis Fall
✓ Well Type Fall

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Ogee Fall
➢ In this type of fall, an ogee curve (a combination of
convex curve and concave curve) is provided for
carrying the canal water from higher level to lower
level.
➢ This fall is recommended when the natural ground
surface suddenly changes to a steeper slope along
the alignment of the canal.
➢ The fall consists of a concrete vertical wall and
concrete bed.
➢ Over the concrete bed the rubble masonry is provided in the shape of ogee curve.
➢ The surface of the masonry is finished with rich cement mortar (1:3).
➢ The upstream and downstream side of the fall is protected by stone pitching with
cement grouting. The design consideration of the ogee fall depends on the site
condition.
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Canal Falls (cont.)

Rapid Fall

➢ The rapid fall is suitable when the

slope of the natural ground surface is
even and long.
➢ It consists of a long sloping glacis with
longitudinal slope which varies from
1 in 10 to 1 in 20.
➢ Curtain walls are provided on the
upstream and downstream side of
the sloping glacis.
➢ The sloping bed is provided with rubble masonry.
➢ The upstream and downstream side of the fall is also protected by rubble masonry.
➢ The masonry surface is finished with rich cement mortar (1:3).

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Rapid Canal Falls

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Stepped Fall

➢ Stepped fall consists of a

series of vertical drops in
the form of steps.
➢ This fall is suitable in
places where the sloping
ground is very long and
requires long glacis to
connect the higher bed
level with lower bed level.
➢ This fall is practically a modification of the rapid fall.
➢ The sloping glacis is divided into a number of drops so that the flowing water may
not cause any damage to the canal bed. Brick walls are provided at each of the drops.
➢ The bed of the canal within the fall is protected by rubble masonry with surface
finishing by rich cement mortar (1:3).
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Canal Falls (cont.)

Stepped Fall

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Trapezoidal Notch Fall

➢ In this type of fall a body wall is

constructed across the canal.
➢ The body wall consists of several
trapezoidal notches between the side
piers and the intermediate pier or piers.
➢ The sills of the notches are kept at the
upstream bed level of the canal.
➢ The body wall is constructed with masonry or concrete.
➢ An impervious floor is provided to resist the scouring effect of the falling water.
➢ The upstream and downstream side of the fall is protected by stone pitching
finished by cement grouting.
➢ The size and number of notches depends upon the full supply discharge of the
canal.
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Canal Falls (cont.)

Trapezoidal Notch Fall

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Vertical Drop Fall

➢ It consists of a vertical drop wall which
is constructed with masonry work. The
water flows over the crest of the wall.
➢ A water cistern is provided on the
downstream side which acts as a water
cushion to dissipate the energy of
falling water.
➢ A concrete floor is provided on the downstream side to control the scouring effect
of the flowing water.
➢ Curtain walls are provided on the upstream and downstream side.
➢ Stone pitching with cement grouting is provided on the upstream and downstream
side of the fall to protect it from scouring.

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Vertical Drop Fall

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Glacis Fall
➢ It consists of a straight sloping glacis
provided with a crest.
➢ A water cushion is provided on the
downstream side to dissipate the
energy of flowing water.
➢ The sloping glacis is constructed with
cement concrete.
➢ Curtain walls and toe walls are provided
on the upstream and downstream side.
➢ The space between the toe walls and curtain walls is protected by stone pitching.
➢ This type of fall is suitable for drops up to 1.5 m.

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Canal Falls (cont.)

For the improvement in energy dissipation, the glacis falls have been modified as follows:

(a) Montague Type Fall

➢ In this type of fall, the straight
sloping glacis is modified by
giving parabolic shape which is
known as Montague profile.
Taking “0” as the origin, the
Montague profile is given by the
equation,
Where, 𝑥 = distance of point P from OX axis, 𝑦 = distance
4𝑦 of point P from OY axis, 𝑣 = velocity of water at the crest,
𝑥=𝑣 +𝑦
𝑔 𝑔 = acceleration due to gravity
➢ The main body of the fall is constructed with cement concrete. Toe walls and curtain
walls are same as in the case of straight sloping glacis. The bed protection by stone
pitching is also same. 32
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Canal Falls (cont.)

(b) Inglis Type Fall

➢ In this type of fall, the glacis is straight

and sloping, but baffle walls are
provided on the downstream floor to
dissipate the energy of flowing water.
➢ The height of baffle depends on the
head of water on the upstream side.
➢ The main body of the fall is constructed
with cement concrete.
➢ The toe walls and curtain walls are same as straight glacis.
➢ The protection works with stone pitching are also same. Sometimes, this fall is
known as baffle fall.

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Straight Glacis Canal Fall

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Well Type Falls or Cylinder Falls, or Syphon Well Drops

➢ This type of a fall consists of an inlet well with a pipe at its bottom, carrying water
from the inlet well to a downstream well or a cistern.
➢ The downstream well is necessary in the case of falls greater than 1.8 m and for
discharges greater than 0.29 cumecs.
➢ The water falls into the inlet well, through a trapezoidal notch constructed in the
steining of the well, from where it emerges near the bottom, dissipating its energy
in turbulence inside the well.
➢ This type of falls are very useful for affecting larger drops for smaller discharges.
➢ They are commonly used as tail escapes for small canals, or where high levelled
smaller drains do outfall into a low levelled bigger drain.

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Well Type Falls or Cylinder Falls, or Syphon Well Drops

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Canal Falls (cont.)

Meter and Non-Meter Falls

➢ Meter falls are those which can be used to measure the discharge of the canal. If
the discharge cannot be measured accurately at the site of the fall, then it is called
a non-meter fall.
➢ Vertical drop fall is not suitable as a meter due to the formation of partial vacuum
under the nappe.
➢ Glacis type fall is quite suitable as a metering-device.
➢ Since a sharp crest does not give a constant coefficient of discharge with varying
heads, while a broad crest does so reasonably; a fall to be used as meter must be
provided with a broad crest.
➢ Generally, a flumed glacis fall or a flumed baffle fall, is used as meter, while an
unflumed glacis fall is used as a non-meter fall.

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