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Engineering Hydrology: Engr. Anum Khalid Civil Engineering Department University of Engineering and Technology Lahore

The document discusses various methods for stream discharge measurement, including the slope-area method, measurement using hydraulic structures, and the moving boat method. The slope-area method estimates discharge using the water surface slope and cross-sectional area, and employs the Manning formula. Measurement can also be done using structures like weirs and flumes. The moving boat method is useful for large streams, collecting data on velocity and river bed profiles from a boat moving across the river.

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Ashhad Shafique
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74 views

Engineering Hydrology: Engr. Anum Khalid Civil Engineering Department University of Engineering and Technology Lahore

The document discusses various methods for stream discharge measurement, including the slope-area method, measurement using hydraulic structures, and the moving boat method. The slope-area method estimates discharge using the water surface slope and cross-sectional area, and employs the Manning formula. Measurement can also be done using structures like weirs and flumes. The moving boat method is useful for large streams, collecting data on velocity and river bed profiles from a boat moving across the river.

Uploaded by

Ashhad Shafique
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Engineering Hydrology

Lecture # 06

Engr. Anum Khalid

Civil Engineering Department


University of Engineering and Technology Lahore
Classification of Methods of Stream
Discharge Measurement
Slope-Area Method
Slope-area method is an approximate and indirect
method of discharge estimation which is used when
measurement by more accurate methods, such as the
velocity-area method, is not possible. In this
method, discharge is estimated by observing the
water surface slope and cross-section area. It is
sometimes necessary to use this method because of :
 Non-availability of equipment required for
making current meter measurements.
 Inaccessibility of the site due to floods.
 Presence of debris and floating matter in the
flood flow preventing the use of current meter.
Slope-Area Method
Procedure
A measuring reach of the stream is chosen for which the
mean cross section area and the slope of water are
determined. The mean velocity is computed by using the
open channel flow formula such as the Manning's formula.
Appropriate value of the roughness coefficient is chosen
depending on the physical conditions of the channel.
Discharge is computed as the product of the mean velocity
and the average cross-sectional area of the reach.
For the measurement reach, three things should be known:
 The cross-sectional geometry and properties at its ends
 The value of Manning's roughness coefficient n.
 Water-surface elevations at the end sections.
Slope-Area Method
• The Manning formula states:

Where
• V= average velocity of flow
• n = Manning coefficient
• Rh=hydraulic radius 

 A is the cross sectional area of flow


 P is the wetted perimeter 
• S =slope of the hydraulic grade line
• k is a conversion factor between SI and English units if
‘n’ is in SI units then k= 1 for R in SI units, and k=1.49 for
English units.
Slope-Area Method
The river reach should be straight (to the extent
possible) having stable bed and banks and uniform
cross-section over a length of at least five times the
width of the channel.
In any case, the length should not be less than about
300m.
As far as possible, the river reach should be long
enough so that the difference between water levels at
the upstream and downstream gauges is not less than
ten times the uncertainty in the difference.
The flow in the reach should be free from significant
disturbances, draw-down or back-water effect of any
structure or tributary joining upstream or downstream.
Slope-Area Method
• A minimum of three cross-sections are generally
desirable in the selected reach (two should be at
the ends and others in-between, one at the centre).
Water surface slope is computed from the gauge
observations at either end of the reach;
intermediate gauge(s) are used to confirm that the
slope is uniform throughout the reach. Cross-
section area and wetted perimeter are estimated at
each cross-section.
Measurement By Hydraulic Structures
The structures, such as notches, weirs, and flumes, are
frequently used to measure flow in laboratories. If the
physical and hydraulic conditions at the site permit, a fixed,
undeformable structure may be constructed to measure river
flow. A number of hydraulic structures are used to measure
flows in field conditions and these are:
 Thin-plate, sharp crest weirs, v-notch or rectangular
 Broad-crested weirs: made of concrete or masonry and are
used for large discharges;
 Triangular or Trapezoidal profile weirs
 Flumes: Rectangular, Trapezoidal, U-shaped. These have
clearly specified shape and dimensions and are made of
concrete, masonry, or metal sheets depending on their
use and location.
Measurement By Hydraulic Structures
Rectangular Notch

Triangular Notch

Flume
Advance Method: Moving Boat
On very large and wide streams, the conventional
methods of measuring discharge by current meter
are frequently impractical or involve costly and
tedious procedures. The moving boat method can
be very useful in such a situation.
The moving-boat technique is a velocity-area
method of determining discharge in which data are
collected while the observer is aboard a boat that
traverses the stream along a predecided path
.During the traverse across the river, an echo
sounder records the bed profile of the cross-section
and a continuously operating current meter
Advance Method: Moving Boat
• The angle between the current meter (which
aligns itself in a direction parallel to the
movement of the water and the pre-selected path)
is also measured. The velocity that is measured at
each of the observation points in the cross-section
(Vv)is the velocity of water past the current meter
resulting from both stream flow and boat
movement. It is the vector sum of the velocity of
water with respect to the stream bed (v) and the
velocity of the boat with respect to the stream bed
(Vb). Data are collected at many observation
points in the cross-section for each run.
Moving Boat Method
Moving Boat Method

V = Vv sinα

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