Canal Regulation

Instructor: Dr. Azhar Saleem

Slides Adopted from: Dr. Habib-ur-Rehman and Dr. Noor M Khan

Department of Civil Engineering
UET Lahore, Pakistan
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Ref: Chapter 13 of Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulic Structures by Santosh-Kumar-Garg
• Water that enters into the main canal from the river has to be
divided into different Branches and Distributaries, in accordance
with the relative urgency of demand on different channels.

• This process of distribution is called 'Regulation’.

• To distribute water effectively, the discharge has to be adjusted to

any desired value.

• This aim is achieved by means of regulators

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• The works which are constructed in order to control and
regulate discharges, depths, velocities etc. in canals, are known
as canal regulation works.

• These structures ensure the efficient functioning of a canal

irrigation system, by giving full control upon the canals.

• The important of these structures are :

i. Canal Falls.
ii. Canal Regulators (Head Regulator and Cross Regulator).
iii. Canal Escapes.
iv. Metering Flumes
v. Canal Outlets and Modules
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Ref: https://www.slideshare.net/muthukumaratvit/design-of-canal-regulator-using-html/2
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Alignment of the off-taking channel:
When a branch channel takes off from the main channel (called Parent Channel),
the off-take alignment must be carefully designed.

Parent Channel

The ideal alignment is: when the off-taking channel makes zero angle with the
parent channel initially and then separates out in a transition, as shown in Fig. 13.1.
The transitions will have to be properly designed, so as to avoid accumulation of silt
jetty.
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As an alternative to the transitions: Both the channels should
make an angle with the parent channel upstream of the off-take, as
shown in Fig. 13.2.

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When the parent channel has to be carried straight, the edge of the
canal rather than the centre line should be considered in deciding
the angle of the off-take (Fig. 13.3).

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• A distributary head regulator controls the supply of the off-
taking channel ; while a cross-regulator controls the supply of
the parent channel.

• A head regulator provided at the head of the off-taking channel,

controls the flow of water entering this new channel. While a
cross-regulator may be required in the main parent channel
down-stream of the off-taking channel, and is operated when
necessary to head up water on its upstream side, to ensure the
required supply in the off-taking channel even during the periods
of low flow in the main channel.

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Main Functions of a Head Regulator
1. To regulate or control the supplies entering the off-
take channel.
2. To control silt entry into the off-take channel.
3. To serve as a meter for measuring discharge.

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Main functions of a Cross-Regulator
1. To effectively control the entire Canal irrigation System.

2. When the water level in the main channel is low, it helps in

heading up water on the u/s and to feed the off-take channels to
their full demand in rotation.

3. They help in absorbing fluctuations in various sections of the

canal system, and in preventing the possibilities of breaches in
the tail reaches.

4. Cross regulator is often combined with a road bridge, so as to

carry the road which may cross the irrigation channel near the
site of the cross regulator. It is also usually combined with a fall
(if required at the site of cross regulator); when it is called a
fall-regulator.

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Components of Regulator
Piers, Gates, Bridge

• A regulator essentially consists of piers placed across the canal at regular

intervals with openings in which either planks or gates can be used to
control the supplies.

• Planks can be used_for small channels only, as the maximum height of the
plank that be handled manually is about 2 metres.

• For large channels, either hand operated or mechanically operated gates

can be used.

• The hand operated gates can have spans of 6 to 8 m, while mechanically

operated gates. can be as wide as 20 metres or so.

• A light bridge platform has to be laid on the piers for operation of planks
or gates. It is often economical to combine a regulator with a bridge and
also to flume the channel at the site of the regulator, so as to reduce its
floor width for affecting economy.
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 Canal Escapes
• Escape (or escape regulator) is a side channel constructed to remove surplus
water from an irrigation channel into a natural drain.
• The water in the irrigation channel may become surplus due to some mistake; or-
difficulty in regulation at the head; or due to-excessive rainfall in upper reaches
• Sometimes, the farmer may find that the demand of water is over and may close
their outlets suddenly, in such circumstances, the canal supplies shall become
surplus, and this excess may overflow the banks unless escaped.
• No doubt, in all such circumstances, the supplies shall be reduced or stopped
from the head works, but the effect of this reduction is felt only after a certain
time. Therefore, in order to avoid damage, some immediate action is required,
and this is achieved by means of an 'Escape', generally called a 'surplus water
escape'.
• Escape can be considered as Safety Valve for canal. The minimum capacity of the
escape is generally kept as half of the channel capacity at the point of the escape

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Types of Canal
Escapes

1.Weir Type Escape

(Crest level of weir
is kept at FSL of
canal. No gates)

2.Regulator Type
(Crest level of
escape is kept at Bed
of canal, and gates
are used to regulate)

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Metering Flumes
• A meter is a structure constructed in a canal for measuring its
discharge accurately.

• A metering flume is an artificially flumed (narrowed) section of

the channel, which can be utilized for calculating the discharge
in the channel.

• Normal section of channel is narrowed by masonary walls by

splay of 1 : 1 to 2 : 1 to a rectangular section called Throat.
From where, the channel is slowly diverged so as to attain its
normal section by means of masonry wings with a splay of 2 : 1
to 10 : 1.

• More gradual the convergence and divergence, less will be the

loss of head in the flume.

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 Types of Meter Flumes
Venturi Flume
• It consists of a gradually
contracting channel leading to
'throat', and a gradually
expanding channel leading
away from it.
• Stilling wells are provided for
measuring head at the
entrance and at the throat, as
shown in Fig. 13.11.
• If h is head difference in two
wells, Q can be calculated as:

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Types of Meter Flumes
Standing Wave Flume
• If a hydraulic jump is formed
on d/s glacis, it is called as
Standing Wave Flume
• The length of its throat is at
least 2 to 3 times the head over
the crest.
• If H is head above crest, Q can
be found as:

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Concluded

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