BU LLE T I N O F T HE

No . 1 15

Contr ibuti on from the Offi ce of Exper i ment S tati on s A C T r u e D i r ec tor

, . . , .

September I , 19 14 .

(PR O FE S S I O NA L PA P E R .
)

GATE S TRUCTURE S FO R I RRI GATI O N CANALS .

B y FRE D C . S C OBE Y ,

I r ri g a ti on E n gi n eer ,
I r r i g a t i on I n v es t i g a t i on s .

I NTR O D UCTI ON .

A study of the irrigated regio n s of the West shows th at the designs

an d speci al fe atures of s t ructures h ave bee n Q O p i ed an d a d a pte d one

from another bu t us u ally Wi t hin the bo u nds of one loc ality T W O

,
.

sections With quite simil a r conditio n s show gre at divergen cies in

stru cture s used for the s ame p u rposes This is true l argely for t he .

re ason th at thos e wh o d esign t he st r u ct i i r es h ave neither t he time nor

a n s to tr a vel an d le a r n how others a r e h a ndling simil a r situ a

The p u rpose of this b u lletin is to brin g toget her de s igns

(1 to m a n y loc ali t ies in order th at t he pr a ctice of the Whole
,

sign stru ctu res .

t his b u lletin is the cont rol

tern s H e a dgat es a n d .

w a t er en teri n g the system from the so u rce

regul at e the w a ter While Within t he c an al ;
te gat es control the w ater Which is to be turn e d ou t an d
branch c a n al l ater a l an d d elivery g at es regu l ate the
, ,

d ou t to bra nches of the system or t o users Bifurc ation .

division g ates usu ally serve the combined p u rposes of

an d br a nch c an a l or l ater a l g a tes a n d a r e u sed t o regul a te ,

w ater in t h e m ain c an al an d also of th at p a ssin g into

l at erals .

he most p art sm all a n d medium size stru c t ures ar e de alt With -

,

believed th at most of the problems confronting the engin eer

in isol ated p art s of the West rel ate to structures o f this cl a ss .
 2 B U L LE TI N 115 ,
U s
. . DE P ART ME N T OF _AGRI C U LTU RE .

Since the bulletin is p r ep ared for engineer s an d others Who ar e

fami li ar With ga tes an d g ate stru ctures , it does n ot attemp t t o tre at
the su bj ect f ully , bu t merely gives ex ampl es of s tr nct u r es Which
s erve the p u rpo s e for Which they ar e intended b etter th an m any

others in common use L oc al conditions control m any fe atures of

.

g ate structures , an d the descriptions given rel a te to existing s t r uc

tures in a ctu al use Which it i s believed Will prove sugges tive an d c an
,

be rea dily a d apted t o other conditions by loc al engi n e er s a n d ditch

owners .

MA T E R I A LS US E D .

A f ew ye ars ago most o f the struct ures in Ameri c an c anals W ere

of wood , but more recently concrete both pl ain an d reinforced , has ,

come into common use Wood h as the a dvant ages of che apnes s an d
.

e ase of h andling an d the dis advant a ge of r apid depreci atio n Con .

c rete h a s the a dv a nt age of perm anence , but i s cos t ly In d et er mi n .

é
ing Which t o u s e these points must be t aken into co n sideration
, .

The most prominent f acts in conn ection With recent irrig ation de
v el op m en t u n der both public an d priv ate a g en é i es h a ve be en t h e

high cost of w ater rights an d t h e in ability of settlers t o m ake the

p ayments required In View o f these f a cts there is much to be s aid in
.

f a yor o f the che ape r woo den structures for origin al const r uctio n
wit h a view to their repl a cement With more p erm anent structures oi
concrete as the wood dec ays This Will lessen fi r s t cost an d b r ing
.

t he he a vier cost a fter t he lan ds h a ve been p u t _u n d er cultiv a tion an d

the expenses incident to the est ablishment of new fa rms h ave been
met The use of wood h as t he f u rther a dv ant age th at an y mistakes
.

in either the typ e of struct ures or their l oc ation

frequ ently h appens th at str uctu res ar e found t
or t oo l ow or t o be t oo sm all or not o f the best type
, ,

’
to be se rved A few ye ars experience in t heir oper at
.

str ate th ese f a cts , a fter Whi ch pe rm a nent structures

With an a ssur ance th at t hey ar e Wh at is needed .

A nother condition to be t aken into consideration

the m at eri al to be used for structures is the d am age
to be done in c a se of fa il u re
in gr e at d am age to t h e c an al system , or to crops
below only the mos t ne a rly perm anent oon s t r u ct i
,

I f ; on the other h and f a ilu r e Wi ll me a n merely the

,

structure itself che a per construction m ay be used

,
.

Prob ably the best pra cti ce i s to m ake c ombined

structures using concrete f
,

an d n ot e a sily repl a ced an d

can be repl a ced e a sil y Local ,

_

of Wood an d concrete Will a

Should be used .
 GATE ST RU C T U RE S F OR I R RI GA T I O N C ANALS . 3

TYPE S or G A T E S HUT T E R S
:
.

The openings or Vents in gate stru ctures gener ally ar e regul ated
by either slot shutters c om p r i s i n g fl ashb oar d s an d wooden an d met al
,
/

slide gates ; r a di al g ates ; or she ar g ates There ar e also sever al styles.

of coll apsible g ates roller cur t ains , needles bu t t er fly gat es , a n d other

, ,

devices , but their use is very limited in this c ountry, an d for th a t

r e as on they ar e o m itted from this public a tion .

S L O T S H UT TE R S
1

T he t yp e o f slot s hu t t er s i n mos t co mm o n use is a woo d or met al

;

s hut t er sliding in grooves or slots This a rrangem ent does very

.

well for sm all g ates but wher e the opening is so l arge th at there is
,

an y gre at amount o f p res sure a g a inst the g ate the frictio n become s

so gre at as t o render the oper ation o f the shutter d i ffi cu lt Some .

times this sliding fri ction is reduced by inserting a roller be aring

betw een the shutter an d the gu ide .

Wood en g ate shutt ers ar e the most co mm on o f a ll ty p es Va rious .

types of wooden shutters ar e show n in Pl ate I S lides for open in gs .

up t o a bout 4 feet Wide ar e m ade Wholly o f w oo" as a rule L a rger .

shutters ar e usu ally br a ced With iron an d those 8 to 12 feet in Width ,

commonly ar e f urnished With a metal shoe Which slides against t he

guide Sm all g ates are usu ally n ailed together bu t it i s better t o
.
,

use bolts freely on g at e s Wider th an 3 feet .

If redwood lumber is used g ate s up to 3 feet Wide m ay be m a de of

1 i n oh stuff si n gle thickn ess but above th at it is reco m me n ded tha t
-
,

a t le a st Q inch s t u fi be used or
'
-
better still double 1 or 15; inch With
, , , ,

the two l ayers at right angles t o e ach other Tightness m ay be

“

s ecured by pl a cing a l ayer o f t ar p aper between the two l ayers of

“

wood G ates of p i n e an d of any timbe r other th an redwo od except

.
,

very sm all ones s h ould not be m a de les s th an 2 inches in thickness

, .

If built of do u ble m ater i al they Will be more ne a rly w ater tight an d

sti ff er t han if b u ilt o f a si n gle thickn ess
.

M ost of the much u sed met al slide g ates a r e ma de by fou ndries

an d m a chine shops th a t speci alize in this work an d issue very com

p l et e c a t alogues th a t desc r ibe in d et ail e a ch kind of g a te M ost o f .

“
them ar e in cluded in one of three types : Grat es f or p ipe deliveries
t hrough the b anks g ates f or rect an gu l a r tube s of w ood or m a so n ry
,

t hrough the b an ks , or gates for open chan nel s The fi r st typ e consi s ts ,

of a sheet s teel or c ast iron slide over a c a st iron f ace or i fi ce With

‘

- - -

angle w on or steel s t an d ards a n d the nece s s ary lugs to a tt ach t he

g ate to the bell , an d of a c a st iron fi t fi fi eM ay c ement or cor r u

-
, , ,

gated iron pipe I n the tra de nomencl at ure th e si ze of the gate

-
.

agrees With the size of t h e i e t o Which the g te is t o be tt ch ed

p p a a a ;
th at is an 8 i n eh gate i s or dered t o fi t a pipe 8 inches inside
,
- .

di ameter .
4 B U L L E TI N 115, U . S . DE P AR T M E N T OF AGRI C U L TU RE .

Practic ally all g a tes of this type ar e fi t t ed With screw an d Wheel

‘

lift an d locki ng devi ces The locking device u s u ally consists of some
.

f orm of c a st iron nut turning on the thre ad of the g ate stem un der
-

the cros she a d A s the stem does not turn ar ound bu t is lifted sim ply
.

by the thre a ds in the Wh eel it is necess ary onl y t o screw the loose -

nut to an y desi red point an d l ook it to a ch ain or bar c onn ectin g

With one st and a rd This prevents it being t urned in either di r ec
.

tion an d When the stem is r aised until the nut re a ches the cross he a d
, ,

the shutter is looked a s reg ards further opening , but m ay be closed

a rti a lly or Wholly by the consum er O ther device u ed l ock the
p s s .

g ate so th at it can not be either Op ened or cl os ed except u n d er f

a ctio n of the key (See fi g 11 p

. .
,
.

M os t of the st and ards of t his type of g ate com e in lengths of 6

feet un les s ordered otherwise but the writer n oticed m any c ases ,

throughout the Wes t where a m ateri al s aving could h ave been exer
c i s ed by ordering short er len g ths o f st a nd a rd .

The sta nd ards m ay be m a de so th at they Will be at right angles

to the conn ection for the pipe or at an angle of 6 0 or 7 5 With the ° °

pipe In m ost c ases the 75 angle prob ably Will give better results
.
°
,

as the f a ce then Will be m ore ne a rly in conformity With the slope of

the b ank O ne m anufa cturer even m akes a typ e With a s10pe of 4 5

.
°

With the p ipe .

M ost m akers step up the g ate si z es to conform t o the si zes of st an d

ar d V i t r i fi ed cl ay pipe beginnin g at 6 i nches an d going to 2 4 inches
-
: .

Some m akers h ave g ates for 30an d 36 inch pipe but as a rule the ,

i s ch anged .

Grates With co nn ections for rect ang ul ar openings ar e for use

timber or m asonry tub es l a rger th an st a nd ard si z es of pipes a s a ,

The st and a rds loc kin g devi ces ; etc ar e the s ame as on
,
.
,

pipes These gates r un in v a ri ous sizes from 6 by 6

.

several feet in either d i mension The stems an d li fts .

w ay from a simple h andle an d b ar up t o p ow er f u

p i nion or screw lift s .

The third type of g a tes consists of sh eet steel -

met al guides They come in sizes u p

.

be b u il t up from a s i ngle p anel to

Where the m as onr y stru cture is d ivi d
e ach g at e is a un it independent of the

tur al steel frame securely anchored by bolts to the fl oor an d wa

A h ex ample of this type of g ate is shown in Pl ate V, fi gur e 2 .

The r ack an d pinion lift is t h e most comm on type for this cl ass
- -

g ates On the more simple ones t h e lever a cts directly on the pini
.

train of ge ars between the lever an d the ra ck .

 PLAT E I

14
a u
G ar d Le) ? fi and s qu ar e S /d
fh r e a d s p i

S c ob e
y .
 GATE S TR U C T URE S F OR I RR I GATI O N C ANALS . 5

La rge ca st gates ar e lifted by powerfu l one or two m an g ate st ands ,

in some cases by electri c or w a ter power Thes e st ands a r e

, .

u i p ed with b all be a ring wheel an d screw bevel ge aring an d screw

p
-
, ,

worm an d wheel an d screw The w aste gate s on the Milner d am

.

Id aho ar e regul ated by a tr a veling hoist equ ipped with electric

(1 runni n g on a t r a ck set b a ck of the g ate guid es This device .

a b a ttery o f g a t es but on e hoist ,

a r a t u s being provided This is tran sferred from on e s tem to

.

an d the a djustments m a de The hoist m ay then be removed

.

ly an d locked in a ne a r by tool house , thus preventing p a ssers by

- -

r om t amp er ing with the g ates .

F A L S HB O ARD S .

The fi as hboar d is the form most u sed for an ov er fl ow g ate su ch as ,

ost check an d some types of w aste gates With bo ards a d efi n i t e .

is m aint ained over which an y excess w ater will p ass Altera .

i n this crest height m ay be m a de in steps g aged by the width of

oar d s. Wh ere there ar e several p anels in a gate struct u re the
al w ater level m ay be regul ated by fl ashb oa rds a n d more delic a te -

m a de by a solid g ate sh u tter of either the groove or

radi al form .

Prim ari ly a set of fl ashb oar d s shou ld be u sed o n ly where le a k ag e is

of little or no consequence u nless me asu res to prevent le ak a ge ar e

fd opt ed In C aliforni a double sets o f fl a s hb oar d s sometime s a r e u s ed
.

f or flood g at es an d the s p a ces between them ar e p a cked with mud d u r

i n g such times of the ye a r as they ar e not being a dj u sted The w ater .

issu es fro m a st ru ct u re regu l ated by fl ashboar d s with less vel ocity

th an it d oes from an undershot gate an d the res u l t i n g erosion below
,

the st r u ot u r e is less O ne a dv an t age of the type shown i n fi g u r e 8

.

(p. 3 7 ) is th at the whole shutter m ay be lift e d by the stem givi n g the

,

adv ant a ge of m ore delic ate a dj u stment a n d still allow some w a ter t o

pour over the u pper fi a s hboar ds This w ater will fall on an d tend to
.

break the force of wh atever w ater is p a ssi n g u n der t he ga te .

The dis a dv an t age of fl ashb oar d s lies in the d i ffi cu lt y of oper a tion

an d the time this requ ires The j amming of a bo a rd m ay be reduced
. .

by rounding off the corners of e ach bo ard a s shown in Pl ate I k , .

Where used in a check g ate fl ashb oar d s develo p a very b a d fe ature

of m ai nten a nce If a delive ry of w ater is not being m a de above t h e
.

check the na ll of the vents sho u ld be p u lled an d t h e w a ter allowed

,

t o fl ow as ne arly a s possible in the s ame m r n e r th at it d oes when

ai
there ar e no g ates in the can al thu s sco u ring ou t an y deposit which
,

has accumul a ted while the w a ter w as checked u p Unles s the ditch .

t ender is exception ally conscientious he will p u ll one or t w o vents ,

causing an excessive scour through the openings pulled an d le a ving
,
6 B ULLE TI N 115, U . s
. DE P AR TM E N T or AGRI CU L T U RE .

the s il t dep os it above the othe r s O f c ou rse thi s s ame con di t i on m u s t

.
'

be gu arded a gai nst where o ther forms of shutter a r e u sed bu t it is ,

mu ch e as ier to pul l all vents if it can be done at on e operation

,

for ea ch opening th an to fi sh out on e fl ashb oar d at a t ime with per

, ,

h aps 8 or 10 boa rds in e ach vent .

This obj ecti on does not apply where bo ards ar e used t o est abli sh
the cr est of such a struct u re as a w a st e g ate des igned for pr actic all y
all of the w ater above th e lev el of t h e crest t o p a ss off an d le ave the

c an al The w ater in the c an al cont inu all y s cours p ast the w as te gat e
.
,

keep i ng out t h e sil t an d as a r ul e there ar e not m an y a dj u stments on

, , ,

such a g at e t hroughout the irrigation s e as on ther e bein g a very m a ,

t er i al s avi ng i n the cost of g ate lifts , whi ch wo ul d be used o nl y a “

few t im es in th e se a son .

If fl as hb oar d s ar e m a de loose en ough s o th at they will operat e with

comp a r ative e as e then there al s o is d anger th at they wi l l fl oat i f
,

the slots ar e m a de vert ic al I f the sl ot s ar e i ncl ined the fr iction

.
,

a g a inst the up p er sid e of the slot coun tera cts t h e fl oat i n a ction of
g
the w at er Inclined slots al s o p l ac e the shu tter so as to ca r r y t h e
.

thru st of w ater downw ard thr ough t h e fl oor of the struct ure rathe r
th an tend to overtur n i t The incli n ed slot requ ir es more m ateri al
.

f or a shutt er of a given height t h a n does a vertic al slot Fl ashbo ar ds .

in an incli ned s et of slot s c an be more e asily m a de w ater tight by -

p a c ki ng with m u d t h an those i n vert ica l slots .

S HEA R G A TE S .

D uri ng p a st few ye ars t h e s he a r g ate h as come into use on

t he
irrigation syst em s I t c onsists of a roun d c a st di sk turn ing on a pi n
.
-

through a hol e at the edge of the disk

. At th e s ide opposite the pin .

is at t ached an iron rod for a h an dle When the gate is clos ed the disk .

covers the en d of a tube whi ch i s cemented to a c a st iron or i fi ce pla te -

.

By me an s of the ro d the di sk is turne d on the p i n u n til the desired

a mount of w a ter is deliver ed t hr o u gh the op en i ng m a de a s the en d

of the pipe is uncovered In closing ; the di s k drops down between

.

wedgi ng lugs which bind the di sk tightly to the f ace pl ate making a ,

comp a r atively w ater tight connection Thi s g ate costs bu t a f ractio n

-
.

of the amoun t n ec ess ary for a met al slide gate an d could h ave be en ,

us ed in m any c a ses wher e a slide g a te h as been i nst alled .

To provide a lock ing devic e for th i s type of gate the ir on h an dl e ,

b ar m ay be fl at t en ed an d bored wi th slots to p as s li k e a h a sp over a

st a ple set in the w all of t h e jg at e st r u ct u re The b ar t hen m ay be
r
.

slipp ed over the st ap le at the notch n eares t the des i red p osition an d a
p a dlock put thr ough t h e s t aple .

RA DI A L GA T E S .

T h e use of t h e r a di al gat e is compa r a tively n ew in this c ount ry .

It is essen t i ally a gate r a ise d an d lower ed by rev olvin g on a horizon t al

 G ATE S TR UC T URE S F OR I R R I G AT I O N C ANALS . 7

ax le , to which the fa ce is att a ched by a rms cen teri n g at t h e a xle (Pl . .

II fi g l ) In pr ac t ice the f ace of t he gates h as been m a de of simpl e

,
a .

pl anki ng n a iled or bolted t o ribs or o f sheet st eel riveted to met al ,

ribs There h ave b een a f ew c ases where the face w as built of rein
.

forced concrete In Can a d a a ve r y simple type o f thi s shu tter h as a

.

perfectly flat f ace of pl ank s attach ed t o wooden a rms The pra ctice .

in this country is for the face t o form the se gm e n t of a cylinder The .

arms of sm all gate s m ay be m a de of wood , but t h e u s u a l pr a ctice is

’
t o m ake the arms of a ngle or ch annel iron even where the f ace is ,

wo od The a xles m ay be either sect ion s of pipe or b a rs extendin g

.
\ '

completely a cross the open ings or pins extendin g through the side ,

w alls adj oining the openings Simple ga lv anized pipe m akes a good .

axle f or econo mi c al constructi on if the conditio n s at the g ate stru e

“

ture ar e such th at there is no d anger of d ebri s c atchin g on the axle

an d bending it or w a shing it out The more fi n i shed constr uction .
,

which does n ot tend to obstruct t he ch annel , consists of a steel p m set

in a tube c as t in t he w all of the str u cture .

Th ere ar e t wo gre at a dv ant ages in this typ e of shutter First .

,

friction i s ch anged from sliding f riction in t he gu idew ays as usu ally ,

used f or g a te shu t ters t o a xle f riction with a lever ar m the l ength of

, ,

t heg ate ar m s The second fe ature i n f a vor of this g ate lies in the
.

form of lift The usu al stem gate lift requires th at the p oint of
.
-

applic a ti on be appr oximately twice the heigh t o f the opening a bove

the bottom o f the gat e in order to lift the shu tter cle ar of t h e open
ing In ne arly every c a se there i s a w aste of m ateri al in se cu ring
.

the elev ation for t h e lift Thi s a rgument does not apply to most
.

river g ates for the re a son t h a t t he a ddition al eleva ti on i s of ben efi t

,

an d i s nece s s a ry in some form t o give a high bulkhe a d t o preve n t

.

flood wa ter i n the stre am top ping an d destroying the str u cture But .

there is an a dvantage in t he c as e of other g ates where the height of

the levee i s the contr olling f a ctor , an d all the m ateri al ab ove th at
height i s s o much th at doe s n ot a d d an y ben efi t s to the structu re .

Since the c able or o t her form of li f t can be atta ched to the very bot
t om o f the r a di a l ga te , the winch m ay be s et a ppr ox im a t ely on the
level of the g a te t op when the l atter is cl osed an d the c able wou nd
up b th winch lif t ing the r a di al g ate unt il the bottom i s a pp r ox i
y e ,

mately l evel with the drum A s the r a di a l g a te requ i res n o gu i d es

.
'
,

it extend s u p into t he ai r without other su pp ort th a n the a xle an d ,

ther e i s no loss of m ateri al f or lift st and ards a s i s the c a s e f or most ,

Stem lif t s .

The gre at fa ctor ag ai nst the r ad i al g a t e k ays has b een th at the z

only disch a rge through it w as undershot but there 1s no re a son why ,

thi s s hould be a s t h e f ace does not need to b e a sin gle unit

,
It may .

be m ade of t wo or more secti ons the u p per ones b in ging on axles car ,
8 B U L LE T I N 115, U . s . D EP AR T M E NT OF A GR IC U LT U R E .

ried by t he r ad i al a rms of the lower section or all centering on a

common axle W ith this arr angement w a ter m ay be t aken under
.
,

over or between sections of the shutter This allows he a vy silted

,
.

w at er t o be held b ack i n the stre am an d the lighter w aters t aken over

the t op of one or more sectio n s o f the s hutter The se ction al con
-

structi on a lso allow s the upper s ections to be l ifted out of the w ay ,

so th a t the lower section m ay be p ar t ly ra ised an d still h ave a low

uppe r cr es t This m ay b eused as a was tew ay to prevent fl ood s from
.

topping t he levees The ordin ary r a di al g ate p anels ar e clo sed at the
.
-

top when the shutter i s p artly r aised The gre atest u se for this .

m od ifi ca t i on of the old r a di al g at e is prob ably in river g ates for

can als an d i n crest g ates regul ating the water above a diverting weir
-

The solid t yp e of r a di al gate prob ably will rem a in st and ar d a s a ga t e

for a s and sl u ice where the s cour a t the b ott om is necess a ry an d for ,

all other g ates th a n t h e r i ver g ates the ch ara cter of the w ater an d the
m anner of disch arge will dict ate t h e desir a bility of u sin g the sec
t i on al type .

Very l ar ge openings p ro b ably a r e more ea s i ly r egu l at edi by the x

r adi al g ates th an by an y other form of shutter u sed in this country at

present an d for t his re ason they lend themselves re a dily to pl a ces
,

where the open i ngs mu s t p a ss cak es of ice or Sm all debris On the .

other h an d l arge pieces o f d riftwood ar e a contin u al source o f ah

,
-

noy a nce du ring fl ood t imes This i s true especi ally where the w ater
.

is c ar ried through s ubmerged or i fi ces as the arms of the gate in such ,

a c a se a r e wit hin re a ch of the dri f t w ood , which e a sily clogs in the

irons o f the g ate .

If it is desired th at a r a di al gate be m a de c omp ar a tively w a ter

tight a s trip of rubber belting on e a ch side an d at the t op m ay be
,
.

used The bottom of the g ate m ay close on a s t r ip of w ood set i n the

.
-

co n crete fl oor or it m ay clos e behi nd a s houl der of wo od or con crete

,
.

There ar e v arious w ays of b al an cin g a g ate of t hi s t yp e so tha t t he

‘

n et amount of l abor ne cess a r y to r a ise it m ay be r educed a l t hough ,

it i s desir a ble th a t there be plenty of weight i n f avor of t he gat e in

ord er th at it m ay close of its own weight; a s a cable or c h ain , the
usu al type of lift can not be used t o p ush the g at e down as can a
,

wooden or i ron stem .

Since the pressu re on the f a ce of the g ate is no r m a l to the su rf ace ,

th en i f the f a ce is a tru e segmen t o f a cyl i nder w ith the axle at the
, ,

center the pres su re is tr an smit ted directly to the axle but if the
, ,
.

a xle is set below the ce nter there wi ll b e develope d a pres sure p a ss i n g

“

over the a xl e a n d te ndi n g to r ai s e the ga te Thi s s ame eff ect m ay be .

obt ained by s pir a ling t h e fa ce of t he gate s o th at the res ult ant pres
sure pa sses above the axle .
 Bu l 1 15 , u 3 De t
. . . p . of g i u lt u
A r c re . PLAT E I I .

FIG . 1 — RA D I A L GAT E
. W I T H C O N C R E T E C O UN T E R W E I G HT . LO W E R E ND O F I NLE T T U NNE L,
T U RLO C K I RR I G AT I O N D I S T RI C T , C A LI FO R NI A .

FI G 2. .
—A U T O M AT | O
RA D I A L R E G ULAT O R G AT E WI T H S I N G L L V E
T O MA I NT A I N C O N E ER
S T A NT VO LUME BE LO W G AT E AT T HE R IG HT FLA S HBO A RD . A S T E W A Y I NT T L W O UO
UMNE R V R , T R LO C K | R R I G AT I O N D I ST R I C T ,
I E U A LI FO R NI A C .
Bu l 1 15 , U S De t
. . . p . of g i u lt u
A r c re .
PLAT E I I I

FIG . 1.
— BR US H RI PRA P BE LO W RO S IT A S WAS T E W AY C A LI FO RNI A
, D E VE LO PME NT Co .
,

C A LI FO R NI A .

FI G 2 — D I V
. . E R S I O N WE I R , S A N D GA T E , A ND HE A D G A T E O F T HE J A C KS O N D I T C H NE AR
FORT C O LLI N S , C O LO .
 GATE ST U C TR URE S F OR IRR I GAT IO N C ANALS . 9

G A T E S T E MS A ND LI FTI NG D E VI CE S .

For very sm all gates using wooden shutters t he simpl e stem with ,

staggered holes is recommen ded (See Pl I c d e ) . .

, , ,
.

For sm all iron shutters an d woode n shu tters u p to 5 feet wide

an d 5 feet high a screw st em a n d wheel lift ar e recommended for ,

the rea sons t h at they permit of a dj ustment t o an y d es i r ed p oin t angi ‘

a r e not controlled by the po s ition of holes notches or other stepped , ,

devices (Pl I . They exert a ste a dy an d gr a du al pull on the

,

shutter an d do not j erk the ga te to pieces They may be u sed to

,
.

force t he shutter down a s well a s u p but it is r ecommen de d th a t ,

they be pl aced in a pipe t o prevent buckl ing if they ar e longe r th an

twice the height of the shutter The dis a dv an t ages ar e th at t he
f
.

threa ds become bruised an d corroded ; th at a screw can not j erk the

gate where silt piles up a gainst it when closed tempor arily ; th at
t hey ar e slow for l a rge g a tes ; an d th a t the usu al position is such th at
t hey require gr e a t physic al eff ort to st art an d oper ate a s comp ared
w i th long lever lifts , Where a m an simply m ay h ang hi s weight on
-

t h e en d of the l ever r at her th an u se muscul a r force in turning the

‘ '

wheel .

For l arge sliding wooden gates a double stem with lever lift is
recommended wherever they ar e known The gener al co n str u ction .

of this type is shown in Pl ate I , f This type is especi ally a d apt ed .

to situ ations where a j erk m ay be necess ary to sta rt a gate The .

lever m ay be u sed to force the gate ei ther up or d ow n The dis .

a dv ant a ges mention ed which can be corrected e asily ar e th at the

, ,

stem crow ds aw ay from the fu lcru m un der the action of the lev er ;
th at a p awl is not reli able in holding the gate u p ; an d th a t the lever
is e a sily lost By simply running the s tem t hro u gh a c a st frame
.

with a roller behind the stem the l atter m ay be held fi r m ly u p to ,

t he fulcru m A h even simpl er method is to bolt a he a vy timber to

.

the he a d be am with a sp a ce for the stem between the timbers a s , ,

sh own in Pl ate VI fi gu r e 2 The p awl is used in the A rk ans a s V alley

,
.
'

to hold this type of lift an d seems t o give s atisfa ction The lever
,
.

m ay be ch ained to the st r ucture The double stem lift does not .

‘
-

h ave an y complic ated un it i n its m akeup an d all the necessary p arts ,

'

th at go into t he construction can be p u rch a sed at an y h ar dw ar e s t or e .

For this re a son a broken piece can be repl a ced in a short time A .

winch is re commended a s a pow erful h oist bu t the gre at d i s a d ,

vant age is th at it exerts ten sion only on the c able a n d can n ot be

orce down a g ate This p r a ct i cal l precludes its u s e for an y
.

t ype bu t the r a di al g a te which h a s so little i ct i on tha t it will close

,

of its own weight where hung t r ue an d settli n g does not occ u r .

The r aok an d pinion lift is used a gre at de al throughout northern

- -

Colora do for g ates of all s izes except t he ver y sm allest delivery g ates .

B u ll 11 5—14 —
°
4 56 13 -
. 2
10 B ULL E TI N 115, U . s . DE P AR T ME N T ’
OF A GR IC U LTUR E .

It is f a st permi ts a ccur ate an d close a dj ust men t an d the p osition

, ,

of t h e lever oper ati ng the p i n i on permit s a m an to u se hi s weight ,

r at her th an hi s stren gt h i n a dj ust i ng the g a te The m ain d i s a d .

vant a ge occur s i n c ase of a broken ca sting as no m akes hift can be ,

substituted e asily an d the g ate m ay be out of use un til a n ew c a sting

,

can be secured This is one of t he typ es of gate stem held by a p awl

.
-

an d a s such is cr i ticized for the re a son th at t he S p a ce betw een the

notches controls the steps between the possible positions of t h e

s h u tter .

A s to the comp a r at ive a dv a nt ages of wood c a st iron an d sh eet ,

-
,
"

steel g ates wood of course is the che apest in fi r s t co st It m ay be

, , ,
.

cut an d a dj usted e a sily t o s u it a g ate struct u re th at h as settled or

otherwi s e gotten out of lin e ; it i s el a stic an d wi ll yield to pryi ng where
a c a st g a te will bre a k Ice does not freeze a s tightly to wood as it
.

does to iron or steel On the other h and the life of a ti mber shutter
.
,

is m u ch less th a n t h a t of a met al g ate an d a s ordin arily constructed , ,

it is les s w ater tight Ice bul ges wooden g ates out of sh ape an d w il l
-
.

sprin g a sheet steel shutter but t h e l atter can be pounded b ack into
-
,

sh ape A ca st gate neither b u lges nor S pri ngs bu t simply bre aks
‘

. .

C a st an d shee t met al g ates cost more in the fi r st pl ace but l ast a

-
,

lifeti me u nl ess broken S ilt does not Stick tightly to met al especi ally
.
,

a smooth , vertic al side of sheet met a l ; such g ates ar e pr a ctic all y w ater

tight present a bette r a ppe a r an ce an d for thi s re a son a d d to the

, ,

proj ect from a l an d selli n g st andpoint The di s a dv ant ages ar e th at

-
.

they ar e li able to ru st shut an d b r e ak u nl es s f aced with bra ss When .

t hey bre ak the rep a ir must come f rom a di s t an ce , t aki ng t i me an d

money whi le wooden g ates can be rep a ir ed on the ground with
, _

lum ber th a t can be obt a in e d at an y town A ca st g ate is more e asily .

broken by t h e a ction of a crowb ar on a stuck gate or by a log i n

the stre am th an is either a sheet met al or a wood shutter .
.

PA VI NG A ND R I PR A P .

The ch annel i mm edi ately above l a rge g ate str u ct ures m ay be eroded
by the a ctio n of r acin g w ater wh il e new b ank s below nearly all ,

stru ctu res become b a dl y w a shed by the eddies of t h e issui ng stre am .

The entry ch an n el m ay be prote cted by a lin i ng of concrete 3 to 6

inche s thick or by a ripra p of h an d l aid b owlde r s or broken sto n e -
.

This i s somet i mes gro u ted wit h cement mort ar formi n g a co mp a ra ,

t i v ely sm ooth sol i d s u rf a ce

,
.

The erosio n below a structure is f ar more di ffi cul t t o h an dl e th an

th at above it an d is more li able to c ause the fail ure of the structure
u nl ess w atched a n d checked i n t i me A short smoo t h linin g i s o nl y .
,

p art i ally su ccessfu l as the high velocity in the w ater is not m ate
,

r i a ll y d i mi n ished a n d t he eros io n i s Onl y post poned u n til the w ate r

12 B U L LE TI N 115, U . 8 . DE P AR T M E N T or AGR I C U L T U RE .

DI VE R S I ON OR RI VE R GA T E S .

As much depen ds on the diversion g ate an d it is cl ose to the river

whose perform ance is alw a y s more or less uncert ai n it is r ecom ,

mended th at a subst anti al an d if possible perm anen t structure be , ,

b u ilt as soon as possible E ven where the gener al policy of the con
.

s t r u ct or s is to hold the initi a l expenditures down to the lowest l i mit

,

it has come to be recognized th at a subst anti al river ga te inspires a

feeling of con fi den ce in the system A s lo n g a s the control rem ains at .

t h e river the c a n a l below the diversion g ate is not subj ect to ruin from
flood s L oc al sto rms m ay inj ure portions of the b ank s bu t sho ul d
.
,

t he river g a te f a il there is not much l i mit to the d a m a ge th at can

result throu gh the l a ck of this co n trol The trouble f rom the 0010 .

r a do R iver in the Imperi al Va lley during the ye ars prior t o 1907 w as

c a used by this l ack of co n trol at the river .

L O CA T I O N OF TH E GA T E .

M ost diversio n g ate s ar e loc at e " in one of the four following

t Op ogr ap hi c si t u ations
( )
1 A t t h e poi n t where the cen ter line of the exc a v at ed c a n a l

intersects the river b ank ; (2 ) ou t in the m a in river ch annel , with a

built — u p c a n al bed between the g ate a n d upper end of the true ex ca

y ated c an a l ; (3 ) s ome dist ance dow n the c an al from t he point where

-

the l a tter le a ves the stre am with open ch annel bet ween the stre am
,

w ater an d the gate ; (4 ) at the upper end of the c an al where it i h

t er s ect s the b ank of a second a ry ch a nnel of the stre am .

Vari ations in loc al condit ions surround i ng the sites of such gates
preclude the a doption of an y pl ans as st an d ard but some o f the sug ,

gestions in the pl an s shown will be of ben efi t i n the des igning of

g ates unde r conditions which approxim ate t hose of the g ate shown .

H ead ga te a t t he b n k of a s
a t r ea m —I f t he con di tions of t opog
,
.

raphy anchor a ge an d stre am flow permit it is custom ary to inst all

, , ,

t he diversion g at e a t the tru e exc a v ated hea d of t h e can al A s a rule

'

.
,

this should be at a p oint where t he m ain c urrent of the river , espe

.

ci a lly a t low w a ter st ages

-
will sweep p ast the gate
,

c arry mu ch of the silt not in suspension on down the st re am .

i s p arti ally e ffected by me ans of s and sluices a dj oi n ing the c an al

ings but the result s with g ates bu i lt on t his principle show t h
,

d es i gn er s hou l d not expect to rid the c an al of all s and at this

'

There ar e too m any whirls an d eddies to in s u re all the s an

the bottom of t he stre am an d for this re ason some of it
,

the c an al .

Gates pl a ced at t he origin al line of the river

s u bj ect t o the fu ll force of the c u rre n t du ring
less t h e gener al f a c t or of s a fety should be
,

o ther structures f art her down in the c an als of

 GATE ST RU C T URE S F OR I RR I GA T I O N C ANALS . 13

est f acto r in favor o f the s a fety of s uch a structure lies in t he design

a n d constru ctio n of the u pper w in gs an d cut ofi w alls I f w at er
'
-
. .

tops , goes a rou n d or under these there is little ch ance of s aving the
,

gate unless it is p aved on t op so th at u n us u al floods m ay p as s over

,

it h a rmlessly .

H eadga te ou t i n t he s tr eam chan n e Z — Where the b ed of a stre am is

.

very wide an d the low w a ter disch a rge very sm all a s comp a red wi th
-

the floods which h ave determined the loc ation of the m ain stre am
b anks it m ay be necess ary to pl ace the river g ate ou t in the stre am
,

bed It is then protected from above an d below by more or less exten

.

sive cribbin g or rock ripr ap A can al bed well protected on the river
.
,

side by ripr ap , is then built up from the ga te to the poin t where the
c an al line in tersects the m a in b ank Of the stre am .

This kind of construction also is resort ed to i n some c ases where

the river b ank is more or less precipitou s ; it is not pr a ctic able to
install a high diversion weir an d the desired c an al gra de in tersects
,

the river above the line of flow i n time of low w a ter In this combin a .

tion of c onditions which is qu ite common throughout t he W est it is

, ,

the usu al practice to continue the gr a de of the ditch or c an al on up the

river bed usu ally j ust under the b ank of the stre am until the gr a de of
, ,

the ditch approxim ates th at of the stre am , at which p oin t t he g ate

m ay be inst alled .

H ea dg a te below u pp er en d of t he ea n a l —The condition spoken .

of in the l ast p ara gr aph us u ally is met by co n stru ct ing the ditch up
the river bed as j ust described but i n st allin g the gate at the poi n t
,

where the ar t i fi ci ally bu ilt bed of the ditch intersects the m ain b ank
-

of the stre am at which point a w a ste g at e forms an

,
L wit h the
river gate an d t h e surplus w ater is t u rned b ack into t he stre am .

The conditions of anchor age an d fou nd a tion m ay not be f a vor able

at the point where the li n e of the c a n al i n tersects the ma in stre am

bank an d then the he a dgate is i n st alled at some dist an ce down t he

can al with Open ch ann el between it an d the river w ater .

In connection with s u ch a river gate it is most a dvi s able to install

w a ste gates of such c a p acity th at the w ater i n the ch an n el le a ding
t o them wil l h a ve s u ffi ci en t velocity to k eep the silt moving a n d not
ch oke u p the intake chan nel .

Head g a t e oh ban k of s econ d ar y chan n el —Some of the most s at is

’

factory st r u ctu res in the Wes t ar e bu ilt at the ba nks of seco n d ary
.

ch ann els t o m ain stre ams I n most of su ch c a ses the w a ter enters
.

from the he a d of the ch an n el a n d is regul ated roughly by logs an d

brush or bowlders at the poin t where the econ d ar y cha n n el le a ves
g
the m am st re am I n other c ases the w a ter 1s m a de to ba ck u p from
.
»

the lower en d of the second a ry ch annel an d in this w ay much of

the silt an d s and i s con fi n ed t o the m ain ch annel of the stre am The .

s truc t ure shown in Pl a te V fi gu r e 2 is from a secon dary ch annel

.
,
”
14 B U L LE T I N 115, U . s . DE P ART ME N T OF A GR IC U LT UR E .

an d shows a great s avi ng in m ater i al , for the re as on th at the amount

of w ater en tering the ch annel le adin g to the ga te can be so e a sily
controlled th at there is little d anger of failure from f reshet s an d ,

no excessive am ount of money w as necess aryto build expensive wings

an d a high b u lkhe a d

In t he following p a ges th e diversion works of sever al sy stems ,

illustr a ti n g both the simple a n d more el ab or ate types o f structures ,

ar e described .

DI VE R S I ON WO RK S O F T HE S O UT H SA N JO A Q UI N A ND OAKDA LE I RR I GATI ON
D I S T R I CT S .

The combined s tr uctures shown i n Pl ate I V furnish a general s

ide a of arr angement for an effi ci en t method o f h andling of wa ter at

the he a d of a c an al The j oint he a dworks o f the S outh S an J oaqu i n
.

a n d O a kd ale irrig a tion districts a r e loc a ted i n the c anyon o f the

S t a nisl aus R iver a b out 18 miles ab ove Oa kd ale Ca l ,

.

The river h as a m aximum flood flow as shown by t w o fl oods within ,

six ye ars of ,
s econd feet The l ow w ater fl ow 1s ab ou t 100
-
.
-

second feet O f the

-
. second feet which the stru cture is designed -

t o t ake from the river but feet will be delivered into the he a d
of the can a l below the l ower gates, the s urp lus being wa ste d over th e
,

spillw ay or out through t he s and an d was te gate , b a ck int o the

‘

c anyon bel ow the diversion d am .

The complete he a din g consists of the diversion d am of t w o arch

s p a ns with an int ervening buttres s 4 66 feet in cr est len g th , an d a ,

m aximum height of 78 feet a n d the j oint he adworks on the north

,

end of the d am an d of the sep ar ate O akda le he a dwork s on the s o uth

end The following description is con fi n ed to the j oint he a dwork s :
.

The j oint he a dworks a r e built of concrete p art pl a in an d p art ,

reinforced installed upon an d a ga inst solid rock fo u nda tion s

,
.

There ar e four princip a l elements in the he a dworks : First , the

,

head w all with fi v e openings des igned to be closed with st 0p logs

,

in c ase of a ccident to the g at es below ; w at er covering the diversi on

d am more th a n 3 feet in depth tops t his he a d w all Secon d , a gr a vity .

d am pl a ced on a t angent to the curve of the diversion d am div ergi n g

i -

a bout 16 from a right an gle with the cent er line o f the can aL There
°

a r e three g a t e open ings a t right a n gles to the li n e of the c an a l e a c h ,

a a —
6 by 9 feet , regul a ted by m ssive c st iron g a te s r a ised by screw stems
through ge ar ed hoists loc a ted on top of the gr avity d am T he top .

of the gr a vity d am is 2 5 feet above the crest of the diversion d am

“

'

an d c a refu l estim a tes sh ow th at m aximu m fl ood cr ests will top the

'

diversion d am ab o u t 2 3 feet Third an aut om at ic spillw ay about

.
,

3 0 f eet long j ust below the gra vity d am a t a n eleva tion of 131 ; feet
below the er es t of the divers ion d am , and a s and an d w a st e gate ,

j u st d o wnstre am from the spillw ay F ourth three g ates , each 6 feet .

,
 A
G TE ST RUCTU RE S FOR I R RI GATI ON CANA L S . 15

wide by 9 5 feet li i gh s et i n suit able piers at the he ad of the j oint

, l

ca n al which sh apes up a fter a transi tion sectio n a bout 2 0 feet l ong

,

into a concrete lined ch a nnel -

feet i n total depth feet wide ,

on th e bottom with side slope s o

,
,
f 4 horizont al to 1 Vertic al Th e .

desi gn ed ultim a te c ap acity of the c an al will not be re a ched u n til

'

-
-

some ti m e in the futu re when the lower b ank is raised an d lin ed

a bout 2 feet higher ;

It is expected th at the l arger porti on of si lt will be prevented from

entering the c an al by the slu ice w ay trough in fro n t of the river open
-

i n gs The w a ter will be further clea red of s an d by the covered duct s

.

belo w the gr avity d am The floor a cro s s t h e ch ann el in a line 1 —

. 6 5 »

feet above the lower g ate piers sl a nts down 2 5 feet in 4 feet while ,

curved ribs c a rry i n g reinforced concrete sl ab c overs fo rm ducts f or

-

c a rrying the s and out thr o u gh the w aste g ate into the c anyon .

The underlyin g ide a s in these he a dworks ar e as follow s : The v e

‘

loci ty of the w ater through the structure i s r a i s e d from 5 to 9 feet

second with s little ommotio n a s po s sible by lowering the fl oor
p er a ,
c ,

an d curving the outsid e w all an d lower end s of the pie r s s o as to i n

t er f er e n o more th an is n eces s ary with p ar a llel fil aments of w a ter .

The w all i s curved on the form u l a of a cu bic p ar abol a The c an al is .

protected from the en try of flood w at er by the high gr avit y secti on

a t the d am The autom ati c spillw ay w a st e g ate an d s and sl u i ce , ,

permit the remov al of exces s w ater an d su ch s and a s p a sses t he u pper

slu ice w ay The l ower gat e s accurately determin e the qu ant ity of
.

water fi n ally entering the c a n al .

In all po r tions of the hea dworks, depths widths an d sh apes were , ,

a djusted as ca re f u lly a s pr actic able to preven t losses of he a d A ssu m .

i n g the w ater level in the river t o be the crest of the d am a t elev a

tion 350 feet , se con d feet of w ater en t ers at a v eloci t y of 5 feet
-

‘
-

per second the b ottom of t he he a d w all open ings bein g at elev at ion
,
-

34 1 . Five feet aboye t h elower gates this elev ation has lowered
“
feet at the river side an d on e h alf foot le s s on the b ank s ide The
-
.

floor now falls r apidly t o a uniform elev ati o n of feet The .

y eloci t y h a s incre a sed to 9 feet per second The fl oor from the upper ,

gat es falls fo ot in a dist an ce of 35 feet .

_

The u pper s and sluicew ay designed to c at ch s an d b owlders et c r

, ,
.
,

i s a t presen t regul ated by stop l ogs bu t it is the pl an even tu ally t o

,
‘

in stall an or din ary vertic al sluice gate .

The c ontract price for c oncrete work in thi s hea ding ru n s from $ 14
to $ 15 per cubi c y ard on t he b asi s of p ay men t i n bo n ds worth 8 0
cents or less th an $ 12 per cu bic y a rd on a cas h b a si s The tot al cost
,
.

will be about in bonds The structure w a s completed in N o

.

v em ber 19 12 The fl oor s ar e m a de of a

. 6 mixtu re of ceme n t
, ,

s and an d gr avel while m ost of the b al ance of the structure i s m ade

, ,

a 1: 5 mixture .
16 B U LLE TI N 115, U . s . DE P AR T M E N T or AGRI C U L T URE .

J A CK S ON D I TC H H E A D I NG , C O LOR AD O .

The co n crete an d st eel structure shown i n Pl ate III fi gu r e 2 w as , ,

constructe d in 1909 , 8 miles a bove Fort Collin s Colo on t h e C ache ,

.
,

l a Poudre R iver A low diversion d am r a ises the river w ater hi gh

.

en ough to supply the dem ands of the J ackson D itch which c arries ,

a bout 7 5 seco n d feet of w at er The g ate sh u tter is of sheet steel

'

-
.

operated by double r ack stems connected by a b ar which turns both ,

pinions a t once In fr ont of the slots for thi s g at e is a s et of auxili ary

.

slots for the in s ert ion of fl as hb oar d s in c ase it is neces s ary to r emove
the ste el gates for rep airs during the oper ating se as on Thi s fe ature .

c an be a dopted to a dv ant a ge in m a n y g ates The s and sluice a dj oin s .

the di tch g ate The oper ato r s st ate th at it works well bu t is su p ple
.

m en t ed by a nother s and g ate a f ew rods below the diversion g ate .

In other p a rts of the W es t an i n st all ation simil a r to this h as b een

more che aply construc t ed by m aking the s an d sluice merely a de
pression in the diversion weir controlled with fl ashboar d s , which ,

m ay be pulled during high w ater an d repl a ced when the f u ll height

of the weir is neede d which oc curs at a time when les s s an d i s run n ing
,

in the stre am The tot al c ost of the weir an d g ate stru ctu re w as about
.

$ 6 00 The concrete w as mixed by h an d i n a ratio of on e p art cement

.

to six p arts of s and an d gr a vel mixed .

N A P E S TA D I TC H RE SE R VO I R CO . H E A D I N G C O L O RA D O
, .

The he a ding of the D oyle A rroyo feeder of the Nap es t a D itch

R es ervoir Co loc ated on D oyle A rroyo in Pueblo County Colo is
.
, , ,
.
,

out on the p l ains 2 4 miles below Pu eblo (fi g .

These arroyos in t h e vicinity of Pueblo ar e s u bj ect to sudden an d

‘

very Violent ru shes o f w ater being dry for months at a time an d then ,

c a rryin g a river o f w ater for a short period The only possible use of .

such w ater from an irrig ation st andpoint is t o divert a l arge he a d for

a short tim e an d store t he w ater in a reservoir T he obj ect of this .

he a ding w as to d ivert 8 50 secon d feet of w ater from a ve r tic al sided - -

w a sh or arroyo as it is kn ow n loc ally The sides an d bott om of this

,
.

w a sh ar e in sh ale where there is little d anger of s eep age u n d er the

s tru ct u re bu t it w as ne ces s a ry to protect the bottom of the w a sh
,

above a n d the c an a l below t h e g ate by a concrete apron as the w ater ,

w as to be delivered under a he a d of sever al feet thro u gh undershot ,

g ates where the res u lting velocity an d scour would be very he a vy

,
.

There a r e no s and slui ces in connection with this hea ding as t here ,

is little or no s and in th e w a ter bu t the w ater is very he avy with ,

a d obe sil t in s u spension which is c arried on i n to the reservoir

,
.

A s shown in fi gu r e 1 w ater is che cked up by a low diversion d am

,
-

extendi n g a cro ss the arroyo A s the spring an d flood flow of this .

w ash is esti m ated at second feet an d it is only 50 feet wide -

,
 ll
‘ °

m C u r t a m Wa o ve r O pe n i mg A
'

S t eel

Be a m B
'

S e c t i on of

l
S t ee in O er at i n
p g Pla t f or m ove r Ope n i n g A .
 GATE ST RU C T U RE S F OR IRRI GATIO N C ANA LS . 17
”

it was necess ary to build high curtain w alls above the openings i n
order to bulkhe a d ou t the surplus w a ters The c an al bel ow the stru e .

ture i s 2 0 feet wide on t he bot t om , c arries w ater 6 feet deep an d has

'

s ide s10pes 1 to 1 h
T e structure a s shown cont ains 19 7 reab c y ards of
i
‘

concrete h and mixed in a ra tio of one p art cemfi wt to seven p arts

,
- ‘

river g r avel taken b ank r u n T he unit cost of the con crete w as about
.

per cubic y a rd The cement cost per b arrel f o b Pueblo ,

. . . .

while the cost of the gr avel w as pra ctic ally n othing but the digging
an d the h auling E arth an d sh ale exc av ation cost 4 0 cents per cubic
.

y ard for 110y ards

”

FIG . 1 .
—H ea dg at e , D oyl e A r r oyo f eed e r, Na p es t a D i t ch Res voi
er r C o , C o or a o
. l d .

The total co st of the stru ct ure i ncludin g the ste

el g at es , which were ,

“ m ade in Pueblo wa s about ,

The lifting device is t he double
stem , bolted together with spool spre a ders a ty pe which is much used ,

in southe astern Colora do .

HE AD WO R K S NO R T H LARAMI E LAND
, CO . CANA L WYOMI NG
, .

A good e xample of modern construction for a he adga te s ervin g a

sma ll c an al is that of the N orth L ar amie Land Co (Pl V fi g 1 . .
,
.

A simple an d effi ci en t form of temp or ary diversion d am r aises the

‘

water su fli ci en t ly to secure the d es i r ed di schar ge into the c an al This

c an al is 14 feet wide a t the w ater line , 8 feet wide on t he botto m
.

,
a n d
B u 11 115—14— 3
°
4 5613 -
.
 B U LL E T I N 115, U . s . DE PA R T ME N T or AGRI C U L T URE .

will c a rry w ater 3 feet deep on a gr a de of feet per mile The .

g ate structure has t w o openi ngs regul ated by steel g ates wit h a r ack ,

a n d pinion lift
-
The crest of the wings an d the curt ain w all above
.

t he openings ar e such th at t he m axim u m fl ood known to t he stre a m

:
can p ass over the d am wi thout topping the structure The ditch be .

low the g a te is sep ar ated from the creek by a stepped concrete w all .

When the writ er s aw this s t ructu re in May 1912 there w a s about ,

‘

1 fo ot of w ater p a ssing over the weir developing s u ffi ci en t press u re ,

on the openings to induce a velocity of 7 or 8 feet (est i m ated ) per

se cond in the upper re a ches of the c an al A s onl y a sm all amoun t of .

w ater w as needed in the c an al the g at es were Opened but a few inches .

The high velocit y c aused scour i ng of the c an al sides for about 100
feet below the g ate Thi s condition suggested th a t t he w ater migh t
.

be d elivered to t h e c a n al much more gently by cas t ing some fl ash

bo ard gr ooves in the sides of the g at e st ructu re downstre am from
the openin gs s o th at bo a rds might be inserted in these grooves an d
the elev ation of the w ater below the g ate kept at s u ch a height t h at .

t he shutters co ul d be opened wide an d the velocity of the enteri n g

w ater correspond i ngly reduced The w a ter would f a ll over the .

fl ashboar d s in a vertic al drop an d t he velocity of the w ater below t he

stru cture cause no d am age If the f u ll c ap a city of the can al s h ou ld
.

be des ired the fla shboar ds would be pul led an d the elev ation of the
,

wa ter i n t h e ca n al woul d prevent hi gh velocity a t t h e upper en d .

A t the time the photogr a ph shown in Pl ate V, fi gu r e 1 w as t aken ,

all of the w a ter not entering the c a n a l w as p a ssed through the sluice

w ay i n the di version d am This not only serves to c a rry most of the

.

sa nd down the stre am b u t also m akes it possible to dr a w off the w ater

,

below the cr es t of the d am in order to m ake rep a1rs .

HEA D GAT E , UI NTA C O UN TY I R RI GA TI ON CO WY O MI N G .

A good ex amp le of modern construction of a river gate for a c an al

—

diverting w at er f rom a seco n d ary ch annel o f the stre am is f urnished

at the he a d of t h e Cott onwood C a n al in Uint a County Wyo (P l ,
. .

V, fi g :
B all Isl and sep ar ates the stre am i n to t w o br a nches an d the g ate is
inst alled on one of these The amount of w at er fl ow i n g in the
.

bra nch supplying this gate can be regul ated ro u ghl y by logs an d
brush in the ch annel at the he a d of the isl and Thi s regul at ion pre .

vents the he avy fl ood fl ow of the stre am fr om comi ng with fu ll fo rce

a ga inst the g ate s t ructure a n d the s a v i ng in co n struc t ion due to t his ,

s a fe posit ion is evident f rom the View shown

,
I t will be .

t he wing w a lls do not rise f ar a bove the n atura l surf a ce of

l and .

This gate supplies a c an a l 2 0 feet wide on the bottom

3 feet d e ep The c arrying c ap acity
.
 GATE ST RU C T URE S F OR I RR I GATIO N C A N AL s . 19

set in a cut in cemented gra vel 5 feet deep The c an al below the .

structure is in this s ame cl ass of m ateri al so th at it forms a n a tural ,

p aving which does n ot erode easily .

The Uint a County Irrig ation Co constructed this system under .

t h e conditions of t h e C a rey A ct This p articul a r structure w as b.u il t

by force account in 19 11 The steel g ates proper an d fi t t i n gs which
.
,

were m a de i n D enver Col o , weigh ,

pounds Cement cost 8 0 .

cents per hundred pounds f o b O p al a st atio n on the O regon Short

. . .
,

L i ne 6 0 miles by w agon from the work S and , w ater , an d gr a vel .

FIG . 2 .
—C on cr et e p or t i on of h ea dga t e, Hi gh l a n d D i t ch Co .
,
l or a d o
Co .

were clo s e a t h an d an d cost nothin g bu t the l abor of on e h an dli n g .

The cost of t he stru cture w a s $ 8 2 0 .

H E A D I NG , T HE HI GHLAND D I TC H CO C O L O RAD O

The he ading for the inlet ditch of the Foot hi lls R eservoir loc ated
"

in Boulder County , Colo about 10 m

,

iles from Longmont is a

.
, ,

good ex ample of a diversion from a stre am which is plenti f ully p a ve d

with heavy co bblestones (F i g This p aving forms a n atural
. .
 B UL LE TI N 115, U . S . D E P AR T M E N T OF AGRI C U L T URE .

riprap efi ect u all y preventing scouri ng of t he bottom above an d b e

,

low t he structure whi ch event u all y would c ause the f ailure of the
,

g ate through undermi n ing bu t for these cobbles Ou t hi s p ar t i cu l ar .

s tr ucture as shown i n fi 2 t h e cut off w alls ex t end but 12

gu r e -
, , .

inches below the bot tom of the fl oor The ditch he a ded by this gate
'

is 14 feet wide on th e bottom an d h as a m aximu m ca rrying cap acity

of 4 00 second feet to be diverted from S t Vrain Creek which h as a
-
, .
,

n orm al fl ood fl ow of a bout second feet -

.

In order to r aise t he crest of the diversion d am in tim es of very

-

low w ater a set of fl as hboar d guides is loos ely pl aced in tin lined
,
-

holes in the concrete d am proper the t in acting as the form for the ,

h oles when c ast The ori gin al pl ans called for a concrete footw alk
.

over the weir fr om which it w as possible to pull the fl as hboar ds

,

an d also t he u ides in t i mes of very high w ater so th at the obs t ru c

g ,

ti on off ered by the weir could be reduced t o a min i mum These pl ans .

were a fterw ards ch a nge d an d a pl ank wa lk loosely bolted to the piers

w as substituted A fl ood of s u ffi ci en t size to ca use d am a ge to the
.

structure would bre ak the s e bo ards an d there w ou ld be no obstr u e ,

tio n to the p a ss age o f t rees an d he avy debris with the exce ption ,

of the piers which ar e pl aced so th at a net openi ng —width of 16

,

feet rem ain s between them .

This stru cture w as built in 19 11 Including the bridge i n con nec .

t ion it cont a ins 9 0 y a rds of concret e reinforced with fi v e eighths

, ,
-

in ch twisted b ars The co n crete w as m a chi n e m i xed in a ratio of

. l

1 : 3 : 5 cement s an d an d river gra vel

,
The constructi on w as c arried
,
.

on by force account an d the tot al cos t o f th e structure , ex cepting

,

the iron work of the gates proper w as $4 50 Cement cost 5 per , .

barrel a t Hygiene on the Burli ngton R a ilro a d 4 miles dist ant The
, , .

forem an w as p aid $ 100 per mon th an d comm on labor cost per ,

'

d ay T he tot a l engin eeri n g ch a rge a g ai nst the struct u re w as $4 0

. .

The iro n gates cost $7 5 i n a dditio n to the $4 5 0 ,

.

HE A hWO R K S , S OUT H BO U LD ER A ND C OA L CR E E K D rr cn , C O L O R AD O .

A short dist an ce above the town of E ldor a do Sprin gs on South ,

B oulder Creek Colora do the South Boulder an d Co al Creek D itch

, ,

di ver ts second feet of w ater A s shown in Fl at e VI fi gur e 1,

-
.
,

the creek a t this point h as a very r apid f all in a c anyo n The bottom .

is strewn with bowlders from the s ize of a cobbles t one t o th at of a -

s m all house .

The diversion d am is a m akes hift of boa rds s piked t o a he a vy cross

timber which is br aced a gai nst the bowlde r s of t he creek the whole ,

structure bein g weighted with a sloping pil e of lo os e cobblestones .

The gat e structure h as 8 i nch concre t e side w alls 10 feet 101: g -

which bond with the bowlders of the ca nyon in eff ect merely s qu ar ,

i n g up the f ace of the bowlders T w o vents ar e formed by a centr a l .

Bu l 1 15 , U 5 De t
. . . p . of g u lt u
A ri c re . PLA T E V .

FI G —
1 D I VE R S I O N DA M
. A N D HE A D G A TE NO RT H LA R A MIE LA ND C o C A N A L WYO M I N G
.
, .
,
.

FI G . 2 .
—HE A D G A T E , C O T T O NW O O D CAN AL , UI NT A C O UNT Y W Y O
, .
Bu l 1 15 u 5 D e t
.
, . . p . of g i u lt u
A r c re .
PLAT E VI .

FI G 1 — HeA ow0R Ks S O U T H BO ULD E R A ND C OAL C R E E K D I T C H C O L O R A D O

. .
, , .

FIG . 2 .
—BI FU RC AT I O N WO R KS HO LBROO K I R R I GAT I O N
, D I ST R I CT C O L O R A D O
, .
22 B U LLE TI N 115, U . s . D E P R TME
A NT OF A GRI CU L T URE .

ply c an al for t he l a rg er of the t w o c an als an d ch ange the direction

of the sm aller ch annel This involves about the s ame construction
.

as a check g ate an d a l ater al delivery t h e ch eck serving as the he a d ,

’
gate of the l a rger of the two divisions an d the l ateral g at e a s t h e
he a d g ate o f t h e sm aller divi sion .

The rel ations be t ween the t w o comp anies receiving w ater from a
structure o f this cl ass m ay be such th at the designer is c all ed on t o
a tt a ch l ocking devices to either or bo t h of the divi sion g at es This .

con di t ion m ay involve a more expen sive form o f g at e shutt er th an

would be requ ired if t h e w ater is to be divi de d between two c an al s
o f the s ame org aniz at io n .

BI FU R CA TI ON GATE S H O LB R O O K
, I RRI GATI ON D I S T R I CT , C O L O R AD O .

.
A bout miles below th e he a d o f the L ake C an al of the H olbro ok
9
irrig ation dist rict in O tero Coun ty Colo t he i nl et c an al to supply
, ,
.
,

FIG . 3 .
—
B i f u r c a t i on w or k s on La ke C an a l , H ol b r ook i rri ga t i on d i s t r i ct , l
C o or a o. d

D ye Re ser voir le a ves the m a in ca n al The regul ation of w a ter .

between thes e two is e ff ected by me ans of t he twin stru cture shown

in Pl ate VI , fi gu r e 2 This structur e ill ustrates very well t he
.

gener al pra ctice in Color a do o f combining wood an d con crete It .

is note d th a t the wings floor an d side w alls ar e of concrete while

, , ,

the g ate shu tters— shown i n det a il in Pl ate I f —the f ront guides , ,

a n d the whole bridge structure ar e of w oo d (fi g As these p a rt s .

a r e all bolted to the concrete they m ay be repl a ced a s they rot ou t

-

where as t he po r tio ns most di ffi cul t o f a cces s ar e m ade perm ane n t .

The c an al le a din g to the structure is 30 feet wide on t h e bottom ,

7 feet deep at the w a ter l ine , an d has a c ap a city o f second feet -

.
 GATE ST RU C T URE S F OR I RR I GATI O N C ANA LS . 23

The ga tes in the m ain c an al ar e pl a ced at r ight angles thereto an d

the gate le a ding int o the reservoir inlet c an al is set at an angle of
4 5 with the m a in c ana l an d at right angles t o the inlet c a n al
° -

The u s e o f a wood en slide ga te for openin gs o f this width 12 ,

fee t is r at her unusu al an d t he writer would suggest the use o f wood

, ,

or steel r a di al g at es in a d apting these s ame gen er al pl a ns if the regu

l ation to a gre a t degree o f acc u ra cy is not required an d there is to ,

be very mu ch ch anging of the gates Many bifu rc ation s o f this .

— —
sor t sup plying a reservoir d o not require to be ch a nged more th a n
once or twice i n the course o f the ye ar a ll the w ater being t urned to ,

the reservoir du ring t he winter an d e arly sp r ing and then the inlet
t o the reservoir closed for the b al a nce of the se a s on an d the m ain
can al gates left open In su ch cases economy in gate sh u tters at the
.

expense of time an d l abor for one or t wo Oper at ions a se as on m ay

be recommended .

This structure w as constructed by con t ract a t a time when com

mon l abor cost $2 an d te ams $4 per d ay Water w as close at h and ; .

s and an d gr avel were h auled miles an d cemen t an d lumber 3

miles The district furnished at the site all steel h ardw are an d
.
, ,

lumber e xcept forms th at went in to the stru cture Cement w a s fur .

n i s hed mixe d, an d pl aced by the co n tra ctor The success f u l bid

,
.

was as follows
For concr et e i n p l a ce, i n cl u d i n g t h e s et t i n g of al l an c h or b ol t s an d p l a ci n g
s t eel r ei n f or c em en t s , per cu b i c y a r d .

For l ab or , f r ami n g , a nd comp l eti n g g a t es ( s hu t t er s ) , b r i d ges , et c ,

p er t h ou sa n d .

For al l ex ca v a t i on r eq u i r ed f or con cr et e, n ot i n cl u d ed i n i n l et d i t ch ,
p er cu b i c ya r d (T h e
. ab ove q u ot ed f r om con t r a ct .
)
T h e t ot al cost wa s

D I VI S I O N GA TE S .

Bifurc ation works on a sm all sc ale ar e usu ally c alled division

g a tes or division boxes A s a rule they divide w a ter
. b etwe en t w o ,

sm all l ater a ls between one consumer an d all oth ers below him on a
,

l ater al , or very sm all ones ar e used by a si n gle consumer to dis

tribu te the w ater in his he a d ditch to v arious p arts of his l and t he ,

v a rio u s shutters being used altern at ely a s check an d delivery gates ,

dependi ng on where the w ater is t o be sent .

DI VI S I ON BO X , S HELL CA NA L WYO MI NG , .

Pl ate V II fi gu r e 1 shows the type of construction used to divide

, ,

the w ater of a l ater al 8 or 10 feet wide between t wo sm aller l at erals .

The w ater in the foregrou nd is turned to one or t he other or both

’
of the sm all l ater als le ading t o the r ight an d le f t o f the picture .

Simple fl ashboar d s ar e inserted in the slots as s hown Where the .

24 B U LLE T I N 11 5, u . s . DE P AR T M E N T or A GRI CU L TU RE .

l ater als ar e very sm all , the velocity low an d the possible press ure ,

he a d not more th an 2 feet an L structure of a simple w all of ”

concrete mi ght be us ed , with one leg of the L at right angles to

e ach o f th e sm aller l aterals with slots in the ends of the w alls where
the w ater openings occur .

C OMB I NATI ON D E LI VE R Y GATE D I VI S I ON B OX , , A ND ME A S URI N G WE I fl C ONS O LI ,

D A T E D L O WE R B O U LD E R R E S E R VO I R D I T CH co C O L O R AD O
.
, .

There h as been designed an d inst alle d for th e Consolid ated L ower

B oulder R eservoir D itch Co of L ongm o n t , a sm all co n crete an d
.
,

iron structure whi ch t akes the pl ace of a del ivery g ate with an a d ,

j u s t abl e shutter lock able a t the v a rious positions of the g ate shutter
This shutter is sh aped an d pl aced u n der conditi ons approxim
.
,

ately

c orrect for the Cipolletti weir , which gives a ver y close me asuring
device through the or i fi ce of the gate .

The pl ans shown in fi g ur e 4 ar e for a b ox to be pl a ced at the lower

end of a sm all l ater al the w ater to ent er the structu r e as shown by
,

the arrow The thr ee weir op eni ngs allow w ate r to be delivered to
’
.

an
y one or more of these f a rmer s ditches on e le a ding f rom the box ,

i n the s ame direction a s the fl ow of w a ter t ow ard t h e box in the

l ater al an d t h e other two le a din g off to either side .

A m odi fi cat i on of this structure all ows a delivery to on e side onl y ,

t h e continu ation of the l ate r al le a din g off fr om the structur e either

at the o ther s ide or at the en d oppos ite th at through which the w ater
entered .

The construction where a delivery i s to be m a de to either side an d

the l ater al continu ed from the box is s i mil ar to the fi r s t c ase t aken
above . E a ch of the openin gs le a ding f r Om the box is provided wi th
an a dj ust able c a st an d wr ought ir on Cipo ll etti weir , a s shown i n the

det a ils of the dr awings There ar e two equal an d symmetric al c ast

‘

.
"

—
iron pl ates e ach three e ighths inch in thickness sli d ing between ,

wrought iron guides The i nside edges of these pl ates h ave a slo pe
-
.

of 4 to 1 an d give t h e correct condi tions for the Cipolletti weir

, ,

a side f r om an y velocity of appro a ch which must be gu a rded ,

a g a inst . When the pl ates ar e wide Open the weir is 3 feet long
on the c a st iron crest The l atter is st ation a ry an d set 15 in ches
-
.
,

above the bottom of t h e b ox On the a ssumption th at t he depth o f

.

w ater over a weir sho u ld neither exc eed on e h alf the di st an ce from -

the weir crest to the bottom of the supply ch annel nor on e h alf the -

dist a nce fr om the ends of the we i r crest to th e sides of the supply

ch annel the m axi m M a llow able dep th over the weir i s 74 in ch e s . .

A delivery to the m aximum of 5 second feet m ay be m a de to an t - 7

one of t he br anches an d stil l use the me asuring device As the slides .

ar e clo s ed the w eir condition ch anges from th at of a Cipolletti weir

 GATE S TR U C T UR E S F OR I RRI GAT I O N C AN A LS . 25

to a notoh an d the openin g fi n ally is cl osed Completely when

V ’
,

t he slide s l ap e a ch o ther to the extent of 3 inches A s the weir .

_

is shortened the disch a rge incre ases over the formul a di sch arge as
soon a s the depth exceeds about on e fourth the length -
.

T he st ation a ry wei r pl ate A is bolted into th e c oncrete w all of

the box an d extends 3 inches inside the edge of the concrete at both ‘

FIG . 4 .
—
T h r ee w a y d i v i s i on
-
b ox of. l d a t ed
C on s o i L ower Bou l d er v
R es er oi r h
Di tc Co ,
.

Col or a d o.

sides an d at t he bottom Bolted t o the w all an d extending acros s

.

the b ox ar e t o guides
w — B—i B— formed of piece s of wrought iron
‘

the upper one 7 feet 1 inch lon g a n d the lower 6 feet 4 inche s long .

E ach is 2 inches wide an d one qu a rter inch thick The guidew ays
-
.

ar e formed b riv eti n g the above pieces to a fi ll er piece of wrought

‘

y
n a —
ir n of the s ame le gth s B B, but 1 inch wide an d one h alf inch
o -

—B u ll 115—14 —4 .
26 B U L LE TI N 11 5, U . s . D E P R T ME
A NT or AGRI C U LT URE .

thick The rivets ar e coun tersunk on the side co m

. ing ag ain s t the
c oncrete .

The gate shutters or slides ar e 16 3 inches high an d 2 1 inches long ,

the b ack end bein g cut p ar allel to the front end Ne ar the top of .

t h es e shutter pieces is bored a series of holes fi v e eighths inch in -

d i ameter Thes e holes come j ust under th e lower edge of the u pper
.

gui de an d p a ss corresponding holes of the s ame size in the station ary

pl ate E ither slide is locked in an y desired position by pas sing a
.

pin through the proper hole i n the slide an d f a sten ing it there a s ,

s hown in the dr awing This forms a positive locking device a n d

.
,

the slide can be moved onl y un der a ctio n of the key If the di tch .

r egul ations on a system des iring to a dopt such a device as this ar e

such th at the consumer is allowed to open his gate t o a cert ain p oint ,

determined by the lo ok but can close it at will a m odi fi cat i on of the

, ,

structure m ay be e ff ected as follows

C ast two fi ashb oar d grooves in the side w all s of the o u tlet s below
ea ch weir so th at bo a rds in sert ed t herein will clo s e up the O pening

le a d i ng from the weir By a dj usting these the c onsum er can close

.

out an y p art of the w ater an d yet he c an not t ake w ater to exceed the
c ap a city of t h e locked weir Of course it is t o be understood th at an y
.

g a te which a llows the consu mer t o turn w ater b ack i n t o the ditch
c au ses th at much m ore w ater t o come against the succee ding gat es .

with an in cre ase in the disch arge t hrough these other g at es If flash .

boards ar e undesir abl e then a simple wooden slide g ate m ay be m a de

to fi t the grooves :
This constr u ction as inst all ed by t he comp any m ad e un der force ,

a cco unt costs about $ 8 per cubi c y a rd for concrete of a 1 : 3 : 5 mix

,

ture of cement s and an d river gr avel Cemen t costs

, ,
per b a rrel . .

A str u cture with 3 foot weirs costs about $32 whil e one with 4 —
-
foot ,

weirs costs about $4 0 Thes e pri ces include the shutters an d locking
.

d ev ices .

WOOD E N D I VI SI ON BOX MONTANA , .

I p a rts of M ont an a the divisio n box sh own in fi gu r e 5 1s us ed to

n

turn all or an y p art of the w ater in one sm all ditch i n to a he a d ditch

or fi el d l ater a l le a d i ng f rom t h e supply ditch In the g at e shown .

2—inch m ateri al is used for the most p art , but in sections of the W est
‘

where redwoo d is a vail able 1 inch stu ff w ould do almost as w ell for
-

the fl ashboa r ds sides , b ottom win gs an d cut ofi s using 2 by 4 inch

, , ,
-
,

redw ood or O regon p i ne for the pos ts sills an d ca ps If it is not , ,

.

desirable to use flas hbo ards on e of the si mple wo od en shu tters shown
fi
in Pl ate I m ay be a d apted to t The gate shown is for a o n —
e w ay
.

division f rom the su p ply F or a t w o— w ay division the str uct u re is

.

m a de symmetric al , both deliveri es bein g m ade like the one delivery

 ’
ATE S TR U C T U RE S F OR I RRI GATI O N C A N ALS 27
G .

PR O P O R TI ONAL DI VI SI ON BOX E S .

In p arts of Utah an d northern C olora do an d i n other pl ac es in the

West a type of structure is u sed which is suppos ed to divide wh at
ever water there is in a ditch in a pr op ortion al m anner A s a ru le .

thi s division box is use d on r ather sm all ditches ow n ed by a few ,

a s p artn ers or a sm all gr ou p of men org a nized a s a co oper a tive

comp an y The general m anner of divisi on is the s ame in either c ase

.
.

Ass ume the org aniz ation to be a sm all co opera tive comp any in whi ch
a sh a re of stock ent i t les t he h old er to the s a me p roportion of wh at

FIG . 5 ,
— Wood en di v i s i on
“
b ox, Mon t an a .

ever w a ter is t urned in t o the ditch as on e sh a re be ars to the t ot al

number of s h ares in the comp an y Assume the tot al number of .

s h ares of st ock to be 3 6 a n d th at t h e fi r s t s t ockholder on the di t ch

has 11 sh ares an d the seco n d on e 8 sh ar es The fi r st divisio n box .

,

therefore is t o tu r n ou t eleven thirty sixths of wh atever w ater is in

- -
,
’
the ditch, an d the secon d box is to tur n ou t eight twenty fi f t hs of - -

the rem aining w ater The de n omin ator becomes 2 5 for the re a son
.

t h at a fter deliveri n g w a ter t o the 11 sh a res the w ate r rem aini n g i n

the ditch represent s 36 less 11 or 2 5 sh ares This p rocedure is car
, .

r ied out to t he end of the ditch .

28 B ULLE TI N 115, U . s . D E PART M E NT or A GRI CU L T URE .

S u gges t ed d es i gn
f p or r op or t i on a l sd i v i si on
t ructure a — The
baz
shown in Pl ate VI I ,
fi gu r e is a ver y c omr hon an d very f aul ty
type of i nst all ation The di vi sion b oard is set so as to divide the
.

check bo ard in the box in the s ame prop ortion as the w ater right of

the consumer t aki ng w a ter thro u gh the s m all op ening at the lef t of
‘
‘

th e box be ars to the tot al w a te r in the ditch The area of the cro ss
.

sections of the w ater in t he t w o portio n s of the box m ay be propor

t i on al i n the correct r ati o but the disch a rge throu gh e ach p ar t of
,
—

t h e b oX equ als the a re a multip lied by the velocity, an d the l a tter is

q
 B U L LE T I N 115, U . S .
Q E PA R T ME N T OF AGR I C U LT U RE .

which equ als or 2 1 3 inches expressed to the ne arest six t eenth of

5

a n inch . Therefore on the pl ans as shown the width of openin g for

the sm a ller ch a nnel would be 2 153 inches ; then comes the 2 inch divi -

s ion bo a rd a n d then the rem a inder of the 6 fo ot width of m ain box -

,

or 4 8 3 inches .

A ssuming th a t the width of the ditch rem ains about the s ame an d
t h a t the next consumer h a s 8 of the 36 sh a res of stock a fter p assi n g ,

the fi r s t box the w ater represents 36 sh ares less 11 sh ares or 2 5 sh a res , ,

an d the widt h of the opening le a ding to the delive r y box becomes

or x = 22 . 4 or 22§ inches .

N ote th at all of the posts supporting the division w all ar e set in the
l arg er ch annel for the re ason th at a n y i n flu en ce du e to these p osts
would a ff ect the l arger ch annel less i n proportion th an the sm aller one .

T hese p osts g o through the fl oor but ar e n ot set into the sill as
‘

a r e the o u ts ide posts The check or weir bo a rd goes completel y a cross

.

both ch annels an d th e lower b oard of the division w all is cu t t o set

down over the check bo ard For a l a rge division box on this pl an or
.
,

where the soil of th e ch a nnel below the b ox is eroded e asily a lower ,

cu t off w all an d a wing on the side opposite to t h e delive r y box should

-

be a dded to the structu re .

The sidin g an d fl oor of this structure ar e given as 2 inch s t u fi In -

.

southern C aliforni a where densely fi ber ed redwood is obt ain able

, ,

l i n ch stu ff would s u ffi ce The thickness of the bo ards m ay be altered

e
.

to suit t he loc al l um ber .

The only piece of h ardwood in the s tructu re is the cutw ater , which
should be of oak or it will not l a st long It should be screwed into .

the ends of the division w all bo ards an d tightly screwed to the cap
an d to the sill T his cons t ruction s aves th e use of an y side pos t s
.

a bove the weir bo a rd which posts wou ld alter the proportion ate
,

di vision of w a ter Thin strips of sheet iron m ay be fa stened to e a ch

.

side of the di vision w all with stove bolts to strengt hen i t The u p .

stre am side of the cu tw ate r is beveled to a knife edge , as shown , f rom

the fl oor to the cap It is to be noted th a t t he width of the division
.

bo ard is deducted from t he tot al width of the m ai n box ; th at i s 2 ,

inches is deducted from 72 inches , le aving 70 inches to be di vided

proportio n ally .

The weir bo a rd is pl ac ed 3 feet down the ch annel of t he box in

order to suppress the contraction an d m ake the fl ow over the boa rd
a pproxim at ely prop ortion al to the length between w alls This box .

is designed to be u sed where there is n ot s u ffi ci en t fall t o the la nd

t o m a ke a cle an drop in the ditch a t the division box but this boa rd ,

will reduce th e i nfl u en ce of the water bel ow the bo ard s o th at the

 GAT E S TR U C T URE S F OR I R R I GATIO N C AN A LS . 31

flow is divided a s ne arly proportional as the expense will j u s tify .

Gre ater r efi n em en ts of division me a n g re ater cost to the devi ce in

length of ch annel b atfle b oa rds , etc The weir b oard need not be
,
.

ma de sh a rp for this kin d of a box as t he disch arge over the sq u are

,

edge is quite proportion al to the length of the crest E ven though .

p arti ally submerged the two disch a rges will hold the t rue p ropor
,

tion qu ite closely .

When it is desired th at no w a ter be turn ed to the delivery box ,

then the gate is clos ed on its hinges an d the w ater p asses through the
box a n d b ack i n to the ch ann el below the box k eeping both sides of ,

the division w all c le ar of silt The cr ack u nder the g ate le f t so

.
,

th at the gate m ay swing freely is cl osed by a s t 0p b oard n ailed

,

across t h e c ha n nel of the delivery box a s shown The box co n t ains ,

.

ab out 6 50 feet b m of lumber

. . .

LA T E R A L HE A D G A T E S .

It is a di ffi cu lt m atter to draw t he lin ebetween a later al he a dgate

on one system an d a delivery ga te on another I n this public a tion .

structures will be cl a ssed for the most p art i n the w ay they were

cl assed by the comp an ies u sing the pl ans i n qu e s t ion bu t the re ader ,

should u n derst an d th a t most of the comm ents on the conditions of

divergence for a l ater al gate ar e ap plic able also to a delivery g ate ,

turno u t or wh atever this cl as s of str u ct ur es m ay be c alled in the

,

p a rticul a r p art of the country in which they a r e m a de .

L ateral he a dgates divide themselves n a tur ally into two distinct

—
cl a sse s those h avin g essent i ally a tu be of s ome form through the
b ank an d t hose which t ake an o p en box cu lvert fo r m The fi r st
,
-
.

type preserves the con tinuity of the su rfa ce of the levee for ro a d or
other purpos es an d the second bre aks the levee surfa ce an d must be
,

bridged if the levee is to be u sed for a continu ou s ro a d S m all lat .

er als m a be served by either type but a r le ver l a rge l ater a l s

y s a u y ,

receive their w at er through the open box type -

.

Ano t her important fa ctor en ter ing the deci s ion a s to w hi ch type
to use is the rel ationship between the t op of the b an k an d the c an al
,

wa ter Where the b ank crest is more th an 5 or 6 feet above the

.

water to be diverted it is better to use the tube type for comp ar a

'

t i vely sm all l a terals as the height bf t he side w a lls with the a dded
, ,

detrimental fea tu re of the bre ak in the c an al b an k , c auses gre ater

expense th an would be required of a t u be delivery .

The tube form is desirable especi all y in c ases where the c an al

,

occup ies a supp orted pos ition along a hi ll side an d a drop o f some
form is necess ary between the c an al an d the gener al level of the
land which must su p p ort the l a teral a fter it leaves the c an al .
32 BU L LE T I N 115, U . s . DE P ART ME N T or A GRI CU L T URE .

“
The open typ e of g ate repl ac es the l evee for the widt h of the g ate ,

a n d it must be
p rep a red therefore ,
to withst a nd
,
all of the c ondi
tions of v ari ation in w at er level i n the ca n al th at ar e requir ed
of the levee The fron t , wing an d side w alls need not be an y higher
. -

,
.

th an the crest of the levee a dj oining t he str ucture On the other .

h and if they ar e lower , then the high w ater lin e in the c an al is

,
-

lowered a ccor dingly It m ay be desired to h ave the l ater al gate act

.

spillw ay for surplus w a ter to p as s from the c an al i nt o the

l ateral an d on into some n atural dr ain age Such a condition as this .

m ay be met by so designing the front of the l a t er al gat e structure

”

t h a t w ater m ay t op it an d be collected in the culvert below without

d am aging the a nch or age within the wing w alls .

The s a me thing m ay be s aid of the tightnes s of the shutters in a

l ater al gate as of a check g ate If the shutters a ct as regu l ators only
.

a n d there is alw ays m ore or less w ater being delivered into the l at

er al , then there is n o necessity for the gate t o be w ater t ight, but if -

the l ater al is of such sm all size or the c onditi ons of delivery ar e s uch
th at w a ter is turned out for intervals , then it is d es i r abl e t h at the
s tructure be m a d e w a ter tight This is true p articul a rly when the
-
.

w ater c arries silt i n suspension .

E xperience h as shown th at it is very desir a ble to d esign a strue

ture le ading fr om a c an al so th at the gener al sh ape of the c an al
bank is ch a nged a s little as possible This is comp aratively e a sy to .

do when a l ater al gate i s designed to be pl a ced in the b an k a ft er the

ca n al h a s b een o p er a t ed for some ye a rs an d the ba nk h as a ssumed

the gener al form which will rem ain an d Which m ay be c alled one o f
'

the individualiti es of the c an al a t th a t p articul a r point This ch ange .

i n t he s h ap e of the leve es or b a nks is ve r y m arked in most systems .

“
When fi r s t con s t ru cted the l oo s e e a rth usu ally t ake s a s10pe of 15 or
2 to 1 but a fter some ye a rs gr a s s an d weeds ap pe ar on the levees
,

an d the b ank ne ar the w a ter line st a nds ne a rl y ver tic a l

- overhu n g ,

with e arth an d gr a ss in m any c ases , while the slope ne ar the bottom

becomes fl at t er th an it w as in the init i al constru ction When this .

fi n al position of the c an al b anks c an be determined , then the f ace of a “

deliver y structurem ay be m a de to conf orm t o an d be flu sh with the

s tee per s lope a n d if the shutters a r e s et w ell to t he front of the g ate
,
x

stru cture there will beVery little bre ak in the c an al b ank an d the cost
an d t r ou bl e of m a inten a nce due to the dep osits c aused by eddi es; an d
'

quiet Water in nooks in the c an al b ank will be redu ced to t he

I n i n i nnu1 n .

T he system of d elivery thro ug h a l ater al g a te m ay be such th at a

cons t ant qu antity is desired rega rdles s of flu ctu at i on s in the sur fa ce
‘
“

l ater al .
 . . . p
Bu l 1 15 , U S De t . of Ag i u lt u
r c re . PLAT E V “
.

FIG . 1 .
—D I VI S I O N Box, S HE LL CA N AL WYO M I N G
,
.

FlG 2 . .
—F A UL T Y PR O PO RT I O NA L D I VI S I O N Box
.
 Bu l 1 15 , U S De t
. . . p . of Ag i u lt u
r c re . PLA T E V I ” .

FIG . 1 .
—HE A D GA T E , Low LI NE LA T E R A L , RO C K C R E E K C O N S E R VA T I O N C o , . WYO M I N G .

FI G . 2 . D E LI VE RY GA TE , T U RLO C K I R R I G A T I O N D I S T R I C T , C A L I FO R N I A .

FI G . 3 .
—D E L I V E R Y GAT E S ON NO RT H PO UD RE C A N A L C O LO R A D O
, .
 GATE ST hU C T U R E S FOR IRR I GATIO N C AN A LS . 33

I f t he fi r s t
co n dition hold s then i t i s e a sier t o m a intain a const ant
,

delivery by a n undershot gat e , as t he d i s ch ar ge t hr ou gh such a g ate

varies a s t he squ a re ro ot of t h e he a d on the open i ng while the dis ,

char e ov er a crest v a ries a s th e cub eo f the sq u a re root of the he a d

'

g .

Thus , the best combin ation of check an d d elivery f or the purpose of

delivering a const a nt he a d i s to check t he w ater up to p a s s over a ,

crest , the wi d er the bet ter an d to p a ss the delivered w ater under a

‘ ”

:
,

gate If the second c ondition holds then it is de s ir ableto deliver

.
,

the w ater i n the s ame way as t he w a ter p a sse s t he check ; th a t is if

" ,

the check has an undershot disch arge , then the w ater should be d eli v
.

FIG . 7 — S m all l a t er a l h ea dg a t e or d el i v e ry g ‘
a t e, I m p er i a l Va ll ey , Ca l i f or n i a
,
.

ered under the gate , bu t if the check is a crest device t he w ater deli v ,

ered should the n be p a s se d t he s ame w a an d the r ati o o f the c res t

y
lengths should be in t he s am e pro p ortion a s t he desired r ati o of
delivered water to volu me allowed t o p as s on dow n t he can al over
the check the crests bein g set i n the side w alls so th at t he contr actio n
,

is pr actic ally s uppres sed .

SMA LL LAT E RA L HEA D ELI VE RY GATE

‘
'

GA T E on D .

T he w ater; com p an l es 111 the Imperi al jValley : _

a box
on the general pl an s of the on e shown in fi gu r e 7 This is -
. a m odi fi ca
34 B U LLE TI N 115, U . s . DE P AR T M E N T OF AGRI C U LT URE .

tion of a simil a r gate designed by the e n ginee r s of t he C aliforni a

D evelopment Co The j oists fl oor Wings cut off an d w all s ar e of
.
, , ,
-
,

redwood an d t he other members ar e o f O regon pine The Whole

, .

—
structure including the shutter s i mil a r to the one in Pl ate I 0
, ,

c o n t a ins 2 2 2 feet b m of lumber Thes e g at es cost $2 0 t o $2 5 in

. . .

pl a ce T wo i n oh m ateri al for the fl oor sides and sheet piling i n

'

-
.
, , ,

ste a d of 1 i n oh Will be neces s ary for most l um ber obt ain able in
-
,

St ates Where redwood is not h an dled The cr a cks sh ould be b attened .

for cle a r w ater but the pl ans shown ar e for silted w ater If th e
,
.
‘

groun d is eroded e asily a cut off an d Win gs si ni i l ar to but sm aller -

t h an the front ones sho u ld be a dde d at the lower en d S ome of .

t he w a ter comp anies a d d an 8 inch weir bo ard under the g ate shutter -

t o develop p a rti al contr action an d then me as ure the d elivered w ater

a s an open ai r or submerged or i fi ce as the c ase m ay be u sing a

-
, ,

c oeffi ci en t of bu t ne a rly all the g ates deliver more t h an the

r ated amount of w at er due t o veloci t y of appro ach an d i mperfect ,

contr a ct ion .

On the g at e a s shown the fl oor exte n ds under the side w all s A

better pr a ctic e is to l et the side w alls come o u tside of the fl oor In .

s uch c ase the settling of the fl oor b o a rd s t o a slight extent does not

develop a cra ck through Which w ater esc apes an d does d am age .

H E AD GA TE , L OW L I NE LA TE RA L , R O CK CR E E K C ONS E R VATI ON CO .

The L ow L ine l at eral of the R ock Creek Co n serv ation Co of R ock .

R iver Wye receives w ater from the Bosler N o 3 ditch

, ,
It is 10 . .

miles long 8 feet Wide on the bottom at the he a d an d c arries w ater

, ,

4 feet deep on a gr a d e of feet per mile The r ated c ap acity of the .

l ater al is 135 second feet to serve a cres of l and

-
,
.

The structure built i n 1911 at the he a d o f the l ateral also serves

, , ,

a s a w a gon bridge
(P l V I I I fi g N o check. structure is pl a ced
.
,
.

in the m ai n ditch as the l ater al st arts ou t down a slope so steep t h at

,
-

drops ar e necess ary an d it w as desi r able th at the l ater al he a dgat e

,

be pl aced as low in the m ain ditch a s possible The str uct u re is of .

con crete With steel g at e shutter an d lift .

The shutter is pl a ced in a vertica l position at the line of the w ater

side of the b ank crest A penst oc k 5 feet Wide Wi t h side w alls 18
.
,

inches thick sloping down on the top from the height o f the bank
to 4 feet ab ove t h e fl oor le a ds f rom the m ai n ditch bottom to the ,

shu tter The fl oor sl ants down 2 feet from t h e gra de line of the
.

dit ch to the g ate open in g The l atter is 3 feet 72 inches high an d .

3 feet 4 inches Wide under a cu rt ain w all 1 foot thick .

The fl oor exten ds 15 feet downstre am f rom the gate shutter an d

t hen dro p s 4 feet vertically into a w at e r cu shio n 10 feet lo n g A t .

t he low er end of the l att er a v ertical r aise of 2 feet m akes the n et

36 B U L LE T I N 115, U . 8 . DE P AR TM E N T or AGRI C U L T URE .

LA T E RA L HEA D GAT E CA LI FO RNI A , DE VE L O PMENT CC CA LI FO RNI A .

The engineer s of the C aliforni a D evelopment Co h ave designed .

s t a nd ard pl a ns for a re i nforced concrete br anch c an al or l ater al

he a dg ate Thes e pl ans ar e b ased on their experien ce of 10 ye ars
.

with wooden struct ures which these ar e designed to repl ace The .

p l ans fi
(g .8 ) s how a g ate with a min i m um a mount of concrete
h ea vily reinforced with steel to gi ve t he required stren gt h Un .

u su a l loc a l conditions render gre a t economy in concre t e n ecess a ry in

this region a s it costs as high as $4 8 per cubic y ard For thi s re ason
'

,
.

much t ime w as spent in m aki n g a theoretic all y economic design .

The form work would be rel atively expensive for thi s str uct ur e an d ,

in a d ap t ing t h e pl ans for a region where un i t cost of concrete wo ul d

not be so great the cost of forms m ay be reduced by alterin g the
pl ans slightly For inst ance the division w a lls now m ade of re
.
, ,

inforced posts br aced by simil ar members could be m ade solid pier ,

w all s ; t he arched s u pports for the oper ating pl atform might be

m a de slightly he avi er of a re i nforced rect angu l ar— \

sect ion sl ab ; the

counterfort w alls under t h e front wings mi ght s10pe direct ly fr om
the upper edge to the fl oor omitting the reentr ant angle at th e b ack
,
.

T he cut off w a lls of t hi s g ate ar e of wooden sh eet p i l i n g ext endi ng

-

12 feet into t h e bed of the c a n als In a d apting t he pl a ns light con

.
,

crete cut off w alls m ay be used The d epth wo ul d be determi ned by

-
.

loc al conditions For a c a n al well lined with cobblest ones there

.
,

f ore n ot i n d anger from er osion below the g ate a very sh a llow cu t ,

ofi w ill su ffi ce A good anchor a ge alre a dy is secur e d by the weight

.

of e art h fi lli n g on t he fl oor outside the w alls an d win gs .

The girdered fl oor an d the counterfort supp orts to the side and
wing w alls ar e fe atur es which m ay b e a dopted to a dv ant age in the
des ign o f other g ates The girders an d coun t erfort s ar e rei nforce d
.

to t ake the ten sion t hus e n abling the interveni n g sl abs to be m a de

,

much lighter th a n if th e girders an d count erforts were omitted .

The shutters ar e of w ood const ructed so th at the m ain regul a tion

,

is eff ected wi th fl ashboar d s but a s i m il ar board is att ach ed to the

,

lower end of a stem so th at the whole p anel m ay be lifted as a sin gle

u nit by a r ack an d p m i on or other lift i n g device Thi s allows the
'

- -
.

w ater t o be delivered either under or over the shu t t er or both The .

pl ans shown ar e for a 3 b ay ga te whi l e the bill of m ateri al in cludes,

qu antities for 3 4 5 a n d 71 b ay structures .

The developmen t comp an y delivers 30 t o 150 second feet of w ater

through these g ates to the bra n ch c an als or l ater al s of the mutu al
w ate r comp anies of t he Impe ri al V alley who pur ch ase w ater by ,

wholes ale f rom the development comp an y All structures below the .

he a dg ate in t he l ateral ar e owned an d op er ated by t he mutu al com

p am es.
 GATE ST RU C T URE S FOR I R R I GAT IO N CANALS . 37

Most of thesegates c alibrated nor is an y att empt n ow m a de

ar e n ot

t o use a s t and a rd fo r mul a for disch a rge th r ough them as the silt ,

ch an ge s conditions qui te r a pidly but curr ent meter me as urements in

,
-

the c ana ls below t he gates i n some cases m ade severa l tim es a d ay,
,

ar e m a de t he b as is of t he ch a rge f or w at er a a in s t t h e mutu al com

g

p an i es .
 UL LE TI N AR T ME N T AGRI C U L T URE
‘

38 B 115, U . 8 . DE P OF .

“
A
”
RAME
-F G AT E S .

A great m any of the w o od en l ater al an d check g ates o f the W est

“
h ave utili zed the A fr ame in t he setting of all posts an d br ace s in
”

the m ai n ch ann el of t h e flume forming the body of the structure .

The gross openin g between side w alls is broken u p int o b ays by

“A fr ames embr acing the guides for the shutters an d the neces s ary
”
i

braces t o su pport the clo s ed shutters Thes e frames also c arry the .

operating p l atform or footw alk whi ch act s a s a strut in t ak ing the

FIG . 9 —A
. t y i cap l A f r a m e co s t r u ct i on f or h eadg at o ch eck ga t e
n e r a s conn ect e d to dr op ,

C a li f or ni a D ev el opm en t Cc Cal i f or n i a
.
, .

thr ust of the side w alls an d h elps to m a int ain the sp acin g of the
frames at the t op A typic al const r u ct io n of the fr ames an d det a il s
.

of the gener al ar r angement of members ar e shown in fi gu r e 9 The .

p r ess ure of the w ater is tr ansmitte d downw ard to the floor , br aces
bein g set n orm al to the g ate f ace an d b ea ring ag ainst stubs
,
The .

l arger structures h ave t he fl oor Sp ik ed t o j oists whi ch re s t on mud

sills as shown in fi gu r e 9 Sm all ones h ave the fl oor spiked direct to
.

th e s ills For such gates t he br aces go thr ough the floor an d ar e

“
.

sp ike d to the si ll The A f rames against t he sid e walls ar e mod i

”
.
 GATE RU C T URE S I RRI GATIO N ANAL S 39
‘

ST F OR C
'

fi ed . The t op of the g ate guide rests a gain s t the t op of a side post .

"

an d the br ace is c arr ied from the an gle betweenthe floor an d the bot

t om of the post up to the g a te guide an d at right a ngles t o the l atte r

‘

’
The sheeting of the wings an d cut ofi s usu ally is s et vertical an d -

Sp iked or bolted th r ough a w aling strip O n sm all ga tes this sheet .

i n g is m a d e of a single thickn ess On l a rge ones it is m a de triple

.

thickness each set of three bo ards being spiked together The mid dl e
,
.

boa rd is o ff set s o as to form a ton g u e an d groove j oint This W ake - -

.

fi eld piling} a s it is c alled m ay then be driven with a m aul or light

,

pile h ammer The lower end of each piling is slightly sh arpene d at

.

the exp osed edge Thi s c auses it t o crow d closely to the preceding
.

’
l

p
l
i l e a n d m a ke a tight j oi nt .

The depth t o which it w as necess ary to c arr y the cut ofi s dep ends -

a gre a t de al on t he height to which the w a ter is to be held up by the

structure If t he w at er above a n d bel ow the gate will be on app r oxi

.

m at ely the s ame level s ay withi n 1 or 2 feet then it i s not n ecess ary
, ,

to go more th a n on e h alf the depth below gra de th at the si de w all s

- -

e xtend above gr a de bu t if more th an th at amount of pressure is de

,

v e10p ed the wings a n d cut off s should extend a s f ar below gr a de as the

-

side w alls d o above .

High side wall s th at ar e sep ar ated too f ar to c a rry c aps as struts

ar e br a ced di a gon ally fro m the floor at a bou t the line of the fi r s t
“
divi s ion w all High A fr ames h a ve several di a gon al bra ce s with
”
.
,

horizont al s ashe s to prevent b u ckling

“
.

T he A fram e c a tch es tr a sh e a si ly an d the w ater p ound s Vio

”

len t ly if under much pres sure but both the s e defec t s m ay be much
“ ”
remedied by sheeting all the A frames on both sides with light
,

bo ards If used as a simple l ater al he a dg ate or check the upper an d

.

lower wings an d cu t o ff s ar e identic al but if there is a drop in the

-
,

g r a de line a t the structu r e the lower p osts a r e c a r ried to t h e bottom

of the w ater cushion an d sheeted horizont ally on the e arth side as
shown in fi gu r e 9 .

D E LI VE R Y G A TE S .

The s ame gener al discussion a pplies t odelivery g ates a s to l ateral '

ga tes In a ddition it is gen er ally n ecess ar y to h ave som e form of

.

locking device Many comp anies pl ace a device s u ch a s this on all

.

gates bu t do not use it unless it is foun d th at t h e consu mer under the

,

delivery gate is a busing the con fi d en ce p l a ced i n him In deciding .

upon a locking device for a delivery g ate the designer mu st know

the system of delivery of w ater S ome comp anies allow the con .

su mer to s hu t the g at e a fter he h as rec eived wh a t w ater he wishes

for that p ar t i cu l an i r r i gat i on For su ch a consu mer a lock must be
.

used which p ermit s the ga te to be opened to a cert ain point deter ,

mined by the position of the lock , but permits the ga te shutter t o

40 B U L LE T I N 11 5, U . s . DE P AR T ME N T or AGRI C U L T URE .

be clos ed at will M ost of the locks on st and ard s heet i s t eel gat es ar e
.
g

of this
p at t ern O the
. r co m p an ies do not allow their consumers

either to Open or close the delivery g at es For su ch a gate there .

must be a p osi t ive lock which holds th e gat e shutter in t he set posi
‘

tion as d etermined by the ditch tender .

A s st ated b efore w ater issuing under a g ate shutter m ay be held

,
’
more nea rly const ant th an that p assing over a cr est On the other .

h an d the amount of w ater delivered m ay be altered by the co n su mer

,

in spite of locks if the or i fi ce is submerged If the cons um er h as a .

‘

division box loc ated close to the g ate an d the conditions of gra de
an d velocity of w ater i n the v a rious ditches le a d i ng from t hi s divi

sion box ar e such th at the s ame amount of w ater in the he a d di tch

fl ow s aw ay more r api dl y in o n e direction th a n i n another then the ,

b a ck w ater ag ai nst the delivery g ate an d consequently the amoun t ,

of w ater p assing the g ate m ay be alt er ed by the co n sumer by shift

,
-

i n g the slides in his division box This conditio n does n ot hold if

.

t he w a ter issues under a delivery g at e shutter into the open a ir , as

there is no b a ck w ater to be i n flu en c ed by the consumer An open .

a 1r delive r y is possible o nl y where there is s u ffi ci en t di ff erence in

elev ation between the c an al an d the he a d ditch to s acr i fi ce some of
it so as to secure the res ult d esired .

D ELI VE RY A T E CA LI FO RNI A
G , DE VE LO PME NT CO C A LI FO RNI A .

Figure 10 shows a good ex ample of economic al design for a re i n

forced concrete delivery box o f the open cul vert form Water is -
.

diverted from a perm anent can al wher e f ailure would c ause much ‘

d amage a side from the i m m edi ate cost o f repl acement so th at the
,

upper wing w alls ext end f arther into the b ank th an might be n eces
s a ry for most inst all atio n s of thi s sort It is to be noted th at the .

slots for the g at e ar e pl aced slightly in front of the foot sl a b The

'

reinforcement does not extend down into the cut 011 w all the l atter "

being used s olely for the purpose of stopping seep age w ater .

This gate w as buil t in the f all o f 19 10 The 7 6 cubic y ard s of . .

concrete is a one to seven proportion o f cement an d gr avel A sm all .

concrete pedest al i s bolted in the four holes shown on the top of the
operatin g pl atform an d to this pedesta l is bolted the lever lifting -

device for t he r a ck an d pinion lift The c ast iron r ack is bolted to

- -
.
-

the b a ck of the gate stem .

RA DI A L D E LI VE R Y GA T E , T UR L O CK I R RI GATI ON D I S T R I CT, C A LI FO RNI A .

The deliveries to the consumers from the m ain l ater als of the
T u rlock irrig ation district a r e n ow being m a de thr ough simple con
’
crete box structu res re g ul ated wit h wooden r a di a l gates Pl ate VIII ,
-
.
 GAT E S TR U C T i J R E s FOR IRR I GATIO N C ANALS 41
‘
.

shows one of thes e gat es before the c an al b ank h as been

fi gu r e 2 ,
completed The r oofi n g over the box will serve as a bri dge The
. .

wings of these gates extend at right angles to the flu me a d i st ance

equ al to the height of the fi u m e The upper wings an d the cu t off . .
-

w all under the upper end of the floor extend 2 feet b elow the fl oor ,

as a rule but this dimension is a djusted to s u i t l ocal conditions

,
The fi
.

flume is 12 feet long 4 feet or more high an d between 4 an d 10 feet

, ,

wide The ra di al gate f ace is m a de of a do u ble t hickness of 1 inch -

redwood the wooden r a di al arms c arrying the thrust of the w ater

,

from ne a r the center of pressu re on the g ate when t he c an al is f u ll

to the 4 inch galv anized iron pipe axle extending across the fi u m e
-

10— R ei n or ce
f d d eli v er y m ai n l l fo l m en t
fi

FI G . . con cr et e g at e f r om can a , Ca i r ni a D eve op Co ,

.

lf
C a i or n i a .

a bout 2 feet in front of the rear end of the flume This gate is more .

e asily lifted when the w ater is in the c an al t h an when there is no

‘

w ater , as the hydraulic pressure thrusts the gate again st the axle
a n d tends to flo at the g ate A n iron b ar with a h andle at the free end
.

is a ttached to t he g ate so th at the l atter m ay be lifte d e asily an d

locked in position by locking the bar over a h asp loop .

This t ype of cons tr u ction might be re adily a d apted t o l ater al an d

eyen br anch ca n al gates , a s the forms ar e extremely simple , yet the
str ucture is rem ark ably effi ci en t .
42 B U LL E T I N 115, U . 8 . DE P AR T M E N T OF A GRI CU L T U RE .

T Y P I CA L T UBE D E LI VE RY WI T H IR ON GA T E Q .

In the extensively irrig ated regi on around Greeley an d F ort Col

lins an d in t he Ar k an a s Valley in Color a do a p articul ar typ e of
,
s
, ,

delivery g a te h as been used f or a num ber of ye ars an d its u s e i s

spre ading gr a du ally t o other St ates of the Wes t Thi s is essenti ally .

a tube through the b a nk with a c ast iron or sheet iro n g ate at the
,
- - -
.

ca n al en d Figure 11 shows thi s type of gate as used by on e of the

.

comp anies in nort hern Color a do A fter a c are ful study of a great
'

m any inst all ations of thi s type it is believed th at the gate set at
an angle of 7 5 with the pipe line gives the best results This
°
.

FIG . 11 .
— T u b e d el i v er y u se d by No t h r P ou d re I r ri g a ti on Co .
, Co l or a d o .

slope will agree quite closely with the s10pe as sumed by the b ank s of
c anals which ha ve been in service for ye ars beco mi ng overhung with ,

gr a s s an d weeds This slope all ows a light concrete or m a sonry f ace

.

to re s t ag ainst the b ank more a s a lining a round t he pipe opening

,

th an as a retainin g w all , which it w ould be if the fac e were m ade

verti c al
.

If the centers of the g ates deliverin g w a ter from ab ove the s ame
check all ar e set at the s ame elev ation an d the gr a de of the p ipe ,

outlets is m a de the s ame then all the deliveries will v a ry in ap

,

proxim ately the s ame preport ion when t he hea d ch anges .

If it is n ot desir able t o use check g ates an d hold t h e w ater ag ainst

the delivery ga tes then the l atter should be set so th at the bottom s
,

of the tubes ar e ap proxim ately level with the bottom of the can al .

V arious gr a d es ar e used for the l aying of t he pi pes , bu t i f the t op og

44 B U L LE TI N 115, U . s . DE P AR TM E N T OF AGRI CU L TURE .

The a verage cost of Vi t r i fi ed cl ay deliveries with iron g ates as -

,

g iven b
\y the chief engineer of the H olbrook irri g a tion district ,
ne a r
L a J unt a Colo is a s follows : 8 inch pipe an d ga te
,
.
, 10 inch , -
,
-

$ 30; 12 inch $35 15 inch $4 0

-
, ,
-
,
.

D ELI VE RY GATE , SU NNY S I D E UNI T O F YA KI MA P R O J E CT , N

U I TE D S T AT E S
R E C LAMA T I ON S E R VI C E WA S HI N GT ON , .

The int ake of a tube delivery or t urnout g ate unless set at j ust the
right p oi nt is a gr e at source of an noy ance bec ause o f the silt an d
s and th at gathers j ust i n front o f the g ate when it is not in use To .

obvi ate thi s condition remove the tendency of the ed di es in the enter
,

ing w ater to scour the c an al b ank an d pre serve a s much as possible ,

the unbroken side o f the c an al the United St ates Re cl am ation Serv

FIG . 12 .
—T u b e d eli v er y ext en di n g i nto ca n a l , S un n ys i de u ni t, Ya ki m a p r oject , Un i t ed
S t a t es R ec l a m a t i on v
S er i ce .

i ce is using a system of inst all ation on the Sunnyside C an al in

Washi ngtonwhich is very f avor able to ca n al o p era tion .

A riveted steel pipe e xt ends ou t into t h e w ater of t he ca n al as

‘

-
,

shown in fi gu r e 12 bem g supported at the front end by the ga te

,

st and ards which ar e c a rried down to a f ooting w all The steel pipe .

is c arried a short dist an ce into the b ank where it meets a concr ete
pipe in a c oncrete cut off coll ar This in sta ll ation do es a w ay with a
-
.

woo d or concrete f a ce sl ab at the entr ance t o a tube o u tlet when set

fl u sh with the b ank an d also removes t h e opening in the tube from
d anger of beco mi ng clogged with silt an d tr ash
’
.

The only pl a ce t h at comes to the writer s mind where su ch a con

struction cost per mi tting might not be u sed , would be where i t is
, ,

necess ary to dredge silt out of the ca n al or l atera l In such ca ses .

 GATE S TR U C T URE S F OR I RRI GA TI O N C ANALS . 45

the dredge would be li a ble t o te a r out the gate end of the con
struction .

Various m odi fi cat i on s i n the ki n d of pipe will suggest themselves ,

d ep ending on the rel ative cost an d the use The principle will be .

the same .

CHE CK G A TE S .

In a flat country where there i s very little f all to the l ater als an d
to the hea d ditches le a ding from them it m ay be neces s ary to r aise ,

the w ater at the point o f divers ion from the c an al an d r aise the upper
en d of the diverting ditch a bove the Surf a ce of the surrounding coun

try In this m ann er gr a de enough is developed for the divert ed w ater

.

t o m a int a i n some sembl ance o f vel oci t y Thi s condition is met by .

”
building a check g ate or check , as it commonly is c alled across the ,

c an al supplying the w ater below the l ateral or delivery hea dgate

, .

This check serves as a bulkhe a d to check up or completely stop the

w ater in the can al an d turn it through the side gat e
‘

S ome comp an ies m aint ain a system o f deliveries especi ally in the ,

m aller c an als an d l at erals by which the ditch tender m akes the fi r s t

,

delivery to the consumer farthest down the c an al When his run of .

w ater is completed it is desired to tur n all t he w ater to the c ons u mer

next above him This i s a ccomplished by the use of check s in the
.

supplying ca nal below t he p oints of d i v er s i on t o the consumers

‘
.

Another use for this d ev i ce i s found in the l atter p art of the s ea son ,

when ther e is comp ar at ively little w ater in the c an als The vents in .

the check ar e clo sed enough so th a t the level of t he w ater above them
is r aised an d it is possible to deliver the desired v olume of w a ter
"

Wh ere the supply of w ater in the ca n al from which w a ter is being

diverted is subj ect to gre at flu ct u at i on , it is possible to assure the level
of the w ater alw ays re aching a known height at le ast by the in s ertion
of flas hboar ds in a check This is sometimes a ccomplished by clo sing
. .

some of the p anels wi t h flashboar ds an d some with solid gat e shutters ,

a llowing w ater to fl ow under the l atter

. The level of the w a ter ab ove
.

a check which is disch arging w ater ove a crest is held m ore n e a rly
r
Const a nt in spit e of flu ct u at i on s th an is possible in a check where the
w ater is disch arged under gate shutters for the re aso n th at the dis ,

ch arge over the cr est varies as the cube of the squ a re root of the he a d
'

on the crest while the disch a rge through the openings under the shut
,

ter v aries as the s qu are root of the he a d ove r the opening In other .

words a given flu ct u at i on in the su pply will be more quickly c ared

,

for over a crest th an through an or i fi ce an d the elev ation of the w ater ,

Will ch ange less

'
.

This i s a r ather import ant quest ion in the Operatio n of a system ,

s o a c ase i n p oi n t m ay n ot be out of order A ssume a disch a rge of

‘

—
se con d feet t o be p assed through a check Wi th a submerged ori .
46 B U L L E TI N 11 5, U . s . DE P AR T M E N T OF AGRI CU L T URE .

fi ce 3 inches high an d 4 feet wide the pres sure he a d required will be

about 6 inches .If this disch arge be i n cr eas ed t o second feet , then -

t h e pre s sure he a d on the s ame Opening will be about 14 inches If .

the same volum e of w ater i s p a ssing over a cres t —giving app r oxi
m ate wei r con di tions— of the s ame width (4 feet ), then t h e head on
the weir will in crease o nl y fr om 5 to about 6 32 inch es Therefore .

this given flu ct u at i on r ai sed the level o f the w ater in front of a

giv en submerged or i fi ce 8 inches whil e the s ame amo un t of flu ct u a
,

tion r a ised t h e level on a crest but 14 inches .

The gr e a t f a ctor ag a inst s ecuri ng all of th e control of t h e w ater

ab ove a check by me ans of cres t disch a rge; is th a t the stilled w ater
'

tends to c ause the deposit of all se di ment a ry matter in the w ater ,

a n d if the chec k is not pull ed regul arly thi s deposit will b ecome
the cause of t r ou ble an d expense On the other h and w ater dis .
,

c h arging through an un dershot g ate issue s from the st ructure i n a

'

very turb ul ent condi tion an d tends to c ause d am age by e rosion of the
b ank s below the g ate I n the op i nion of the writer the form of
“

shutter shown i n fi g u r e 8 (p 37 ) gives the bes t genera l solution for

.

a che ap check shutter The loos e fl ashb oar ds all ow for crest reg ul a
.

tion an d the f act th at the shutter m ay be lifted a s a un i t by the

,

stem att a ched to the lowest bo a rd of the series a llows the Op enin g to
be pull ed an d the silt scoured out This operati on is not te diou s .

or so li abl e to be s hi rked a s is the c ase if ordin ary fl ashb oar ds ar e

used .

T he elev ation of the crests of v a r ious checks on a s ystem is a

m atter of gre at i mport ance It is u su al to design the ext reme top
.

of the str u cture at le a st 6 inch es above the m aximum height to whi ch

w ater is t o be ch ecked Som e comp anies ma rk a line on the stru cture
.

a s the l i mi t of s a fe Oper a tion bec ause a s a rul e the levees a bove t h e

, , ,

check ar e m a de to conform to the height o f the check or as a m atter ,

of Sa fety , 6 in ches ab ove the check .

In an uneven fl at country t h e cost of devel oping i n det ail contours

of sm all interv a l is so gr ea t a n d so much t i m e is nec es s ary to a ecom
.

p l i s h t hi s th a t it is a very commo n sight i n such irrig a ted regions

to see a gr e at num be r of checks which h ave been b u ilt up a foot

br two in order to che ck up the w a ter to re a ch high k noll s which
‘ -

were not n ot iced during t h e origin al construction On t h e o t her .

h and it is qu ite comm o n to see ch ecks on which the hi gh w ater m a rk

,
-

shows th at t here w as more m at er i al p u t i nt o the stru ctur e th an w as

n eces s ary In other words a check g ate is on e of t he stru ct u r es of
.
,

whi ch a c areful study must be m ade in order to determine whether

it would not be better to inst all wo od in the initi al con s truction
an d repl a ce with concre t e when the wo od de ca ys By t his t fl e .

the ditch t enders h a ndling this structure will kn ow ex a ctly wh at

 ’
GATE S T RU C T URE S F OR I RRI GATI O N C ANALS .

height the perm a nen t gat e shoul d re a ch an d it can be designed

‘
,

accordingly I f concrete is used in the beginning , then it is d i ffi cu lt

.

t o add to the height without gre a t expense an d a p atched a ppe a r

ance an d if the structure is alre a dy too high then the e xtr a m ateri a l
, ,

is w asted .

M ost checks ar e for the sole purp ose of controlling the level of
the w ater above the st r u cture a n d the ques tio n of tightnes s does not
,

enter into their de sign However if for an y re as on it is desired th at

.
,

all the w at er he s t opped a t a check an d delivered to a s i de g ate then ,

the shutters must be m a d e t i ght by closer j oi n ts t ar or other r oofi n g

'

p aper or in some
,
such m anner .

FI G . 1 3 — Con cr et e
. c h eck l a t e a l h ea dga t e
, r or del i ver y ga t e , S a cr a m en t o Va ll ey I r ri gat i on
Co C a l i f or n i a
.

C H E C K GA T E S , S ACR AME NT O VA LLEY I R RI GATI ON C0 C ALI FO RNI A .

The S acr amen t o V alley Irrigation Co h a s a dopted a set of st and .

ar d pl ans which m ay be used i n m any other p arts of t h e West The .

check gate structure shown in fi gu r e 13 can be us ed a lso as a l ateral

-

he adg ate or a delivery gate In f ac t this is done by the s imple L

.

construction which is so well a d apted to a combin ation of check

an d delivery The gen eral construction of this gate i s a d apted
.

either to fi ashb oar d s or a stem gate The l atter is used most com .
 B U LLE T I N 115, U . S . DE P ART ME N T OF AGRI CU LTU RE .

for the st and ards to b e r a ised above the crest of the wing w alls in
‘

order to secure ele vation su ffi ci en t to r aise the s hu t t ef‘

.

It will be noted fro m the pl ans th at this is pr actically a sheet

structure with a sm all b asin att a ched t o the b ack to withst and the
erosion an d pound of the falling w a ter The buttress construction .

of this b asin al so br a ces the front w alls The pl ans show a double . .

3 foot Opening check with sm all buttress w alls at th e sides of the

-

'

b asin used where th ere is drop in gr a de or the m ateri al of th e b an k s

,
’
r equ ires protection Fo r double openings t he middle buttres s w all is
.

not omitted , ev en though the conditions do not require the sm aller

si de buttresses The const ant dimension s for all this cl ass of stru e
.
‘

tures ar e given in fi gu r es , while the vari able ones ar e lettered an d

r ef er to the fi g ur es in the t able under the letter given .

P l a t e I X fi gu r e 1, shows a c ombin ation of check an d d el i v er y s t r u c

‘

, ’

tures as use d by t he S a crament o Valley I rrig ation 00 N ote the .

inset p anel c as t in the concrete upon which the number of the stru e ,

ture is c arried O ne g ate ha s been numbered an d the p anel on an

.

other gate i s shown in bl an k .

C H E C K GA TE S i MP E R I A L WATE R
, co . NO .
,
1, C A LI FO RNI A .

Pl a te I X fi gu r e 2 shows a typ i cal wooden check as used on the

, , ’
“

m ain l ater als c arrying 30 to 150 s ec ond feet Thi s p ar t i cu l ar gate

,
‘ -
.

has three b ays the tw o on the ou t side regu l ated by fl ashboar d s an d

,

the middle one by a s i rn ple slide gat e, with holes for a pin , which m ay
be locked The upper an d lower wings ar e identical as ar e t he cut
“

.
,

Wings an d cut ofi s extend as f ar

'

off w alls at both ends of the fl oor .

- :

below gr a de a s the side w alls extend a b ove R e pl a cemen t s ona w ell .

s et ditch m ay be m odi fi ed t o t h e exten t of m a king t he depth of th ese

w alls ab out one h alf the height of the s ide w all s abo ve g ra d e The
-
.

fl oor usu ally i s s et 1 fo ot below t he bottom gr a d e l ine The comp a .

nies in the Imperi al V alley u s e 1 inch redwood f or the sheeting on

'

this cl as s of structures while t hep os ts an d sill s ar e m ad e eit her of

'
,

redwood or Or eg on pin e ( D ougl a s fi r ) The se g ate s l ast 6 t o 10 .

y e a rs .

N ot e th a t the posts ar e all on the Wa terside Th ey p ass t hr ough .

the fl oor a n d ar e spike d direct t o the sills D i agon al br ace s extend .

f I Om the upper end s of the g u idepost s at both end s of the s lide g ate
‘

down to the foot of t he posts shown u n d er t he low er c ap N o bat

'

-
.

t ens ar e used as this silted w ater clo s es all cr ack s r apidly , an d i n

,

a ddition the ga tes ar e puddled in mos t thoroughly be f or e w a ter i s

r u n commerci ally In the f or eground of the picture i s se en a good

.

ex ample of the use of brush ripr ap , described on p age 11 for the

 Bu l 1 15 , U S De t
. . . p . of g i u lt u
A r c re . PLAT E I X .

FI G . 1 —CO
. M BI N A T I O N C HE C K A ND D E LI VE RY S T RU C T U R E . S A C RA M E NT O VA LLE Y I R R I GA
T I O N C o , C A LI FO R NI A
. .

FI G 2
. .
—WOO D E N C HE C K GAT E , | MPE RI A L WAT E R C o , No 1, C A LI FO RNI A
. . .
 Bu l 1 15 , U S De t
. . . p . of g i u lt u
A r c re . PLAT E X .

FI G . 1 .
—A U T O M AT I C C HE C K G AT E , T U RLO C K I RRIG AT I O N D I S T RI C T , C A LI FO RNI A
.

FI G 2
. .
—C O M BI N E D C HE C K A ND D E LI VE RY S T R U C T U RE , RO C K C R E E K C O NS E RVAT I O N C o .
,

WYO M I N G .
 115, u s DE P R TME N T or
A AGRI C U LTU RE .

50 B U L L E TI N . .

counterweight an d
shutting the ga te until the
dow n r aisin g the
,
checked to enter the i nl et pipe a g ain
w ater is su ffi ci en tly
.
 GA TE STRU CT URE S F OR I RRI GATI O N C ANALS . 51

regardless of moder at e flu ct u at i on s i n the supplying stre a m the inlet ,

pipe is set below t he he adg ate an d t he o utlet c arried t o a lower level .

This is possible only where a diversion d am o f s ome so r t is used an d

the outlet pipe disch arges into t he stre am below t he diversion d am ,

an d where this w ater is lower th an t he prop o s ed w ater in the c an al

belo w the gate O nly one lever is u sed , connected to the g at e at one
.

end an d the count erweighted t ank at the other Wh en more w ater .

th an is desired enters the c an al it fi lls the well through t he inlet pipe ,

r aises the t ank , an d lowers the g ate until equilibrium is est ablished .

If the supply falls then the w ater in t he well gr a du ally p ass es out
thro u gh the outlet p ipe , t he t ank f alls r aising the gate , an d thus
,

allo w ing more w ater to enter .

The operation of thes e gates i n t he Turlock distri ct i s pr a ct i cally

inst a ntaneous an d allows the c an als to be run with l arger he a ds of
w ate r th an would o t herwise be s a fe .

Where the level of the w ater an d consequently the vol u me i n a

’ ,

side l ater al or consumer s delivery is to be held const ant the inlet pipe
,

is pl a ced at the desired level in the l ateral , but the double system of .
.

levers oper ates on the check g ate as before T his system coul d be .

used to insure uniform deliveri e s to consumers an d would p rotect

the b ank s above the check also bec ause the rising w ater ab ove the
,

check would in cre a se the delivery to t he side l ater al flow int o the ,

Well r ai s e t he t an k , l ower the counterw eight , an d lift the check gate

,
'

su ffi ci en t ly for the exces s w ater t o p a ss on down the c a n al .

The p a rticul ar structure shown in fi gu r e 14 combines both an au ,

to m at i c check an d a drop l o c ated on l ater al N o 7 which c arries .

,

about 2 0 0 second feet o f w ater The height o f the open ends o f both
-
.

inlet an d outlet p ipes m ay be a dj usted as th ey can be swung about,

on the thre ads of the elbow s About t w o thirds o f the w ay up these

.
-

two p ipes the g age rods ar e att ached The slots i n the rods ar e .

slipp ed over st a ple s set in the concrete w all s ne a r the t Op an d p a d

locks through the staples over the b a rs lock the dev ice .

The bucket or t ank h an gi n g i n the well is m a de o f N o 16 g al

‘

v an i zed iron 44 inches in di ame te r an d 3 feet high , the top l apping

,

over a 4 inch round pipe sti ff ener an d riveted theret o Two str aps
-
.

of 4 by 112 inch iron p as s com pletely a round the bucke t at right

angl e s to e ach other an d ar e brought together 2 feet above the rim .

The concrete cou nterweight hung below the intersection of the

lines of the two levers is of convenient s h ape an d w eighs abo u t 300
pound s more th an th at portio n o f the gate t o be li f ted by i t .

The autom atic r a di al gate is b u ilt up of double 1 i n ch 0r egon pin e -

‘

Befo re bein g set i n the concrete the ends o f the pipe axle ar e b ored
an d 12 inch pi n s thrus t through them , which prevent the axle turn
-

ing in the concrete .

52 B U L L E TI N 11 5, U s DE P AR TME N T or A GRI CU L TURE

“
. . .

here t he concr ete is mi x ed by h and on struct ures lik e the one

T

des cribe d the Turlock di strict fi n ds it cost s $2 0 to $2 2 per c ubic

,

y ard whi le m achine mixed concrete on l a rge st ructures r uns abou t

,
-

$ 13 per cubic y ard The mix used is one p art cement to t hr ee p a rts
.

s and an d fi v e p arts broken st one Cement costs per b a rrel f o b . . . .

T u rl ock an d s an d us u all y is close at ha nd Ston e cost s

,
5 p er .

cubic y ard an d the h auli n g 1 7 cents per mi l e p er y ard addi tion al .

The reinforcing b ars cost 34 cents per p ound at S an Fr ancis co The .

tot al cost of a structur e li ke the on e in fi gur e 14 is ab out 3300 .

Wher e a simil ar design is used for a s i mple check g ate a l ater al ,

he a dg a te , or a drop
of less th an 2 feet ,

the p ier w alls ar e

c arried level on t op ,

the slope bein g omi t

ted an d t he axle set ,

3 inches hi gher an d
3 i nches f ar ther b ack
fr om the f ace of the
gate ; also t he lower
12 inches of the g at e
shutter is repl aced
by a 12 i nch weir -

bo ard Where u s ed .

a s a w a ste g ate or

i n an y pl ace where
tightnes s is desir able
the shutter i s m ad e
F 1 5 — S bl t l h k Ti t o it Y k i m p oj t
I G . . u a er a

l m ti o S i
c ec ,
w ater tight by pl a c
e n un , a a r ec , -

U i t d St t R n e a es ec a a n er v ce .

i ng w aterpr oof roof

ing p aper between t he t w o l ayers of t he double f ace an d rubber belting
is pl aced at t h e edg es .

S UB LA TE R A L C HE C K , ON UNI T YAK I MZA PR O J E CT

TI E T , , UN I T E D S TA TE S
R E C LA MA TI O N S E R VI CE WA S HI N G T ON , .

A check whi ch is well a d apted t o withst and a f all of w ater behi n d

i t i s shown i n fi g ur e 15 It i s used for sm all l at er a ls an d is a d apted
.
,

t o the tempor ary co n s tru ction whi ch contempl ates a perm an ent
struct ure si mil ar to the on e shown i n fi gu r e 13 p age 4 7 , .

C OMBI N E D C HE C K A ND D E LI VE R Y S TR UCT URE , R O CK C RE E K C ONS E R VATI ON

WY O MI N G .

The const ruction of check an d delivery gates is well ex em

L
p li fi ed in t h e View (P l X fi g 2 ) t aken on on e of t h e m.a in l a
,ter a ls .

of t he R ock Creek Con serv ati on Co i n Wyomi ng .

,
.
 GA TE ST RUC TU RE S F OR I RRI GATI O N C ANALS . 53

The concrete and iron work is complete while the anchor bolt t o -

hold the wood foot pl ank , j ust b ack of the fl ashboar d slots is shown ,

on top of the pier w all The c a nal below the structure is lined for
.

a shor t dist a nce , mping r a pidly on t he bott om to form a w a ter .

cushion A sh allow cut off w all exten ds vertic ally downw a rd at the
.
-

end of the linin g t o pr ev en t u ndercutting of the eddying w ater .

S u ffi i
c en t cu t l off should be provided under the fi a s hboa r d sill an d

across the front of t he turnout g ate to prevent percol a tion an d fail

u r e due to the hydr aulic he a d developed when w ater is checked u p .

A s shown the delive r y gate is vertic al A more economi cal con .

FI G
. 16 .
—Com bi n ed k and d el i v e
ch ec r y s t r u ct u r e of B ea v er Wa t er I r ri g a t i on Co
.
,

l
C o or a o d .

stru ction would be to use the 4 5 conn ection as m an uf a ctured an d

°

slope the gate to conform to the 1 to 1 slope of the lining below

the ch eck This w ould remove the recess m which sil t will gather
.
,

w hen the delivery g ate is closed .

COMBI NE D C HE CK A ND D ELI V E RY GA T E BE AVE R WAT E R I R R I GATI ON CO

,

COLORA D O .

very economical n eat an d efi ect i ve structure is u sed for the

'

A , ,

deliveries from sm all Open ditch ch annels of this comp any (fi g

,
.
54 B U LLE T I N 1 15, U . s . DE P AR T M E N T or A G RI C U L T U R E .

I t mounts to a lined section of c an al with a sh allow cut ofi w all a t "

a -

each end a n d a delivery tube through t he b ank regul ated by a sheet ,

iron g ate D ebri s is kept out of the delivery by a screen extending

.

a cross the reces s in which the g a te is set For most systems this .

screenin g would not be ne cess ary If the w ater in a l ater al using

.

this type o f structu re is to be checked up more th an 2 feet ab ove the

bottom it would be well to extend the lined secti on farther down the
ch an n el an d c arry t he lower cut off deeper m t o the bed o f the ditch
°

-
.

This depth will be d etermined in all c ases by the m ateri al o f the bed .

In adopting t his pl an a che aper inst all ation is m ade by om itting

t he recess for the g ate sh u tter allowing both b anks of the lined sec
,

tion to s10pe uniform ly to the bottom of the ditch The gate shutter .

c an be set on this S lope usi n g the connections a n d g ates a s m a de by

,

the m anufa cturers for a connection w ith a tube at 4 5 or 6 0 with t he ° °

g ate st and ards .

S A ND G ATE S .

S ome d esigners atte m pt t o excl u de the s and before it enters the

c an al by inst alling a sl u ice g a te with a sill below the int ake of the
c an al , adj oi n i n g the river g ates on the downstre am side but as a rule ,

the w ater is so agi t ated at the he ading th at only the he avier s and
rem ains on the bottom an d the lighter p articles whirling about in ,

t h e w ater a r e p assed on through the g ate to set t le in the c an al at

, ,

some point lower down where the velocity is reduced to such an

extent th at the s and is no longer rolled along the bottom .

It is prob ably m u ch better to inst all a sep a rate s and structure f ar

enough below t h e he a d of the c an a l s o th at the l atter will h a ve g ained

enough elev ation over the bed of the stream to obt ain a good flu sh i n g

v e l ocit , an d scour out the s and dep osit from time to time as w ater
y
i s av ail ab le If the w ater rights on the stre am are such th at there a r e
.

other consumers on the s tre am below the s and g ate entitled to w ater

a t al l times then an a r r angement m ay be e ffected so th a t a surplus

,

a mou n t of w ater can be run an d the s and g ates left open thr ou ghout

the se ason returning the surplus w ater to the stre am K ans a s recog
,
.

niz es this bene fit by l e gisl a tion in its f avor .

T HE S UMP GA T E .

There ar e three gener al types of g ates to remove the s and below the
he adg ate of a c an al system The fi r s t consists of a sump connected t o
.

a disch arge ditch or n atur al ch annel by g ates loc ated below the

n orm al gr ade of the c a n al This construction m akes a combin ation

.

s and an d w a ste g ate Such a g ate as this m ay be p ar tly opened all

.

t he time or it m ay be closed c ompletely e xcept wh en a fl u s hi n g he a d

is av ail ab le an d then op ened wide an d all the w at er in the c an al used
for a shor t period to w ash ou t the s an d which has accumul ated The .
 GAT E ST RU C T U R E S F OR I R RI GATI O N C ANA LS . 55

crest o f the g ate shutters of this type of st r ucture us u ally furnishes a

good o pportunity to w aste excess w ater in the can al by simply a dj ust
ing the crest height of the closed gates to the w ater line deemed a
s a fe elev a tion The ra di al g ate o ffers a good opportunity in this cl ass
.

of structures the sco u rin g a c t ion coming at the bottom where it is

,

desired .

T HE TR E NC H G A T E .

The second type is used only on sm all ditches an d is a m od i fi ca t i on

of the fi r s t It consi sts of a ch annel or groove set i n the floor of
.

the ditch across the line of the l a tter A sliding ga te is set in t he .

end of this cha nnel opening out through the l owe r b ank A check
,
.

bo ard or stri p of i r o n is fa stened to the fl oor of th e ditch imm edi ately

f »

bel ow the ch annel This serves to sto p the s and an d dro p it into
.
»

the ch annel f r om which it is flu shed by a con tinuou s stre am p a ssing

,
.

out t hrough the gate In the o p inion of t he wri t er i t is bes t t o b u ild

.

the ch annel a cross the bottom of the ditch a t an angle wi th the gate ,

a t t he lower end Thi s would c ause t he fi la m en ts o f c u rren t in

.

the ditch to t ake the direction of the ch annel an d help c arry ou t the
s and.

A sa nd ga te in the South B ou lde r a n d C oal Cre ek C an al a sm all ,

ditch di v er ting w ater from S ou th Boul d e r Creek at t he t own o f

E l D or a do Springs Col o , ha s a ch annel set in the bottom of a
,
i .

section of woo d en fl u m e open i n g over the side of t he d itch int o t he

,

creek .This ch an nel is abo u t 5 inches wide an d 6 inches deep , with

a check bo a rd m a de of sim pl e 2 by 4 inch l u mber s et on edge i m me

di at ely bel ow the l ower ed ge of t he ch an n el This ch a nn el is a t

‘

right angles to the fl u m e .

This type of gate is e a sily clo gged with tr ash the ch an n el bei n g ,

so sm all th at a little stick could eff ec tu ally com m en ce the cloggin g

of th e o pening This m ay be prevented by pu t ti ng in a gra tin g of
.

bars sl anting very gra du ally u p from the floor abov e the ch annel
,
.

to the t op of the check bo a rd The gentle incline t o t he bars will .

c ause d ébris t o be pushed on over the checl; board r ather th an gl u e

t o the gr ate , while the s a nd is a dmitted re a dily between the ba rs .

T HE
“LA ND GA TE .

The third type of s and gate , an d the one commo nly used in the .

Arkans as Valley of Colora do w a s fi r s t built by Mr Gordon L a n d ,

.
,

of D e n ver , Col d an d ha s been kn own a s the L and g ate Thi s

"

.
,

structure i s essenti ally a check a n d w a ste g ate with a dou ble fl oor

above the c heck the u pe r floor being on the n orm al gr a de of the

p ,

can al while the sp a ce be tween the fl oor s is s ep ar ated by ribs into

,

ducts These ribs c arry the u pp er floor an d a r e curved so th at th e

.
56 B U LLE T I N 115, U . s . DE P AR T M E N T OF AGR I C U L T UR E .

stalls between them g uide the s and around into a direction at right
an gles to the fl ow in the c an al an d disch arge it out t hr ou h t he w a s te
g
g ate forming an L with the check g ate O ne of these g ates is included .

in the j oint he a d works spoken o f on p age 14 .

SA ND GA TE MAX WELL , L A ND I RR I GATI ON CO MAX WE LL N ME X , . .

A fter trying out wooden structu r e , t he M axw ell L and

a Irrig a
tion Co h as d esigned a concrete g ate to elimin ate the s and an d coal
.

dirt from its water 700 feet below the r 1v er he adgate A t this p oint
,
.

a n a rroy o le a d s b a ck into the riv er .

The c an al , which is 32 feet wide on the bottom c arrying w at er ,

7 feet deep , with the t op of t he levee s 3 feet above high w a ter m ar k , -

-

is l i ned with 6 inches o f concrete for a dista nce of 4 00 feet above the
g ates This lining (fi g 17 ) c ommences at the norm al gr ade of the
. .

c an al an d slopes on a gr a de of 1 foot p er 100 feet on the s ide n ext

to the river an d 3 inches p er 100 feet on the other This sl op e forms .

a long pit h a ving a m axi m um dep th of 4 feet direct ly i n front of

the g ates an d it i s expected th at even a sm all he ad of w ater in the

,

c an al will eff ectu ally sluic e out all silt dep osited on the con crete
"

lining The end of the pit termi n ate s in a vertic al w all crested with
.
,

a rect angul a r weir which serves the double purp os e of deepeni ng

,

the pit by the height of the weir a n d giving an ap proxim at e me asure

.

ment of the w ater in the c an al a fter the p roper bottom c ontraetion - -

conditions ar e eff ected by sluicing ou t the dep osit above the weir
,

The shutters ar e simple wood en slides with double stem s sep ar ated
by iron bolts an d spre a ders on t he principle of the one on Pl ate I f , ,
.

Ah iron mounted lever 12 feet long gives a f ast an d e ff ective l ift

-

when inserted under the bolts The silt above such g at es c auses .

them to stick , an d some lif t 1s ne cess ary which will j erk the g ate ,
r ather than to exert a ste a dy pull For this re ason the lever is better ;

th an a screw lift
—
‘

Bids f or t he con cr et e constructi on v ar ied fr om$3 to

.

p er -

c ubic y a rd the compa ny to furnish the materi al at the s ite

,
.

on the exc a v ation for the structur e were 14 an d 18 cents per y

This will m ake the tot al cost of the concre te in pl ace to

per y ard .

SAND A ND WAS TE GATE , AMI TY CA NAL , O

C LOR AD O .

of t he bes t examples of the modern c onstruction an d u se

O ne ,

the Land s and g ate is the concrete s and an d w ast e gate inst all
‘

on the Ami

L and 00 .

L one leg
,

gate , while
Bu f 1 1 5 , U 5
. . . De p t . of Ag r i c m t u r e .
PLA T E X I I .

FIG . 1 .
—W AS T E G AT E ON O
LA K E V I E W I RRI G A T I N C o CA NA L,
. W YO M I N G .

FIG . 2 .
—WA S T E G AT E T U RLO C K I RRI GA T I O N D I S T R I CT , C A LI FO RNI A
.
GA TE '

S TR U C T U RE S F OR I RR I GA T I O N C ANA L S .
58 B U L LE T I v 115, U i . s . DE P ART ME N T or AGRI CU L TU RE .

the bottom of one bay an d a l s o serves to w a ste excess w ater by rai s

ing the r a di al gates above the upper cover to t he s and ducts .

The w a ste stru cture i s d esigned t o p ass all the w ater the c an al can
car ry to i t ; th at is, 8 70 sec ond feet The check structure consi s ts of
-
.

three 12 foot openings regul a ted by r a di al g ates att ach ed t o ca bles

-
,

Wound around sm all dru ms through worm an d wheel lever age - -

.

The distinctive fe ature of thi s s tructure , as expl a ined unde r the

genera l description of the L and s and g ate p age 55 is the double , ,

floor with s and ducts between (fi g On t he as su m p ti on th at .

most o f the s and is cl ose to t he bott om, t w o distinct currents ar e i n

FI G . 18 .
— P or t i on s of s an d an d was t e ga t e on Ami t y Ca n a l , l
C o or a do .

du ced in the ca n al by covering the duct s for some di s t ance above the
check g ate When the s and g at e is open the steep grade of t he d ucts
.

c au ses a hi gh veloc ity , u n i n fi u en ced by an y sl ow w ater above the

fl oor .

In order t o f a cilit ate the cle ani ng of clogged ducts , a p o r ti on of

t h e upper fl oor is m a de o f reinforced cement mort a r pl ank s The .

v ariou s ribs forming the ducts serve a double purpo se They n ot .

o nly sup p ort the upper fl oor but divide the w ater under the upper
,

floor into several stre ams so th at the sand is c arried off in a m ore
general an d even m anner th an would b e the c ase if there were only
on e l a rge openi ng under the floor If the l atter condition existed .
,

there woul d be an exce ss of dr aw an d v eloci ty ne ar t he w ast e gate ,

 GATE ST RU C T URE S FOR I RRI GA TI O N C ANALS . 59

but n o i n flu en ce from the w aste would be felt by t h e w ater at the

other s id e of the c an al .

Concerning the opera ti on of t hese gate s t he chief engineer of the

co mp any states th at the ducts do not clog s o long as they ar e oper ated
continuou sly but if c ompletely closed f or a p eri od the o p enings m ay
, ,

bec ome clogged with s and an d t rash an d must be cle aned out with a
t ra sh ho ok (shown on t op of the che ck g ate in the photogra ph ) be
fore they wil l st art c ar rying off the s an d He a dds th at th e gates do .

n ot remove al l of t he s and from the c a n al but d o m ateri ally a s sist i n ,

keeping t he c an al cle ar .

The compl ete structure , comprisin g b oth the s and an d t he check

gates cont ain 135 cubi c y ard s of pl a in concrete an d 9 5 cu bic y a rds
,

of reinforced concrete T he t ot al c ost w as . divided as

follows the det ail items not being obt a in a ble :
,

E xca va t i on , con cr et e w or k , b a ck fi l l i n g
S t r u ct u r a l s t eel f or r a d i al

H oi s t i n g d ev i ce f or r a d i al ga t es

T ot a l cos t 5 , 3 8 8 60
.

WA S TE G A TE S .

US ES OF WAS TE GAT E S .

T he w aste gate i s use d on can al systems f or t wo distinct purposes :

First it m ay be simply a s a fety valve carrying off excess w at er which
, ,

enters the can al during storm s or whi ch is turned b ack into the c an al
unexpectedly by consume r s S econd , i t m ay be loc ated ne a r the he a d
.

of the c an al with a View of running excess w ater from the rive r ,

relieving the pressure on the he a dgate in times o f flO Od , an d reducing
’

m ainten ance ch arges by using the l arge volum e of w at er t o d evelo p

“

a high velocit y in t he u p p er re a che s of the c an al , sco u r ing out sedi

men t It then becomes a combin at ion o f w aste an d s and gate I n

. .

f act it is very often a h ard m atter t o diff erenti at e between a w aste

,

gate an d a s and gate A r efi n emen t of the s econd u s e i s found on

.

s ys t em s whi ch ar e r u nning w ater to th e fu ll c ap a city of the c a n al an d

'

the rough a dj ustments at the river gate wo u ld allow such flu ct u a

tion in the volume in the c an al th at the b anks would be end angered
p ar t of t he tim e an d the can al not run to c ap acity at other times
-
.

“
The check belo w the w aste g at e on such a sy s tem acts as a s econ d ar y .
‘

h eadgate an d the disch arge through the check is adj ust ed to supply
he c an al to c ap a city while ex cess w at er i s w as t e d out the g ate in t he
t ,

bank a dj oining the second ary he a dg ate the upper he adgate being s et ,

t o disch arge m ore w ater th an would be done if the second ary g ate
did not exi s t The m ain c an al of t he Turlock irrigation district
.

(P I .II fi g 2 p
,
a.n d the,
j oint.he a ding
l
spoken of on p g
a e 14 a r e

equi pped in such a m ann er .

60 B U L LE T I N 1 15, U . s . DE P AR T M E N T or AGRI C U L TURE .

YP E S
T OF WA S T E GAT E S .

Th er e ar e t w o gen er al types of w astes The fi r s t comprises t hose .

a ct ing urely s spillw ays h avin g a cr es t h ei gh t deemed the control

p a ,

ling elev ation of the s a fe high w at er line of the c an al E xcess w at er

- -
.

re a chi ng t h e w aste t ops the crest w all an d is ca rried off i n a n atur al

w at er course or an au xili ary ditch constr ucted for t h e p u rpose If .

the c an al is l ocated along a hillside with no levee on t h e upper b ank , ,

thus allowi n g surf ace storm w ater t o come direc tly into t h e c an al ,

i t is a dvis able to m ake the crest w all of such a w aste g at e o f s uffi ci en t

l en gth th at a h eavy incre a se i n t h e w at er m ay t Op the w aste an d not
flow p ast i t The crest of the above t y pe is somet i mes m a de s t a
.

t i on ar y an d somet i mes a djust able being al t er ed by fi a shb oar ds i n,

s er t ed in slots . O bviousl y thi s t yp e of g ate is not a d apted to w as t ing

,

all of the w ater in the c an al The siphon principl e h as been su ccess

.

fully u sed to incre a s e the disch arge an d decr ea se the crest lengt h .

The sec on d ty pe of g ate h as an a dj u st able openin g ext endi ng d ow n

t o or below the gr a de line of t h e c an al permi tt ing all of t h e w ate r ,

to be turned out if necess ary I t is quite common pr a ctice now to .

construct such a w a ste g ate with t h e t ops of the shutters below t he

.

crest of the side an d win g w a lls so th at when the g at e is closed com

p l et el y it st il l a c t s a s a w a ste g ate of t h e fi r s t type di sch arging w ater ,

fr om the c an al when t he w ater level t o p s t he crest o f the shutters .

The r adi al g ate is re a dil y a d ap t abl e t o thi s form of combin ation

g ate an d s and g ates oper ated wit h r a di al shutters us ually ar e m ad e
,

so t h at w aste w ater c an t op their crests Thi s is e asily done by .

s i mply omi tting the cur t ain w all between t h e piers for a s u ffi ci en t
height to allow of a w ast e w ay over t h e tops of the shutters .

W A S TE G A TE S ,
YAKI MA PR OJ E CT ,U NI TED S TA T E S RE CLA M A TI O N S ER VI CE ,

W A S H I N GT ON .

Pl ate X I fi gu r e 2 shows an e as il y a d apt able w aste w ay for sm all

, ,

l ater als or ditches s ubj ect t o sudden in cre ases of w ater YVher e the .

ditch crosses a n atur al d r a in age w ay a concrete w aterw ay is set in

t he levee on the lower side an d the levee u p an d do wn stre am f or a
short dist ance is paved w ith rubble l aid in cement Thi s shoul d .

h ave a level crest so th at w ater will t op it in an even sheet Slot s .

a r e set ne ar t h e f ront of the w at erw ay so th at fi a shb oar ds m ay be

set an d t he gener al level of the w ater in the ditch a dj u sted by them ,

or they m ay be pulled an d all the w ater w aste d A n in cre ase of .

w ater which would end anger the dit ch or a s t ructure below the
w aste g ate p asses compl etely over the whol e s tructure in to the
dr ain age ch annel .
 GA TE ST RU C TURE S F OR I RRI GATI O N C ANALS . 61

W A S T E GA TE , LA K E VI E W I RRI GA TI O N CO . CA NA L , W YO M I NG .

Pl ate X I I , fi gu r e 1 show s a sm all w aste g ate s et in the lower levee

,

o f the c an al The crest of the solid w all is set as d et er m m ed to be

.

the s a fe or desir a ble limit for a high w ater line in the c an al E xcess
-
.

w ater within limits due t o storms p asses s a fely off into the n atur al
, ,

dr ain age w ay to which the w a ste is conn ected The side w alls pre .

vent the erosion an d w ashin g out of the b ank .

W A S TE G A T E , T U RL OCK I RRI GA T I O N DI S T R I C T , C A LI FOR NI A .

The use of very che aply built wooden r a di al g ates is brought ou t

-

in the View of a w aste g ate shown in Pl ate X I I fi g ur e 2 This g ate ,

.

Opens into a short c an al with a c ap acity o f

.
seco n d feet This -
.

great disch arge is obt ained with but three Openings N ote t h at the .

winches a r e loc ated only a few inches above the top s of the shutters
a n d th at no high g ate st and ards ar e required Although the w ater .

in t he m a in can al at the time this View w as t aken w as ne arly even

with the top of the gates there w as absolutely no le akage notice able
,

a t the sides of the sh u tters the w ater in the foreground bei n g either
,

seep age or th at rem a ining from the l ast run of w ater through the
gate N ote also th at this construction provides a cres t w a ste w ay
.

which will p ass off excess w ater in ca se the w ater level i n the c an al
re a ches the tops of the g ate shu tters .

The face of these gates is simple wo oden pl anking spiked to j oi s t s , ,

from which the thrust of the w ater is c arried by wo oden a rms to a

galvan ized pi pe a xle extending completely a cross the openings This .

construction is sh own in fi gu r e 14 p age 50 ,

.

WA S H I NG T O N 3 G O VE R N ME NT P R I NT I NG O F F I CE 2 1914