Research Needs in Hydraulics, Coastal Engineering and Irrigation

Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1980, Vol. 50, Issue 4, Pg. 83-86


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

Last June an ASCE/NSF team gathered at Warrenton, Va., to prioritize research needs in civil engineering. They split the field into 10 subcategories, one of which is Hydraulics, Coastal Engineering and Irrigation. Among research needs this group identified are: Design criteria for high velocity flows in very high head projects. Embankment dam failures�why have most of them happened, and in light of the National Dam Safety Act and nuclear power plant concerns, how should they be designed? In irrigation, key challenges include (1)Irrigation in humid and semi-arid areas, (2)overdrafts of groundwater for irrigation, and what should be done about it, and (3)possible impacts on irrigated agriculture if huge energy projects are built in the arid west. Two key concerns about flowing water include sediments in wastewater plumes, which settle and kill bottom biota, and also erosion of river banks by flowing streams.

Subject Headings: Hydraulic engineering | Irrigation | Embankment dams | Dam failures | Streamflow | River bank stabilization | River and stream beds

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