Author(s): Robert M. Boes

Linked Author(s): Robert Boes

Keywords: No Keywords

Abstract: In many industrialized countries a considerable share of today’s hydraulic infrastructure was constructed during the economic boom following World War II. Irrigation and drinking water transfer systems, reservoirs, hydropower dams and systems, river training works, flood protection infrastructure, etc. have aged considerably since then, often reaching the end of their design life and thus needing refurbishment. Today’s requirements in terms of safety, durability, economy and ecology have resulted in new challenges in the design and construction of hydraulic infrastructure. Sediment issues like reservoir sedimentation have increased in importance after decades of operation, so that measures to mitigate their effects are needed (Fig. 1). High-speed flows in dam safety related structures result in significant aeration and require an adequate design to increase operational safety. Moreover, the impact of hydraulic structures on the aquatic fauna has gained considerable attention in today’s water legislation, demanding for example for undisturbed fish migration across transverse structures such as weirs, sills and hydropower plants in up- and downstream directions. As a consequence, the interdisciplinary domain of ethohydraulics has recently emerged, combining the behavior and response of the aquatic fauna – particularly of fish – to the hydraulic signatures created by the flow.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15142/T3P05F

Year: 2018