CHAPTER THREE

DIVERSION
HEADWORKS

INTRODUCTION TO DIVERSION
STRUCTURES

What are diversion head works ?

What is headwork?
Apparatus/structure for controlling the flow of
water in a river or canal.
A headwork can be either diversion headwork or
storage headwork.
Diversion head works are the work which are
constructed at the head of the canal in order to
divert the river water towards the off taking
canal.

 Diversion head works help continuous supply of

regulated and silt free water with a certain
minimum head into the canal.
Storage headworks, besides fulfilling all the
requirements of diversion headworks, store
excess water when available and release it
during periods when demand exceeds supplies.

Weirs, Cofferdams and barrages are

famous example of diversion
headwork.

OBJECTIVES OF DIVERSION
HEAD WORK
It raises the water level on its upstream side.
It regulates the supply of water into canals.
It controls the entry of silt into canals
It creates a small pond (not reservoir) on its
upstream and provides some pondage.
It helps in controlling the fluctuation of water
level in river during different seasons.

SITE SELECTION FOR DIVERSION

HEAD WORK
The river section at the site should be narrow
and well-defined.
The river should have high, well-defined, in
erodible and non-submersible banks so that the
cost of river training works is minimum.
The canals taking off from the diversion head
works should be quite economical and should
have a large commanded area.

 There should be suitable arrangement for the

diversion of river during construction.
The site should be such that the weir (or
barrage) can be aligned at right angles to the
direction of flow in the river.
There should be suitable locations for the under
sluices, head regulator and other components of
the diversion head works.

 The diversion head works should not submerge

costly land and property on its upstream.
Good foundation should be available at the site.
The required materials of construction should be
available near the site.
The site should be easily accessible by road or
rail.
The overall cost of the project should be a
minimum.

DIFFERENT UNITS OF
HEADWORKS

Different units of headworks

1.Weir proper (wing walls)
2.Under sluices
3.Divide wall
4.River training work
5.Fish ladder6.Canal head regulator
7.Shutters, gates
8.Silt regulation works

WEIR AND/OR BARRAGE

The ponding of water can be achieved either
only by a permanent raised crest across the
river or by a raised crest gates or shutters.
If the major part or the entire ponding of water
is achieved by a raised crest and a small part or
nil part is achieved by the shutters then this
barrier is known as a weir.
If most of the ponding is done by gates and a
smaller or nil part of it is done by the raised
crest then the barrier is known as a barrage.

 Weirs can be gravity weir or non-gravity weir

Gravity weir- when the weight of the weir (its
body and floor) balances the uplift pressure
caused by the head of water seeping below the
weir
Non-gravity weir-it has less thicker floor.
Resistance is offered by the bending action of
reinforced concrete floor.

 A Weir may be divided in to the following three

classes.
Masonry weir with vertical drop
Rock-fill with sloping apron
Modern Concrete weir with sloping glacis
1. Masonry weir with vertical drop
This type of weir, consists of a horizontal floor and
a masonry crest with vertical or nearly vertical
downstream face.

2. Rock-fill with sloping apron

Such a weir is also called dry stone slope weir. It
is the simplest type of construction and is stable for
fine sandy foundation.

3. Modern Concrete weir with sloping glacis

Weir of this type are of recent origin and there
design is based on modern concepts of sub surface
flow.

Modern concreate weir founded on permeable

foundation

Barrage founded on pervious foundation

Under sluices
Also known as scouring sluices.
The under sluices are the openings provided at
the base of the weir or barrage.
These openings are provided with adjustable
gates. Normally, the gates are kept closed.
The suspended silt goes on depositing in front of
the canal head regulator.

 When the silt deposition becomes appreciable

the gates are opened and the deposited silt is
loosened with an agitator mounting on a boat.
The muddy water flows towards the downstream
through the scouring sluices.
The gates are then closed. But, at the period of
flood, the gates are kept opened.

 The discharge capacity of the under sluices is kept

equal to the maximum of the following values :
i) To ensure sufficient scouring capacity, the capacity
of the under sluices should be at least twice the
canal discharge.
ii) They should be able to pass the dry whither flow
and the low floods during the months excluding the
rainy season, with out the necessity of dropping
the weir shutters.
iii) To reduce the length of the weir, the under sluices
should
be capable of passing about 10 to 15 per
cent of the maximum flood discharge at high floods.

DIVIDE WALL

The divide wall is a long wall constructed at right

angles to the weir or barrage, it may be constructed
with stone masonry or cement concrete.
On the upstream side, the wall is extended just to
cover the canal head regulator and on the
downstream side, it is extended up to the launching
apron.
It separates the weir and the under sluices
The dividing wall may also serve as one of the side
walls of the fish ladders

RIVER TRAINING WORK

River training works are required near the weir site

in order to ensure a smooth and an axial flow of
water, and thus, to prevent the river from
outflanking the works due to a change in its
course.
The river training works required on a canal
headwork are:
Guide banks
Marginal bunds

FISH LADDER
Rivers are important source of fishes.
The fish ladder is provided just by the side of the
divide wall for the free movement of fishes.
The tendency of fish is to move from upstream to
downstream in winters and from downstream to
upstream in monsoons.
This movement is essential for their survival.

 Due to construction of weir or barrage, this

movement gets obstructed, and is detrimental to
the fishes.
In the fish ladder, the walls are constructed in a
zigzag manner so that the velocity of flow within
the ladder does not exceed 3 m/sec.
The width, length and height of the fish ladder
depend on the nature of the river and the type of
the weir or barrage

CANAL HEAD REGULATOR

A structure which is constructed at the head of
the canal to regulate flow of water is known as
canal head regulator.
It consists of a number of piers which divide the
total width of the canal into a number of spans
which are known as bays.
The gates are operated form the top by suitable
mechanical device.

 A platform is provided on the top of the piers for

the facility of operating the gates.
Functions of canal head regulator:
It regulates the supply of water entering the
canal
It controls the entry of silt in the canal
It prevents the river-floods from entering the
canal
The head regulator is normally aligned between
90 - 110 with respect to the axis of the weir

Causes of failure of weir or barrage on

permeable foundation
1.Failure due to Subsurface Flow
Such failures can also be classified as:
Failure by Piping or undermining
Failure by Direct uplift

2. Failure by Surface Flow

Such failures can also be classified as:
By hydraulic jump
By scouring

Failure by Piping or undermining

The water from the upstream side
continuously percolates through the
bottom of the foundation and emerges at
the downstream end of the weir or
barrage floor.
The force of percolating water removes
the soil particles by scouring at the point
of emergence.

As the process of removal of soil particles

goes on continuously, a depression is
formed which extends backwards towards
the upstream through the bottom of the
foundation.
A hollow pipe like formation thus develops
under the foundation due to which the
weir or barrage may fail by subsiding.
Such failure is called failure by piping or
undermining

Failure by Direct uplift

The percolating water exerts an upward
pressure on the foundation of the weir or
barrage.
If this uplift pressure is not
counterbalanced by the self weight of the
structure, it may fail.

Failure By hydraulic jump

When the water flows with a very high
velocity over the crest of the weir or over
the gates of the barrage, then hydraulic
jump develops.
This hydraulic jump causes a suction
pressure or negative pressure on the
downstream side which acts in the
direction uplift pressure.
If the thickness of the floor is not
sufficient, then the structure fails.

Failure By scouring
During floods water may flow with very
high velocity over the crest of the weir.
This can result in scouring effect on the
downstream and on the upstream side of
the structure.
Due to scouring of the soil on both sides
of the structure, its stability gets
endangered.