History and Development of Design of Regime Channels: A State of the Art Review

Abstract

Channels carrying sediment laden water and constructed in erodible alluvial materials must be designed to be silt stable or in regime such canals by definition neither scour nor silt. The design of channel involves the selection of channel alignment, shape, size and bottom slope. In general, a channel changesincessantly in its position, shape and slope, as a consequence of hydraulic forces acting on its bed and banks. The design of irrigation system was first introduced based on the theory regime put forward by Gerald Lacey during the period 1924–1934. Some canals that were designed using Lacey theory have not been satisfactory. A common problem found in the design of channels was siltation. In this paper the history and development of “theory of regime channels”has been discussed. Several theories were proposed since from last three century. Brief review on all regime theories based on literature available has been presented.

Keywords: design of channel, sediment, Regime theory