Concentrated flow through gabions weirs

Abstract

The limited availability of water quantity and quality for human, agricultural and industrial use is a common problem faced in several places. Natural phenomena and mismanagement of watersheds affect the hydrological cycle and natural resources contained therein; the effects are present and the consequences are severe. Floods are one of the common problems that cause enormous economic, social and human losses. With the implementation of hydraulic structures for flood control, it has recently received much attention. Gabion dams have been successfully used in watershed management and have proven to be a viable solution for flood control. They are used to attenuate hydrograph by providing temporary storage. By using these dams, hydrograph final output with lower and longer maximum flow occurs. However, their behavior has not been well understood because the characteristics of building materials affect their behavior in the control of hydrological processes. Therefore, the main objective of this work was the aim of this work was to determine the effect that the size and shape of the rocks gabion dams have on the control of flow and sediment retention in the channels. Experimental results show that both the shape and size of rocks gabion dams influence the rate of flow and sediment retention. A bigger rock had lower resistance to flow and allowed the passage to a greater amount of soil particles. An influence of the shape of rocks larger percentage sediment retaining angled rocks also found. In addition, an effect of the channel slope on the behavior of gabion dam to control hydrological processes found.