Types of Hydraulic Structures

Hydraulic structures are anything that can be used to divert, restrict, stop, or otherwise manage
the natural flow of water. They can be made from materials ranging from large rock and concrete
to obscure items such as wooden timbers or tree trunks. Dam, for instance, is a type of hydraulic
structure used to hold water in a reservoir as potential energy, just as a weir is a type of hydraulic
structure which can be used to pool water for irrigation, establish control of the bed (grade
control) or, as a new innovative technique, to divert flow away from eroding banks or into
diversion channels for flood control.
Classification of hydraulic structures on the basis of material:
1) Earth fill
2) Rock fill
3) Concrete
4) Stone masonry
5) Timber
6) Steel coffer

Classification of hydraulic structures on the basis of function::

Flow control structures:
They are used to regulate the flow and pass excess flow. They might be gates, spillways, valves, or outlets.

Flow measurement structures:
they are used to measure discharge. They are weirs, orifices, flumes etc.

Division structures:
they are used to divert the main course of water flow. They are coffer dams, weirs, canal headworks, intake works.

Conveyance structures:
they are used to guide the flow from one place to another. They are open channels, pressure conduit, pipes, canals and sewers.

Collection structures:
they are used to collect water for disposal. They are Drain inlets, infiltration galleries, wells.

Energy dissipation structures:
they are used to prevent erosion and structural damage. They are stilling basins, surge dams, check dams.

River training and water stabilizing structures:
they are used to maintain river channel and water transportation. Levees, cutoffs, locks, piers, culverts

Sediment and quality control structures:
they are used to control or remove sediments and other pollutants. They are racks, screens, traps, sedimentation tanks, filters, sluiceways.

Hydraulic machines:
they are used to convert energy from one form to another. They aremturbines, pumps, ramps,

Storage structures:
they are used for the purpose of storage of water. These may be dams or tanks e.t.c.

Shore protection structures:
they are used to protect banks. Dikes, groins, jetties, revetments
More Reading: Dams, Water gates, Spillways, flumes, wells, drain inlets, sea wells, bulkheads, water sewer, Revetments, and much more


Dams:
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve
the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees (also
known as dikes) are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions.
Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are often used in conjunction with dams to
generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be
evenly distributed between locations.

Water Gates:
Water control gates are used to control the mass flow of water or wastewater in
various environmental and process applications. They are usually square and rectangular in
shape and made of stainless steel or galvanized aluminum. There are many different types of
products. Bulkhead gates are supplied in one-piece panels and used in flood control applications.
These large water control gates are installed with a hoist or crane and may include stop logs for
ease of installation. Floating bulkheads consist of individual sections that are floated in place and
joined together. These water control gates are designed for spillway openings and other areas
that cannot use a bulkhead gate

Spillways: 
A spillway is a structure used to provide for the controlled release of flows from a
dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed. Spillways
release floods so that the water does not overtop and damage or even destroy the dam. Except
during flood periods, water does not normally flow over a spillway. In contrast, an intake is a
structure used to release water on a regular basis for water supply, hydroelectricity generation,
etc. Floodgates and fuse plugs may be designed into spillways to regulate water flow and dam
height. Other uses of the term "spillway" include bypasses of dams or outlets of a channels used
during highwater, and outlet channels carved through natural dams such as moraines..

Flumes:
A flume is an open artificial water channel, in the form of a gravity chute, that leads
water from a diversion dam or weir completely aside a natural flow. Often, the flume is an
elevated box structure (typically wood) that follows the natural contours of the land. These have
been extensively used in hydraulic mining and working placer deposits for gold, tin and other
heavy minerals. They are also used in the transportation of logs in the logging industry, electric
power generation and to power various mill operations by the use of a waterwheel. Examples of
flumes are Venturi flumes and Parshall flumes

Wells:
Water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring
or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric
submersible pump, a vertical turbine pump, a hand pump or a mechanical pump (e.g. from a
water-pumping windmill. It can also be drawn up using containers, such as buckets that are
raised mechanically or by hand.

Drain inlets:
In the design of storm water drains, the openings used to drain storm water runoff into the storm
sewer system may be a curb inlet, gutter inlet, or a combination of the two. A major part of the
design procedure for storm drains is to use the design storm water runoff rate to size the surface
openings and/or curb inlets so that they can handle the storm water runoff. In the design of storm
water drains, the storm water curb inlet or gutter inlet opening can be sized using orifice
equations if the opening is completely submerged, or with a weir equation if the inlet opening is
not submerged.

Seawalls:
Seawalls are usually massive, vertical structures used to protect backshore areas from
heavy wave action, and in lower wave energy environments, to separate land from water

Bulkheads:
 These are vertical retaining walls to hold or prevent the soil from sliding seaward.

Water sewer:
Effluent sewer is a wastewater collection system that pumps only the liquid
portion of sewage. At each home, a buried tank collects and passively separates solids from the
liquid effluent. High head pumps then pump the effluent through small diameter pipes (typically
2" to 4") to downstream treatment. Because the system is pressurized, pipes can be laid just
under the surface, along the ground's contour.

Revetments:
 Revetments are a cover or facing of erosion resistant material placed directly on an existing slope, embankment or dike to protect the area from waves and strong currents.

Dikes and Levees:
Dikes are typically earth structures (dams) that keep elevated water levels from flooding interior lowlands.

Breakwaters - Breakwaters are generally shore-parallel structures that reduce the amount of
wave energy reaching the protected area.

Groins:
Groins are the oldest and most common shore-connected, beach stabilization structure.

Sills / Perched Beaches:
Construction of a low retaining sill to trap sand results in what is known as a "perched beach," one that is elevated above its original level.

Jetties and Piers:
Jetties are shore-normal stone structures commonly used for training navigation channels and stabilizing inlets. Pier structures are sometimes referred to as jetties.

Cofferdam:
A cofferdam (also called coffer) is an enclosure within a water environment
constructed to allow water to be pumped out to create a dry work environment. Commonly used
for oil rig construction and repair, bridge and dam work, the cofferdam is usually a welded steel
structure that is temporary and is typically dismantled after work is completed. Its components
consist of sheet piles, wales, and cross braces.

Weirs:
A weir is a small overflow dam used to alter the flow characteristics of a river or stream.
In most cases weirs take the form of a barrier across the river that causes water to pool behind
the structure (not unlike a dam), but allow water to flow over the top. Weirs are commonly used
to alter the flow regime of the river, prevent flooding, measure discharge and to help render a
river navigable.

Aqueducts:
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel (conduit) constructed to convey
water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels,
and other structures used for this purpose.[1] In a more restricted use, aqueduct (occasionally
water bridge) applies to any bridge or viaduct that transports water—instead of a path, road or
railway—across a gap. Large navigable aqueducts are used as transport links for boats or ships.