Review of Studies on Stepped Channel Flows

Stepped channels and spillways are used since more than 3,000 years. Recently, new construction materials (e.g. RCC, gabions) have increased the interest for stepped chutes. The steps increase significantly the rate of energy dissipation taking place along the chute and reduce the size of the required downstream energy dissipation basin. Stepped cascades are used also for in-stream re-aeration and in water treatment plants to enhance the air-water transfer of atmospheric gases (e.g. oxygen, nitrogen) and of volatile organic components (VOC). The paper reviews the hydraulic characteristics of stepped channel flows. Basic equations are developed and discussed. Then the writer relates the historical development of stepped chutes. Later he discusses the parallel development of dropshaft cascades in Roman aqueducts and stepped fountains in the formal water gardens of the 16th to 18th centuries.

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