Dr. Noel Bormann

CENG 455 Open Channel Hydraulics

CENG-455 Open Channel Hydraulics Fall

Course Description:

This course has ambitious goals.

It combines the salient parts of 3 traditional courses covering hydraulic design, free-surface hydraulics and alluvial channel hydraulics. It is increasingly common in engineering practice today that each engineer address more than her/his "specialty", thus the combination of topics.

To master these topics, you will apply fluid mechanics and hydraulic principles in the analysis and design of "systems" that convey water in open channels. At the conclusion of the course you should also be able to analyze simple open channel flow situations using the HEC RAS computer program, which is the successor to HEC-2 and is very common in practice. Therefore, the ability to use this model may be of direct use to you in your career.

HEC-RAS will also serve as another example of the use of computer models to simulate and model natural systems. Successful students will also learn to apply concepts of sedimentation, bedforms and channel stability in hydraulic analysis (e.g. in a bridge crossing design problem).

Methods of culvert design will be presented in the context of design problems. I will emphasize the concept that streams are dynamic fluvial systems. One or two mandatory field trips will be scheduled outside of the class at the convenience of the majority of the students.

Course Administration:

This course will consist of lectures, readings, library research, in-class exercises, homework problems, 3 mid-term exams, a design/analysis project and a final exam. The required texts are Highways in the River Environment (HRE) and Basic Hydraulic Principles (BHP). Supplementary readings will be assigned from books in your past; Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics,(FFM) Munson, Inroduction to Hydrology 4th ED. (IH) Viessman and Lewis and one on reserve in the library, Open Channel Hydraulics (OCH) by French.

There will typically be a homework assignment each Tuesday. The homework will normally be due at the beginning of the 2nd subsequent class meeting. Preparation of a complete and neat notebook will be a portion of the homework requirements.

Notebooks will be collected and graded at the end of the course. Projects and homework not turned in by 5:00 p.m. on the day due will not be graded. The course grade will be established using the following weight factors:

  • Homework and Notebooks...............15%
  • Mid-term Exams..........................15% each
  • Design Projects (total)...................20%
  • DesFinal Exam.................................20%

I will hand out a list of course objectives for each of the tests at least 1 week before the test. The objectives will be very important in establishing what topics you should master prior to test time.

I will also expect that a nearly professional quality report be prepared to present the results of the project. It will be important that you devote adequate effort to completing the project if you are to do well in the course. To get the maximum benefit from the class you must read assigned material before the lecture dealing with that topic. Since much of the work will involve the use of HEC-RAS you are expected to be able to use the PC facilities in the HECC.

Please adhere to the Academic Honesty Policy of the University-DO NOT CHEAT.