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Hydraulic engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering
Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a Professional Engineer discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings....
 concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluid
Fluid

A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. All liquids and all gases are fluids. Fluids are a subset of the Phase and include liquids, gas, Plasma physics and, to some extent, plasticity ....
s, principally water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
. This area of engineering is intimately related to the design of bridge
Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, Rail tracks, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle....
s, dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
s, channel
Channel (geography)

In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or man-made deeper course through a reef, bar , bay, or any shallow body of water....
s, canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
s, levee
Levee

A levee, lev?e, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels....
s, elevators, and to both sanitary and environmental engineering
Environmental engineering

Environmental engineeringis the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment , to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate pollution sites....
.

Applications
Common topics of design for hydraulic engineers includes hydraulic structures, including dams
DAMS

Driot-Arnoux Motorsport is a racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsports. DAMS was founded in 1988 by Jean-Paul Driot and former Formula One driver Ren? Arnoux....
 and levees, water distribution networks, water collection networks, storm water management, sediment transport, and various other topics related to transportation engineering and geotechnical engineering
Geotechnical engineering

Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering includes investigating existing subsurface conditions and materials; determining their physical/mechanical and chemical properties that are relevant to the project considered, assessing risks posed...
.






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Encyclopedia


Hydraulic engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering
Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a Professional Engineer discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings....
 concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluid
Fluid

A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. All liquids and all gases are fluids. Fluids are a subset of the Phase and include liquids, gas, Plasma physics and, to some extent, plasticity ....
s, principally water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
. This area of engineering is intimately related to the design of bridge
Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, Rail tracks, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle....
s, dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
s, channel
Channel (geography)

In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or man-made deeper course through a reef, bar , bay, or any shallow body of water....
s, canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
s, levee
Levee

A levee, lev?e, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels....
s, elevators, and to both sanitary and environmental engineering
Environmental engineering

Environmental engineeringis the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment , to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate pollution sites....
.

Applications


Common topics of design for hydraulic engineers includes hydraulic structures, including dams
DAMS

Driot-Arnoux Motorsport is a racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsports. DAMS was founded in 1988 by Jean-Paul Driot and former Formula One driver Ren? Arnoux....
 and levees, water distribution networks, water collection networks, storm water management, sediment transport, and various other topics related to transportation engineering and geotechnical engineering
Geotechnical engineering

Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering includes investigating existing subsurface conditions and materials; determining their physical/mechanical and chemical properties that are relevant to the project considered, assessing risks posed...
. Equations developed from the principles of fluid dynamics are frequently utilized by traffic engineers.

Related branches include hydrology
Hydrology

Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic cycle and water resources....
, hydraulic modeling, flood mapping, catchment flood management plans, shoreline management plans, estuarine strategies, coastal protection, and flood alleviation.

History


Hydraulic engineering had already been highly developed under the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 where it was especially applied to the construction and maintenance of aqueduct
Aqueduct

File:Tomar December 2008-4.jpgAn aqueduct is a water supply or navigable canal 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....
s. They used hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of mining that employs water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. Previously, the use of a large volume of water had been developed by the Romans to remove overburden and then gold-bearing debris as in Las M?dulas of Spain, and Dolaucothi in Great Britain....
 methods to prospect and extract alluvial gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
 deposits in a technique known as hushing
Hushing

Hushing is an ancient mining method using a flood or torrent of water to reveal mineral veins. The method was applied in several ways, both in prospecting for ores, and for their exploitation....
, and applied the methods to other ores such as those of tin
Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, where it occurs as an oxide, SnO2....
 and lead
Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
.

The recent best-selling historical novel Pompeii
Pompeii (novel)

File:Castellum Aquae Pompeii 271.jpgPompeii is a novel by author and journalist Robert Harris published by Random House in 2003. It is a blend of fictional characters with the real-life eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 that overwhelmed Pompeii and its surrounding towns....
 has such a Roman hydraulic engineer ("aquarius" in Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
) as its main protagonist.

In ancient China, hydraulic engineering was highly developed, and engineers constructed massive canals with levees and dams to channel the flow of water for irrigation. Sunshu Ao
Sunshu Ao

Sunshu Ao was an ancient Chinese people court minister serving the administration of Duke Zhuang of Chu during the reign of King Ding of Zhou , during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty....
 is considered the first hydraulic engineer. Another important Hydraulic Engineer in China, Ximen Bao
Ximen Bao

Ximen Bao was an ancient Chinese government minister and court advisor to Marquis Wen of Wei during the Warring States period of China. He was known as an early rationalist, who had the Wei abolish by law the inhumane practice of sacrificing people to river deities....
 was credited of starting the practice of large scale canal irrigation during the Warring States Period
Warring States Period

The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, covers the period from 476 BCE to the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE....
 (481 BC-221 BC), even today hydraulic engineers remain a respectable position in China. Before becoming President, Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao is currently the Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China, holding the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang Zemin in the Generations of Chinese leadership...
 was a hydraulic engineer and holds an engineering degree from Qinghua University

Modern hydraulic engineering involves the use of computer software such as HEC-RAS
HEC-RAS

HEC-RAS is a computer program that models the hydraulics of water flow through natural rivers and other channels. The program is one-dimensional, meaning that there is no direct modeling of the hydraulic effect of cross section shape changes, bends, and other two- and three-dimensional aspects of flow....
 to perform the calculations to accurately predict flow characteristics.

See also


  • Hydraulic mining
    Hydraulic mining

    Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of mining that employs water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. Previously, the use of a large volume of water had been developed by the Romans to remove overburden and then gold-bearing debris as in Las M?dulas of Spain, and Dolaucothi in Great Britain....
  • International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research
    International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research

    The International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research , founded in 1935, is a worldwide independent organisation of engineers and water specialists working in fields related to hydraulics and its practical application....
  • Sunshu Ao
    Sunshu Ao

    Sunshu Ao was an ancient Chinese people court minister serving the administration of Duke Zhuang of Chu during the reign of King Ding of Zhou , during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty....
  • Ximen Bao
    Ximen Bao

    Ximen Bao was an ancient Chinese government minister and court advisor to Marquis Wen of Wei during the Warring States period of China. He was known as an early rationalist, who had the Wei abolish by law the inhumane practice of sacrificing people to river deities....
  • Henri Pitot
    Henri Pitot

    Henri Pitot was a France hydraulic engineer and the inventor of the Pitot tube.He became interested in studying the flow of water at various depths and was responsible for disproving the prevailing belief that speed of water increases with depth....
  • Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans
    Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans

    The effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were shattering and long-lasting. As the center of Hurricane Katrina passed east of New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 3 range with frequent intense gusts and tidal surge....
  • Significant modern floods
  • HEC-RAS
    HEC-RAS

    HEC-RAS is a computer program that models the hydraulics of water flow through natural rivers and other channels. The program is one-dimensional, meaning that there is no direct modeling of the hydraulic effect of cross section shape changes, bends, and other two- and three-dimensional aspects of flow....



External links

  • Chanson, H. (2007). , Journal of Hydraulic Research, IAHR, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 291-301 (ISSN 0022-1686).