This text is loosely based on a course on ‘Hydraulic Structures’ which evolved over the years in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The final-year undergraduate and
Diploma/MSc postgraduate courses in hydraulic structures assume a good foundation in hydraulics, soil mechanics, and engineering materials, and are given in parallel with the more advanced treatment of these subjects, and of hydrology, in separate courses.
It soon became apparent that, although a number of good books may be available on specific parts of the course, no text covered the required breadth and depth of the subject, and thus the idea of a hydraulic structures textbook based on the course lecture notes came about. The hydraulic structures course has always been treated as the product of team-work.
Although Professor Novak coordinated the course for many years, he and his colleagues each covered those parts where they could make a personal input based on their own professional experience. Mr Moffat, in particular, in his substantial part of the course, covered all geotechnical engineering aspects. In the actual teaching some parts of the presented text may, of course, have been omitted, while others, particularly case studies (including the discussion of their environmental, social, and economic impact), may have been enlarged, with the subject matter being continuously updated.
We are fully aware that a project of this kind creates the danger of presenting the subject matter in too broad and shallow a fashion; we hope that we have avoided this trap and got it ‘about right’, with worked examples supplementing the main text and extensive lists of references concluding each chapter of the book.
Diploma/MSc postgraduate courses in hydraulic structures assume a good foundation in hydraulics, soil mechanics, and engineering materials, and are given in parallel with the more advanced treatment of these subjects, and of hydrology, in separate courses.
It soon became apparent that, although a number of good books may be available on specific parts of the course, no text covered the required breadth and depth of the subject, and thus the idea of a hydraulic structures textbook based on the course lecture notes came about. The hydraulic structures course has always been treated as the product of team-work.
Although Professor Novak coordinated the course for many years, he and his colleagues each covered those parts where they could make a personal input based on their own professional experience. Mr Moffat, in particular, in his substantial part of the course, covered all geotechnical engineering aspects. In the actual teaching some parts of the presented text may, of course, have been omitted, while others, particularly case studies (including the discussion of their environmental, social, and economic impact), may have been enlarged, with the subject matter being continuously updated.
We are fully aware that a project of this kind creates the danger of presenting the subject matter in too broad and shallow a fashion; we hope that we have avoided this trap and got it ‘about right’, with worked examples supplementing the main text and extensive lists of references concluding each chapter of the book.