Newsletter 2Vo l u m e 2 2 / 2 0 0 5 ( S u p p l e m e n t t o J H R - Vo l 4 3 - N o 2 )

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This article derives from a presentation givenby Dr. Chanson at the 2003 IAHR BiennialCongress in Thessaloniki, Greece. A fullerversion was published in the ASCE Journalof Professional Issues in EngineeringEducation and Practice

See page 27

IAHR Media Library Web Sitewww.iahrmedialibrary.netSee page 19

ShouldFieldwork beCompulsoryin HydraulicEngineeringCourses?

All IAHR members are cordially invitedto attend the IAHR General MembersAssembly to be held on Friday 16thSeptember, 2005, Seoul, Korea

Venue: COEX Convention Centre,Seoul, Korea

Time: 16:30

AGENDAOpeningAnnouncementsMinutes of the 2003 General MembersAssembly, Thessaloniki2004 Financial Report2004 Annual Report of AssociationActivitiesIAHR 2005-6 Council Election ResultsClosure

Convocation of the 2005IAHR General MembersAssembly

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Hydraulic flow systems are visual, and many involve complex time-dependentphenomena. They therefore lendthemselves to being photographed, orvisualisation by means of animation and/ormovies. Over the years a large amount ofsuch material has been accumulated byhydraulic researchers and engineersworking in practice. However, there are feworganized web sites for the archiving anddissemination of this very important data.In order to encourage wider use of existingmaterial, and to prevent the loss of existingscientific data IAHR has developed a website forstorage and dissemination of thisdata. Funding for initial costs has beenkindly provided by Fondazione Caripuglia

through a research project managed by theCoastal Engineering Laboratory of theWater Engineering and ChemistryDepartment of the Bari Technical University,Italy.The present web site has been created tobe openly available to the global hydraulicengineering and research communitycontaining images – both still and moving –of use for teaching, training, and projectwork and research,

The website is intended to be of use to:● Practising engineers/professionals

needing images to include in reports andfor discussions with clients;

● Educators needing images for teaching

and training purposes;● Researchers

The contents will include:● photos of technical interest related to all

aspects water engineeringThese images could include photographs ofconstructed works, pictures of accidentsand failures, photos of structures underextreme conditions● films of technical interest● computer-generated animations including:● brief, searchable, technical description ● adequate classification systemThe images are subdivided according to thecategories of the IAHR technical Sections:

IAHR Media Library Web SitePage 19

Report on the IAHR Paris ExecutiveCommittee MeetingPage 20

Conference ReportRivers´04 Page 22

Student ChaptersReport on Activities of the 2004 Stuttgart

Student Chapter CommitteePage 23

XXXI IAHR Congress, SeoulWhere to stay in SeoulPage 24

Chronicles on the History of HydraulicsExpertise in Water Resources.Exploitation on an Arid Continent-Australia, Many Thousands of Years agoPage 26

ResearchShould Fieldwork Be Compulsory inHydraulic Engineering Courses?Page 27

People & PlacesPage 30

Titles of papers in JHR Vol. 43 (1)Page 31

Titles of papers in JRBM Vol. 2 (4)Page 31

NewsletterIAHRAIRH

In this issue

Contact us:

IAHR SecretariatPaseo Bajo Virgen del Puerto, 328005 Madrid SPAINTel.: +34 91 335 79 08Fax.: +34 91 335 79 35website: http://www.iahr.orgGeneral e-mail address:iahr@iahr.org

Advisory Editorial CommitteeDr. E.P.D. MansardDr. J.P. ChabardProf. N. TamaiProf. E. VarasProf. C. Mateos

Direct lines:Dr. Christopher GeorgeExecutive Directortel.: +34 91 335 79 64e-mail: christopher.george@iahr.org

Cristobal Mateos Secretary General;

Estibaliz Serrano Editor Newsletter/NewsFlashtel.: +34 91 335 79 08e-mail: publications@iahr.org

Elsa IncioMembership and subscriptionstel.: +34 91 335 79 19e-mail: membership@iahr.org

Elena GarciaAccountstel.: +34 91 335 79 48e-mail: accounts@iahr.org

Cristina MorenoOffice Administrationtel.: +34 91 335 79 86e-mail: office@iahr.org

Our monthly electronic newsletter"NewsFlash" complements thebi-monthly IAHR Newsletter."NewsFlash" publishesinformation which would beoutdated if published only in ourbi-monthly Newsletter"NewsFlash" is available free ofcharge to anyone interested inhydraulics; if you know of anyonewho would like to receive itplease ask them to forward theire-mail address tous."NewsFlash" is also availableon our homepage:http://www.iahr.org

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New IAHR Media Library Web SiteLaunched! www.iahrmedialibrary.net

METHODS IN HYDRAULICS● Fluid Mechanics● Hydroinformatics● Experimental Methods and Physical

Modelling● Probabilistic Methods● Hydraulics InstrumentationAPPLIED HYDRAULICS● Hydraulic Machinery and Systems● Urban Drainage● Fluid Phenomena in Energy Exchanges● Water Resources Management● Industrial Two-Phase Flows● Hydraulic StructuresGEOPHYSICAL HYDRAULICS● Fluvial Hydraulics● Maritime Hydraulics● Groundwater Hydraulics● Ice Research and Engineering● Eco-Hydraulics

As mentioned above, the web site hasbeen developed, on behalf of IAHR, by theCoastal Engineering Laboratory of theTechnical University of Bari with thefinancial support of the FondazioneCaripuglia by means of a Research Project(LIC-MON (LIC for MONitoring, under theleadership of Prof. Antonio Petrillo). Theweb site has been subdivided in the areas:ABOUT US (with a brief description of theweb site)EVENTS (where events regarding the medialibrary will be shown)EDUCATION (where peculiar educationalevents will be reported)NEWSLIBRARY (subdivided in MEDIA LIBRARYand eventual PUBLICATIONS)

LINKS CONTACT USIt is possible to SEARCH the library formovies and photos using a SEARCHoption, or to look under the specificcategories mentioned above. In the initialphase the library has been “populated” witha limited amount of material includingmovies in the Categories of FLUIDMECHANICS, FLUVIAL HYDRAULICS, andMARITIME HYDRAULICS (this material anda sample selection of photos has beenprovided by LIC and Prof. Hubert Chanson ).

We would like to invite the hydraulicscommunity to submit photos and filmedmaterial which should be accompanied bythe following written information:

Movie/Photo titleMovie/Photo source and affiliationCategoryAbstract

Submissions of movies/photos for possibleinclusion in the IAHR web site will bereviewed and all material included willinclude full acknowledgement of theauthor/source.

The IAHR media library does not havefunds at this stage for purchase ofmovies/photos.

Dr. Michel MossaAssociate Professor of HydraulicsTechnical University of Bari, Italym.mossa@poliba.it

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Report on the IAHR Executive CommitteeMeetingJanuary 10-11, 2005, Paris

The IAHR President, the three VicePresidents, Secretary General andExecutive Director recently met in Paris fortheir regular, six-monthly meeting. Themeeting was kindly hosted by our InstituteMember LNHE, part of EDF Electricité deFrance.

Executive Director, Dr Christopher

George presented the audited financialreport for 2003 which showed a loss for theyear of € 27,230.84 taking into accountCEDEX support. This loss was mostly theresult of the writing-off of bad debts fromthe previous two years following ourtransition from Delft to Madrid. In presentingthe interim 2004 results Dr George wasoptimistic that our financial position will

have improved owing to costs savings, andimproved debt collection. Reporting onother developments, he said that it was tooearly to say how many members would takeadvantage of the new lower cost electronicmembership of IAHR.

Dr Cristobal Mateos announced hisintention to stand down as Secretary

Sample photo of Laboratories facilities

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General at the Seoul Congress inSeptember due to his forthcomingretirement from CEDEX. CEDEX will offer anew candidate for SG to be included in theslate in the 2005 Council Elections.

The Local Organising Committeereported to the EC that arrangements andProgramme for the IAHR Biennial Congressin Seoul in September this year are goingwell. The Executive Director, who made aninspection visit last November, reported thatSeoul looks set to be a very successfulcongress owing to the high quality of thecongress arrangements, the excellentinfrastructure of the venue, the quality oftechnical and social visits planned, and thegeneral attractiveness of the city of Seoul,and Korea in general, from the touristicpoint of view.

Planning for the next Biennial Congressin Venice in 2007 is well advanced.Discussions are underway with

ASCE/Copri to hold the next Symposiumon Coastal Structures alongside theIAHR Congress. The PlanningCommittee for the 2009 IAHR Congressin Vancouver has also started activities.

The EC took the opportunity of the Parisvisit to arrange meetings with the Presidentof the SHF, the Société Hydrotechnique deFrance, and with the Secretary General ofIAHS, to discuss extended collaboration.SHF is interested in participating in the nextHydroinformatics conference to be held inNice in 2006. Discussions with IAHScentered on IAHS involvement in theJournal of River Basin Management.

On publications, JHR Editor ProfMarcelo Garcia continues to see anincreased flow of papers submitted to thejournal for publication. At the same timeefforts are being made to expedite thereview process. As a result of the increasednumber of papers accepted for publication

there has been an increase in the waitingperiod for publication. The Secretariat isconsidering how to reduce this.

The Executive Committee discussedsome of the recommendations coming outof the membership survey carried out inApril 2004 – including, for example, thepossibility of producing back issues of JHRon CD ROM, and developing the IAHRNewsletter into a means of communicationof more general interest.

The EC spent some time analysing thethird draft of the IAHR Strategic Plan whichwill be presented for adoption at the SeoulGeneral Members Assembly in September(the IAHR Strategic Plan can be viewed onthe IAHR Website).

Dr. Christopher GeorgeIAHR Executive DirectorChris.george@iahr.org

Visit to Chatou Laboratory, EDF, Paris Left to right: E. Varas, N. Tamai, J. P. Chabard, C. George, C. Mateos, E. Mansard

The Official Launching of USM IAHRStudent Chapter

Rivers’04 was organized by the RiverEngineering and Urban Drainage ResearchCentre (REDAC), of the Universiti SainsMalaysia (USM) as the first conference in aseries of triennial International Conferenceon Managing Rivers in the 21st Century forthe purpose of providing a major forum toresearchers and engineers from nationaland international levels to present andexchange their views on the latest researchissues and application methods to solveexisting problems related to rivers inMalaysia and worldwide. 150participants from sevencountries (Malaysia, Iran, UK,Australia, Finland, India, USA)attended the three-dayconference. The official openingof Rivers’04 was made by HisExcellency the Head of State ofPenang on 21st September2004. Also, Prof. RogerFalconer, a council member ofIAHR graciously launched theIAHR Student Chapter –Universiti Sains Malaysia, thefirst of its kind in the Far East.The founding committeemembers of the IAHR SC –USM are Mr. Abd. Jalil Hasan(President), Mr. MohamadAnsar Derani (Vice President), Mr. ChangChun Kiat (Secretary), and Mohd FazlyYusof (Treasurer).

Government agencies and researchinstitutions at national level and aprestigious international professionalsociety supported this conference. Theseinclude: Department of Irrigation andDrainage (DID), Malaysia, MalaysianNational Committee on Irrigation andDrainage (MANCID), Humid Tropics Centre(HTC), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM),

Institute for Environment and Development(LESTARI), National Hydraulic ResearchInstitute of Malaysia (NAHRIM), and theInternational Association of HydraulicEngineering and Research (IAHR).

Rivers’04 highlighted issues dealingwith managing rivers such as: flash flood,urban drainage, water scarcity, waterpollution, catchment management, and riverconservation. The challenges ahead inmanaging rivers remains to be evaluatedand applied so as to preserve the naturalenvironment of existing rivers in recognitionof the developments that are coming to river

basins. Among the challenges ahead aredesigning a Sustainable Urban DrainageSystem (SUDS), River Restoration byapplying a “Back to Nature” approach, andIntegrated River Basin Management (IRBM).As such four Keynote Speakers allrenowned experts from national andinternational levels namely Prof. Roger A.Falconer (Cardiff University, UK), Prof. PierreY. Julien (Colorado State University, USA),Datuk Ir. Hj. Keizrul Abdullah (President,International Commission on Irrigation andDrainage, ICID), and Prof. Chan Ngai Weng

(Water Watch Penang, WWP) openedRivers’04 with their Keynote Addresses onthe subjects of Sustainable Management,River Restoration and EnvironmentalModeling in River Basin Management.

Among major issues raised by paperpresenters from various countries during theconference are the advancement ofintegrated river basin management viasmart-partnerships among government,industry, NGOs and the public, the need forwater quality assessments in urban areas,and the promotion of applying sustainableurban drainage systems. Sediment

transport, river bankstabilization, and flood warningsystems are other topics wellcovered in the conference. Thepresented papers werepublished in two parts: a Bookof Proceedings and the CD-ROM Proceedings. Bothcontain 75 papers covering thefour major topics: RiverHydraulics & Hydrology (30papers), River Management (27papers), River Modeling (12papers), and Case study (6papers). 30% of the paperswere from internationalparticipants whereas theremaining 70% were from localparticipants including research

institutions, NGOs and governmentagencies. The proceedings (Book and CD-Rom) are priced at USD 50 (RM 200) andcan be obtained from Assoc. Prof. Dr.Aminuddin Ab. Ghani(redac02@eng.usm.my). A specialpublication on a pilot project on UrbanStorm Water Management called “Bio-Ecological Drainage System (BIOECODS)”was also launched by His Excellency duringthe official opening ceremony. The specialpublication can be purchased at a price ofUSD 25 (RM 100).

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Rivers’04 - 1st International Conferenceon Managing Rivers in the 21st Century:Issues and ChallengesSeptember 21-23, 2004, Penang, Malaysia

Conference Report

USM IAHR Student Chapter was launched by IAHR Council Member Prof. RogerFalconer

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Two technical visits were also conducted during the second dayof the conference. The first visit was to the BIOECODS project atthe USM Engineering Campus. The participants were able to see forthemselves the application of several options of Best ManagementPractices (BMPs) such as swales, wet pond, and constructedwetland, in urban storm water management to reduce flash flood,water scarcity and water pollution. The second visit was to the USMMarine Research centre at Muka Head.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aminuddin Ab. GhaniRiver Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre, Malaysiaredac02@eng.usm.my

Proceedings of Rivers´04 1 Volume + CD Rom667 pages (75 papers)ISBN: 983-3067-08-5Publisher: River Engineering and Urban Drainage ResearchCentre (REDAC)Price: USD 50Available: contact Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aminuddin Ab. Ghani(redac02@eng.usm.my)

2004 CommitteeCo-Presidents: Lawrence Francois, Candice YoungSecretary: Wen WeiTreaurer: Setiadi Neysa JacquelineInternal Affairs Coordinator: Prabhakar SharmaExternal Affairs Coordinator: Ding JieActivity Coordinators: Yang Li, Mei Ling

2005 CommitteeCo-Presidents: Ruediger Siebel, Milos VasinTreasurers: Sordi Allisha, Fischer EckhardActivity Coordinators: Kennedy Holly, Eraydin Hueseyin

The 2004 Committee implemented numerous innovative ideasduring its tenure.An Overview of the different activities of the year is listed below.

Water Resources Colloquium-2004 EditionThe 2004 edition of the Water Resources Colloquium and IAHRStuttgart student chapter day with the theme ’The Role of WaterEngineers’ was a successful event. The colloquium was organisedto bring together Academicians, Designers and Engineers todiscuss issues pertaining to research and practice in the area ofHydraulic Engineering. It encompassed speakers from Consultingfirms, Academics and recent graduates. This year´s Colloquiumwas special of its kind as, in addition to the main theme, there wasa Panel Discussion. The panel discussion was an experimentalapproach for this year’s colloquium which invigorated the eventand was well received by the members, students and staff. Inorder to make the Colloquium more interesting, a fun activitysession was organised to end the evening. The participants

enjoyed the session with the game “Jeopardy!” where questionsfrom categories of Entertainment, Geography, Sports, History andScience and Technology were asked and the winning team wasrewarded.

Technical ExcursionThe IAHR Stuttgart chapter in colloboration with the MSc.Program at WAREM organised a Technical Excursion to theGeothermal Borehole site in Bad Urah including a visit to thepumped–storage power station. The last Technical excursion wasa visit to the Heidelberg Under on Hydropower Plant ’Karlstor’ inthe river Neckar accompanied by an experienced guide. A guidedtour was arranged following this to see more of the beautiful cityof Heidelberg, Germany, which ended up with a great dinner. Newstudents from the MSc. Program WAREM and PhD students fromENWAT were the target group of this excursion.

Report on Activities of the 2004Stuttgart Student Chapter Committee

Student Chapters

From the left: Vasin Milos, Kennedy Holly, Fischer Eckhard,Siebel Rüdiger, Sordi Allisha, Eraydin Hüseyin

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Cultural and Fundraising ActivitiesThe IAHR Stuttgart Chapter was involved in various fund-raisingand membership drive activities.

‘KulturAbend 2004’, (Cultural Evening 2004) was a verycreative approach undertaken for welcoming the new students thein MSc. Program WAREM and encouraging new membership.

New Students from different nations start their course in a verydifferent environment and they suffer from culture shock. But theIAHR Stuttgart chapter is always there to make them feel at home!The program started with a presentation including an introductionabout IAHR and a Student Chapter activities report. Subsequentlystudents from different nations displayed their culture with variousperformances including dance, music, songs and a shortnarration. The kulturAbend 2004 was a successful new event andwas appreciated by all.

Barbecues Barbecues were arranged at the start and end of each semesters.This events helped with the membership drive and fund-raisingactivity.

Election 2004The Election for the new Student Chapter Committee wasannounced. Several members nominated for the positionsavailable and a successful democratic election was conducted.

Lawrence Francois and Setiadi Neysa Jacqueline2004 Stuttgart Student Chapter CommitteeIahr-student@iws.uni-stuttgart.dewww.iws.uni-stuttgart.de/iahr-student-chapter

Technical excursion organized by the Student Chapter

Where to stay in Seoul

The Local Organizing Committee of the XXXI IAHR Congress hasarranged various classes of hotel accommodation for Congressparticipants. All designated hotels have consented to offer reducedhotel rates listed below during the Congress. These rates are alsovalid before and/or after the Congress if the participants want tostay longer in Seoul.

COEX Intercontinental, one of the most prestigious hotels inSeoul, is located right next to COEX where the IAHR 2005 Congresswill take place. Two different types of room are available forCongress participants. It is part of the World Trade Center Complexand is linked to the City Air Terminal, which provides immigration

service, luggage check-in and transportation to airports.

More reasonably priced rooms are available at other hotels suchas Riviera Hotel, Ell Lui Hotel, Ramada Seoul and Novotel. Thesehotels are located very close to the Congress venue. For example,you can walk to COEX within five minutes from Ell Lui Hotel orRamada Seoul. Other hotels like IBIS, CENTO or Co-op Residencealso provide good quality accommodation and convenient facilities.Taxi fares in Seoul are not expensive; it costs about 2 to 4 USdollars to reach COEX from most of these hotels.

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Grade Hotel Room Rate Distance from/to COEX (Approx. USD/€ )

★★★★★ COEX Inter continental 250,000 (Single)(USD 245/ € 190) In the Same Complex 275,000 (Twin)(USD 269/ € 205)

★★★★✩ Riviera Hotel 130,000 (Single)(USD 127/ € 100) 5 mins by taxi 145,000 (Twin)(USD 142 / € 110)

★★★★✩ Ramada Seoul 130,000(USD 127/ € 100) 5 mins on foot

★★★★✩ Novotel 140,000(USD 137/ € 105) 5 mins by taxi

★★★★ IBIS 97,000(USD 96/ € 75) 10 mins on foot

★★★★ Centro 85,000(USD 83 / € 65) 20 mins by taxi

★★★ Co-op Residence 63,000(USD 62/€ 45) 10 mins on foot

For reservations or more detailed information on these andother hotels, please visit the official website(www.iahr2005.or.kr). Those who want to make a reservation atother specific hotel individually, please contact IAHR 2005Congress Secretariat (mwbang@hanjinpco. com). Earlyreservation is highly recommended for all hotels.

For independent advise on Seoul hotel accommodation visit:www.tripadvisor.com

[Note] 1. A10% Service Charge and a 10% VAT will be added to the room rate. (Only 10% VAT will be added for IBIS and Co-op Residence.2. Breakfast is NOT included in the rate.

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Australians have been living on the Australian continent since at least 40000 years ago, maybe even some thousands of years earlier. Manysignificant environmental changes in climate, flora and fauna haveoccurred during this period of human occupation. Availability of waterhas been a constant concern. It was sought after, by necessity, due tothe fairly low precipitation rate throughout the continent along the coastas well as inland, towards the very arid, dry desert climate of the interior.

The exploitation of water resources bythe indigenous inhabitants of the Australiancontinent in prehistory was remarkablyingenious.

In an early period the climate was morearid than today and water had to becarefully harnessed. Australia is currentlystill the most arid continent on the globe.The nomadic existence of the indigenouspeople was dependent on their knowledgeof location of water within prescribed tribalboundaries. Indications of natural waterstorage situations are recorded for variouslocations in different parts of the continent.

To obtain food resources from the rivers, such as fish and biota,special structures were built, to ensure that they could be trapped andcaught at times of migration at different seasons. In rivers, lakes andthe sea, fishing from boats and spearing larger sea animals waspracticed extensively by groups living along the shore. The skillsentailed in these pursuits was outstanding. Water craft were createdwith extreme dexterity -their shape varying from location to locationdepending on available materials.

The construction of hydraulic structures was carried out withsimple tools and limited materials, without the development of pottery,and metals, thousands of years ago.

Throughout the continent of Australia a fair number of ancientwater structures still exist to this day.

They indicate a highly developed culture, stretching backthousands of years into prehistory. The concern with hydraulicstructures in various forms, natural and man-made, shows a highdegree of expertise in finding and preserving water and foodresources, in a variety of environments. It would also appear that theskill of the Aboriginal Australian people, was applied from the earliestperiods, in sometimes extremely adverse conditions. At the same time

work was carried out with simple tools andonly natural materials were used. It wasinherently an integral part of the culture.They built canals and water courses,having levels and grades determined byeye, as optical instruments did not exist!

Concern with water by the Aboriginalpeople was consistently significantthroughout the ages. It was important inview of the relative shortage of rainfall andrun-off, independent of weather they wereliving in close proximity of the ocean shore,in areas where fresh water was available increeks or rivers, or in the dry sometimesdesert, inland areas.

From the records of the various communities living in prehistoryAustralia, there is evidence of an expertise in what we, in our presentculture, might term water engineering. They exploited the resourcesthroughout Australia with great skill, with understanding of droughtand storm flows in water courses, and knowledge of linking lakes,rivers and creeks.

There was also awareness of possible locations of ground waterwhich could be reached and which was carefully protected.

Their great skill compares favorably with other cultures, datingback to the very distant past.

Dr. Hans Bandler, B.E., M. Sc. Hon. Research Associate,Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Are you interested in the history of hydraulics? Is there any study or report in this area that you would like to publish in our newnewsletter section ‘Chronicles on the history of hydraulics’? If so, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Pierre-Louis Viollet at: pierre-louis.viollet@edf.fr

Expertise in Water ResourcesExploitation on an Arid Continent – Australia,Many Thousands of Years Ago

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Should fieldwork be compulsory inHydraulic Engineering courses?This article derives from a presentation at the2003 IAHR Biennial Congress in Thessaloniki,Greece. A fuller version was published in theASCE Journal of Professional Issues inEngineering Education and Practice (2004).

Engineering graduates should be familiar withreal-world problems, practical applicationsand relevant solutions. Hydraulic engineersare no exception, but the teaching of openchannel hydraulics is a major challenge. Inopen channel flows, the free surfacerises and falls in response toperturbations to the flow (e.g., changesin channel slope or width). The locationof the free surface is unknownbeforehand. The main parameters of ahydraulic study are the geometry of thechannel, the properties of the flowingfluid and the flow parameters. Flowcalculations are non linear, often iterative,and not always intuitive.

In Australia water supply is limitedbecause of the dry climate, and waterengineering expertise is critical to thecontinent’s future developments.Therefore most undergraduate civil andenvironmental engineering curricula inAustralian universities include asignificant hydraulics component. At theUniversity of Queensland, hydraulics andwater resources engineering are taughtwithin the civil and environmentalengineering curricula which deliver,respectively, about 80-140 and 5-20 newgraduates each year. Following acommon first year for all engineeringdegrees, the students are taught hydraulicengineering in a series of compulsory andelective subjects which are mostly commonto civil and environmental engineeringstudents. Compulsory subjects includehydrology in the second year, fluid mechanicsand open channel flows in the third year anda component of civil design in the fourth year.Elective subjects are typically taught in thefourth year. Each subject corresponds to twounits within the engineering curriculum of 64units over 4 years. With over 33,000 students,the University of Queensland is the largestand oldest university in the State ofQueensland. Although perhaps not strictlycharacterised as an average university, its

undergraduate civil engineering curriculum isrepresentative of Australian civil engineeringcurricula - with a broad-based course and astrong focus on water resources.

Pedagogy of the Hydraulic EngineeringCourseIn the context of undergraduate subjects,design applications in the classroom arerestricted to simple flow situations andboundary conditions for which the basic

equations can be solved analytically or withsimple models. Field work activities areessential to illustrate real professionalsituations, and the complex interactionsbetween all engineering and non-engineeringconstraints. For example, a storm waterwaydesign requires a hydrological study of thestream to estimate the design flow rate and topredict the risks of emergency conditions.The dimensions are based on hydraulic,geotechnical and structural considerations,and the impact of the waterway on theenvironment must be taken into account as,for example, in flooding of the upstream plain,and tailwater conditions.

Although first introduced to motivatestudents’ interest, field studies inundergraduate hydraulic courses have beenan integral part of the teaching pedagogy formore than ten years at the University ofQueensland. The field work assessmentcomponent typically ranges from 5 to 30% ofthe overall assessment. Importantly, it addssome personal experience to the teaching.How many professionals have walked on afully-silted reservoir, counted endangered

wildlife species (e.g. koalas, and swampwallabies), recorded water qualityparameters and fish habitatcharacteristics ? Many will never feel suchreal-life context, but this experience canbe enlightening under expert guidance aspart of an undergraduate’s studies.

Selection of field tripsA careful selection of field trip sites isessential to maximise learning. A properbalance between successful structuresand failures is important. The writer’sexperience suggests that successfuldesign sites are as important as failuresites. Everyone can learn from a failedstructure, although it takes some researchto comprehend all aspects of the causesof failures. But it takes a well-trainedprofessional to emphasise the key detailsof a successful design. Why was thisdesign successful ? What could havebeen wrong ? How ?

The writer has organisedundergraduate field works in hydraulicengineering for more than 10 years

involving more than 1,000 undergraduatestudents. The adjoining figure showsAdvanced Hydraulics students conducting anecological assessment of the estuarine zoneof a small subtropical creek. For 12 hours,students surveyed hydrodynamics, waterquality parameters, fish populations, birdbehaviours and wildlife sightings at threesites. They concluded their works with agroup report and an oral presentation in frontof student peers, lecturers, professionals andlocal community groups.

Survey resultsFeedback was sought in a survey of the roleof field works in the undergraduate teaching

Fieldwork in 2004 as part of an advanced hydraulics class -Students conducting fish and water quality sampling in asubtropical estuarine zone at low tide in Queensland.

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of hydraulic engineering. Advice was soughtfrom students, recent graduates, seniorprofessionals and employers inCivil/Environmental engineering.Anonymous student feedback was collectedat the end of four field studies performed in2002 and 2003 in two compulsory subjects:Open channel flow and Civil Design, and twoelective subjects: Advanced hydraulics andMixing in rivers. Although feedback wasanonymous and not compulsory, more than70% of the classes answered.

The results demonstrate that studentsconsidered field works as an essentialcomponent of the hydraulic engineeringcourses and an important aspect of theircivil/environmental engineering curriculum asshown in the adjoining bar chart. 78% of thestudents believed strongly or very-stronglythat “fieldwork was an important componentof the subject”. The survey results showedthat students perceived a clear differencebetween a construction site visit, theinvestigation of a hydraulic structure inoperation (or disused) and a hands-on fieldstudy. Fieldwork encouraged strong groupbonding as it is well-suited to group work,allowing students to gain better in-depthunderstanding of professional teamwork anddesigns. Although the students believed thatfield studies did not replace traditionallectures, a large majority felt that fieldexperience helped them to think morecritically about hydraulic engineering. 96% ofthe students believed that fieldwork plays “avital role in comprehending real-worldengineering”

Anonymous results highlighted that fieldstudies were not self-learning nor self-paced.For example, nearly half of the students didnot agree strongly or very-strongly that fieldstudies were self-paced. Students neededexpert guidance and knowledge tocomprehend all aspects of a prototypedesign. For example, 80% of studentswelcomed strongly and very-strongly on-siteguidance. In a few instances, some studentsconducted field works individually. Theoutcome was disappointing. Their reportsindicating that they learnt little and missedvital issues. The writer interviewed studentswho conducted both supervised andunsupervised fieldwork for the same course.A general observation was that studentsinvolved in unsupervised studies did not learnto think more critically. Most studentsregarded expert supervision a necessity togain first-hand knowledge that may be

emphasised by an enthusiastic lecturer. Thisaspect was particularly important duringmulti-disciplinary field studies. For example,during the environmental and ecologicalassessment of a creek (see the figure),academics from the Department of Zoologyat UQ, professionals from the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA)and local wildlifeexperts were involved and interacted withthe students during the field study. Thesame experts were also involved in theassessment process.

Handwritten and verbal studentcomments added some personal feedbackhighlighting a strong student motivation forhydraulic courses associated with fieldwork.Field trips helped the students to visualiseprofessional situations. They motivatedthem much more than conventional lecturesand audio-visual aids, even laboratoryworks. Fieldwork offers students someprofessional exposure and involvesprototype dimensions. For example,students in the Open channel flow courseconduct both field studies and laboratoryworks. But the laboratory culvert experimentdoes not have the fascination of a prototypestructure: “This is the real stuff”, “nothingcan beat the real-world [experience]”,“awesome, breathtaking” (Students’comments). For example, in a real stormwaterway canal, students can walk along theentire structure. They feel the flood watersrushing down the canal and can imagine theconsequences of an incorrect design.Students expressed clearly a greatermotivation for hands-on experience in thereal world under academic supervision.

This increased interest for the coursetranslated always in higher marks incoursework and examination papers, and,more importantly, a lower failure rate in thesesubjects. Prior to the introduction offieldwork, the failure rate in hydraulicssubjects was about 15 to 30% ,on average,over a ten year period. Since theintroduction of fieldwork, the failure rate inthe same subjects, has reduced significantly.This trend was best noted during the twofirst years after fieldwork was introducedbecause the curriculum remainedunchanged and examinations were similar.On average, over the first four yearsfollowing the introduction of fieldwork, thefailure rate in these hydraulics subjects was10.6% (standard deviation: 7.2%). Sincethen the failure rate has ranged between 5and 22%.

The impact of fieldwork on students’performance was mostly noticeable in the“tail” of the class: i.e., the students with lowgrade point averages. Failure rates amongthe weakest students were reduced bynearly 70%. In several instances, individualswere noted to “switch on” during fieldworkand students commented included: “Igained interest for the civil engineeringcourse thanks to the real stuff (field studies)”,“fieldwork is great stuff”; “why don’t alllecturers bring us in the field?”

Professional feedbackIn addition, the writer interviewed a numberof former students: i.e., civil andenvironmental engineering graduates withless than 5 years experience. For a sampleof over 40 young graduates, 95% had a vividmemory of the field trips in hydraulics; 90%believed strongly or very-strongly that fieldstudies were an important part of thecurriculum. Most believed that fieldworkexperience helped them in their careerdevelopment.

The writer further interviewed a numberof civil engineering employers, includinggovernment departments, privateconsultants, and mining and constructioncompanies. From a sample of more than 25senior engineers, managing directors andCEOs, all stressed that field experience,including fieldwork under academicsupervision, was a basic requirement for civilengineering graduates. This was oftenassociated with strong in-kind support toassist and facilitate field studies. Forexample, during the field study shown in thefigure, the EPA contributed with more than25 man-hours and launched a boat on thestudy day, local communities contributedmore than 50 man-hours, and equipmentwas lent by several academic, governmentand local institutions.During discussions with leading engineers,some employers were shocked to learn thatfieldwork was no longer compulsory inundergraduate civil engineering curricula.The response suggested that seniorprofessionals placed more emphasis onhands-on experience rather than “virtual”education.

DiscussionAnonymous feedback and discussions withstudents highlighted the importance ofappropriate on-site guidance and expertise,associated with enthusiastic lecturers.Students can become thrilled by relevant

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field studies directly relevant to the coursematerial. For example, a culvert is oftenperceived as a “dull” structure in theclassroom, but it may become a fascinatinghydraulic structure in the context of ahydraulics field work, particularly with largestructures. From experience, the selection offield study sites must be changed from yearto year. The weak students who failed thesubject in the previous year must be giventhe opportunity to learn more and beinvolved in a new field activity.

Personal experiencesA key outcome of fieldwork is the personalexperience gained by students. While thisaspect is hardly quantifiable and oftenignored by university management, there isno doubt that field studies can enhance astudent’s individual experience and personaldevelopment. The writer has experiencedthis first-hand, and received considerableindividual feedback. For example, aninternational student was very surprised tosee a koala walking right in front of herduring an ecological survey; a former armypersonnel involved in fish sampling said : “Idid not believe that I would ever use survivalskills in an engineering course”; a first-classhonours female student discovered theintricacies of practical works in harshsubtropical conditions with no freshwaternor toilets on site; she added “it was more amatter to mix with the environment than tostudy river mixing”. Students are not the onlyones to learn : e.g., a Japanese visitingacademic met face to face a swamp wallaby(small kangaroo) at sunrise.

Group work contributes to newfriendships and openings: e.g., between civiland environmental students, betweenAustralian and international students,between students and professionalsinvolved in the study. Such personalexperiences are at least as important as theacademic experience.

While introductory field studies aresimple, advanced fieldwork may sometimesbe feared by students. The writer canmention cases of students who wereapprehensive about the field experienceprior to the activities. For example, fishsampling, work in snake-infested areas,wildlife surveys are not always perceived a“fun” activity. Yet all the students had thecourage to take on the challenges and thewriter has not experienced a single failure.Discussions with students after the field

activities demonstrated that some learned tocontrol their fears and all had a greatexperience. Group field works areparticularly well-suited to anxious students.

Summary and conclusionsField studies complement traditionallectures and laboratory work. Studentfieldwork was introduced systematically in aseries of hydraulic engineering subjectswithin undergraduate civil and environmentalengineering curricula. Anonymous studentfeedback demonstrated a strong studentinterest for the fieldwork. This wasassociated with greater motivation for thecourse, leading in turn to lower failure rates.Feedback from former students indicatedthat fieldwork experience was an importantcomponent of their studies and helped theirprofessional development. Employers

testified that fieldwork are an essentialcomponent of a hydraulic engineeringcourse and that it should be a requirement inall civil/environmental engineering curricula.

This pedagogical experiencedemonstrated the very-significant role offieldwork in the teaching of hydraulicengineering. Lecturers and professionalsshould not be complacent with universityhierarchy and administration clerks intent oncutting costs by eliminating field studies.Although the preparation of fieldwork withlarge class sizes is a major effort, theoutcome is very rewarding for the studentsand the lecturer. Yes, fieldwork should bedefinitely compulsory in each and everyhydraulic engineering course !

Open channel flow (58/84 response rate)

Civil design (51/73 response rate)

Hydraulic design (18/24 response rate)

Mixing in rivers/estuaries (29/39 response rate)

Anonymous student feedback from undergraduatefield studies conducted in 2002-03 “All things considered, do you think that fieldwork and site visits are an importantcomponent of the (civil/environmental engineering) curriculum ?”

1 = Disagree 2 = Unsure3 = Agree moderately4 = agree strongly5 = Agree very strongly

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Dr. E.M. Valentine moves to Darwin,AustraliaJHR Associate Editor, Eric Valentine has beenappointed to the post of Power and WaterFoundation Chair in Civil Engineering at theCharles Darwin University, Darwin, Australiastarting April 7th.

The chair is sponsored by the Power andWater Corporation of the Northern Territory.They particulary wish to stimlulate research inthe "top end" on Darwin Harbourhydrodynamics and on tropical river systems.They also wish to encourage thedevelopment of a local capacity in civilengineering.

Prof Valentine will not be losing contact withhis former base at Newcastle upon Tyne, as

People and places

Dr Andreas Müller retires from ETS,ZurichAndreas Müller, Vice President of IAHR1998-2001, has recently retired from ETS,Zurich. Former Secretary-General, HenkJan

Overbeek, and former PresidentHelmut Kobus, represented IAHR atAndreas’ retirement ceremony.

Article on Paul Duboys in the next issueof JHRHe was the founder of scientific fluvialhydraulics, who proposed in 1879 the firstformula for sediment transport in rivers. Ifyou would like to know more on thisdistinguished hydraulician, look out for thehistorical paper in the Journal of HydraulicResearch Vol. 43 (3) (upcoming publication).

References● CHANSON, H. (2003). “The Importance of

Field Works in the UndergraduateTeaching of Hydraulic Engineering.” Proc.30th IAHR Biennial Congress,Thessaloniki, Greece, J. GANOULIS andP. PRINOS Ed., Vol. E, pp. 193-200.

● CHANSON, H. (2004). “EnvironmentalHydraulics of Open Channel Flows.”

Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford,UK, 483 pages.

● CHANSON, H. (2004). “The Hydraulics ofOpen Channel Flows : An Introduction.”Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK, 2ndedition, 630 pages.

● CHANSON, H. (2004). “EnhancingStudents’ Motivation in theUndergraduate Teaching of Hydraulic

Engineering: the Role of Field Works” Jl ofProf. Issues in Engrg Educ. and Practice,ASCE, Vol. 130, No. 4, pp. 259-268.

Dr. Hubert ChansonDept of Civil Engineering, The University ofQueensland, Australiah.chanson@uq.edu.au

he will remain a Visiting Professor.eric.valentine@cdu.edu.au

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Due to lack of space, this sectionincludes only the titles of the currentissue of the Journal of HydraulicResearch. For the Abstracts and toaccess the full papers on the Internet goto the e Library within www.iahr.org

Decision support model for operation ofmulti-purpose water resources systemsO. R. Dölling and E A. Varas

Elaboration of management tool of areservoir dam on the Sebou river(Morocco) using an implicit hydraulicmodelM. Igouzal and A. Maslouhi

Sediment transport capacity in riversS. Yang

Energy losses and threshold conditionsfor choking in channel contractionsB. Wu and A. Molinas

Investigation of near wall velocity in 3-Dsmooth channel flowsS. Yang, Siow-Yong and J.A. Mccorquodale

Curvilinear turbulence modelling of openchannel flowJ.J.R. Williams

Correlation and distribution of shearstress for turbulent flow in a smoothrectangular open channelA. Bilgil

Floating breakwaters under regular andirregular wave forcing: reflectionand transmission characteristicsE. Koutandos, P. Prinos and X. Gironella

Fall velocities of natural sedimentparticles: a simple mathematicalpresentation of the fall velocity lawK. She, L. Trim and D. Pope

Inverse modeling of unsaturatedheterogeneous media bytwo-phase pressure derivative matchingK. Masumoto

Multi-level fracture network model andFE solution for ground water flow in rockmassC. Junrui, L. Shouyi and Wuyanqing

Technical Note Fluctuation approach to assessment of thereliability of radioactive waste disposalL.A. Bolshov, A.M. Dykhne and P.S.Kondratenko

Technical NoteAnomalous diffusion in regularheterogeneous mediaA.M. Dykhne, I.L. Dranikov and P.S.Kondratenko

DiscussionsTailwater level effects on flow conditionsat an abrupt dropBy M. MOSSA, A. PETRILLO and H.CHANSON, Journal of Hydraulic Research,Volume 41, 2003, Issue 1, pp. 39–51Discussers:Y.YAUSDA,M.TAKAHASHI and I.OHTSU ,Department of Civil Engineering, College ofScience and Technology, Nihon

Integrated River Basin Management: ACase for CollaborationN. WatsonABSTRACTIntegrated river basin management (IRBM)is an approach that has been interpreted ina number of different ways during the last100 years. Current support for IRBM isbased on a ‘myth’ of inter-agency co-

ordination. However, increasing complexityand uncertainty in river basin systems hascreated ‘wicked’ or ‘messy’ land and watermanagement problems. The limitedcapacity of state institutions to dealeffectively with such conditions suggeststhat the current ‘myth’ must be reformedand that a more powerful system-responsecapability founded on inter-organisational

Papers in JHR-Vol. 43, Issue 2To access the full papers on the Internet go to the e Library in www.iahr.org

Abstracts of Journal of RiverBasin Management VOL. 2 (4)To access the full papers on the Internet go to www.jrbm.net

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collaboration should be developed. Thecase for a collaborative institutionalapproach to IRBM is examined withreference to the Fraser Basin Council inBritish Columbia, Canada.

Freshwater and its management in IndiaS. K Jain, A. Sharma and R. KumarABSTRACTIndia is likely to face a major challenge inthe management of freshwater in view ofrapidly rising population and increasingagricultural, industrial and otherrequirements. As the economy of thecountry is currently witnessing rapidgrowth, management of freshwaterresources becomes all the more important.This paper reviews the status of freshwaterresources, their quantity and quality,demands as well as the managementrelated problems in India. A series ofactions that are necessary for a long-termsolution of the problem are suggested witha view that scarcity of freshwater does notbecome a hindrance in national economicdevelopment and food security. Analysing the effect of climate changeson streamflow using statisticallydownscaled GCM scenarios.S. Gebremeskel, Y. B. Liu, F. De Smedt, L.Hoffmann and L. PfisterABSTRACTThis paper discusses the potential impactof climate changes on the streamflow ofthe Alzette river basin in the Grand-duchyof Luxembourg. A statistical relationshipbetween observed daily temperature andprecipitation to surface and upper-atmospheric circulation predictor variablesfrom the National Centre for EnvironmentalPrediction (NCEP) reanalysis data isformulated for the period of 1961 to 1990.Future implementation is performed withpredictor variables from the coupledHadCM3A2a atmosphere-ocean generalcirculation model experiments from theU.K. Meteorological Office, for the periods2036 to 2065 and 2070 to 2099. Toanalyse the impact of climate change onthe streamflow of the study area,downscaled future local scenarios areapplied as input to WetSpa, a spatiallydistributed hydrological model in whichrunoff is simulated as a function of rainintensity, soil moisture and terraincharacteristics. The results of thehydrologic simulation indicate that therewill be a significant increase in themagnitude and frequency of futureflooding in the basin.

GIUH based Clark and Nash models forrunoff estimation for an ungauged basinand their uncertainty analysisR. Kumar, C. Chatterjee, R. D. Singh, A. K.Lohani and S. KumarABSTRACTRunoff estimation is an important aspectof river basin planning, development andmanagement. Geomorphologicalinstantaneous unit hydrograph (GIUH)approach holds a great potential forestimation of floods for ungauged basinsbecause of its direct application toungauged basins, without going forcumbersome procedure of regionalization.In this study, GIUH is derived from thegeomorphological characteristics of abasin and it is related to the parameters ofthe Clark instantaneous unit hydrograph(IUH) model as well as Nash IUH model forderiving its complete shape. Thedeveloped GIUH based Clark and Nashmodels are applied for simulation of thedirect surface runoff (DSRO) hydrographsfor ten rainfall-runoff events of the Ajaybasin upto Sarath gauging site of easternIndia. The geomorphologicalcharacteristics of the Ajay basin areevaluated using the GIS package,Integrated Land and Water InformationSystem (ILWIS). A comparison of theperformances of the GIUH based Clarkand Nash models in simulating the DSROhydrographs by employing some of thecommonly used error functions revealsthat the DSRO hydrographs are computedwith reasonable accuracy by both themodels, which simulate the DSROhydrographs of the basin considering it tobe ungauged. The relative sensitivity andthe degree of uncertainty associated witheach of the input parameters of the GIUHbased Clark and Nash models have beenquantified. The uncertainty analysisreveals that apart from the velocity (V)parameter, the length of the highest orderstream (LW) is the only geomorphologicalparameter which results in higher degreeof uncertainty in derivation of unithydrograph using the GIUH based Clarkand Nash models, and hence, it is to beevaluated with greater precision foraccurate flood estimation from ungaugedbasins.

Hydraulic design of riffles in gravel-cobble bed riversD.R. Walker, R.G. Millar and R.W. NewburyABSTRACTThe reintroduction of riffle-pool sequenceshas increasingly been promoted as anappropriate rehabilitation alternative forthe re-naturalization of modified gravel-bed channels. However, in the absence ofhydraulic design guidelines, enhancementefforts often fail to evaluate thesubsequent impacts to flood levels andsediment transport capacity. This paperdescribes a new hydraulic designprocedure developed for the evaluation ofconstructed riffles in steep gravel-cobblebed streams. The procedure addressesspecific design issues such as rifflelocation, configuration, amplitude,stability, and the associated affects onflow resistance, sediment transportefficiency, flood capacity, and aquatichabitat. With this approach, project reachdesign profiles can be developed forindividual catchment and reachcharacteristics, governing fluvialprocesses, and specific rehabilitationgoals and objectives. Used in associationwith proper geomorphic, hydraulic,hydrologic and ecologic appraisal, theproposed procedure should thereforerepresent a valuable resource in the designand rehabilitation of riffle-pool sequencesin steep uniform, channelized or incisedgravel-cobble bed rivers.

Technical NoteSabo check dams – mountainprotection systems in JapanH. ChansonABSTRACTIn mountain areas, sabo check dams arecommonly used to reduce the impact ofdebris flow. The dam constructiondecision process is a very important stepin the design, and some experience inJapan is discussed. Past experiencesuggests that a successful design isclosely linked with a global catchmentapproach, combining hydrology,geomorphology, hydraulic andenvironmental engineering, and eventuallyaesthetics. Such a system approach mustbe combined with long-term planning,excluding short-term political “reasoning”