PREFACE 



The purpose of this book is to present the theory of the steady flow of 

 water in open channels in concise form, suitable for use in senior and 

 first-year graduate courses, and for home study by young engineers who 

 wish to improve their knowledge of this branch of hydrauHcs. It is 

 hoped that the book will also prove useful to practicing engmeers 

 who have to make computations involving open-channel flow. The 

 tables are unusually complete and up to date, and are so arranged that 

 they can be used with a minimum of reference to the text. A knowledge 

 of elementary hydraulics is presupposed. 



Much of the basic subject matter appears in a form nearly identical 

 with that in which it appeared in the Technical Reports of the Miami 

 Conservancy District, under authorship of the senior author. Thanks 

 are due the District for permission to use this material, for which no 

 adequate substitute has been found. The uniform-flow tables and the 

 table of Bresse's function are taken from the open-channel tables of the 

 Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, which were computed under the 

 direction of the junior author. Thanks are due the Institute for per- 

 mitting the inclusion of these tables. 



A number of different methods of computing backwater curves are 

 described, each possessing marked advantages in application to certain 

 types of problems. A new feature is emphasis upon the analysis of the 

 flow profiles to be expected under different conditions of channel shape 

 and grade, rather than upon examples of situations in which different 

 types of profiles will form. The latter type of treatment, which has pre- 

 dominated in the literature, is of little direct use to the practicing 

 engineer. 



The text does not include a complete and exhaustive treatment of the 

 subject, about which much yet remains to be known. On the other 

 hand, certain related topics, not strictly within the scope defined by the 

 title, are discussed. There is a chapter on the moving hydraulic jump. 

 Another, on slowly varied flow, embraces the type of routing problems 

 that can be treated as steady flow if the changes are taken into account in 

 writing the equation of continuity. 



The first half of the book contains much material accumulated 

 throughout the life work of the senior author; the last half is pri- 

 marily the work of the junior author. 



