Hydraulic engineering and infrastructures

Summary

Water is vital for life but also a powerful natural force. Hydraulic engineering addresses the sustainable management of water for reliable supply, renewable energy, and protection from hazards.

Content

Keywords

Hydraulic design, hydraulic structures, open channel flows, artificial and natural channels, dams and reservoirs, pressurized pipes

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

Fluid Mechanics

Recommended courses

Hydrology for Engineers

Important concepts to start the course

Fluid mechanics fundamentals, intro of informatics and programming

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Solve basic hydrostatic problems by computing forces on submerged objects
• Derive and understand the fundamental equations of continuity, energy, and momentum
• Apply fundamentals to solve practical and most common problems in hydraulic engineering
• Analyze and solve basic open channel problems
• Design simple hydraulic structures required for water use
• Estimate the size of reservoir based on hydrological inputs
• Optimize the sizing of simple hydraulic structures such as channels and pipes
• Sketch the essential elements of hydraulic structures

Transversal skills

• Plan and carry out activities in a way which makes optimal use of available time and other resources.
• Set objectives and design an action plan to reach those objectives.
• Use a work methodology appropriate to the task.
• Assess one's own level of skill acquisition, and plan their on-going learning goals.
• Demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking
• Continue to work through difficulties or initial failure to find optimal solutions.
• Take feedback (critique) and respond in an appropriate manner.

Teaching methods

• 3 hours of weekly lectures, carried out at the blackboard and with the aid of projected material
• 2 hours of weekly exercises

Expected student activities

• Active engagement during classes and exercise sessions by asking questions
• Completion of the moderate amount of homework requested
• Regular attendance to classes and exercise sessions and a moderate amount of homework should suffice to complete the class requirements in a satisfactory manner
• Home study

Assessment methods

• Continuous assessment (40% of total grade)
• Final written exam (60% of total grade)

Supervision

Resources

Bibliography

• Mays, L.W., 2019. "Water Resources Engineering", 3rd Edition. John Wiley & Sons.
• Munson, B.R., et al., 2013, "Fluid mechanics". 7th Edition. Wiley.
• Polycopié by Dr. Giovanni De Cesare et Dr. Pedro Manso "Ouvrages et Amv©nagements hydrauliques". Edition 2024, en deux volumes: Volume I (notes du cours), Volume II (cahier d'exercices)
• "Constructions Hydrauliques" par W. Hager et A. Schleiss (TGC, Vol. 15, nouvelle édition 2009)

Ressources en bibliothèque

• Water Resources Engineering / Mays
• Ouvrages et aménagements hydrauliques / De Cesare
• Constructions Hydrauliques / Hager, Schleiss

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/CIVIL-312