Recreational flumes are used for fun activities such as water games. These flumes can run for several miles, transporting logs from forests to sawmills located downhill. The use of flumes in log transportation has been so popular, that it is given precedence to other forms of transport. Another application of the flume is in the transportation of logs.

One use of the modern flume can be seen in the production of hydro-electric power, where the flume is used in the transportation of water from one reservoir to another. However, the use of flumes in the irrigation of farms has persisted even in the modern era, and operational flumes can be seen in Europe where they transport water from water bodies and into farms. In the modern era, flumes have completely different applications. Later, the flume was incorporated in the lift lock system of canals, and aided in the transfer of water from the upper part to the lower part of the system. Flumes would also be constructed to aid in the hydraulic mining of gold.

Flumes were also used to divert water into farms for irrigation. These traditional flumes were wooden troughs, which were elevated using trestles. The flume replaced the older mill pond, which was broader and therefore lacked powerful water current to turn the water wheel. Traditionally, flumes were built as part of a millrun, channeling water to turn a water wheel. “Flume” is derived from the Latin word “flumen” that means “river.” Traditional Applications Flumes use gravity and the terrain to dictate the direction in which water flows. This press release was originally published on the website of Deltares (in Dutch).A flume is a water channel built as a means of transport but defers from a trench because its walls are elevated above the surrounding ground. With over 800 employees it is the most renowned Dutch water research institute. All over the world Deltares works closely with governments, businesses, other research institutes and universities. Managing these densely populated and vulnerable areas is complex. Its focus is on deltas, coastal regions and river basins. Total costs of the project are 900 million euro and the enforcement has to be completed in 2015.ĭeltares is an independent institute for applied research in the field of water, subsurface and infrastructure. The experiments are being carried out for Projectbureau Zeeweringen, a joint project of Rijkswaterstaat and Waterboard Scheldestromen to enforce 325 km dikes on the Dutch coast. During the experiments, wave characteristics, water pressure in the structure and damage to the dike are measured. Waves can be generated up to a significant wave height of 1.5 m.

This flume has a length of 235 m, a width of 5 m and a depth of 7 m. In the Deltaflume Deltares has constructed a section of a dike on a scale of 1:2 in the Delta Flume. To reduce the costs of this reinforcement it would be interesting to know if the stability of the new block revetment remains the same, if the existingblock revetment is not removed. In case of a reinforced block revetment, it is common practice to remove the existing block before a stronger block revetment is placed. The purpose of the study is to test whether it is possible to reinforce a revetment by placing a concrete block revetment on an existing block revetment. Research institute Deltares is conducting large-scale physical model tests in one of the biggest wave flumes in the world: the Deltares Delta Flume.

Water concrete flume