scope:

Purpose.

The purpose of this manual is to present data accrued from experience and research that may be useful to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) hydraulic designers concerned with the design of control valves for navigation lock filling and emptying systems. Primarily, the objective is to consider the hydrodynamic forces that enter into the design of valves. However, the interrelationship of structural features, operational procedures, and hydraulic performance will be discussed when pertinent to an understanding of the problems involved. Consideration will be given only to valves used to control flow in relatively long culverts. Valves in tubes with a length less than about 5 diameters, such as might be installed in or around the lock service gates, present a somewhat different type of design problem than those installed in longer culverts, and since they are rarely used in any but very low-lift modern locks, they will be omitted from the discussion. Service gates which in themselves either constitute the primary filling system or are used as auxiliary devices, such as sector gates, bascule gates, etc., also will not be treated in this manual.