The new Cascade concept of flood control is demonstrated in laboratory experiments in which upstream dams in a series of dams constructed along a river overflow from emergency spillways while the final downstream dam is required only to use its normal spillway and never do its emergency spillway. Multiple small dry dams lacking a slide gate in a normal spillway should be constructed in a series rather than as a single large dam to prevent flood disasters and to preserve the natural environment. Dry dams for flood control have recently been reviewed, planned, and built at sites in Japan. In this paper, we compare the Cascade method to conventional flood control in laboratory experiments conducted based on the condition that dams all have the same reservoir capacity. Results have shown that the Cascade method using multiple dry dams was considerably more effective than conventional flood control. Furthermore, the additional flood control effect of a dry dam equipped with closable and openable gate in its regular spillway was experimentally confirmed although there is no such kind of the gate on an ordinary dry dam. This new dry dam should be constructed in the river’s upper reaches away from the existing downstream storage dam needing still more its capacity for water utilization, thus ensuring the amount of water available by closing the regular spillway after the dry dam is filled to capacity. The flood control capacity of dams including the new dry dam is stronger than that of an ordinary storage dam thanks to the dry dam’s storage function.
Foundational Study on Water Use and Flood Control Effect by the Large Scale Reservoir
