Analysis of drainage canal defects and review of canal cleaner designs

Abstract

The drainage system elements, namely, the canals, lose their initial design characteristics over time. In general, the canals with unstable profiles are often in the reclamation construction. The problems of unstable profiles of the canals are, primarily, related to the physical and mechanical properties of soils, formation of internal mechanical, as well as chemical and biological processes occurring by the action of natural conditions. Maximum stability is characteristic for canals formed in cohesive organic soils, as well as in various kinds of peat with their thickness considerably exceeding the depth of the canal. With insignificant peat thickness above mineral soils, the stability of the drainage canal slopes will be rather insignificant. Wood peats are the most stable among organic soils. The canals laid in sapropelic soils characterized by the natural flow have rather low stability. That is why, the required stability in wet soils can be achieved by removing the excess moisture. The slopes of the canals made in various clays and loams with their large thickness considerably exceeding the depth of the canal have relatively high stability.