Locking of Rivers

Locking of Rivers

 

increasing the depth of rivers in individual sections by building a series of hydroengineering complexes that raise the water level above the natural level. Locks are built to facilitate navigation and the integrated use of water resources; in such cases the hydroengineering complexes built include structures to allow the passage of ships (seeSHIP LIFTS AND INCLINED PLANES). Locks intended solely for navigation are part of low-head hydroengineering complexes with sectional dams whose head levels do not allow the river to leave its channel; they are used where the floodplain is built-up or is valuable for agriculture, for example, on the Moscow, Oka, and Don rivers.

When the water resources of rivers are subject to integrated use, such as the combined use for purposes of power generation and navigation with regulation of river flow by reservoirs, locks are built as the transportation part of the complex and must provide a specified navigation depth on the approaches to the hydroengineering complexes located upstream.

REFERENCE

Mikhailov, A. V. Vnutrennie vodnye puti. Moscow, 1973.