SOME ENGINEERING FACTORS THAT CONTROL GROUNDWATER LEVEL

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Prof. of Ag. Eng., Fac. of Ag., Ain Shams Univ., Egypt.

2 Prof. of Ag. Eng., Fac. of Ag. Eng., Al-Azhar Univ., Cairo, Egypt.

3 Assoc. Prof. of Ag. Eng., Fac. of Ag. Eng., Al-Azhar Univ., Cairo, Egypt.

4 Assist Lecturer of Ag. Eng., Fac. of Ag. Eng., Al-Azhar Univ., Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation to study some engineering factors that control groundwater level. Also, to study variations in water table depths with timeindifferent soils and amendmentsto accommodate variant crops and periods in growing season. To achieve this goal, two experiments were carried out, namely: (1) alaboratory experiment by using the soil tank model and (2) a field experiment, including utilization of rice straw as drain filling material. Three control depths were used for drainage outflow in the soil tank model, namely: (20, 12 and 4 cm from soil surface).The soil surface in the soil tank model was watered by surface irrigation, followed by draining through drains and was measured water table level at different times. The results obtained from model could be summarized as follows: Water table falling rate at mid-point between drains increases with the drainage depth and decreases with drain-spacing for both of soil with and without of rice straw.Water table falling rate at mid-point between drains in sandy loam soil with drain of straw was much more than bare soil.Water table falling rate at mid-point between drains in sandy soil with drain of straw was less than bare soil.Water table falling rate at mid-point between drains in clay loam soil with two drains of straw was more than one drain.Three treatments of soil were used in the field experiment, namely: silty clay soil, silty clay soil with drain of rice straw and silty clay soil with two drains of rice straw. Two control depths were used for drainage outflow, namely: 70 and 40 cm from soil surface. Two spaces for drains were used as follows: 3 m (by opened the two drains), 8 m (by closed one of drains during drainage). Results have demonstrated that: Water table falling rate at mid-point between drains increases with the drainage depth and decreases with drain-spacing for both of soil with and without of rice straw.Water table falling rate at mid-point between drains in silty clay soil with two drains of straw was more than one drain and one drain was more than bare soil.   Also, it has been got relations correlate between water table heightsand time at different engineering designs for subsurface drainage system with different soils, with and without rice straw, bydimensional analysis.   

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