Drainage principles and applications

Abstract

Thirty-three years ago, the first International Course on Land Drainage was held at ILRI in Wageningen. Since then, almost 1000 participants from more than 100 countries have attended the Course, which provides three months of post-graduate training for professionals engaged in drainage planning, design, and management, and in drainage-related research and training. In the years of its existence, the Course has proved to be the cornerstone of ILRI's efforts to contribute to the development of human resources. From the beginning, notes of the Course lectures were given to the participants to lend support to the spoken word. Some twenty-five years ago, ILRI decided to publish a selection of these lecture notes to make them available to a wider audience. Accordingly, in 1972, the first volume appeared under the title Drainage Principles and Applications. The second, third, and fourth volumes followed in the next two years, forming, with Volume I, a set that comprises some 1200 pages. Since then, Drainage Principles and Applications has become one of ILRI's most popular publications, with sales to date of more than 8000 copies worldwide. In this second edition of the book, the text has been completely revised to bring it up to date with current developments in drainage and drainage technology. The authors of the various chapters have used their lecture-room and field experience to adapt and restructure their material to reflect the changing circumstances in which drainage is practised all over the world. Remarks and suggestions from Course participants have been incorporated into the new material. New figures and a new lay-out have been used to improve the presentation. In addition, ILRI received a vast measure of cooperation from other Dutch organizations, which kindly made their research and field experts available to lecture in the Course alongside ILRI's own lecturers. To bring more consistency into the discussions of the different aspects of drainage, the four volumes have been consolidated into one large work of twenty-six chapters. The book now includes 546 figures, 166 tables, a list of 132 symbols, a glossary of 332 definitions, and an index of 2125 catchwords. It has new chapters on topical drainage issues (e.g. environmental aspects of drainage), drainage structures (e.g. gravity outlets), and the use of statistical analysis for drainage and drainage design. Current drainage practices are thoroughly reviewed, and an extensive bibliography is included. The emphasis of the whole lies upon providing clear explanations of the underlying principles of land drainage, which, wisely applied, will facilitate the type of land use desired by society. Computer applications in drainage, which are based on these principles, are treated at length in other ILRI publications.