Introduction

In January 1990 the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA) contracted with the

University of New Mexico (UNM) for the construction of the Civil Engineering/AMAFCA Open Channel Hydraulics Laboratory.

Civil Engineering students designed the lab, managed the construction and did the assembly, building the facility for roughly

half the cost if done externally. The lab enhances the design of AMAFCA’s flood control facilities.

The lab enhances the capacity of UNM’s research and graduate teaching in applied hydraulics.

Location

The 1,200 square-foot lab is in Room 037, Centennial Engineering Center.

Facility Equipments

The lab’s centerpiece is a steel 8-foot by 50-foot tilting table with an articulated center 2.5 foot above the floor. The 8-foot width

allows model channel curvature and junctions. Slope from the 0 to 10 percent is adjustable by hydraulic jacks. The table has

a finform top face. The tilting table site above a 2 x 2-foot recirculation channel and 360 cubic-foot sump. A 6-inch, 10-HP air-

cooled pump provides primary model flow. A 4-inch flexible pipe from a 5-HP submersible pump and a 2-inch flexible line from

a ¼-HP submersible pump supply auxiliary flow. A 5-inch adjustable overhead pipe allows elevated delivery. Submersible

structures are modeled in a 35 cubic-foot portable Plexiglas tank.

The lab makes extensive use of material salvaged from Sandia, Los Alamos and other UNM labs. Model components

constructed of a sheet metal, wood and Plexiglas are assembled on the tilting table. Component recycling makes subsequent

constructions less capital-intensive.

Discharge is measured with the following meters:

· Marsh-McBirney Magnetic Flowmeter, Model 201.

· ISCO Ultrasonic Flow Transmitter, model 3410.

· Dieterich Standard Annubar Flow Sensor, model GCR25, with an Eagle Eye pneumatic local flow indicator.

· Teledyne Gurley Current Meters, models 622 and 625, with Teledyne Gurley Flow Velocity Indicator,

model 1100, and AquaCalc Stream Flow Computer, model 5000, v.2.1.

3-foot wide Plexiglas flume 2000 gpm centrifugal pump

Lab information was referred from Dr. Richard Heggen.