A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a

trench A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...

. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to transport water; flumes use flowing water to transport materials. Flumes route

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

from a diversion dam or

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

to a desired

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

collection location. Flumes are usually made up of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

. Many flumes took the form of wooden troughs elevated on trestles, often following the natural contours of the land. Originating as a part of a

mill race A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a m ...

, they were later used in the transportation of logs in the

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, truckslog flume. They were also extensively used in

hydraulic mining Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment.Paul W. Thrush, ''A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms'', US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.560. In the placer mining of ...

and working

placer deposit In geology, a placer deposit or placer is an accumulation of valuable minerals formed by gravity separation from a specific source rock during sedimentary processes. The name is from the Spanish language, Spanish word ''placer'', meaning "alluviu ...

s for

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, tin and other heavy minerals.

Etymology

The term ''flume'' comes from the Old French word ''flum'', from the Latin ''flumen'', meaning a river. It was formerly used for a stream, and particularly for the tail of a

. It is used in America for a very narrow gorge running between precipitous rocks, with a stream at the bottom, but more frequently is applied to an artificial channel of wood or other material for the diversion of a stream of water from a river for purposes of irrigation, for running a sawmill, or for various processes in the hydraulic method of gold-mining.

Types of flumes

Millrace

A diversionary flume is used to transfer water from one body to another, such as between two reservoirs.

Log flume

Log flumes use the flow of water to carry cut logs and timber downhill, sometimes many miles, to either a sawmill or location for further transport.

Flow measurement flume

Some varieties of flumes are used in measuring water flow of a larger channel. When used to measure the flow of water in open channels, a flume is defined as a specially shaped, fixed hydraulic structure that under free-flow conditions forces flow to accelerate in such a manner that the flow rate through the flume can be characterized by a level-to-flow relationship as applied to a single head (level) measurement within the flume. Acceleration is accomplished through a convergence of the sidewalls, a change in floor elevation, or a combination of the two.Flumes
Openchannelflow.com Flow measurement flumes typically consist of a converging section, a throat section, and a diverging section. Not all sections, however, need to be present. In the case of the Cutthroat flume, the converging section directly joins the diverging section, resulting in a throat section of no length (hence the term "Cutthroat"). Other flumes omit the diverging section (Montana, USGS Portable Parshall, and HS / H / HL flumes).Sections of a Flume - Their Location and Function
Openchannelflow.com Flumes offer distinct advantages over sharp-crested weirs: *For the same control width, the head loss for a flume is about one-fourth of that needed to operate a sharp-crested weir *The velocity of approach is part of the calibration equations for flumes *Unauthorized altering of the dimensions of constructed flumes is difficult (and therefore unlikely) *Most flume styles readily allow for the passage of sedimentation and floating debris – reducing the time and effort associated with maintaining a flume installation Styles of flow measurement flumes include: Cutthroat, HS / H / HL-type, Khafagi,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, RBC, Parshall, Palmer-Bowlus, Trapezoidal, and Venturi Flume.

Navigable canal flume

200px, A bypass flume on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal In some nineteenth-century canals, a bypass flume diverted water around a lift lock from the level (or pound) above to the level below the lock, so that the level below would have sufficient water. p. 270

Recreational flumes

In competitive

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, specialized flumes with transparent sides are often employed by coaches to analyze a swimmer's technique. The speed of the flow is variable to accommodate the full spectrum of swimming styles and ability.

Gallery

Flume, Hafren Forest - geograph.org.uk - 228904.jpg, Measuring flume in the UK Gold Creek, AK, with pipe.jpg, Flume outflow Creek diversion above the southern portal of Woy Woy tunnel.jpg, A temporary flume in New South Wales

References

External links

{{Rivers, streams and springs Aqueducts