The water flow characteristics over an interval-pooled stepped spillway are investigated by combining the renormalization group (RNG) k-ε turbulence model with the volume of fluid (VOF) interface capture technique in the present study. The results show that the energy dissipation performance of the interval-pooled stepped spillway was generally better than that of the pooled, stepped spillways and the traditional flat-panel stepped spillway. The omega vortex intensity identification method is introduced to evaluate the energy dissipation. Due to the formation of “pseudo-weir”, the energy dissipation did not increase with the growth of the pool’s height. In addition, the average vortex intensity can characterize the dissipation rate to some extent.

Shiplifts are one of the main types of navigation structures in canals and high dams in natural rivers.

Owing to the high capacity, low costs, and environment-friendly characteristics, shipping has an important role in the sustainable development of the economy, society, and environment. However, with the development of the water transportation economy, the capacity of many navigation locks, such as the Three Gorges ship lock and the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal ship lock, has been hard to meet the increasing demand for passing through the locks. Thus, they have become the “bottleneck” limiting the navigation of the waterways. In the background of the vigorous development of intelligent transportation, the Intelligent Locks has been promoted through extensive research of the Intelligent Locks model, exclusive technology, and intelligent equipment, which is of great significance to improve the efficiency of vessels passing through the locks and enhance the function of waterways. This review starts from the current situation of the research on Intelligent Locks. We summarize the focus of the research on Intelligent Locks and the main tasks of Intelligent Locks. Moreover, the contents of Intelligent Locks are also introduced, such as the network communication platform, intelligent ship identification, positioning system, safety detection system, an intelligent guidance system for shipping, etc. Finally, we conclude that it is the informatization and intelligence that can improve the navigation ability and the management level of ship locks. At the same time, compared with the huge capital demand and the long-period construction of new ship locks, it will have obvious advantages of capital and time by attaching great importance to the automation, informatization, intelligent constructions, and applications of new technologies of existing ship locks.

Due to the small cross-section coefficient of a shiplift chamber, the hydraulics problem becomes a complex water flow problem in ship operation. To prevent the ship from touching the bottom and ensure the safety of ship navigation and the docking of the chamber, a generalized physical model was used to study the ship squat of a 1000 t ship leaving the chamber. Throughout the experiment, the law of variation law in the ship squat under different chamber widths, water depths, chamber lengths, ship speeds and ship starting acceleration was obtained. In this study, the flow pattern of the ship leaving the chamber was divided into two parts: backflow and bottom flow. According to sensitivity analysis, when the shipping speed was less than 0.9 m/s, the influence of the width of the chamber on the squat was greater than that of the depth of the chamber; when the speed is greater than 0.9 m/s, the influence of the depth of the chamber on the squat was slightly greater than that of the width of the chamber. Based on our theoretical analysis, the basic expression of a ship squat was established.

In long-distance, high-elevation gravitational water supply systems, it is essential to incorporate energy dissipation to lower pipeline pressures. The energy dissipation box is a novel device for pressure reduction, extensively utilized in gravitational flow transition systems. Despite its appealing contribution, systematic selection methods still need to be used regarding its optimum location. Hence, this paper considers the sum-of-the-maximum hydrostatic pressure head (SMHPH) and derives an extreme location equation for the energy dissipation box (EDB) in the design stage, and then, it comprehensively accounts for the overcurrent capacity and proposes a theoretical comparison and selection method for the optimal location (OL) between the critical and extreme locations. A theoretical analysis with an engineering case study is conducted to compare the theoretical OL, and numerical simulations are carried out to compare the pressure protection effect of the same box cross-sectional area and initial water volume of the theoretical OL and other possible locations with different initial water depths. The results show that the location of the EDB in the design stage should comprehensively consider the overcurrent capacity and the SMHPH. On the basis of both conditions, the oscillation amplitudes of the pressure gradient beyond the box are significantly decreased as the OL approaches closer to the downstream pipe. If the initial water depth in the box is large, the EDB provides greater protection to the pressure head (PH) by decreasing the cross-sectional area and then maximizing the utilization of water depth in the box and decreasing the volume of the EDB.