Simulation-Optimization Model for the Hydraulic and Structural Design of Barrages-Regulators in Egypt

AbstractWith the increasing trend of replacing barrages in Egypt, especially those built before the High Dam in 1971, there is a need to reduce their construction costs. Barrages/regulators are structures used to control water levels along irrigation canals. The main elements of a barrage/regulator consist of a floor, abutments, piers, and a bridge. The cost of a barrage depends primarily on its floor and secondarily on its abutments, piers, and bridge. There are two methods for designing the barrage floor, including (1) the rigid method, and (2) the flexible method. In this study, two new models are implemented in MATLAB to design barrage elements using both the rigid and flexible methods. The design models are coupled with the shuffled complex evolution algorithm, developed at the University of Arizona (SCE-UA). The developed framework was applied to an existing barrage to demonstrate its efficiency and to obtain the most economical solution. The results proved that using the flexible method provides superior results compared to the rigid method. The developed framework provided good solutions for the studied case using both methods.