Experiences of the Corps of Engineers

The discovery, in 1935, of severe pitting of the concrete in the conduit entrances of Madden Dam on the Chagres _River in the Isthmus of Panama prompted the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, to undertake later that year a program of model research on the subject of cavitation. The initial purpose of this research -was to develop a design of conduit entrance that would be free from cavitation. The program was later expanded to include a study of cavitation at gate slots in conduits and cavitation around baffle piers in stilling basins of high dams. The major part of this paper is devoted to a discussion of this model research and its effect on the design of structures that come under the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers.