Theoretical Background

Flood Control refers to different means of diminishing the adverse effects of

flood. The acknowledgement of flood control methods has resulted into major

changes in how we deal with the destructive effects of floods. The main concepts

of flood is; a large amount of water coming from different elevations, converging

into a much smaller elevation causing overflow of water, large masses of rain in a

short amount of time, the effects of storm surges, and the overflow of rivers, and

other bodies of water.

In order to fully understand how flood can be controlled, we must

understand the concepts of how floods are classified. The parameters and

variables used to describe flood are the height of the floodwater, size and

frequency of the flood, and speed of the flood.

Flood control and flood, mainly relating to water has been concerned to laws

such as Pascal’s Law and Horton’s Law.

Pascal’s Law, given by Blaise Pascal states that “pressure at a point has

infinite direction, and thus a pressure change at any point in a confined

incompressible fluid is transmitted throughout the fluid such that the same change

occurs everywhere.“ The force applied from the flood water is directly transmitted

to the barrier, causing the force to lift the barrier on its own, independently.
 Another law greatly beneficial to the study of flood control is Horton’s Law,

which according to Robert E. Horton, states that “there exists a geometric

relationship between the average length of streams of a given order and the

corresponding order, w.” With Horton’s Law, we are able to identify the highest and

lowest elevations of a certain area – giving us a better visualization, as to why a

certain area is considered as a drainage basin.