Open Channel Flow and Design
DISCLAIMER
Before purchasing, review the rules of your licensing or certifying entity. It is your responsibility to confirm this course meets your CE requirements. See the credit tab on the course page for details.
What’s Included: Full webinar recording, written course materials, expert instruction, a mandatory quiz, and a certificate upon completion.
Deliverability Timeline: All courses are generally available within 1-2 weeks after the live presentation.
CE Credits: AIA and/or LA/CES accreditation is available by request for courses recorded prior to March 11, 2026. All courses after that date include those accreditations by default, if applicable. With these accreditations, our courses qualify for credit in nearly all states for engineers, surveyors, architects, and landscape architects.
Learn more about the on-demand format in our FAQ or contact us at (715) 835-5900 or customerservice@halfmoonseminars.org
Agenda
Registration: 8:00 – 8:30 am
Morning Session: 8:30 am – 12:15 pm
Lunch (On your own): 12:15 – 1:15 pm
Afternoon Session: 1:15 – 5:00 pm
Understanding Open Channel Flow
Elements and definitions of open channel flow
• Uniform and normal flow
• Steady and unsteady flow
• Laminar and turbulent flow
• Gradually varied flow
• Equations for normal depth
• Types of prismatic channels
• Efficiency of channel shapes
• Flow regimes
• Compound channels
• Energy principle
• Continuity principle
Evaluating Channel Linings (Flow Resistance)
Flow shear
Rigid boundaries
Alluvial (natural)
Vegetation
Cowan equation
Need for iterative solutions
Making Open Channel Calculations
Solving Manning’s equation for normal depth
Solving energy for alternate depths for transitions
Solving continuity and energy for merging flows
Calculating critical depth, flow, and slope using the Froude number
Example of solving depth for a compound channel flow
Solving resistance in a natural channel
Designing a trapezoidal channel
Iterative solution of depth and resistance
Sediment Transport
Sediment response
Sediment budget or balance
Sediment properties
Incipient motion and Shields diagram
Types of floods with transport
Suspended and bed load transport
Transport capacity methods
Scour
Principles of Open Channel Design
Upstream versus downstream control
Use with supercritical and critical flow
Floods and storm runoff
Effect of time and duration on channels
Scour and erosion protection
Diversions
Tailgate and flow control
Sediment control
Flow measurement
Culverts
Credits
Professional Engineers
7.0 PDHs
Landscape Architects
7.0 HSW CE Hours
7.0 LA CES HSW PDHs
Floodplain Managers
7.0 CECs
Continuing Education Credit Information
This seminar is open to the public and offers up to 7.0 PDHs to professional engineers and 7.0 HSW continuing education hours to landscape architects in most states, including Utah. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in Utah.
This seminar is approved by the Landscape Architect Continuing Education System for 7.0 HSW PDHs.
HalfMoon Education is an approved continuing education sponsor for engineers in Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey (Approval No. 24GP00000700), New York (NYSED Sponsor No. 35), North Carolina, and North Dakota.
The Association of State Floodplain Managers has approved this course for 7.0 CECs.
Attendance will be monitored and reported, as required. Attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.
Speakers
Dr. Goodridge
Dr. Wade Goodridge is a hydraulic engineer with expertise in pressurized and open channel flow. He is currently an assistant professor at Utah State University teaching within the Engineering Education Department. Dr. Goodridge has worked as a graduate research assistant at the Utah Water Research Laboratory where he conducted research on sediment transport in culvert systems as well as research on stair stepped spillway structures. Dr. Goodridge has actively consulted on hydraulic engineering projects for a variety clients ranging from private and state to federal entities.
William J. Rahmeyer
Emeritus Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University (USU)Professor Rahmeyer was on the faculty at USU for 31 years and spent 10 years as research faculty at Colorado State University. Professor Rahmeyer is the past Department Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering at USU as well as the senior professor of the Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics program of the Utah Water Research Laboratory. He also served at USU as the director of the Hydro Composite Modeling Program, the division head of Water Engineering, the interim division head of both the Structures Division and the Transportation Division, and as the Undergraduate Curriculum division head. Professor Rahmeyer is currently working part time as a senior associate for Ayres and associates in Fort Collins Colorado, where his primary role is to conduct national workshops in hydraulics, culvert flow, and urban drainage for the National Hydraulic Institute of FWHA. He is a fellow and lifetime member in the American Society of Civil Engineers. Professor Rahmeyer has been a member of several professional societies, and serve on committees for the American Society of Engineering Educators (ASEE), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the International Association of Hydraulic Research (IAHR), the Association of State Dam Safety Officers (ASDSO), the Instrument Society of America (ISA), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the International Erosion Control Association (IECA), and the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Association (ASHRAE). He has regularly attended and presented at the annual conferences of ASDSO, ASEE, ASCE, IAHR, ASCE National Department Heads, and the Transportation Research Board (TRB). In the past, he has been a member of the United States Committee on Large Dams (USCOLD) and the International Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD). Over the last several years, Professor Rahmeyer has created and presented a workshop on open channel flow for HalfMoon Education and finished serving on the Bluestone Dam UASCE IEPA and on several 100% DDR review panels for the USACE. He has been on the board of directors for the Utah Floodplain and Storm Water Management Association since 1986. Professor Rahmeyer was a member the 2008 Bettelle “Final Independent Peer Review Report for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Vegetation Policy for Local Flood Damage Reduction Systems” which reviewed many of the guidelines and policies for management of levees, floodwalls, embankment dams, and appurtenant structures. Some of his recent awards include the AHRAE Technical/Symposium Paper Award, the ASHRAE Crosby Field Award for Research, and the South Pacific Division Regional Project Delivery Team Award from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He has received the Idaho Transportation Department 2012 Excellence in Transportation Award and the 2011 ACEC of Idaho Engineering Excellence Grand Award for the I-84 New York Canal Modeling and Modification. Professor Rahmeyer further received an honorable mention at the 2012 National AECE award ceremonies for his work with the I-84 New York Canal.