The history of hydraulic structures realized in Banat hydrographical area (Romania) [articol]

Abstract

Banat hydrographical area is situated in the western and south-western part of Romania and includes the hydrographical basins of the rivers: Aranca, Bega Veche, Bega, Timiș, Bârzava, Moravița, Caraș, Nera, Cerna and other smaller Danube river’s tributaries. The relief of this region is very diverse, with altitudes that decrease from east to west and fluctuate between 70 m and 2291 m. The characteristics of the hydrographical network and of the surface, which have a very low drainage slope in the plain area, sometimes nonexistent as well as the limited possibilities of surface water infiltration, due to the low soil permeability, have in the past led to the occurrence of unstable watercourses, with many channels that were often lost in the lowlands where they formed large flood plain meadow and marshes. For the economic development and the profitability of Banat region, an intensive water management activity has been carried out, which targeted the design and execution of several hydraulic structures through all known hydrotechnical techniques, some of them unique in the Romanian space.