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Summary Of Selected Technical Requirements For Artificial Whitewater Courses <br />The following technical requirements are typically accepted technical requirements used <br />in evaluation and design of Artificial Whitewater Courses: <br />• Hydraulic Drop (Head): Minimum head for an international level site is 3.5 m (11.5 <br />ft.). A head of just 1.5 m (5 ft.) is adequate for a site of "local merit." <br />• Discharge: A reasonable flow for an international quality site is 10 M3 /sec. (350 <br />cfs). Flow at 2 M3 /sec. (70 cfs) is adequate for a site of local merit. There is a <br />relationship between discharge and the amount of fall available at a site. <br />• Water velocity: An average velocity of 2m /sec (6.6 ft. /sec) is recommended. <br />• Water depth: 0.15m (6 ") is minimum depth needed to float a boat, but in order to <br />take paddle strokes, 0.5m (20 ") depth is needed. To safely perform an Eskimo <br />roll, 0.8 to 1.0 m (3 to 3.3 ft.) is required. <br />• Minimum average width recommended is 5 m (16.5 ft.). This allows a 2- person <br />canoe to safely turn sideways. The minimum passable width of 1.2 m (4 ft.) is <br />possible provided that it is a local constriction only and not consistent for the <br />entire course. Debris and safety issues may preclude a narrow width of 4f t. from <br />being realistic. The general maximum width as recommended by the CWCB should <br />use the streamf low as efficiently as possible. <br />• Minimum length is 400m (1310 ft.) for international whitewater slalom races. A <br />minimum course length of 240m (790 ft.) is recommended for most other courses. <br />The minimum head of 3.5 m (11.5 ft.) is driven by the need to provide reasonable rapids <br />throughout the length of a whitewater slalom event. A high quality play boat and rodeo <br />competition site can be created with significantly less head provided that there is <br />available discharge in the range as recommended as the RICE) Flow Rate. At the time of <br />this report, international whitewater rodeo criteria did not exist; hence specific <br />guidance or requirements were not available. <br />One party questioned whether these requirements are typically accepted. <br />