It is a well established and widely accepted fact among the hydraulic engineering professionals that the physical hydraulic scale model test is not only a choice but an essential tool for testing hydraulic structures before its construction due to its ability to solve complex hydraulic problems which otherwise cannot be solved analytically or computer modelling even with modern computing facility. The main objectives of physical hydraulic model study are:

• To develop conceptual layout of overall headworks structures
• To verify and optimize the initial design of hydraulic structures with respect to cost and operation
• To reveal potential demerits of a proposed hydraulic design of various structures and explore solutions
• To use as supplementing tool to numerical modelling
• To research for innovations in hydraulic structures design

Similarly, the main advantages of physical hydraulic modelling are:

• It involves comparatively small investment but has huge return
• It can save the project from unexpected failure
• It raises the confidence level of both designer and investor
• It can propose solutions for improvement of defects, if any in new as well as constructed projects