The latest issue of Dam Engineering is now on its way to subscribers. This issue contains the following papers: •Asymmetric flows in stilling basins with trapezoidal cross-sections by José L Sánchez Bribiesca and Jesús Gracia Sánchez. When tailwater depth in stilling basins with a trapezoidal cross-section suffers a small decrease, an asymmetric flow takes place and as a result water level rises in one of the borders and an overflow can occur. This paper examines an experimental study which was carried out to assess asymmetric flows.

•Applications of fracture mechanics to concrete dams: a detailed case study by Victor E Saouma and Douglas I Morris. Fracture mechanics was used to assess the safety of an existing dam which was the target for major rehabilitation. Analysis of that dam has shown that fracture mechanics may be a too conservative method of assessing the safety of the structure. The authors de-scribe how a small investment in fracture mech- anics-based analysis can lead to substantial savings in rehabilitation.

•Irrigation management in the Gudha irrigation project by Y C Agrawal. This paper is based on the work carried out by the author for the Action Research Programme — an initiative which falls under the auspices of the Irrigation Management and Training Project with assistance from USAID. The aim of the research studies is to identify deficiencies, suggest cost and time effective improvements for optimal utilisation of water for crop production.

•Optimal preliminary design of hydro power waterway systems by Hu Xiaodong, Chen Jiayuan and Alan Vardy. In this paper the authors describe a method of designing a complete hydro power waterway system. This method is applied to the design of two medium sized hydro power stations delivering 90MW and 200MW, respectively.

Dam Engineering is an academic journal, published quarterly by International Water Power & Dam Construction. It contains refereed papers on subjects related to dams and hydro power.

At present there is no restriction on the length of submitted papers. A reduced price subscription is avail- able to subscribers to IWP&DC.