Forum des Halles “Waterfall”

Hydraulic operation of the Canopy

Client: SemPariSeine - Scale: 1/3.66

Context

In the context of the redevelopment of the Forum des Halles in Paris, a curved roof called the “Canopy” was built. This roof consists of 15 transversal storm drains that collect rainwater and discharge it in the form of a waterfall. When the weather is dry, this waterfall may be fed using a closed circuit, thereby forming a fountain.

Aims of the physical scale model

The aim of the physical model is to check the hydraulic operation of this structure. The water harvested by the different storm drains is collected inside a main collector whose downstream end constitutes the inlet to the waterfall. Different specific points must be checked and optimised:

• hydraulic flow conditions in the collector and during injection of the flow from each storm drain,
• flow conditions in the weep hole and at the inlet of the waterfall,
• trajectory of the waterfall and water collection conditions in the basin located at the waterfall foot.

Description of the physical scale model

The model was developed to represent accurately flows inside the main collector and in the downstream sections of each of the five last storm drains. The waterfall and its collection basin area also represented at scale in order to visualise the quality of flows in the waterfall and the trajectory of the water.