The retarding basins are hydraulic works created to reduce the flow during the floods of a river by temporarily storing part of the volume of the flood.
The retarding basin consists of an intake structure, an artificial expansion basin and an discharge structure.
The intake structure is designed in such a way that when a certain level of the watercourse is reached, part of the flow is made to flow inside the artificial expansion basin, so that the flow of the watercourse is reduced.
The artificial expansion basin is usually built in an area that has a conformation that minimizes the costs for the construction of deflection structures.
The discharge structure is positioned in the lower part of the retarding basin, in order to allow the total flow of the water accumulated during the flood events.
