A pontoon bridge, also known as a floating bridge, can be used as for pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The buoyancy of the floating bridge limits the maximum load it can carry. This research included experimental runs to study variations of open channel flow characteristics upstream and downstream a floating bridge. Eighty one runs have been carried out using a flume in a hydraulic laboratory. The experimental run program is classified into two main categories; the first investigates the velocity ratios (vds/vus) downstream and upstream the floating bridge. The second category is concerned with the energy head losses (hL) due to the presence of a floating bridge. The experimental runs are carried out using three pontoon lengths, three flow depths, six submerged depths, and three discharges. The results are analysed and graphically presented to help predict hydraulic parameters. The outcomes have shown that the floating bridge upstream, Froude number and submergence of the pontoon are the dominant parameters that affect the studied flow characteristics.

The head loss is a decrease in compressive height caused by friction and direction changes of flow at the sliced bend. This method expected to provide is easy, fast, and economical. The elements of influence are the velocity of flow, the num-ber of slices, average length of sliced walls, angle changes of the sliced, coefficient of friction, acceleration of gravity, and slope of the pipe. Equation for coefficient of head loss (Kb) is an analysis method for the head loss (hL) calculation. The analysis results that have obtained are the larger diameter of the pipe, and the more slices with a fixed discharge, the coefficient of hL becomes small. Conversely, if the diameter of the pipe is getting smaller, and the slice is getting less, then the coefficient of hL becomes bigger. This method, expected to give new knowledge in pipeline network applications, especially for the large diameter of pipelines.