Barrages are major river structures. During the last century there has been a marked increase in research activities all over the world including South Asian sub-continent in developing theories and practices concerning design and construction of river structures on permeable foundations. In South Asia a large number of barrages have been successfully constructed on these theories. A number of more such structures are planned. It is for this reason. The author has made an effort to present to the engineering profession a comprehensive work which is indeed a compendium of modern practice of planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of barrages in sufficient detail