It is used in America for a very narrow gorge running between precipitous rocks, with a stream at the bottom, but more frequently is applied to an artificial channel of wood or other material for the diversion of a stream of water from a river for purposes of irrigation, for running a sawmill, or for various processes in the hydraulic method of gold-mining. It was formerly used for a stream, and particularly for the tail of a mill race. The term flume comes from the Old French word flum, from the Latin flumen, meaning a river. They were also extensively used in hydraulic mining and working placer deposits for gold, tin and other heavy minerals. Originating as a part of a mill race, they were later used in the transportation of logs in the logging industry, known as a log flume. Many flumes took the form of wooden troughs elevated on trestles, often following the natural contours of the land. Flumes are usually made up of wood, metal or concrete.

Flumes route water from a diversion dam or weir to a desired materiel collection location. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to transport water, rather than transporting materials using flowing water as a flume does. Log flume in Sweden, August 2010Ī flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch.

For other uses, see Flume (disambiguation).

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