Hydraulic performances of skimming flow over stepped spillway was studied by means of hydraulic model experiment. The stepped spillway is a modification of the WES (Waterways Experiment Station) standard spillway. The main objective of the experiment was to study the performances of skimming flow over stepped spillway, which include the skimming flow regime, the flow depth on the spillway , the effect of air en-trainment and the energy dissipation. Presented in this paper, the experimental results indicated that the stepped spillway is more effective at dissipating energy, the dissipation ratio decreases with increasing discharge, and the free surface air entrainment on stepped spillway occurs much more upstream than on smooth spillway. Hydraulic performances of skimming flow over stepped spillway was studied by means of hydraulic model experiment. The main spillway is a modification of the WES (Waterways Experiment Station) standard spillway. The main objective of the experiment was to study the performances of skimming flow over spillway, which include the skimming flow regime, the flow depth on the spillway, the effect of air en-trainment and the energy dissipation. Presented in this paper, the experimental results indicated that the stepped spillway is more effective at dissipating energy, the dissipation ratio decreases with increasing discharge, and the free surface air entrainment on stepped spillway occurs much more upstream than on smooth spillway.