The hydraulic characteristics of three types of plugs, namely, the single plug, the stepped plug and the gradually contracted plug were studied by means of experimental and numerical simulations. Main research findings are as follows. For the single plug,the pressure recovery lengths inside and after the plug range from 0.63-1.05 times and 2.02-2.84 times of the tunnel diameter,respectively. For the stepped plug, the lengths are 0.24-0.32 times and 1.62-2.84 times of the tunnel diameter, respectively. The best ratio of the inlet diameter to the outlet diameter of the gradually contracted plug can be expressed by a linear function. The relationship between the head loss coefficient and the area contraction ratio is obtained. The incipient cavitation numbers of different plugs are experimentally and numerically determined, and the incipient cavitation numbers are expressed by a formula. Model experiment with scale of 1:50 was carried out on a pressure tunnel with three-stage gradually contracted plugs. The results show that this type of energy dissipater is suitable for spill tunnels of high head (nearly 200 m) and large flow rate (nearly 2500 m~3/s).