Author(s): Jeff Earickson; Jon E. Zufelt
Linked Author(s): Jon Zufelt
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract:
The uppermost 140 miles of the Salmon River generates great quantities of frazil ice throughout Idaho’s cold winters. A freeze-up ice jam forms at a slackwater region 27 miles downstream of the city of Salmon, Idaho every winter, and often progresses upstream to the city. As the ice jam moves through Salmon, the river level can rise 6 to 8 feet and cause extensive flooding. Flooding has occurred at least 32 times since 1900, and the 1982 flood caused $1,000,000 in damages. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, studied the problem after the 1982 flood and proposed three options for flood control at Salmon. This paper reviews these options and the reasons why they were not implemented. The U. S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and the Walla Walla District then developed a potential solution using an ice control structure upstream of Salmon. This paper discusses the freeze-up and ice jamming mechanisms of the upper Salmon River, as well as the design and function of the upstream ice control structure.
Year: 1986