Author(s): Philipp Werner; Nicole Saenger
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Vertical slot passes climate change impact analysis risk assessment resilience
Abstract: Anthropogenic climate change increasingly impacts ecosystems, affecting terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments. Although many studies address ecosystem responses to changing key parameters, there remains a gap in understanding how these shifts affect hydraulic structures, such as fish passage facilities. Therefore, in this study, experiments were carried out to determine the influence of increasing and decreasing flow on vertical slot passes. In a further step, the vertical slot pass will be adapted. These adaptations will be geometrical obstacles that are placed strategically inside the pool. The different adaptions have different impacts on the functionality and the resilience of the vertical slot pass. The experiments were conducted with a 1:2 (scale) model in a flume of the hydraulic laboratory at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. The measured data were compared with the German guideline DWA-M 509. The key findings of the research showed that the increasing and decreasing flow impacts the passability of the vertical slot pass for fish. Furthermore, adaptions of vertical slot passes can be found and thus increase resilience and functionality to anthropogenic climate change.
Year: 2025