Author(s): Hoda Pahlavan; Shawn P. Clark; Jarrod Malenchak; Ming Wang

Linked Author(s): Shawn Clark

Keywords: No Keywords

Abstract: In northern countries, river ice jams are an important issue due to the potential for economic, environmental, and ecological damage. Breakup jams are typically initiated by increasing river discharge and water level during the spring freshet, and can cause substantial and rapid increases in upstream water levels. Ice jam releases can cause a surge of water and ice to propagate downstream. Due to the inherent safety concerns involved in ice jam field studies, there is a lack of data in the literature regarding flow characteristics beneath an ice jam; therefore, new research is required to improve our understanding of ice jams in general. The objective of this research was to bridge this knowledge gap by measuring the flow velocity at various streamwise locations beneath a simulated ice jam using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter in a rectangular flume. In this study, different roughness characteristics were considered for the ice jam and bed. The measurements indicated that changes to the boundary roughness caused significant variation in the mean velocity and turbulence intensity. These results extend the knowledge of flow conditions under an ice jam, and will improve the modeling capabilities and overall assessment of river ice jams.

DOI:

Year: 2016