IMPACTS OF FLOOD EVENT ON CHANNEL MORPHOLOGIES AROUND RIVER RESTORATION STRUCTURES

Abstract

Flood event has obvious and long-lasting impacts on channel morphologies, posing high risks of damage and/or failure of river restoration projects. This study evaluates the impacts of flood event on the channel morphologies around typical river restoration structures and provides possible management alternatives for a real restoration project. Both laboratorial experiments and numerical simulations have been carried out. The experiments are based on a large-scale physical model, being able to resolve local flow patterns and morphological variations with a high accuracy. The numerical model is formulated on unstructured meshes, allowing the exact representation of complex geometries and boundaries. It is shown that the numerical results are reasonably consistent with those of the experimental measurements. The numerical model might make a powerful tool and the results of this study would be of excellent references for future engineering designs and post-project assessments in the river restoration.