Restoration Modeling Analysis for Abandoned Channels of the Mangyeong River

Abstract

This study examines the potential restoration of abandoned channels of the Mangyeong River in South Korea. To analyze the morphological changes and equilibrium conditions, a flow duration analysis was performed to obtain the discharge of 255 m3/s with a recurrence interval of 1.5 year. It is a gravel-bed stream with a median bed diameter of 36 mm. The reach-averaged results using HEC-RAS showed that the top width is 244 m, the mean flow depth is 1.11 m, the width/depth ratio is very high at 277, the channel velocity is 1.18 m/s, and the Froude number is also high at 0.42. The hydraulic parameters vary in the vicinity of the three sills which control the bed elevation. The total sediment load is 6,500 tons per day and the equivalent sediment concentration is 240 mg/l. The Engelund-Hansen method was closer to the field measurements than any other method. The bed material coarser than 33 mm will not move. The methods of Julien-Wargadalam and Lacey gave an equilibrium channel width of 83 m and 77 m respectively, which demonstrates that the Mangyeong River is currently very wide and shallow. The planform geometry for the Mangyeong River is definitely straight with a sinuosity as low as 1.03. The thalweg and mean bed elevation profiles were analyzed using field measurements in 1976, 1993 and 2009. The measured profiles indicated that the channel has degraded about 2 m since 1976. The coarse gravel material and large width-depth ratio increase the stability of the bed material in this reach.