Author(s): Xute Zhao; Cuiping Kuang; Yu Zhang; Jie Gu
Linked Author(s): Cuiping Kuang
Keywords: Estuary; Regulation project; Numerical modeling; MIKE; Hydrodynamics
Abstract: Rivers and the ocean interact with each other in the estuarine area and they perform complicated dynamic functions in the fluvial process. In the estuarine areas many sluices were built to control the flooding. Nevertheless, the sluice might change the hydrodynamic environment in the estuarine area. The subsequent variation of tidal wave, change of runoff and the imbalance of sediment transport could aggravate the sedimentation of downstream tidal channels, which has become a universal and serious problem. With a sluice located 4km from the estuarine mouth, the Shuanglong River flows into the Bohai Bay. The Shuanglong River estuary lies between the Caofeidian harbour and Zuidong district, which are both new rapidly developing industrial zones, is an important navigation area linking the harbor and inland. However, the sedimentation in the downstream area of the sluice narrows and shallows the estuary, which makes the navigation condition worse and cannot suffice the industrial development requirements. To solve the problem, the Shuanglong River estuary regulation project is carried out by Zuidong Industrial Park. In this paper, a flow model of the Shuanglong River estuary was set up based on the MIKE21 Flow Model, which has widely been used to simulate the flow field in coastal and fluvial areas. The model was well verified by measured tidal level and velocity, and was utilized to simulate the flow fields after the project to evaluate the performance of the project. The comparison of the computed field before and after the project illustrates that the construction of estuary regulation project brings wider channel, deeper water depth, more uniform flow velocity and lager discharge, which provides a better navigation condition.
Year: 2013