Author(s): Tomasz Kolerski
Linked Author(s): Tomasz Kolerski
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: River outlets located in tideless areas are analyzed in this paper. First, ice processes in the St Clair River mouth are presented. The river mouth, called St. Clair Flats is a typical river delta located on the shore of Lake St. Clair. Based on this example ice jam formation in river delta has been analyzed followed by a presentation of the main mechanism of ice jam formation. The Vistula River mouth is a man-made, artificial channel which was built in the 19th century in order to prevent the formation of ice jams in the natural river delta. The Vistula River releases large amounts of fresh water into the Baltic Sea which freezes in the winter season during which northerly winds prevail causing the drifting ice to move southwards and accumulate to form ice jams in the river mouth. For this reason ice breaking operations are performed. Since the artificial river outlet was constructed, no severe ice related flood risk situations have ever occurred. However, periodic ice-related phenomena still have an impact on the river operation. This paper presents the application of the calibrated mathematical model DynaRICE to perform a series of simulation in the Vistula River mouth for winter storm condition to determine the effects of ice on the water level in the Vistula River and ice jam potential of the river outlet.
Year: 2012