Floating Woody Debris: Blocking Sensitivity of Labyrinth Weirs in Channel and Reservoir Applications
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 11
Abstract
Accumulation of floating woody debris at flow control structures can result in reduced discharge efficiency. Labyrinth weirs may be more likely to catch debris on the crest than other weirs due to their ability to pass large discharges with relatively small heads. Therefore, prompted from field data at Lake Brazos Dam, a laboratory-scale hydraulic model study was performed to evaluate the floating woody debris blocking sensitivity of labyrinth weirs in channel and reservoir applications, including arced labyrinth weirs. Experimental test results noted debris entrapment locations on the crest and that debris blockage probability is primarily a function of trunk diameter and upstream head. Debris accumulation tests indicated that lower heads are more sensitive to debris blockage than higher heads. Specifically, for smaller flow depths the initial or reference head (without debris) increased by up to 17% with debris, while at higher reference heads the head increase due to debris was approximately 7% or less.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Specifically, the USU experimental LWD data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the State of Utah through the Utah Water Research Laboratory (Utah State University). The authors thank the reviewers for their many valuable comments of this manuscript.
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Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 11 • November 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 25, 2020
Accepted: Jun 17, 2021
Published online: Aug 31, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jan 31, 2022
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