A River Ice Management Plan for the Gyeong-In Ara Waterway

The Gyeong-In Ara waterway is an 18-km man-made waterway located in the northern part of South Korea and connects the Han River near Seoul with the West Sea at Incheon. The Incheon Terminal includes a large turning basin/terminal area separated from the West Sea by twin sliding gate locks. The Gimpo Terminal also includes a large multi-modal distribution complex and is connected to the Han River by a lock with a conventional miter gate. The canal between the two terminals has a trapezoidal shape with a bottom width of 80 m and an operating depth of 6.3 m. Observations in the winter of 2010-2011 and modeling of historic air temperatures indicated that ice formation will occur on the waterway in cold winters. A river ice management plan was developed in order to address any issues that might arise when ice is present. Potential issues include ice congestion and icing formation at the terminals, flow control gates, and lock gates. The degree of ice formation remains unknown and will be affected by many variables, including the water quality of the Han River, the salinity of the West Sea, flow rate through the canal, the large tidal range (10 m) of the West Sea, and the number and frequency of vessel passages during winter. The development of the river ice management plan used an adaptive management approach as there was no operational history for either open water or ice conditions.