Model Study of Brown Canyon Debris Barrier

The principal hydraulic tests of a 1:50 scale model of a debris barrier and the contiguous channel, with some corroborative prototype data, are included in this paper. Tests of the barrier include those for determining the spillway capacity, the performance of the overflow, the development of a stepped overflow crest, and the operation of the barrier with and without detrital material impounded upstream from the barrier. Tests in the channel cover the problems of scour downstream and deposition upstream from the barrier. Because of meager field data, especially regarding bed load and rates of transportation, the initial tests of deposition upstream from the barrier were based on bed load and rates of transportation as developed in the laboratory. These results were reasonably verified in subsequent tests, based on data obtained from the first major storm after completion of the prototype structure.