Experimental Study of Ice Jam Thickening under Dynamic Flow Conditions
Publication: Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 3
Abstract
River ice jams are a common occurrence on northern rivers, and their formation can present a severe flood risk to nearby communities. As more and more river regulation projects are developed to provide an alternative to fossil fuels for electrical power-generating capacity, our need to understand the mechanisms associated with ice jam formation under variable flow conditions becomes more vital. This is because, at present, hydropeaking operations are often severely curtailed during the ice-affected seasons due to concerns that sudden flow fluctuations might instigate ice jams and associated flooding. Here, an experimental investigation explores the effects of rapid increases in discharge on ice jam formation and evolution. It is found that the thickness of ice jams formed under highly dynamic flow conditions tend to be slightly thinner than those formed during steady carrier flows for comparable discharges. Also, despite the highly dynamic nature of these consolidation events, the resulting ice thicknesses appear reasonably well approximated by steady flow theory.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded through a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) scholarship to the first writer and NSERC research grant to the second writer. This support is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are also extended to the Killam Foundation for additional scholarship funding, and to Sheldon Lovell and Perry Fedun for their efforts in setting up the experimental apparatus.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 3 • September 2007
Pages: 72 - 91
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 13, 2005
Accepted: Feb 28, 2007
Published online: Sep 1, 2007
Published in print: Sep 2007
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