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DYNAMICS OF RIVER ICE TRANSPORT AND ICE JAMS

Sponsors: New York Power Authority and US Army CRREL

Transport and jamming of river ice can interfere with hydropower production, cause excessive shoreline erosion, damage hydraulic structures, and produce severe ice jam flooding. Existing ice transport and ice jam theories do not consider the dynamics of ice motion. They can not be used to predict the time and location of the formation of ice jams. In this study, the analytical formulation and a two-dimensional numerical model DynaRICE© have been developed for simulating the dynamic transport of river ice and ice jam formation.

A. Numerical Model Studies of Ice Transport and Jamming in the Upper Niagara River


Sponsor: New York Power Authority
R.A.s: Y.C. Chen, S. Lu, J. Su
Collaborators: R.D. Crissman, NYPA; A. Wake, Shimizu Corp.

su.gif (123856 bytes)
   

In this study, the model DynaRICE© was developed and applied to the upper Niagara River to study the ice jamming process in relation to hydropower  operations on the River.

n3fig2.gif (12385 bytes) Upper Niagara River Simulation Results (click to see more)
t1fig5.gif (8170 bytes) Lake Erie - Niagara River Ice Boom Simulation Results (click to see more)
   

Selected References:

  1. Shen, H.T., Chen, Y.C., Wake, A., and Crissman, R.D. (1993) ``Lagrangian discrete parcel simulation of river ice dynamics,'' Int'l J. of Offshore and Polar Engineering, 3(4), 328-332.
  2. Shen, H.T., Lu, S., and Crissman, R.D. (1997) ``Numerical simulation of ice transport over the Lake Erie-Niagara River ice boom,'' Cold Regions Science and Technology, 26, 17-33.
  3. Su, J., Shen, H.T., and Crissman, R.D. (1997) ``Numerical study on ice transport in vicinity of Niagara River hydropower intakes,'' J. of Cold Regions Engineering, ASCE, 11(4), 255-269.

B. Ice Jam Dynamics and Ice Control in Missouri and Mississippi Rivers
   

Sponsor: US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Labortory
R.A.: L. Liu, S. Lu
Collaborator: A.M. Tuthill, CRREL

 

In this study, the model DynaRICE© was used to study the feasibility of controlling ice in the Missouri River using ice booms. The model is also being used to study the ice transport and jam formation at the confluence of Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

f1n.gif (91837 bytes)Missouri and Mississippi River Confluence Simulation (click to see more)

f41.gif (4783 bytes)Missouri River Ice Boom Simulation (click to see more)

Selected Publications:

  1. Shen, H.T., and Lu, S. (1996) ``Dynamics of river ice jam release,'' Proceeding, 8th Int'l Conference on Cold Regions Engineering, ASCE, Fairbanks, AK, 594-605.
  2. Liu, L., and Shen, H.T. (1998) ``Numerical simulation of river ice control with booms,'' Report 98-2, Department of Civil and Environ. Engineering, Clarkson University.
  3. Lu, S., and Shen, H.T. (1998) ``Constitutive laws for river ice dynamics,'' Proceedings, 14th IAHR Ice Symposium, V.1, Potsdam, NY.