Experimental and Numerical Investigation of River Closure Project

The success or failure of river closure is directly related to the construction period and project benefit. Therefore, it is very necessary to study the river closure by an appropriate method. In this paper, a 1D–2D coupled river closure model is established to optimize the closure flow rate, closure period, and layout of a real closure project. The 1D transition model between open channel flow and pressurized flow is established by a finite volume scheme. For the 2D model, 2D shallow water equations are solved using an unstructured finite volume scheme. The 1D model and 2D model are coupled by considering the mass and momentum conservation. To validate the model, a physical experiment of a real river closure project is set up according to the gravity similarity criterion with a scale of 1:80. Then, the experimental data obtained by the calibrated physical experiment is compared with the numerical results. Good agreements are achieved in terms of surface elevation, velocity, and flow rate. Finally, the real river closure project is further investigated by the model. The layout, closure flow rate and closure period of this project is analyzed and optimized. The original design of the berm is more suitable to discharge the flow. Moreover, the first stage cofferdam should be removed to floor elevation upstream and downstream of the dam. The river closure flow rate should not exceed 2380 m3/s.