Assessing the morphological changes on the operation performance of canal: a case study of the Suez Irrigation Canal, Egypt

Abstract

Morphological changes along the cross-section of canals affect the canal's performance to fulfill the desired operations. The Suez Irrigation Canal is a vital canal that provides the surrounding region with drinking water via about 21 drinking water treatment plants and serves about 140,000 feddan of irrigated land. However, the actual canal capacity is incapacitate to convey sufficient water for drinking and irrigation necessities. This research particularly evaluates the morphological changes in the Suez Canal's performance and increasing its ability to transport the required discharges with adequate operations. For this purpose, extensive field measurements and a numerical model (SOBEK 1D) were adapted to evaluate the canal capacity and operation under the required flow conditions. In total, 890 canal cross-sections were surveyed and 16-flow discharge measurements were considered to identify the actual geometric and hydraulic characteristics. The SOBEK 1D model was used to simulate different scenarios of canal cross-sections under changing flow conditions. The results showed that the actual canal mainly suffered from sedimentations that reduced the canal's capacity to transport the design flow discharges. In summary, rehabilitation of the canal is intensely recommended, in addition to the planned and sufficient clearance activatesof the canal to keep effective operations.