Possible effects of the 1984 St. Clair River ice jam on bed changes

Abstract

This study examines the possible effect of the record ice jam of 1984 in the St. Clair River on river bed changes and conveyance. Numerical simulations were made to examine the flow and bed shear stresses during the jam formation and release periods. Simulation results indicate that the ice jam in the river did not cause a significant increase in bed shear stress compared to pre-and post-jam open water conditions. The insignificant change on bed shear stress during the ice jam period is the result of the large flow depth and the limited jam thickness. The bed shear stresses are much less than the critical shear stress for bed particle movement. This implies that the jam may not have had a significant impact on the channel conveyance.Résumé : La présente étude examine les effets possibles des embâcles observés en 1984 sur la rivière Sainte-Claire sur les modifications du lit du cours d'eau et sur l'écoulement de ce dernier. Des simulations numériques ont été réalisées pour étudier le débit et les contraintes de cisaillement exercées sur le lit de la rivière lors les périodes de formation d'embâcles et pendant les débâcles de glaces. Ces simulations montrent que les embâcles de la rivière n'entraînaient pas d'augmentation significative des contraintes de cisaillement exercées sur le lit du cours d'eau, si l'on compare ces dernières à celles enregistrées dans la rivière avant et après la formation des embâcles. Les très faibles variations de contrainte de cisaillement observées dans le lit durant la formation des embâcles s'expliquent par la profondeur importante de la rivière et par la faible épaisseur de la glace au niveau des embâcles. Les contraintes de cisaillement exercées sur le lit sont bien inférieures aux contraintes de cisaillement limites liées au mouvement des particules du lit. De ce fait, les embâcles pourraient ne pas avoir d'impact significatif sur l'écoulement du cours d'eau. [Traduit par la Rédaction]Mots-clés : érosion de lit, embâcle, modélisation mathématique, dynamique de la glace de rivière, rivière Sainte-Claire.

Mathematical Modeling of Ice Thrusting on the Shore of the Vistula Lagoon (Baltic Sea) and the Proposed Artificial Island

“…In the current study, the ice phenomena are investigated by applying the DynaRICE two-dimensional river ice dynamic model. The model was developed at Clarkson University [5] to simulate river ice processes including ice formation and breakup [22][23][24], ice jam dynamics [22,[25][26][27] and ice load determination for both vertical [28][29][30] and sloped structures [31,32]. Even though the model was primarily developed to reproduce ice dynamics in rivers, where the ice movement is mainly driven by water hydrodynamics, it has been successfully applied to a coastal lake subjected to sea tides [33].…”

Tsunami Intrusion and River Ice Movement

“…A viscoelastic-plastic (VEP) model [31] is used to calculate the internal stresses. The ice dynamics are simulated with the Lagrangian discrete-parcel method, based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) [22,23,30], capable of modeling surface ice runs, ice jam accumulation, and release processes. The ice dynamic model has been validated with field observations and applied to many rivers worldwide [20,30].…”

“…Shen et al [19] developed a one-dimensional river ice model to examine the leading-edge propagation for ice jam and potential flooding risks. Later, the two-dimensional ice dynamic model was developed to explore the interactions between unsteady flows and ice movement [20][21][22][23]. Such techniques contributed to the understanding of ice jamming formation and release, and ice cover breakup [20][21][22][23].In the literature, the BE is rarely applied to investigate wave propagations with ice effects, while the ice dynamic models have not been coupled with the tsunami wave.…”

Mathematical Modeling of Ice Dynamics as a Decision Support Tool in River Engineering

“…The DynaRICE model was used as the most reliable and to allow the simulation of a dynamic balance between ice dynamics and river hydrodynamics [27]. The model was widely tested and successfully applied to a number of domains, including the St. Clair River [45] or the Vistula River [46].…”