Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2013ND274B

Physical model evaluations of scour holes below a singular and multiple step rock weirs

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2013 Start Date: 2013-03-01 End Date: 2014-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $4,210 Total Non-Federal Funds: $12,941

Principal Investigators: Yeo Lim

Abstract: Rock weirs redirect flows and minimize erosion. However very little design parameters have been established for the use of rock weirs. Rock weirs are becoming increasingly popular due to their low cost and quick installation, but with minimal design many of these rock weirs fail as the downstream scour hole enlarges upstream and undermines the soil that the rock weir is resting on. The proposed research will consist of building a physical model in UNDs Hydraulic Laboratory and determining the optimum spacing between the steps to diminish the downstream scour. For this research in order to determine the optimum layout of a rock weir, only one parabolic layout will be used to create the rock weir. Within this layout, the research will include multiple step weirs in series up to a maximum of four. This study will be limited to one bed sediment. The overall objective of this project is to develop guidelines for the design rock weirs to minimize scour.