Longitudinal Floating Ice Control Structures: A New Concept for Reducing Ice Jam Flood Levels

• Main Author: Calkins, Darryl J.
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1990
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Civil Engineering; *ICE PREVENTION; *CONTROL SYSTEMS; COMPUTATIONS; VERIFICATION; STRUCTURES; RIVERS; FLOODS; CHANNELS; COLLAPSE; FLOATING BODIES; IDAHO; THICKNESS; CONTROL; ICE; *ICE CONTROL; ICE JAMS; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA228561; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA228561

A floating ice control structure placed in the streamwise direction of a river was analyzed to determine its effectiveness in reducing ice jam thicknesses. The theory describing the thickness for river ice jams was modified to analyze these longitudinal structures, providing the computational verification that ice jam thicknesses could be reduced where the mode of thickening is internal collapse. These longitudinal structures may provide a new tool to use in modifying the river ice regime, both at freeze-up and break-up. The concept was applied to the Salmon River at Salmon, Idaho, where it was estimated that a 0.9-m drop in river stage was possible using one structure in the center of the channel. Keywords: Ice control structures, Ice jams, Ice covers, River ice.