Cazenovia Creek Ice-Control Structure

• Main Authors: Lever, James H., Gooch, Gordon, Daly, Steven F.
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2000
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Civil Engineering; *FLOOD CONTROL; *ICE BREAKUP; NEW YORK; MODEL TESTS; JAMMING; RIVERS; FLOODING; CHANNELS(WATERWAYS); STREAMS; BUFFALO RIVER; CAZENOVIA CREEK(NEW YORK); ICE-CONTROL STRUCTURES; ICE JAMS; Buffalo River; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA382170; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA382170

Cazenovia Creek, in Western New York, the largest tributary of the Buffalo River. Breakup ice jams form along the lower basin nearly every year during mid-winter or spring thaws, and ice-jam flooding occurs in the City of Buffalo and the Town of West Seneca about every 2-3 years. This report describes physical model tests and design recommendations for a new ice-control structure (ICS) for Cazenovia Creek. The recommended structure consists of nine 10-ft-tall x 5-ft-diameter cylindrical piers spaced across the main channel, and it uses the adjoining treed floodplain as a natural bypass channel. Also described are results from a numerical Ice-hydraulic model to determine the extent of flooding induced upstream of the new ICS. Although few structures are affected, the ice jam held by the ICS will cause minor flooding of properties abutting the creek. However, the stream-wise extent of this flooding will decrease during an event as melting and washouts reduce the volume of ice in the jam. The structure balances the need to protect downstream areas from natural ice-jam flooding and the need to minimize upstream flooding induced by the retained ice.