The interaction between tide and salinity barriers

Abstract

Presently, there is a number of salinity barrier utilization and this kind of structure becomes more common in estuarine areas. However, the construction of barrier at the river mouth or inside the river results in amplification of tide due to creation of standing tide at the barrier. This standing tide creates two major problems, namely, the overspill of salinewater during high water and bank erosion during low water along the tidal reach downstream of the barrier. In this study, the analytical model is developed to determine the river hydraulic behaviors which affects by tide, river flow and barrier structure of the Bang Pakong River, Thailand. The analytical model of tide and river flow of the Chao Phraya River is adopted and adjusted to determine the tide characteristics modified by river flow. Moreover, the analytical model of tide and salinity barrier would then be developed by cooperating of the analytical model of tide and river flow interaction together with tidal flow cooscillating tide theory. It is found from this study that the analytical model of the Chao Phraya River which is suitable for high freshwater discharge underestimates damping modulus and friction slope which requires adjustment for low freshwater discharge of the Bang Pakong River. The analytical model of tide and salinity barrier can be finally used to predict the water level downstream of the barrier. The model overestimated the water level fluctuation during the unsteady flow from upstream which may be because of the assumption of steady flow condition in the model development due to limited data available after the construction.

Keywords

• analytical model
• numerical model
• salinity barrier
• tide reflection