Experimental Study on Upstream Water Level Rise of Submerged Rock Weirs

Abstract

Rock weirs, typically created by the placement of loose rocks, are eco-friendly hydraulic structures used for raising the upstream water level, which has benefits for irrigation, shipping, and grade control. Although rock weirs are frequently submerged in rivers, few studies have systematically investigated their impacts on the upstream water level under submerged conditions. A series of flume experiments regarding this topic were conducted. Different flow discharges, tail-water depths, and void ratios were adopted in the experiments. The results show that (1) the submerged rock weirs primarily function to raise the upstream water level, while having a limited impact on the tail-water level; (2) for a given tail-water depth and void ratio, the upstream water level rise increases with increased discharge, although this response becomes insignificant as tail-water depth increases; (3) as void ratio increases, the upstream water level rise is expected to decrease for a given tail-water depth and discharge; and (4) based on the data and observations, a predictor including the effects of Froude number, submergence, and void ratio is proposed for estimating the upstream water level rise of submerged rock weirs. These results contribute to further understanding the hydraulic properties of rock weirs and are important for river training practices using rock weirs.