Hydraulic Study of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

Abstract

We document the development and application of a one-dimensional flow model of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal based on the dynamic form of the St. Venant equations. Model geometry is based on hydrographic surveys obtained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in 2006. The model is forced with time-varying tidal boundary conditions at the east and west ends of the Canal, and predicts velocity and discharge at selected locations within the canal. The model was calibrated using current meter data obtained between October 1992 and October 1993, when USACE operated recording current meters in and adjacent to the canal. Following selection of these parameters, the model was run to simulate other periods between October 1992 and October 1993. Comparison of model and prototype current speeds for these simulations demonstrates the ability of the model to reproduce observed flows accurately under a range of tidal forcing conditions. The model was used to describe the average net flow in the canal which is normally from the Chesapeake to the Delaware but which reversed during the Northeaster of December 1992, a period of unusually high meteorologically driven tides of the Delaware Estuary.