Physical Changes Associated with Navigation Traffic on the Illinois and Upper Mississippi Rivers

Bhowmik, Nani G.; Soong, David; Adams, J. Rodger

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/102759 Copy

Description

Title

Physical Changes Associated with Navigation Traffic on the Illinois and Upper Mississippi Rivers

Author(s)

• Bhowmik, Nani G.
• Soong, David
• Adams, J. Rodger

Contributor(s)

• Xia, Renjie
• Mazumder, Bijoy S.
• Illinois State Water Survey, Hydrology Division

Issue Date

1998-07

Keyword(s)

• River navigation
• Shipping channels
• River hydrology
• Upper Mississippi River System

Geographic Coverage

Mississippi River

Abstract

Physical changes associated with navigation traffic in a large river environment such as the Illinois or Mississippi River are many and varied. Some of these changes are related to basic hydraulic and physical factors, and can be measured using available instrumentation. Other changes are not quantifiable by direct measurement in the field, and their effects can only be observed over a long period of time. Relationships between barge-tow movements and the hydraulic and physical characteristics of specified reaches of a river are not fully understood at the present time. This scientific area of large river fluvial hydrodynamics has not been addressed fully with a detailed and comprehensive plan of action. Moreover, because changes in the hydraulic parameters of a river are normally associated with changes in the river's biological activities and/or habitats, a clear understanding of the ambient or original hydrauliccharacteristics of the river is needed before management decisions can be made. The present investigation is one of the first attempts to quantify the hydraulic changes associated with the movement of navigation traffic within the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). Work is also being done by researchers from the Waterways Experiment Station (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) on laboratory simulation of flows in the near field of a barge-tow. This report outlines the research that has been completed by engineers and scientists from the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) on physical changes associated with navigation traffic. In addition to research results, materials showing the basic hydraulic structure of large river systems such as the UMRS are included in the appendices.

Publisher

U.S. Geological Survey

Series/Report Name or Number

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Special Report 98-S001

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/102759

Has Version(s)

https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA352607

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

U.S. Geological Survey Environmental Management Technical Center

Copyright and License Information

Federal government document; public domain.

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