Experimental Study on Driftwood Capture of a Flood Mitigation Dam

Key Points

• To examine the capture of driftwood in environmentally friendly flow-type dams and its effects on spillway blockage.
• Analyzed driftwood capture in a controlled reservoir setting using models of four different lengths.
• Evaluated how the height of the spillway and the length of driftwood influence capture rates.
• Assessed conditions based on the Richardson number to understand flow behavior.
• Driftwood models longer than 1.2 times the spillway height were more likely to pass without capture.
• When driftwood exceeded 1.6 times the spillway height, initial capture occurred but led to complete blockage.
• Short driftwood captured when Richardson number was less than 1, while longer driftwood caused spillway obstruction.