TRANSPORT CHARACTERISTICS OF FINE SEDIMENT FROM PETITCODIAC RIVER ESTUARY IN NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA

摘要

The transport characteristics of fine sediment from the Petitcodiac River estuary were studied in a rotating circular flume. The knowledge of the sediment transport characteristics of the Petticodiac sediment is needed for calibrating a sediment transport model for the river as part of an environmental impact assessment being carried out for the river. The environmental impact assessment is focusing on the potential effects of removing or modifying a causeway, a tide control structure and a fish-way that were built across the river in 1968 in Moncton. Over the years, these structures have caused substantial morphological changes downstream of the causeway. The width of the river was reduced substantially due to the deposition of sediment. The operation of the fish-way was also less than satisfactory. The rotating flume experiments carried out using the Petitcodiac River water and the deposited sediment had quantified the critical shear stress for erosion of the top layer of the sediment deposit, the rate of erosion at two different shear stress levels and the settling velocity of the sediment.