Studies on the Physical Effects of Commercial Navigation Traffic in the Upper Mississippi River

Miller, A. C.; Payne, B. S.; Ragland, D. V.; ,

Studies on the Physical Effects of Commercial Navigation Traffic in the Upper Mississippi River

by A. C. Miller, US Army Engineer Waterways, Experiment Station, Vicksburg, United States,
B. S. Payne, US Army Engineer Waterways, Experiment Station, Vicksburg, United States,
D. V. Ragland, US Army Engineer Waterways, Experiment Station, Vicksburg, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Hydraulic Engineering

Abstract:

Changes in water velocity caused by passage of commercial navigation vessels were measured 180-500 ft (55-152 m) from shore at River Mile (RM) 504.8 in Pool 14 of the upper Mississippi River (UMR). Data were collected in July 1989 at a historically prominent bed of freshwater mussels characterized by high species richness (23 among a sample of 1131 individuals) and moderately high density (59.1 ? 30.7 (? SD) and 69.3 ? 21.6 indivduals/sq m at 160 and 300 ft (49 and 91 m) from the left descending bank (LDB), respectively). Downbound commercial vessels (560 and 750 ft, 170 and 229 m, from shore) caused a decrease in water velocity 23 cm above the substrate-water interface of 0.4 to 0.774 ft/sec (12.2 to 23.6 cm/sec) parallel to flow and an increase in velocity of 0.179 to 0.270 ft/sec (5.4 to 8.2 cm/sec) perpendicular to flow. Effects lasted about 200 sec and often caused near or complete current reversals.

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