HYDRAULIC DESIGN OF FISH-FRIENDLY COST-EFFECTIVE BOX CULVERTS: USING HYBRID MODELLING FOR BETTER DESIGN GUIDELINES

While important for delivering a range of important socio-economic services, road crossings and culverts are known to block the upstream fish passage, particularly for small-body-mass fish species. Using a combination of physical and numerical CFD modelling, design guidelines were developed for smooth box culverts without appurtenance, with a novel approach based upon the basic concepts: (a) the culvert design is optimised for fish passage for small to medium water discharges, and for flood capacity for larger discharges, and (b) lowvelocity zones are provided along the wetted perimeter in the culvert barrel, and quantified in terms of a fraction of the wetted flow area where the local longitudinal velocity is less than a characteristic fish speed linked to swimming performances of targeted fish species. The approach relies upon an accurate physicallybased knowledge of the entire velocity field in the culvert barrel, specifically the longitudinal velocity map, given that behavioural observations confirmed that fish prefer to swim upstream in low-velocity zones (LVZs) next to the walls and bottom corners. While the focus of the study is on the upstream passage of small-bodymass fish, typical of Australian native fish species, the approach and methodology are relevant to most box culvert structures.

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