Currently multiple projects investigate the effect of lowering the crest of groynes in the Dutch rivers with the aim to lower the backwater effect of groynes under high water levels. There is a major uncertainty however in the modelling of groynes, and therefore in the prediction of the effect of groyne lowering. Currently submerged groynes are modelled subgrid as weirs. The flow processes differ however between groynes and weirs as discharge over a groyne is not purely defined by the contraction and expansion over the groyne, but also by lateral shear and interaction with the surrounding main channel and floodplain. The result is a lower resistance of the cross section than expected from weir modelling. For this reason a numerical investigation was started, comparing the modelling of groynes as different subgrid weirs in a 2D model and the modelling of groynes included in the bed topography in a 3D (non-)hydrostatic model. There were large differences between all different methods of groyne modelling. Furthermore the available experimental data did not suffice to explain the differences.
For that reason a new physical model has been set up in the Delft University of Technology, at the hydraulic laboratory of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geoscience. The experiment includes a 1:30 scale model of a representative transect of the Waal river. The model is 5 m wide and 30 m long and includes 6 groynes and 5 groyne fields. It further includes a part of the main channel at one side and a part of the floodplain at the other side of the groyne fields. Gravel is fixed to the bed to ensure hydraulically rough flow conditions. In the experiment many measurements were done. The first aim of the measurements was to obtain a good spread of points to validate numerical models on. The second aim was to gain insight in the different flow processes in order to describe the differences between groyne and weir flow and quantify the resistance groynes have on a flow.
An important observation was the existence of a region of low flow, at the tip of the groyne. The observation indicates a complex three-dimensional flow which effectively redistributes discharge over the transverse. The contribution of this flow to the two-dimensional momentum balance is then directly as a secondary circulation and indirectly by alternating the distribution of discharge. Complex flow furthermore invalidates the hydrostatic pressure assumption. The observed flow needs further investigation with either more accurate measurement devices or in a 3D non-hydrostatic model. Another observation includes the contraction and expansion of flow over the groyne crest. The expansion of flow over the main body of the groyne seems comparable to the expansion of flow over a weir, which can be predicted as Carnot head losses. The observation of expansion losses is however clouded by other flow processes, such as bed shear stress, the lateral flow around the groyne and possible three-dimensional processes induced by the groyne tip, so that the observed head loss over the groyne is only partially explained by weir-like expansion losses.
The comparability between groyne flow and weir flow does not seem to hold at the groyne tip, where no separation of flow is observed. Measurements were performed 10 cm away from the transition between the groyne tip and main body of the groyne. This means that at full scale there is a region of 3 m on either side of this geometrical transition where the transition lies between weir-like overflow and non-weir-like overflow.
With the here performed simulations it is possible to adapt weir head loss formulas on the observed head losses over groyne. It should be possible to validate a three-dimensional non-hydrostatic model, which can further quantify the effect of three-dimensional flow and differentiate the different contributions to groyne head loss. Based on these models proper tuning parameters can be chosen to represent the complex flow in a two-dimensional model and separately model the weir-like expansion.