Modeling of watercourses

River engineering, River morphology, Hydraulic modeling, Flows, Hydraulic structures and developments, Flooding, Impacts and compensation
Discipline: Open channel hydraulics

This course unit offers students the opportunity to acquire solid skills in hydraulic modeling. Students learn the equations of free surface hydraulics in steady and unsteady states. They learn how to translate field studies into hydraulic models by taking topographic and hydrometric measurements, observing hydraulic indicators (flood marks, hydrogeomorphological formations, hydraulic jumps, etc.) and then establishing in situ hypotheses about how watercourses function.
Several scales can be explored in depth depending on the chosen topic: the habitat scale, the developed reach scale, and the flooding watercourse scale. For each scale, students can study and implement specific structures (fish passes, side spillways, weirs, dikes, dams, etc.) in their modeling. The impacts of developments, maintenance, and structures are simulated and analyzed in terms of hydrodynamics and hydraulic continuity.
The study is carried out on the same concrete case, from the field phase to the presentation of the impacts of the developments, including modeling. The work is done in groups.

A field trip allows learners to analyze a site and conceptualize it in a topographical and hydraulic model. Hypotheses about how it works in situ are put forward and will be compared with the models and results.

Finally, the EU offers learners an analysis based on a real-life case study of a watercourse development or intervention, including an assessment of the initial state, an analysis of the impacts of the intervention, and proposals for hydraulic compensation where appropriate.

- Measure the topography of actual terrain; Identify flood marks, hydrogeomorphological features, and flow zones in situ
- Understand the mechanisms governing equations for steady and unsteady open-channel hydraulics and the role of boundary conditions
- Characterize flow at different scales (watercourse, reach, structure, habitat)
- Implement hydraulic modeling of a real developed reach
- Use modeling tools to study the behavior of the water line at a structure and deduce the impact of the structure on the environment
- Defend technical results orally (detailed and technical presentation).

EU M1 S2 Ecological Restoration (ecology, hydrology, morphology, continuity, restoration) or equivalent; MOOC on Rivers and People, reading of Degoutte's book.

It is relevant to continue this course with the M2S3 Ecological Engineering and Restoration course, which extends the concept of hydraulic continuity and compensation to the concepts of ecological continuity and restoration and ERC sequences in order to reintegrate the environment into development projects and action plans or programs for watershed management.

Continuous assessment based on the final presentation of the completed project (and interim reports).