UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

UEMX3523 Hydraulic System and Design

Assignment 1: Ice Jam

Name: ID: Year/Semester: Lecturer:

Ang Lip Hong 08UEB04333 Year 3 Semester 3 Dr. Heng Hock Hwee

1) Ice jam mechanism and definition

An ice jam or ice dam occurs when water builds up behind a blockage of ice. Ice dams can occur in various ways, mainly in two ways, which are the freeze-up jams and breakup jams. Freeze-up jams occur early to mid-winter and are made up of slush ice that freezes in place. While break-up jams occur during periods of thaw and are made up of broken pieces of ice from the breaking-up of solid, surface ice. Below are diagrams for better understanding.

Ice forms in streams and lakes whenever the surface of the water cools to freezing. When warm temperatures or heavy rain cause snow to melt rapidly, snow melt combined with heavy rains can cause frozen rivers to swell. This breaks the ice layer on top of the river. The ice layer often breaks into large chunks, which float downstream and often pile up near narrow passages other obstructions, such as bridges and dams. When the accumulation of ice begins to restrict the flow of water, ice jams may form.

2) What are they?

In the colder parts of the USA and other regions in the higher latitude, southern and northern hemisphere, winter can leave a deep cover of snow on the ground and ice on rivers. So, when the weather warms up and the ice in rivers begins to melt, it breaks into pieces that float down the river. At the same time, water from melting snow flows into rivers, causing floods. As large chunks of ice float downstream, they can pile up near narrow passages or obstructions such as bridges, forming an ice jam. Water that backs up behind such ice dams can cause flooding upstream, or BACKWATER. Eventually, ice dams break up naturally as the ice continues to melt or are overwhelmed by overtopping of flood waters. If this happens, water that the ice dam had been holding back can rush downstream, causing flash floods, or even worse condition like dam breaching. Individuals and structures living close to rivers and streams are most at risk of flooding from ice jams.

Or alternatively, during thaws, runoff from snow melt increases the flow of water in rivers. This increased flow raises the water level, which pushes up on ice sheets covering the top of the river. If the ice sheets break apart, it moves downstream in a surge large ice chunks. In places of restricted water flow (such as shallow bends in a river, an intact ice sheet, or around bridges), the ice can pile up and an ice jam will form. The jam may then buildup great great enough to dam the river and cause flooding. Therefore, the solution used is to break up ice dams to control the flow of the water that's behind them. Cranes with wrecking balls and explosives are sometimes used to break up ice dams.

3) Similarities and analogies

Beaver pond: Animal that likes to built dam as habitat.

Log jam: Logs that are sent down stream by river transport always happen in Sabah and Sarawak (Rajang River).

Rubbish/garbage jam: Thousands of tonnes of garbage washed down by recent torrential rain are threatening to jam the locks of Chinas massive Three Gorges Dam.

Roof ice jam: A smaller scale of ice dam on roof, similar to the fallen leaves and debris that clogged up the roof drainage gutter drain. An ice dam can occur when snow accumulates on the slanted roof of a house with inadequate insulation and ventilation in the attic. Warm heat from inside the building rises to the roof to melt the accumulated snow. Melted water flows down the roof, under the blanket of snow, onto the eave and into the gutter, where colder conditions on the overhang cause it to freeze again. Eventually, ice accumulates along the eave and in the gutter. Snow that melts later cannot drain properly through the ice on the eave and in the gutter: result in leaking roof, ineffective insulation, cracked plaster and drywall, rotting timber and stained, blistered or peeling paint.

Quake Lake: Induced by earthquakes and landslides.

Man made constriction of channel: Prevent smooth flow of water, reduce the flow velocity.

4) What are their impacts on waterway?

Obstruct smooth passage of water Cause backwater effect Force on piers in rivers Environmental stench/odor/ill sights Safety issue Sudden burst of the ice or log jam cause dam breach type of flow: exceptional high flow peak within a short time: hazard to downstream like quake lakes

5) Mitigation
Mitigation is the cornerstone of emergency management. It is the ongoing efforts to lessen the impact disasters have on people and property. Mitigation involves keeping homes away from floodplains, engineering bridges to withstand earthquakes, creating and enforcing effective building codes to protect property from hurricanes.

References:
http://www.nesec.org/hazards/ice_jams.cfm http://dma.mt.gov/des/Library/Ice%20Jam.pdf http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/10509/ http://www.homeimprovementweb.com/information/how-to/ice-dam-removal.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake_Lake