Channel Regime and Navigation Conditions of the Lower Don
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10 GEOGRAPHY AND TOURISM, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2018), 77-85, Semi-Annual Journal eISSN 2449-9706, ISSN 2353-4524, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1314034 © Copyright by Kazimierz Wielki University Press, 2017. All Rights Reserved. http://geography.and.tourism.ukw.edu.pl G.L. Gladkov1, V.M. Katolikov2 1 State University of Marine and River Fleet by the name of Adm. S.O. Makarova, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, email: [email protected]. 2 State Hydrological Institute, Saint-Petersburg, Russia Channel regime and navigation conditions of the Lower Don Abstract: The work relates to navigation conditions of the Lower Don. The research was performed on hydrological and sediment regimes of the Don River, downstream of the Kochetovsky hydraulic engineering complex. The impact of the planned Bagaevskiy Dam construction on hydraulic characteristics of the flow and deformation of the riverbed was also assessed. Materials collected during engineering and hydrometeorological surveys, the results of mathematical modelling and hydraulic studies completed as part of the design works on the facility – “The Bagaevskiy Dam construction on the Don River” – were used as input data. Keywords: hydrological regime, channel processes downstream of the dam, riverbed deformations, navigation, mathe- matical and hydraulic modelling 1. Introduction The object of the present study is the section of cascade of a low-pressure hydrosystem was the Lower Don River located downstream of prepared by 1908. The project involved three the Kochetovsky hydraulic engineering com- stages of construction. The implementation of plex, which has the most difficult navigation the project was aimed at enabling the naviga- conditions in the area. The Lower Don is part tion on the Seversky Donets from the Don to of the Unified Deep Water System of Euro- Belgorod and Kharkov by vessels with a draft pean Russia and is one of the most congested of up to 1.7 m. sections of inland waterways of international The first stage of the construction of the importance in the Russian Federation. The Seversky–Donets system gateways – from the scheme of waterways of the Lower Don is mouth of the Seversky Donets to the village shown in Fig. 1. of Gundorovskaya (near the modern city of The hydrotechnical construction in the Donetsk) was launched in May 1911 and largely Lower Don basin was started in the early years completed by autumn 1913. The construction of the 20th century to ensure the supply of of the Kochetovsky hydraulic engineering com- coal, building materials and grain from the plex, located on the Don River, was started in Donbass in the regions of the Sea of Azov and 1914. The official opening of the Seversky– the Black Sea. In this context, the decision Donetsk river sluice system took place on 5 July about the necessity of locking the Seversky 1914, a few weeks before the outbreak of the Donets was made by the Ministry of Railways First World War. in 1903. At present, the Lower Don flow (Fig. 1) is A graduate of N.P. Puzyrevskiy Institute of regulated by the Tsimlyanskiy engineering Water Transport was the project developer. He complex (1952) and low-pressure cascade carried out detailed surveys on the Seversky hydrotechnical systems – Nicholas (1975), Donets in 1903–1904, and the project of the Constantine (1982) and Kochetov (1920). 78 G.L. Gladkov, V.M. Katolikov Figure 1. The scheme of the Lower Don waterways Currently, the navigation conditions of the the Tsimlyansk reservoir, the guaranteed nav- Lower Don are completely dependent on the igation depth (excluding surge phenomena water resources of the Tsimlyansk reservoir of the Sea of Azov) supported by dredging and, to a lesser extent, on the water flow in is 340 cm, which is less than the depths of the Northern Donets River and the Manych the Unified Deep Water System of European River. During a regular water discharge from Russia. 2. Water-level regime and channel deformation downstream of the Kochetovsky Hydrotechnical Systems The bottom and water levels in the studied sec- Channel processes downstream of the tion of the Lower Don have irreversibly decreased Kochetovsky hydrotechnical systems were for the past 100 years. These changes are asso- studied in several aspects, including analysis ciated with the construction and subsequent of horizontal and vertical adjustment in the operation of the cascade of waterworks on the researched section of the Lower Don (Gladkov Lower Don, as well as dredging works in the et al., 2017). After the implementation of the channel to ensure navigation conditions and Bagayevskaya hydrotechnical systems, naviga- mining of the river alluvium. Available data show tion problems occur mainly above the dam, in that the decline in water levels was observed the backwater conditions. along the entire length of the considered navi- After the commissioning of the Tsimlyansk gable area, but the magnitude of this decline hydrotechnical systems on the Lower Don, as decreases with the increasing distance from the a result of changes in the flow regime and due Kochetovsky hydrotechnical systems. to erosion processes occurring downstream According to preliminary estimates, the of the Kochetovsky hydrotechnical system, water-level lowering downstream of the the depths near the riverbank and in the main Kochetovsky hydrotechnical systems during current have been adjusted. Analysis of the 95% water consumption in the navigation hydrographic data for the period from 1961 season is about 180-190 cm. At the site of the to the present time shows that in the section Razdorskaya hydrological station, water levels of the Lower Don River located between the in the same period decreased by 120-140 cm, Kochetovsky hydrotechnical system and the and at the downstream Bagaevskiy station – by town of Aksay, the distribution of depths about 60 cm. And finally, in the section of the in the navigable waterway has changed sig- planned Bagayevskaya hydrotechnical complex, nificantly, largely in line with changes in the the water level in the hydrological conditions channel regime downstream of the dam. Over described above decreased by about 10–15 cm. the past decade, the intensity of bed deforma- Channel regime and navigation conditions of the Lower Don 79 tions on the navigable waterway has decreased were plotted along the line of the greatest depths compared to the previous period. and along the isobaths corresponding to the Under the designed conditions, the greatest expected depth of the waterway. threat to the navigation will be posed by insuf- The results of the analysis of the obtained ficient depths as a result of seasonal changes in materials prove that to date the situation in the the locations of riffles. In this regard, minimum survey area has largely stabilised. The surveyed depths at the shallows were analysed at this section shows small alternating planned dif- stage of the work. This analysis has shown that ferences in the channel depth. No significant no significant high-altitude deformations of the unidirectional deformation has been identified riffles should be expected in the conditions of in the channel section. This is primarily con- a regulated runoff. nected with the reduction of flood peaks by the In connection with the analysis of the planned Tsimlyanskiy reservoir and the limited water changes in the river section and based on the content in the river in recent years. In addition, materials collected during the channel surveys the river banks within the boundaries of certain carried out in 2006 and 2016, the planned posi- human settlements are protected from erosion tion of the initial profiles was corrected, which by riverbank stabilization. 3. Impact of the planned Bagayevsky reservoir on the upstream water levels The construction of the reservoir on the river ation of the Bagaevskiy reservoir with the mark section that has been currently exposed to NWL 2.8 m BS, virtually in the entire range of anthropogenic factors will have a positive effect water discharge exceeding the instream flow in and some negative consequences. In this case, extremely dry years, will not affect the level and everything will depend on a water-level increase channel regime of the river in the downstream caused by backwater within the reservoir. section of the Kochetovsky hydrotechnical Thus, in the river section where, as a result system. of backwater, the water level will rise to a level In the lower reaches of the river, the value not exceeding the water levels recorded in of the additional floodplain area will increase, historical times (corresponding to the hydro- which consequently will have an impact on logical situation in the 1920s), we cannot talk the river regime. Thus, at the section of the about degradation, but rather about the resto- Razdorskaya hydrological station, additional ration of the hydrological regime of the river. In flooding (compared to 1917-1924) will occur other parts of the river, where floodwater levels when water discharge is about 600 m3/s or exceed the historical usual level due to backwa- less. Accordingly, with a water discharge of ters, additional flooding together with accom- 363 m3/s, the value of the additional water rise panying adverse consequences are possible. in the floodplain area will be approximately Data on the water levels and water flow 0.6 m. rates collected during observations carried At the downstream Bagaevskiy hydrological out at the Lower Don since the commission- post, additional (compared to 1927) flooding ing of the Kochetovsky hydrotechnical system associated with the construction of the dam (Polyakov, 1930) were analysed and compared will occur when water discharge is equal to with the results of hydraulic calculations. 930 m3/s or less. When water discharge is equal This made it possible to estimate the extent of to 363 m3/s, the value of the additional water changes in the water-level regime of the river.