Two Dimensional Hydrodynamic Analysis of the Moose Creek Floodway

A two-dimensional Adaptive Hydraulics (AdH) hydrodynamic model was developed to simulate the Moose Creek Floodway. The Floodway is located approximately 17 miles East of Fairbanks, Alaska, and is part of the Chena River Lakes Flood Control project. The Chena River floodway is designed to reduce the flood risk at Fairbanks, AK by re-routing flood flows into the Tanana River. The floodway control sill is designed to prevent backwater from the Tanana River from entering the floodway. A dam to the west and high ground to the east contain the flow in the floodway connecting the Chena River to the Tanana River. Controlling factors for the head on the dam are; floodway channel surface roughness, channel constrictions due to the highway and railroad bridge crossings, and the elevation of the downstream control sill. The effort completed three tasks. The first developed a two-dimensional floodway model to be efficiently executed on a personal computer. The second task investigated the impact of highway and railroad bridge piers on floodway water surface profiles during flood conditions. Finally, the model was optimized to predict impacts of changes to floodway vegetation and Tanana River stage on backwater profiles and was applied to evaluate backwater profiles for the probable maximum flood. The original document contains color images.