Link to USGS home page

SIMULATIONS OF FLOODFLOWS ON THE WHITE RIVER IN THE VICINITY OF U.S. HIGHWAY 79 NEAR CLARENDON, ARKANSAS

By Jaysson E. Funkhouser and C. Shane Barks

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Water–Resources Investigations Report 02-4256

This document is available in Portable Document Format (PDF):  WRIR02-4256 (12.53 MB)
To view this document, you need the Adobe Acrobat® Reader installed on your computer.
(A free copy of the Acrobat® Reader may be downloaded from Adobe Systems Incorporated.)


Abstract

A two-dimensional finite-element surface-water model was used to study the effects of the proposed modification to the U.S. Highway 79 corridor on flooding on the White River near Clarendon, Arkansas. The effects of floodflows were simulated for the following scenarios: existing, natural, and four proposed bridging alternatives. All of the scenarios were modeled with floods having the 5- and 100-year recurrence intervals (115,100 and 216,000 cubic feet per second). The simulated existing conditions included a 3,200-foot White River bridge located on the east side of the study area near Clarendon, Arkansas; a 3,700-foot First Old River bridge located 0.5 mile west of the White River bridge opening; and a 1,430-foot Roc Roe Bayou bridge located 1.6 mile west of the First Old River bridge. The simulated hypothetical natural conditions involved removing the U.S. Highway 79 and the Union Pacific Railroad embankments along the entire length of the flood plain. The primary purpose of model simulations for natural conditions was to calculate backwater data for the existing and proposed conditions. The four simulated hypothetical proposed alternatives involved a 1.8-mile White River bridge located on the east side of the study area near Clarendon, Arkansas, either a 1,400-foot relief bridge (Alternative 1) or a 1,545 relief bridge (Alternatives 2-4) located 0.25 mile west of the White River bridge opening, and three different Roc Roe Bayou bridge openings ranging from 1,540-3,475 feet in length located 0.9 mile west of the relief bridge (Alternatives 1-4).

Simulation of the 5-year floodflow for the existing bridge openings indicates that about 57 percent (65,600 cubic feet per second) of flow was conveyed by the White River bridge, about 26 percent (29,900 cubic feet per second) by the First Old River bridge, and about 17 percent (19,600 cubic feet per second) by the Roc Roe Bayou bridge. Maximum depth-averaged point velocities for the White River, First Old River, and Roc Roe Bayou bridges were 3.6, 1.6, and 3.3 feet per second, respectively. For the 100-year floodflow, the simulation indicates that about 56 percent (123,100 cubic feet per second) of flow was conveyed by the White River bridge, about 26 percent (56,200 cubic feet per second) by the First Old River bridge, and about 19 percent (41,000 cubic feet per second) by the Roc Roe Bayou bridge. The maximum depth-averaged point velocities for the White River, First Old River, and Roc Roe Bayou bridges were 4.2, 2.2, and 4.1 feet per second, respectively.

Simulation of the 5-year floodflow for the proposed U.S. Highway 79 alignment alternatives indicates that 76-78 percent (87,100-89,900 cubic feet per second) of the flow was conveyed by the proposed White River bridge, 6-7 percent (7,000-7,500 cubic feet per second) by the proposed relief bridge, and 13-16 percent (14,600-18,600 cubic feet per second) by the proposed Roc Roe Bayou bridge. For the 100-year floodflow, simulations predicted that 70-72 percent (151,200-155,600 cubic feet per second) of the flow was conveyed by the proposed White River bridge, 9-10 percent (19,800-20,700 cubic feet per second) by the proposed relief bridge, and 14-20 percent (30,700-43,000 cubic feet per second) by the proposed Roc Roe Bayou bridge.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Figures 1-4.Maps showing:
  1. Location of study area
  2. Location of existing and proposed roadway alignments
  3. White River flood plain upper and lower model boundaries and U.S. Highway 79 model area in the study area
  4. Computational grid generated for the model area
  5. Graph showing verification of the 10-meter digital elevation model data with the most downstream surveyed cross section.
    6-41. Maps showing:
  6. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 5-year floodflow through the existing U.S.Highway 79 roadway alignment
  7. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 5-year floodflow through the existing U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  8. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 5-year floodflow through the existing U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment.
  9. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 5-year floodflow for natural conditions through the White River flood plain at the U.S. Highway 79 crossing
  10. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 5-year floodflow for natural conditions through the White River flood plain at the U.S. Highway 79 crossing
  11. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 5-year floodflow for natural conditions through the White River flood plain at the U.S. Highway 79 crossing14
  12. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 1 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  13. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 1 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  14. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 1 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  15. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 2 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  16. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 2 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  17. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 2 U.S. Highway 79 openings
  18. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 3 U.S. Highway 79 alignment.
  19. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 5-year floodflow through the proposedAlternative 3 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  20. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 3 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment.
  21. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 4 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  22. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 4 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  23. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 5-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 4 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  24. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 100-year floodflow through the existing U.S.Highway 79 roadway alignment
  25. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 100-year floodflow through the existing U.S.Highway 79 roadway alignment.
  26. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 100-year floodflow through the existing U.S. Highway 79 openings
  27. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 100-year floodflow for natural conditions through the White River flood plain at the U.S. Highway 79 crossing
  28. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 100-year floodflow for natural conditions through the White River flood plain at the U.S. Highway 79 crossing
  29. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 100-year floodflow for natural conditions through the White River flood plain at the U.S. Highway 79 crossing
  30. . Simulated water-surface elevations for the 100-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 1 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  31. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 100-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 1 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  32. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 100-year floodflow for the proposed Alternative 1 U.S. Highway 79 openings
  33. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 100-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 2 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  34. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 100-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 2 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  35. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 100-year floodflow for the proposed Alternative 2 U.S. Highway 79 openings
  36. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 100-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 3 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  37. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 100-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 3 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  38. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 100-year floodflow for the proposed Alternative 3 U.S. Highway 79 openings
  39. Simulated water-surface elevations for the 100-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 4 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  40. Depth-averaged velocity contours for the 100-year floodflow through the proposed Alternative 4 U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment
  41. Distribution of depth-averaged point velocity vectors for the 100-year floodflow for the proposed Alternative 4 U.S. Highway 79 openings.
TABLES
  1. Existing and alternative proposed bridge widths.
  2. Known and simulated water-surface elevation for the model calibration
  3. Hydraulic data for the White River flood plain U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment for simulated floodflows having a 5-year recurrence interval
  4. Comparison of backwater and velocity data for each alternative for simulated floodflows having a 5-year recurrence interval
  5. Hydraulic data for the White River flood plain U.S. Highway 79 roadway alignment for simulated floodflows having a 100-year recurrence interval
  6. Comparison of backwater and velocity data for each alternative to existing conditions for simulated floodflows having a 100-year recurrence interval.



FirstGov button  Take Pride in America button