Physical Model Study on Waterway Regulation Project of the North Channel in the Yangtze Estuary

The North Channel entrance bar at estuary has a natural water depth of about 6m, and the section with a water depth of less than 10m has a length of 42km. A movable-bed model test for channel improvement scheme is carried out at the physical model of Yangtze Estuary. The verification test result on change of topographic map from 2010 to 2011 shows that the model has a relatively good similarity. The research shows that the washing sediment at upper reach is mainly transported along south side of the navigation channel line, and the outside part of entrance bar and side-shoal is the main area for sediment deposition. After implementation of the improvement scheme for combination of the double training jetties and spur dikes, 8m depth waterway on the North Channel unblocked. The 10m water-depth navigation channel can be achieved by dredging.