Mathematical Model Studies for River Regulatory Measures for the Improvement of Draft in Hoogly Estuary, India

The Haldia port is situated in the Hooghly estuary, 104 km downstream of Kolkata Port. As a result of high sedimentation, the navigational channel to the Haldia Port is maintained with great amount of dredging (25 MCM per Annum). The paper presents a study carried out to find a solution to improve the channel depth together with minimum maintenance dredging. A desk study was carried out to identify the historical formation of the estuary and the remedial measures implemented in the past. A detailed field investigation was carried out to obtain the relevant data for the calibration of numerical models. 1D (MIKE 11) river hydrodynamic modelling was carried out using the available bathymetric data to supply upstream boundary conditions for the 2D (MIKE 21) and 3D (MIKE 3) numerical models. Number of possible scenarios were tested through MIKE 21 hydrodynamic modelling to select more feasible options. Selected options were further assessed through morphodynamic and 3D hydrodynamic modelling to examine the long term sustainability of the proposed solutions. Finally, the option which comprise of; approach channel through Balari Passage & closure of the Shore Attached Channel was selected as the best option. The selected option was further studied taking navigational aspects, dredging efforts and construction sequence into consideration.