Evaluation of the Tigris River sediments and their impact on the engineering standards of the river section upstream of the Kut Dam

Abstract

      A hydrological study was conducted on the Tigris River, upstream of the Kut Dam. The study period lasted (10 months), during which six sections of the Tigris River at the back of the Kut Dam were selected, and the distance from one section to the other was 1000 meters. The cross-section of the river was divided into six sections, the distance between one section and the next was 1000 m. The M-9 device, portable to a boat and connected to a laptop computer, was used for the purpose of measuring water discharge, water current speed, and some hydraulic parameters related to the river section. The results showed that the variation in the discharge of the Tigris River at the back of the Kut Dam in the months of the study period was the highest value in the first site S1, and it is noted that the discharge values of the studied sections ranged from 160.77 m3/s to 229.61 m3/s. The water velocity values for the studied sections ranged from 0.284 m/s to 0.35 m/s. The lowest velocity value was 0.16 m/s in August 2022, and the highest velocity value was 0.493 m/s in October 2023. The flow area of the Tigris River ranged from 480.83 m2 to 655.43 m2 during the study period. The depth of the Tigris River water level ranged from 1.91 m to 2.42 m, and the area of sediment accumulated at the source of the Kut Barrage ranged from 1869.48 m2 to 2319.17 m2 during the study period. The volume of sediment accumulated at the downstream of Al Kut Dam ranged from 10,749,438 m3 to 11,584,193 m3.