Physical Modeling of Propagation Features of the 1998 Floods in the Jingjiang Reach of the Yangtze River

Physical modeling of the propagation features of the 1998 floods in the Jingjiang Reach of the Yangtze River has been conducted under the topographical condition of Oct. 2002 and without consideration of the operation of the Three Gorges Project. The experimental results show that, comparing with the prototype floods in 1998, the experimental flood peak stages are generally higher with the largest rise being 0.98 in. It takes 21 hr for the flood peak to transport from Zhicheng to Jianli with an average speed of 3. 2 m/s. Under the studied experimental conditions, the flood protection situation of the reach is still severe, especially that of the Lower Jingjiang Reach. The floods at the main stations along the reach exceed the warning stage of the dike for quite long period. The flood peak stages at Shashi, Shishou, Jianli and Lianhuatang exceed the design stage of the dike by 1.20 m, 1.25 m, 1.73 in and 1.68 m, respectively.