Dams have an important role in the industrial development of countries. Irrespective of the reason for dam break, the flood can cause devastating disasters with loss of life and property especially in densely populated areas. In this study, the effects of the vegetation on the flood wave propagation in case of dam break were investigated experimentally by using the distorted physical model of Ürkmez Dam. The horizontal and vertical scales of the distorted physical model are 1/150 and 1/30, respectively. The dam break scenarios were achieved by means of a gate of rectangular and triangular shape. The results obtained from experiments performed with vegetation were compared and interpreted with those obtained from experiments at which the vegetation configuration was absent. The analysis of the experimental data showed that the presence of vegetation causes a significant decrease in water depths as the flood wave propagates to the downstream and greatly reduces its impact on the settlements. It is also revealed that dam break shape plays an important role in temporal variation of flood wave.
Semi-arid regions are characterized by important infrequent rainfall. They often occur in early autumn and give rise to devastating floods. Flooding problems at Wadi Mekerra, located in the Sidi Bel Abbes town (Northwest Algeria), was traditionally the main concern of researchers and government officials. In this work, the magnitude of raging flood wave in the studied catchment and the principal causes are discussed. After this, we present the main hydromorphometric features and the results of numerical simulations of flood wave. This simulation is done by using finite volume shock capturing schemes. It concerns applying the first order Godunov scheme and the second order Monotonic Central scheme. The Manning roughness coefficient was used as a calibration parameter. The comparison of numerical results with observed data confirms more stability and accuracy of applied numerical schemes in rising limb phase than in the falling limb phase. These results provide information on flood forecasting and monitoring of changes in the magnitude of the flow in Wadi Mekerra. and Semiaridné oblasti sú charakterizované významnými občasnými dažďami. Vyskytujú sa spravidla v jeseni a spôsobujú devastačné povodne. Povodne vo Wadi Mekerra v meste Sidi Bel Abbes (severozápadné Alžírsko) sú často problémom pre výskumníkov a vládnych úradníkov. Práca analyzuje devastačné povodne v tomto povodí. Okrem toho sa uvádzajú najdôležitejšie hydromorfomertrické charakteristiky a výsledky simulácií povodňovej vlny. Simulácia je aplikáciou Godunovovej schémy prvého rádu a Monotonickej centrálnej schémy druhého rádu. Ako kalibračný parameter bol použitý Manningov súčiniteľ drsnosti. Porovnanie simulovaných a pozorovaných údajov potvrdzuje väčšiu stabilitu a presnosť počas rastúcej vetvy prietokovej vlny, ako je tomu v klesajúcej fáze. Tieto výsledky sú informáciou o možnostiach predpovede a monitoringu povodní vo Wadi Mekerra.