A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Modeling the Sediment Load of the Doce River after the Fundão Tailings Dam Collapse, Brazil
The collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Brazil spilled 32 million cubic meters of mine waste, causing a severe socioeconomic and environmental impact in the Doce River. Approximately 90% of the spilled volume settled on floodplains, over 118 km downstream of Fundão Dam. A hyperconcentrated flow () reached the Doce River, where the floodwave and sediment wave traveled at different celerities over 570 km until the Atlantic Ocean. The one-dimensional advection-dispersion equation with settling was solved and calibrated to fit the observed concentration using an analytical solution to determine the longitudinal dispersion coefficient and the settling rate, both along the river and in the reservoirs. The longitudinal dispersion coefficient ranged from 30 to , and the sediment settling rate corresponded to particle sizes from 1.1 to 2.0 μm. Moreover, simulations with the calibrated model revealed that without the presence of three hydropower reservoirs on the Doce River, the sediment concentration at the watershed outlet would have been instead of the observed . The temperature effects were also examined, and a decrease from 30°C to 5°C in water temperature would have caused a concentration 12 times higher at the outlet.
Modeling the Sediment Load of the Doce River after the Fundão Tailings Dam Collapse, Brazil
The collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Brazil spilled 32 million cubic meters of mine waste, causing a severe socioeconomic and environmental impact in the Doce River. Approximately 90% of the spilled volume settled on floodplains, over 118 km downstream of Fundão Dam. A hyperconcentrated flow () reached the Doce River, where the floodwave and sediment wave traveled at different celerities over 570 km until the Atlantic Ocean. The one-dimensional advection-dispersion equation with settling was solved and calibrated to fit the observed concentration using an analytical solution to determine the longitudinal dispersion coefficient and the settling rate, both along the river and in the reservoirs. The longitudinal dispersion coefficient ranged from 30 to , and the sediment settling rate corresponded to particle sizes from 1.1 to 2.0 μm. Moreover, simulations with the calibrated model revealed that without the presence of three hydropower reservoirs on the Doce River, the sediment concentration at the watershed outlet would have been instead of the observed . The temperature effects were also examined, and a decrease from 30°C to 5°C in water temperature would have caused a concentration 12 times higher at the outlet.
Modeling the Sediment Load of the Doce River after the Fundão Tailings Dam Collapse, Brazil
Palu, Marcos C. (author) / Julien, Pierre Y. (author)
2019-02-21
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
Unknown
Geotechnical analysis on the erodibility of tailings from the Fundão dam collapse
| Springer Verlag | 2024
Comparison of Fundão Dam Breach Flow to Natural Floods Along Rio Doce Watershed
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 2020