• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.696-706
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to verify experimentally debris reduction facilities for culverts installed in small rivers. A culvert is defined as a structure laid under a road or a railroad that passes through an inner urban area or downtown area to make an artificial canal. Culverts are generally categorized into road culverts or waterway culverts, among which the latter are artificial structures designed to discharge running water into a river. At the time of floods, the structural safety of waterway culverts can be undermined by the accumulation of debris, such as soil, boughs and weeds, and they may be at risk of overflowing due to blockages. Debris reduction facilities are necessary to prevent such damage. In this study, the effects of the three existing types of debris reduction facilities were examined through hydraulic experiments. The results of the experiments showed that vertical separation to divert debris reduced the accumulation rate by 27.65 to 31.39 percent. The two types of screen designed to block and divert debris, respectively, were found to have excellent debris blocking abilities. However, when the effects of the rising water level are considered simultaneously, the screen to divert debris was found to show superior effects. The screen to block debris can be considered to have excellent debris blocking ability, but requires the continuous collection of the debris, due to the high risk of rising water levels caused by its accumulation.