Numerical assessment of the impeding effect of check dams in the Hongchun debris flow gully, Sichuan Province, China

To mitigate potential damage from debris flows, numerous check dams have been constructed in thousands of debris flow gullies all over the world. However, the efficiencies of these check dams are largely unknown because they are normally designed based on empirical methods. This paper presents an assessment of the impeding effect of check dams constructed in the Hongchun debris flow gully in Sichuan Province, China by using an improved finite difference model. Compared with other models, the improved model can consider both the impeding effect of check dams and bed entrainment. We analyzed the impeding effect of these check dams on different initial scales of debris flows. The results show that these check dams perform quite well in constraining bed entrainment downstream of the gully. The average velocity, peak discharge, and final scale of a debris flow in the gully can be substantially reduced by constructed check dams. The impeding effect is sufficient when the initial volume of the debris flow is less than 1.5 times that of the catastrophic debris flow event that occurred in this gully on 14 August 2010. This study improves our understanding of the influence of check dams on the dynamic and bed entrainment processes of debris flows. The model adopted in this study can be a robust tool to quantify the efficiencies of existing check dams and provide reasonable guidance in the design of check dams in debris flow gullies.