Hydraulic suitability of an innovative fish passage design
An innovative hydraulic structure consisting of identical cell was proposed for fish passage-way in surface water. The objective of this paper was to simulate a single cell of the proposed fishway to find suitability against Atlantic fish species. The numerical model used for this hydraulic structure was developed to simulate the water surface profiles and longitudinal velocity through one cell. The model was run with an upstream depth of 0.3–0.9 m with an increment of 0.1 m. The depths arising from analysis of the hypothetical prototypes were found to be adequate for most fish species investigated. The velocities were found to be reasonable for most fish species. Although the model did not always provide preferable velocities, the species considered can cope with the high velocity using their burst speed capabilities. The cell thus provides acceptable hydraulic conditions for fish to travel both longitudinally and laterally.