ABSTRACT
The Danube is part of a pan-European inland transport link, connecting the ports of Rotterdam (North Sea) and Constana (Black Sea). One of the main branches in Romania, the Old Danube, forms a bottleneck along this route. To improve its navigability, a set of measures is being considered. As the Danube branches are important for Sturgeons, there are concerns that the proposed measures may further endanger these species. This paper focusses on the evaluation of the measures planned near the Bala—Old Danube bifurcation. The primary measure, a submerged sill across the Bala, has been assessed with 2D and 3D hydrodynamic models using Delft3D. We evaluate the effectiveness of this measure as well as the velocity distribution in its vicinity as a proxy for suitability for fish migration. Moreover, we quantify the sensitivity of the results to several model parameters: e.g. model boundaries, vertical schematization, pressure solver and weir schematization.
