Bed-load and water surface measurements during the 2011 Mississippi River Flood at Vicksburg, Mississippi

Mississippi Valley Division Engineer Research and Development Center Bed-Load and Water Surface Measurements during the 2011 Mississippi River Flood at Vicksburg, Mississippi MRG&P Report No. 18 • April 2018 MRG&P Report No. 18 April 2018 Bed-Load and Water Surface Measurements during the 2011 Mississippi River Flood at Vicksburg, Mississippi Keaton E. Jones, David D. Abraham, and Tate O. McAlpin Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center 3909 Halls Ferry Road Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199 Final report Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division Mississippi River Geomorphology & Potamology Program 1400 Walnut Street Vicksburg, MS 39180 Under Project 127672, “Bedload Measurement” MRG&P Report No. 18 ii Abstract The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Field Data Collection and Analysis Branch collected bathymetry data and water surface elevations during the 2011 Flood. According to the gage at Vicksburg, MS, the flood peaked at a stage of 57.1 and a flow of 2,310,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) on 17 May 2011, both the highest of record. The reported water surface data include a continuous water surface profile from river mile (RM) 597 to RM 362 and water surface measurements in the vicinity of the Yazoo Backwater levee and Vicksburg, MS. Bathymetry data were also collected and include five sets of surveys, compatible with the Integrated Section Surface Difference over Time Version 2 (ISSDOTv2) method of measuring bed-load transport. These five sets were surveyed at flow rates between 1.6 million and 2.3 million cfs. ISSDOTv2 was used to calculate bed-load transport for the five sets of data. These new bed-load data populate the Lower Mississippi River bed-load rating curve at higher flows and provide a higher level of confidence in the higher-flow portions of the curve. The resulting curve can be a