Search

Draining peatlands to create agricultural land has been the norm in Europe, but in the context of climate change and the loss of biodiversity, these rich ecosystems may reactivate their functions as greenhouse gas sinks and retreat spaces for animals and plants. Against this background, the National Moor Rewetting Strategy was put into effect in Germany in 2023, together with the Natural Climate Protection Action Plan. This article examines the methodology of peatland rewetting from scientific, administrative, social, and technical perspectives. The article focuses on an example of moor rewetting in central Germany: the Rathsbruch moor near the municipality of Zerbst, Saxony-Anhalt. To illustrate the importance of rewetting projects for degraded peatlands, five scenarios with different target soil water levels were considered, and the associated greenhouse gas emissions were calculated for a period of five years. For the planning solution, an estimate of the medium-to-long-term development of the habitat types was made based on current use and the dynamics typical of the habitat. The results for the Rathsbruch moor area showed that increasing the water level in steps of 1, 0.8, or 0.5 m has no significant influence on reducing the CO2 emissions situation, while a depth of 0.3 m has a slight influence. When the water was raised to 0.1 m below the surface (Scenario 5), a significant CO2 reduction was observed. The calculated avoided CO2 costs due to environmental damage show that the environmental benefits multiply with every decimeter of water level increase. The rising groundwater levels and extensification favor the establishment of local biotopes. This means that two of the biggest man-made problems (extinction of species and climate change) can be reduced. Therefore, this research is applicable to the development and planning of recultivation work at municipal and regional levels in Germany and beyond within the framework of EU restoration policy.

Bridges crossing rivers wider than 50 m are typically supported by piers. In a mobile riverbed, scour occurs around bridge piers, and it is the main cause of bridge collapses worldwide, especially during floods. While bridge pier scour has been extensively studied, there is still a lack of measuring systems for scour monitoring in the field. In this paper, we present existing devices for scour measurement and analyze their comparative advantages and disadvantages. A study case with a scoured bridge pier in supercritical flow is presented. Results show that supercritical flow patterns previously reported at the laboratory scale also occur in the field. The measured scour supports the hypothesis that supercritical flows, even when having high flow speeds, do not produce higher scour than subcritical flows. A possible explanation linked with the sediment sizes of rivers with supercritical flows is discussed. Further, field measurements of scour around bridge piers are needed to enhance our understanding of this complex and nearly unexplored situation.

Se aplica el método de los volúmenes finitos para dar solución a las ecuaciones de Saint Venant 2D con términos fuente que gobiernan el escurrimiento de aguas someras, a fin de calcular el flujo inducido por el rompimiento de una presa. El modelo se verifica mediante el cálculo de siete casos con solución conocida, que son: (1) establecimiento del flujo normal a partir de una superficie libre horizontal; (2) establecimiento del flujo gradualmente variado en un canal con cambio de rugosidad; (3) escurrimiento sobre un obstáculo; (4) formación del salto hidráulico oblicuo; (5) oscilación amortiguada de la superficie libre en un estanque parabólico; (6) escurrimiento inducido por el rompimiento de una presa circular, y (7) escurrimiento inducido por el rompimiento parcial de una presa. El modelo se aplica para simular el flujo inducido por el rompimiento instantáneo de presas, a fin de analizar el efecto de la configuración geométrica del conjunto presa, embalse, valle y cauce sobre el hidrograma de salida. Se simularon 28 escenarios, considerando un valle con sección parabólica y un cauce con sección trapezoidal, donde se varió la altura y orientación del muro de la presa, el ancho de la brecha, la pendiente longitudinal y la rugosidad del cauce aguas abajo. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la altura de la presa es la variable más influyente en el caudal máximo del hidrograma de salida y que el ancho de la brecha tiene un efecto importante en rompimientos parciales. La rugosidad del lecho atenúa de forma considerable el caudal máximo hacia aguas abajo y aumenta el tiempo de crecida. La orientación del muro y la pendiente longitudinal tienen un efecto menor sobre las crecidas provocadas por rompimiento. El modelo desarrollado predice de manera adecuada el complejo comportamiento que exhibe el flujo inducido por el rompimiento instantáneo de una presa, constituyendo una herramienta de simulación con capacidad predictiva.