RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT
Hydrological and flood regime study of the Alpone River and its tributaries for the design of flood control works - Provinces of Verona and Vicenza - Italy

Client:                    Ministry of  Works - Water Board (Venice) - Verona Section

Services:              Feasibility study, basic and preliminary design, environmental impact study

Period:                  1995 - 1996

Contract value:  € 48,000

The project:

The aim of the study was to evaluate the critical conditions of the Alpone river and its affluents and propose suitable protection measures for the towns of S. Bonifacio, Monteforte d’Alpone and Soave.

For each solution the following parameters were appraised:

• the reduction of the hydraulic risk

• the impact on the environment and landscape

• the costs of realization.

Two models were used for the execution of the study - an inflow-outflow model and a hydrodynamic propagation model. Furthermore, topographical surveys were made of cross sections of the river, as well as hydrometric and current measurements of the flows in relevant sections.

The first phase of the study included the collection of the available maps showing the physical, hydrological and climatological features of the area of the Alpone river basin and its affluents Chiampo, Tramigna and Aldegą, and the identification of the morphological features of the river network. Through the organization of all these data in a GIS (Geographical Information System), thematic maps (soils, basin elevations, etc.) were drawn up. Finally the hydrological reference parameters to be used in the mathematical models were determined.

In the second phase, the most significant flood events of the past ten years, for which data were available regarding rainfall, hydrometric levels and flow-rates in the basin, were reconstructed using a precipitation-runoff model and subsequently a model of the peak flows. Following their calibration, these mathematical models were used to study the conditions brought about during rainfall events with long return periods (100 and 200 years). On the basis of the results obtained, and considering a safety margin of not less than one metre for the banks, the critical stretches of the rivers were identified.

The study also included the examination of a series of alternative interventions (raising the banks, overflow channels, compensation basins), and their effectiveness in reducing hydraulic risk was evaluated using the same mathematical models.

To facilitate the choice of the solution, the study was completed by evaluations of the impact on the physical and human environment, and of the costs of realization of the various alternatives.


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