A two-dimensional numerical bed load transport model was set up to support hydraulic engineering planning on the Lower Salzach and on the lower reaches of the Saalach between the Kibling dam and the mouth into the Salzach. The University of Stuttgart, Institute for Water and Environmental System Modelling, Chair of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management, carried out the modelling.
The Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Calibration of Hydrometrical Current-Meters contributed with its expert knowledge in hydraulic engineering and river morphology to the modelling and interpretation of results, thereby supporting the Bavarian Water Management Office in Traunstein and the office of the Salzburg province government.
The project was based on an order from the Border Water Commission under the Regensburg Treaty between Germany and Austria.
This numerical model was intended to gain more detailed knowledge of the bed load transport processes in the basin of Freilassing and in the lower reaches of the Saalach (as bed load supplier for the Salzach). The following insights were gained from the calibrated and validated model in detail:
- Amount of bed load supply from the Saalach into the Salzach
- Statements on the long-term development of the river bed in the Saalach and in the Salzach in the basin of Freilassing
- Bed load supply from the basin of Freilassing into the further course of the Salzach (Narrow of Laufen, basin of Tittmoning, Narrow of Nonnreit)
This work is also an important basis for
- Planning to improve the bed load continuity, especially on the Saalach
- Planning measures to achieve good status according to the EU Water Framework Directive, legally implemented in the respective legal matters of the two neighboring countries.