DHI Study: Supporting Bhutan Land Reclamation

The city of Phuentsholing, located at a geographically and commercially strategic position on the Indo-Bhutan border, is facing a serious shortage of land for development and expansion due to increasing population.

High monsoon flows from the Ammochu River are eroding the land along the river banks and exposing the town to the danger of flooding, said DHI Group in its latest announcement.

Protecting the river banks reduces the risk of erosion and makes land reclamation a reality for the city’s expansion.

“Since 2005, DHI has been involved in a project which provides an integrated approach to the city’s flood bank protection. Our work includes providing a feasibility study, a detailed project report and a report on how future construction of Ammochu Hydropower could potentially impact the reclamation project,” the company said.

The city’s goal is to construct flood bank protection structures so that they could start land reclamation works.

“Advanced computer-based modelling helps us understand the highly-dynamic Ammochu River in detail, as it can integrate the complex hydrologic and morphologic processes at work. This understanding is needed to derive parameters needed for the design works,” DHI said.

DHI study revealed that constraining the channel width and excavating the channel bed allows the flood flows to pass safely downstream.

Due to a faster recession of flood wave, the overall water levels could be lowered significantly. 2D simulation also helped DHI to determine the appropriate size of concrete blocks that should be constructed to protect the river banks.

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