Publication date: 
2022/08/24
The Montgomery Whitewater Park in Alabama, USA, will cover 50 hectares and feature two wild water canals. The shorter one, 380 metres long, meets Olympic standards, while the longer recreational one is over 500 metres long. The hydraulic design of the canals and their hydraulic optimization were solved by experts from the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague on a scale model of both canals, which were created at the Water Management Experimental Centre of the Faculty of Civil Engineering.

Projekt Montgomery Whitewater Park se realizuje v oblasti brownfieldu v lokalitě na mezistátní silnici mezi pobřežím Mexického zálivu, kde se nacházejí města Mobile a New Orleans, a Apalačskými horami. Je tak ideálním místem pro návštěvníky hledající dobrodružství v přírodě. Park by měl zároveň podpořit návštěvnost a ekonomiku města Montgomery a poskytnout turistický cíl lidem z celého regionu. Po jeho spuštění v roce 2023 by jím měly projít stovky tisíc návštěvníků ročně.

The Montgomery Whitewater Park project is located in a brownfield site on the interstate between the Gulf Coast, where the cities of Mobile and New Orleans are located, and the Appalachian Mountains. This makes it an ideal location for visitors seeking outdoor adventure. The park should also boost Montgomery's visitor and economic base and provide a tourist destination for people from throughout the region. Hundreds of thousands of visitors a year are expected to pass through the park when it opens in 2023.

"The uniqueness of the project lies in the opportunities to combine an Olympic standard racing channel, which can host national and international events, with a recreational channel that allows local young people to develop skills from beginner to expert. The longest water course will measure almost 800 metres, which is a rarity. The maximum flow will be 25 m3/s. The park concept is designed to be recycling with pumping - the water driven by the pumping station from the lower to the upper reservoir is returned to the lower reservoir after flowing through the 'artificial river'," explains Ing. Vojtěch Bareš, Ph.D., from the Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, who led a team of experts from the CTU in working on the project. The project involved the creation of a complete model of both designed canals in the scale of 1:15 and 1:18 at the Faculty's Water Management Experimental Centre.

"We first had to assess the submitted designs in terms of their basic parameters, the geometry and shape of the track, flow conditions and the basic layout of obstacles. We then optimised them and created channel models based on them. We then used them to measure in detail all the main hydraulic characteristics such as point velocities, flow direction, flow depths, wave heights, etc. In addition, these experimental data are also used to verify the numerical flow models. An essential part of this was the laser scanning of the final geometry and the creation of a digital model, which was then used to prepare the final construction documentation," Vojtěch Bareš explains the work of the team, which included experts from the Departments of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Hydraulic Engineering, Special Geodesy and the Water Management Experimental Centre. The actual construction of the canal models was carried out by carpenters and model makers with experience from the film industry.

In addition to wild and calm water sports such as rafting and canoeing, Montgomery Whitewater Park offers visitors zip-lining, climbing on artificial walls, and various ropes courses, all in some contact with the water. At the same time, there will be bike singletrack, recreation areas, barbecue areas and adequate facilities. People who are looking for sports activities, including demanding ones, as well as those who want to relax should find something to do here. The main designer of the park is S2o Design and Engineering, owned by Scott Shipley, a multiple US Olympic water slalom champion. 

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Contact person: 
Name: 
Mgr. Lidmila Kábrtová
E-mail: 
lidmila.kabrtova@fsv.cvut.cz