A Practical Introduction to River Modelling

using HEC RAS

NICK WALLERSTEIN

1
List of Contents

1 HEC RAS download and support material 1

1.1 HEC RAS download and installation 1

1.2 HEC RAS support material 2

2 Setting units system and default file locations 3

2.1 Opening HEC RAS and setting project units 3

2.2 Setting up project files 3

3 Entering geometry data 6

3.1 River schematic names and junctions 6

3.2 Entering cross-section data 11

3.2.1 Geometry data window 11

3.2.2 Initial data entry for cross-section 1 on the 12

Trent - Nottingham reach

3.2.3 Generating cross-sections 2 to 10 on the Trent - 15

Nottingham reach

3.2.4 Generating cross-section data for the Trent - 18

Derby reach

3.2.5 Generating cross-section data for the Erewash - 21

Tributary reach

3.3 Complete model long-profile check 23

3.4 Checking that the geometry data does not contain 25

serious errors

4 Steady flow simulation 28

4.1 Steady flow data 28

4.2 Steady flow computation 32

5 Unsteady flow simulation 36

i
 5.1 Unsteady flow data 36

5.2 Unsteady flow computation 43

6 Adding structures to the basic geometry 46

6.1 Creating a new geometry file 46

6.2 Bridge 46

6.3 Culvert 53

6.4 Weir 57

6.5 Steady flow analysis including structures 59

6.6 Unsteady flow analysis including structures 61

6.7 Lateral Structures 66

7 Viewing and interpreting model outputs 73

7.1 Cross-section outputs 73

7.1.1 Steady flow 73

7.1.2 Unsteady flow 80

7.2 Long-profile outputs 84

7.2.1 Steady flow 84

7.2.2 Unsteady flow 88

7.3 X-Y-Z perspective plot 89

7.4 General profile plots of hydraulic variables 92

7.5 Rating curves 96

7.6 Detailed hydraulic outputs 97

7.7 Comparing simulations 100

8 Modelling scenarios 102

ii
 8.1 Climate change 102

8.2 Levees 108

9 Model calibration and stability 115

9.1 Calibration 115

9.2 Model stability 120

9.3 The Courant Number 125

iii
HEC RAS download and support material

1.1 HEC RAS download and installation

The current version of HEC RAS is 6 Beta.

The supported operating environment is Windows version 10 with a 64-bit processor.

Earlier versions of HEC RAS will support both 32- and 64-bit architecture and also
previous versions of Windows.

Download HEC RAS from the following Web address:

https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-ras/download.aspx

The file downloaded will be: ‘HEC-RAS_60_Beta_Setup.exe’

Perform the following actions:

1) Download the file to your desktop.

2) Double click on this file once downloaded to begin the installation process.

3) Agree to the terms and conditions when prompted.

4) Allowing installation to the default folder.

5) Enable the desktop short-cut.

6) Installation Is now complete.

The default desktop icon for HEC RAS is:

When HEC RAS is opened the main interface will look as displayed in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1. Main HEC RAS user interface.

1
1.2 HEC RAS support material

A comprehensive set of example projects should load automatically when installing

HEC RAS, but if they do not, do the following:

1) Open RAS and from the main interface go to the ‘Help’ tab.

2) Click on ‘Install Example Projects…’ (see Figure 1.2) and allow installation to
the default folder: ‘C:\Users\ (name) (Documents\HEC Data\HEC-RAS’.

Figure 1.2. Example project installation option.

Detailed documentation is available to support this model which is bundled up in the

HEC RAS download file and can be accessed from the ‘Help’ tab in the main HEC
RAS interface window (see Figure 1.3). The documentation comprises the following:

1) User’s Manual
2) Hydraulic Reference Manual
3) Applications Guide

Figure 1.3. HEC RAS support documentation.

2
2 Setting units system and default file locations

2.1 Opening HEC RAS and setting project units

Open HEC RAS from the desktop icon…

The main user interface will open (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1. Main HEC RAS interface.

Before doing ANYTHING check that the programme units are set up as SI and not
Imperial. To do this select…

‘Options’ menu button  ‘Units system (US Customary/SI…)’ and you will then
see the window displayed in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2. Unit’s selection window.

Select: ‘System International (Metric System)’. Also select the box for ‘Set as
default for new projects’. Click ‘OK’.

2.2 Setting up project files

On the main RAS interface select…

3
‘File’  ‘New Project…’

The window displayed in Figure 2.3 will open.

Figure 2.3. ‘New Project’ file location window.

In the file navigation window on the right-hand-side navigate to C:\ and then click on
the ‘Create Folder…’ button and the window below will appear.

Enter the name ‘HEC RAS projects’ as the new sub directory on the C: drive and
click ‘OK’. Next, in the ‘Title’ box type the project name ‘River Trent Model’.

In the ‘File Name’ box to the right the file name ‘RiverTrentModel.prj’ should be
automatically populated. A project ‘Title’ is not the same as a project ‘File Name’, the
latter having no spaces between words. The file name extension for a project is ‘prj’.

All files associated with this model will be saved to the folder C:\HEC RAS projects.

Click ‘OK’ again when the window displayed in Figure 2.4 opens.

4
Figure 2.4. File location confirmation window.

Remember to periodically save your model as you go through the data entry process.

5
3 Entering geometry data

3.1 River schematic names and junctions

To start building a model you must first create the model geometry and associated
parameters.

Select the ‘Geometric Data’ editor icon located on the main HEC RAS interface…

The window displayed in Figure 3.1 will then open.

Figure 3.1. ‘Geometric Data’ entry window.

Now select…

‘File’  ‘New Geometry Data’

The window displayed in Figure 3.2 will then open.

6
Figure 3.2. ‘New Geometry Data’ window.

In the title box on the left-hand side type ‘Trent Geometry’ then click ‘OK’.

The geometry file name is produced automatically.

Geometry files have the extension .gxx. Each geometry file will have a suffix number
which increases from 01, 02 etc. as you create new geometry files.

Geometry files will automatically be saved in the project folder and will have the
same file name as the project, i.e., in this case the file is called,
‘RiverTrentModel.g01’

To start building your river you actually draw it in the ‘Geometric Data’ window.

Select the ‘River Reach’ icon…

A pencil icon will appear. Click the left-hand mouse button and simply draw a line by
dragging the mouse down the window, from top left to bottom right, and double click
the left mouse button where you wish the line to end. The line represents the river
reach to be used in the model.

This is simply a REPRESENTATION of your river; it contains no real data. You can
make the line look like the shape of your river by dragging the pencil, clicking and
dragging again, but this does not alter the computation process.

HOWEVER, the flow direction in your model will be that in which you drew the line. In
this case that means that flow will be from left to right.

When you double click at the end of your river reach a dialogue window will then
open (Figure 3.3) asking you to supply a name and reach identifier for your river.

7
Figure 3.3. ‘Geometric Data’ entry window with river line drawn and reach
information entry window.

Enter the following information and then click ‘OK’.

‘River:’ ‘Trent’

‘Reach:’ ‘Derby’

You now need to add a tributary to the river.

Once again click on the ‘River Reach’ button and draw a river line starting higher up
the interface window than the Trent reach and draw the line down until it just
intersects with the Trent line, half way down its length. Then double click.

A dialogue window (Figure 3.4) will then open asking you to give the river a name
and reach name.

8
Figure 3.4. ‘Geometric Data’ entry window with tributary drawn and dialogue
window for entering river and reach name.

Enter the following…

‘River:’ ‘Erewash’

‘Reach:’ ‘Tributary’

Click ‘OK’ and the dialogue window displayed in Figure 3.5 will open. Click ‘Yes’.

Figure 3.5. Window requesting river split for junction.

A dialogue window will then open asking for a ‘River:’ and ‘Reach:’ name for the
river reach below the junction.

Enter the following then click ‘OK’.

‘River:’ ‘Trent’

‘Reach:’ ‘Nottingham’
.

9
A dialogue window will now open which asks you to give a name for the junction.
Enter the name ‘Beeston’, as displayed in Figure 3.6 and then click ‘OK’.

Figure 3.6. Window requesting junction name.

A dialogue window then appears which ask a question about schematic extents.
Simply click ‘Yes’.

The river schematic in the main geometry window will now display all names
associated with each reach. Also, importantly arrows are displayed which indicate the
direction of flow.

The names, etc., on the schematic will probably be rather small and badly aligned but
this can be adjusted by going to the ‘Edit’ tab on the main ‘Geometric Data’ window
interface under which there are a number of reasonably intuitive options.

You now need to define the properties of the junction at ‘Beeston’. Select the ‘Junct’
icon located on the left-hand side of the main ‘Geometric Data’ window…

The dialog window displayed in Figure 3.7 will then open (only yours will be blank),
asking for junction information.

Figure 3.7. ‘Junction Data’ window with input data.

10
This window asks you for information regarding the distances across the junctions
between the upstream ‘Erewash - Tributary’, and ‘Trent - Derby’ reaches and the
downstream ‘Trent - Nottingham’ reach which receives flows from each of these
tributaries.

It is important to understand that these distances represent the distance between the
most upstream cross-section on ‘Trent - Nottingham’ and the most downstream
cross-sections on ‘Trent - Derby’ and ‘Erewash -Tributary’.
In the boxes to the right of ‘To: Trent - Derby’ and ‘To: Erewash - Tributary’ enter
junction lengths of 50 m for both, then click ‘OK’.

Ignore the ‘Steady Flow Computation Mode’ options on the right-hand-side. These
should only be applied if the angle at which rivers meet is very wide.

Note: In many data entry windows, as in this one, there will be an ‘Apply’ button.
These can be used to apply the data to the model, but generally simply clicking the
‘OK’ option will do the same (unless stated).

3.2 Entering cross-section data

3.2.1 Geometry data window

You are now ready to start building the ‘wire frame’ of your model. Select the ‘Cross
Section’ icon located in the ‘Geometric Data’ window…

The window displayed in Figure 3.8 will then open.

Figure 3.8. ‘Cross Section Data’ entry window.

11
3.2.2 Initial data entry for cross-section 1 on the Trent -
Nottingham reach

In the drop-down boxes located at the top left-hand-side of the window, select…

‘River:’ ‘Trent’

‘Reach:’ ‘Nottingham’

Now select…

‘Options’  ‘Add a new Cross Section’

A window will open asking you to enter a cross-section number. Enter ‘1’ then click
‘OK’.

The cross-section number is actually defined as a ‘River Station’ (‘River Sta:’) in the
cross-section data window, the data box for which appears to the right of the drop-
down selection boxes for ‘River:’ and ‘Reach:’.

River stations (cross-sections) are ordered from the lowest number at the
downstream end of a reach to the highest number at the upstream end. Numbers can
have decimal places. Be aware of this as some models order cross-section numbers
from lowest value upstream to highest value downstream.

In the ‘Cross Section Data’ window you must enter data for:

1) The cross-section geometry which is entered under the header ‘Cross Section
Coordinates’: The data comprises:

‘Station’: The distance across the channel from the left bank (as facing
downstream).

‘Elevation’: The height of each station relative to the model datum.

Cross-section point elevations cannot be independent of those elsewhere in the

system as the channel slope between cross-sections is determined via the
elevation difference of those lying either side.

The minimum elevation in the models does not have to be some definitive datum
such as sea level, it can be any value, as long as all other geometry is relative to
that value.

12
2) The distance between cross-sections is in the DOWNSTREAM direction. These
are entered under the header ‘Downstream Reach Lengths’. The data
comprises:

‘LOB’: This stands for ‘Left Over Bank’ and is the distance between cross-
sections on the left-hand-side floodplain (when facing downstream).

‘Channel’: Distance between cross-sections in the main channel.

‘ROB’: This stands for ‘Right Over Bank’ and is the distance between cross-
sections on the right-hand-side floodplain (when facing downstream).

3) The Manning’s ‘n’ roughness coefficients for ‘LOB’, ‘Channel’, and ‘ROB’ are
entered under the header ‘Manning’s n Values’. There is a ‘question mark’
button next to the header which, when selected, takes you to reference tables in
the Hydraulic Reference Manual from which you can select appropriate values.

4) Main channel bank stations. These mark the stations where the channel
transitions from floodplain to the main channel and are important in the
calculations as these points determine where the ‘n’ values are applied.

These are entered as a ‘Left Bank’ and ‘Right Bank’ distance under the header
‘Main Channel Bank Stations’. These station values should correspond to one of
the station values in the cross-section data table.

5) Contraction and Expansion coefficients are required when computing steady flow
to take account of expansion and contraction of width between adjacent cross-
sections.

These are entered under the header ‘Cont\Exp Coefficient (Steady Flow)’.

The default values are 0.1 and 0.3 respectively, but guidance for alternative
values can be obtained by clicking the ‘question mark’ button located to the right
of the contraction/expansion coefficient header.

You can now enter the data for ‘River Sta:’ 1.

Enter the data exactly as displayed in Figure 3.9 and then click the ‘Apply Data’
button located towards the top of the window.

To check that you have entered the data correctly look at the cross-section plot that
is generated in the window to the right of the data entry tables. It should look exactly
like that displayed in Figure 3.9.

It is worth noting that the red ‘dots’ on the cross-section diagram represent the points
you have selected to be the left and right river bank stations.

13
Figure 3.9. Cross-section data for ‘River Sta:’ 1 on the ‘Trent - Nottingham’ river reach.

14
3.2.3 Generating cross-sections 2 to 10 on the Trent -
Nottingham reach

The ‘Trent - Nottingham’ reach will have 11 cross-sections in total.

Rather than entering different sets of data for each cross-section you are going to
use a copy function whereby cross-sections can be copied, then ‘pasted’ as a new
section by giving it a new River Station number.

When a cross-section is copied the elevation of each station remains the same but
you can change this using an option to increase/decrease all elevations in a cross-
section by a given, user specified, number.

To generate cross-section 2, in the cross-section editor select…

‘Options’ and the window displayed in Figure 3.10 will then open.

Then select...

‘Copy Current Cross Section…’

Figure 3.10. Options menu in the ‘Cross Section Data’ window.

When this option is selected the window displayed in Figure 3.11 will open.

Figure 3.11. ‘Copy Cross Section’ data entry window.

15
In the data entry window next to ‘River Sta:’ type ‘2’, then click ‘OK’.

When you do this the data entered for River Station 1 will re-appear, but the number
‘2’ will appear in the ‘River Sta:’ drop down box.

You now need to adjust the distance between this River Station and that entered for
River Station 1, so change the values under the ‘Downstream Reach Lengths’
header from LOB = 0, Channel = 0, ROB = 0, to:

‘LOB’ = 500, ‘Channel’ = 500, ‘ROB’ = 500

You must also adjust the elevation of this cross-section because you are moving
upstream in this instance. To do this select…

‘Options’  ‘Adjust Elevations…’ (see Figure 3.12)

Figure 3.12. Option for adjusting cross-section elevation.

Once this has been selected the window displayed in Figure 3.13 will open.

Figure 3.13. Window for entering cross-section elevation adjustment value.

16
Enter a value of 2 (metres) and click ‘OK’.

You don’t need to enter a ‘+’ prefix; this is automatically assumed but if you wish to
reduce elevations you need to include a ‘-‘ prefix.

Now click the ‘Apply Data’ button in the ‘Cross Section Data’ editor window.

You now need to create all 10 of your cross-sections for this river in the manner
described above. Table 3.1 gives the river cross-section numbers to generate, along
with the vertical adjustments and reach lengths (the data for cross-section 2 is
included for completeness). Create each of these cross-sections exactly in the
sequence displayed in this table.

River Station Elevation Downstream Reach Lengths

Number Adjustment (LOB, Channel, ROB)
2 2 500
3 1.5 500
4 2 500
4.5 0 100
5 1 500
6 2 500
7 1 500
8 2 500
9 1 500
10 1 500

Table 3.1. River station number and associated necessary elevation and
downstream reach length adjustments.

Note that for each new cross-section, when copying and pasting from section 1 to 2
to 3 etc. you should copy the current cross-section in the series to create the next
upstream section and not simply copy section 1, i.e., to generate cross-section 3
copy cross-section 2, and to generate cross-section 4, copy cross-section 3, etc.

Once a new cross-section is generated you must click the ‘Apply Data’ button before
that cross-section can itself be copied.

Once all cross-section data has been entered check that elevations and distances
are correct by plotting the long-profile. In the ‘Cross Section Data’ entry window
select…

‘Plot’  ‘Plot Profile…’

The profile should look like that displayed in Figure 3.14. The solid black line
represents the minimum elevation of the channel bed, and the dashed line
represents the elevation of the left and right bank stations. Each black dot represents
a cross-section location. The River Station number for each cross-section can be
displayed by selecting…

‘Options’  ‘Land Marks’  ‘River Stationing’

17
Figure 3.14. Full long-profile plot of the ‘Trent - Nottingham’ reach.

When you are happy with your data close this window.

3.2.4 Generating cross-section data for the Trent -

Derby reach

In the ‘Cross Section Data’ entry window go to the top left-hand-side and select
from the drop-down boxes…

‘River:’ ‘Trent’

‘Reach:’ ‘Derby’

You are now going to enter the data for this reach in the same manner as that used
for the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’. Select…

‘Options’  ‘Add a new Cross Section...’

Enter a value of ‘1’ then click ‘OK’.

For this cross-section enter the data exactly as it displayed in Figure 3.15 and click
‘Apply Data’.

18
Figure 3.15. Cross-section data for ‘River Sta:’ 1 on the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach.

19
You are going to create a total of 6 cross-sections in this reach, using the same
method as used for the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’.

Copy cross-section 1 and then adjust elevations and reach lengths by the values
displayed in Table 3.2.

River Station Elevation Downstream Reach Lengths

Number Adjustment (LOB, Channel, ROB)
2 3 500
3 0.5 500
4 1 500
5 1 500
6 2 500

Table 3.2. The ‘Trent - Derby’ reach ‘River Sta:’, elevation and downstream
reach length adjustments for each cross-section.

Now check that the data has been entered correctly, by selecting…

‘Plot’  ‘Plot Profile…’

The long-profile should look like that displayed in Figure 3.16.

Figure 3.16. Long-profile plot for the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach.

When you are happy with your data close the window.

20
3.2.5 Generating cross-section data for the Erewash -
Tributary reach

In the ‘Cross Section Data’ entry window go to the top left-hand-side and select,
from the drop-down boxes…

‘River:’ ‘Erewash’

‘Reach:’ ‘Tributary’

You are now going to enter the data for this reach in the same manner as applied
before. Select…

‘Options’  ‘Add a new Cross Section….’

Enter a value of ‘1’ then click ‘OK’.

For this cross-section enter the data exactly as displayed in Figure 3.17.

A total of 7 cross-sections are to be created in this reach by using the copy cross-
section option. For cross-section 2 onwards adjust reach lengths and elevations by
the values displayed in Table 3.3.

River Station Elevation Downstream Reach Lengths

Number Adjustment (LOB, Channel, ROB)
2 2.5 500
2.5 0 50
3 1.5 500
4 2 500
5 1 500
6 1 500

Table 3.3. Reach ‘Erewash - Tributary’ ‘River Sta:’, elevation and downstream
distance adjustments for each cross-section.

21
Figure 3.17. Cross-section data for ‘River Sta:’ 1 on the ‘Erewash - Tributary’ reach.

22
Now check that the data has been entered correctly. Select…

‘Plot’  ‘Plot Profile….’

The long-profile should look like that displayed in Figure 3.18.

‘
Figure 3.18. Long-profile plot for the reach ‘Erewash - Tributary’.

When you are happy with the data close the window.

3.3 Complete model long-profile check

You now need to check that the junction distances from ‘Erewash - Tributary’ and
‘Trent - Derby’ to ‘Trent - Nottingham’ are correct and that the long-profiles match
up. The distance across the two junctions should be 50 m, as per that entered in the
junction data window.

From the ‘Cross Section Data’ entry window, for any cross-section select…

‘Plot’  ‘Plot Profile…’

Under the ‘Reaches…’ button located at the top left-hand-side of the profile window
select the check boxes beside ‘Erewash Tributary’, and ‘Trent Nottingham’. The
profile plot should look like that displayed in Figure 3.19.

23
Figure 3.19. Combined long-profile plot for reaches ‘Erewash - Tributary’ and
‘Trent - Nottingham’.

Again, under the ‘Reaches…’ button located at the top left-hand-side of the profile
window select the ’Trent - Derby’ and ‘Trent - Nottingham’ reaches. The profile plot
should look like that displayed in Figure 3.20.

Figure 3.20. Combined long-profile plot for reaches ‘Trent - Derby’ and ‘Trent -
Nottingham’.

24
Once all data has been entered and applied click the ‘Exit’ button located on the top
left-hand-side of the ‘Cross Section Data’ entry window and then ‘Exit Cross
Section Editor’ In the main ‘Geometric Data’ window select…

‘File’  ‘Save Geometry Data’

3.4 Checking that the geometry data does not contain

serious errors
You need to check that there are no serious flaws in the manner in which reaches
are connected that will prevent model computation.

From the ‘Geometric Data’ window select…

‘Tools’  ‘Reach Connectivity….’ (see Figure 3.21)

Figure 3.21. The ‘Reach Connectivity…’ option under the ‘Tools’ tab in the
‘Geometric Data’ window.

The window displayed in Figure 3.22 will open and, if all data has been entered
correctly, the contents should exactly match those displayed in this window although
the order in which they are displayed vertically may be different.

25
Figure 3.22. ‘Reach Connectivity’ window.

Click ‘Close’ and now select…

‘Tools’  ‘Reach Order for Computations…’

The window displayed in Figure 3.23 will open and, if all data has been entered
correctly the contents should exactly match those displayed in this window although
the order in which they are displayed vertically may be different.

Figure 3.23. ‘Reach Computation Order’ window.

Click ‘OK’ and now select…

‘Tools’  ‘Reach Order’  ‘Find loops that prevent backwater solution...’

A window will open (Figure 3.24) and, if all data has been entered correctly the
following message will be displayed…

Figure 3.24. Reach order loop error window.

26
Click ‘OK’.

In the ‘Geometric Data’ window select…

‘File’  ‘Save Geometry Data’

You can now close the ‘Geometric Data’ window.

You have now successfully entered the basic geometry data for this model.

27
4 Steady flow simulation

4.1 Steady flow data

To enter steady flow data, go to the HEC RAS main interface window and select the
following icon…

The ‘Steady Flow Data’ window will open (Figure 4.1).

Figure 4.1. ‘Steady Flow Data’ window.

In this window you will enter the flow data necessary for steady flow computation.

First select…

‘File’  ‘Save Flow Data AS…’

The window displayed in Figure 4.2 will then open.

Figure 4.2. ‘Save Flow Data AS’ window.

28
In the box below the ‘Title’ header type the name ‘Steady Flow’. The associated file
name is created in the ‘File Name’ box and will be called ‘RiverTrentModel.f01’.

Click ‘OK’ and you will be returned to the ‘Steady Flow Data’ window which will now
have the header ‘Steady Flow Data - Steady Flow’.

Steady flow files have the suffix ‘.f01’, ‘.f02’, etc., as new files are generated.

Let the programme save the file in the default folder, as displayed on the right-hand-
side of this window.

You now need to select the number of steady flows you wish to determine depths for
in the analysis and this is done by entering the desired number into the box to the
right of the text ‘Enter/Edit Number of Profiles (25000 max):’.

Enter a value of ‘5’ then click the ‘Apply Data’ button.

Below this box is a header called ‘Location of Flow Data Changes’.

By default, the flow change locations are set as the upstream most cross-sections in
each reach.

In the drop-down box to the right of ‘River:’ select the river ‘Erewash’. The drop-
down box below, to the right of ‘Reach:’, will automatically display the reach
‘Tributary’.

Next to the Reach drop-down box is the text ‘River Sta:’ and the value in the drop-
down box will be ‘6’, i.e., the flow will ‘enter’ this reach at River Station 6.

You can now select the reaches ‘Trent - Derby’ and ‘Trent - Nottingham’ and the
associated rivers stations will be ‘6’ and ‘10’ respectively.

You are only going to set flow change locations at the upstream cross-section of
each reach so you can ignore the ‘Add A Flow Change Location’ button.

In the table below these options, on the left-hand-side under the header ‘Flow
Change Location’, the River, Reach and River Station are displayed in tabular form.

To the right of the ‘Flow Change Location’ header is another with the name ‘Profile
Names and Flow Rates’ and below this are titles for each of the 5 profiles for which
you are going to enter flows. These are labelled ‘PF 1’, ‘PF 2’, etc. Enter the flow
data for each profile exactly as displayed in Figure 4.3. Be aware that the reaches
may not be vertically ordered in your window in the manner displayed in Figure 4.3. If
the full data entry table is not visible expand it to full size using the windows expand
button located at the top right-hand-side of the ‘Steady Flow Data’ window.

29
Figure 4.3. ‘Steady Flow Data’ window with input flow data.

Note that unless there are any losses or additions to the flow in the network the flow
in the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’ should be the sum of flow inputs from the
upstream network, as has been applied to this set of input data.

You now need to select the full set of boundary conditions to run the model. Click on
the button ‘Reach Boundary Conditions’ which is located towards the top of the
flow data entry window (Figure 4.4).

The following window will open which has the name ‘Steady Flow Boundary
Conditions…’. The order in which the reaches appear in your model may be
different but this does not affect computation.

Figure 4.4. ‘Steady Flow Boundary Conditions’ window.

You are going to set fixed boundary conditions for all profiles, so make sure that the
check box to the left of the text ‘Set boundary for all profiles’ is selected.

30
In the table below the header ‘Selected Boundary Condition Locations and
Types’ the table will have been populated in the manner displayed in Figure 4.4.

The downstream boundary conditions are automatically set as ‘Junction = Beeston’

for the reaches ‘Trent - Derby’ and ‘Erewash - Tributary’ and the upstream
condition on the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’ is also automatically set as ‘Junction =
Beeston’.

The range of boundary condition options available can be selected by pressing the
appropriate button below the header ‘Available External Boundary Condition
Types’.

The available options are:

1) ‘Known W.S.’ – a known water-surface elevation obtained from field data.

2) ‘Critical Depth’ – determined using the Froude Number equation.
3) ‘Normal Depth’ – flow depth determined using Manning’s Equation for which a
bed slope is required.
4) A ‘Rating Curve’ – a plot of stage against flow, obtained from a gauging station.

You are going to perform steady flow calculations using a subcritical flow regime and,
in that instance, you do not need to enter upstream boundary conditions in the
reaches ‘Erewash - Tributary’ and ‘Trent - Derby’. Consequently, you can leave
these boxes empty, as displayed in Figure 4.4.

Note that boundary conditions could be entered here if wished by clicking on these
greyed-out cells and selecting one of the boundary conditions available.

For this example, you do not have information on flows for the downstream boundary
condition on the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’ so you will use the ‘Normal Depth’
option.

To do this highlight the greyed-out cell located on the row for ‘Trent - Nottingham’
below the ‘Downstream’ header and click on the ‘Normal Depth’ button. The
window displayed in Figure 4.5 will open.

Figure 4.5. Normal depth slope entry window with data.

To calculate normal depth, you need to enter a channel bed slope, so in this window
type ‘0.0035’ (a slope in mm-1) and click ‘OK’.

31
Normal depth slopes are generally determined on a trial-and-error basis by re-
running the model until the water-surface profile at the boundary location become
that which would be expected at this location. This slope has been selected using
that approach.

You have now entered all the steady flow data required to run the model so click ‘OK’
in the ‘Steady Flow Boundary Conditions’ window and then in the ‘Steady Flow
Data’ window select…

‘File’  ‘Save Flow Data’

Then in the ‘Steady Flow Data’ window select...

‘File’  ‘Exit Flow Data Editor’

Save the project again at this point to back it up.

4.2 Steady flow computation

To run a steady flow analysis select the following icon located on the main HEC RAS
window interface….

This brings up the ‘Steady Flow Analysis’ window (Figure 4.6), only yours will be
blank.

Figure 4.6. ‘Steady Flow Analysis’ window with input data.

32
Here you will bring together the required geometry file by selecting a file from the
drop-down box next to ‘Geometry File:’ with a steady flow file from the drop-down
box next to ‘Steady Flow File:’.

Select the Geometry File: ‘Trent Geometry’ and the Steady Flow File: ‘Steady
Flow’. Now select…

‘File’  ‘Save Plan AS….’

The window displayed in Figure 4.7 will open.

Figure 4.7. ‘Save Plan Data AS’ window.

Enter the plan name ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation’ and click ‘OK’.

The file name associated with this plan will be automatically populated in the box
underneath the text ‘File Name’. The file name will be ‘RiverTrentModel.p01’.

Steady flow simulation plans have the suffix ‘.p01’, ‘.p02’ etc., as new files are
created.

The default file location will be selected for this file, as shown in the panel on the
right-hand-side of this window.

Once ‘OK’ has been clicked a window will then open (Figure 4.8) which asks you to
enter a plan identifier for the simulation run. Call the run ‘Trent Steady’ and click
‘OK’.

Figure 4.8. Plan identifier window with input data.

There are various parameters and tolerances etc., that must be set to make a model
perform correctly but you will not investigate these in any detail other than to note

33
that the flow regime required is that of ‘Subcritical’. This option is select by clicking
in the check box to the left of the word ‘Subcritical’ which is located at the bottom
left-hand side of the interface window below the header ‘Flow Regime’. Note that the
subcritical regime is the default option.

When selecting a particular flow regime, you need to check from the run as to
whether it is appropriate. You have selected ‘Subcritical’ but in the computation
process it may in fact turn out that some flows should be modelled as a
‘Supercritical’ or ‘Mixed’ regime.

To check for this possibility, you should have the critical flow depth computed for
each flow. In order to do this, from the ‘Steady Flow Analysis’ window select…

‘Options’  ‘Critical Depth Output Option...’

The window displayed in Figure 4.9 will then open.

Figure 4.9. Critical depth calculation selection window.

Check the box to select ‘Critical Always Calculated’, then click ‘OK’.

Other parameters that can be adjusted when making a steady flow computation are
available from the ‘Options’ menu but for this model you will simply use the default
values for these options.

Once you are happy with the information entered, select…

‘File’  ‘Save Plan’

Now click the ‘Compute’ button located at the bottom of the ‘Steady Flow Analysis’
window.

The computation will now be undertaken, and in this case will be rapid.

A computation window will appear when the model is running and if calculations are
performed successfully, at the end of the computation, this window should look like
that displayed in Figure 4.10.

34
Figure 4.10. HEC RAS computation output window.

Close the ‘Steady Flow Analysis’ window.

You are now ready to view the results.

35
5 Unsteady flow simulation
5.1 Unsteady flow data
In order to compute unsteady flow, you must have time-based flows for events of a
given duration, i.e., a hydrograph.

To enter unsteady flow data, select the following icon located on the main HEC RAS
interface…

The ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window will then open (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1. ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window.

First you must generate an unsteady flow data file. To do so select…

‘File’  ‘New Unsteady Flow Data’

In the ‘Title’ box enter ‘Trent Unsteady’, and then click ‘OK’.

36
Under the ‘File Name’ header the file name will be automatically populated and will
be called ‘RiverTrentModel.u01’.

Unsteady flow data files have the suffix ‘.uxx’, the first file to be saved given the
suffix ‘.u01’, etc.

This file will be automatically saved in the default folder for your project.

In the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window there is a table at the bottom under the header
‘Select Location in table then select Boundary Condition Type’.
Boundary conditions are required where flow enters the model and where it leaves.
The River Station (RS) for the ‘Erewash - Tributary’ reach it is therefore ‘RS 6’, for
the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach it is ‘RS 6’ and for the ‘Trent - Nottingham’ reach it is ‘RS
1’.

You now need to set a boundary condition for the ‘Erewash - Tributary’ reach. To do
so click on the greyed-out cell to the right of the ‘Erewash -Tributary’ row below the
‘Boundary Condition’ header.

When you do so the available boundary condition options will become active below
the ‘Boundary Condition Types’ header.

The options available to us are ‘Stage Hydrograph’, ‘Flow Hydrograph’ and

‘Stage/Flow Hydrograph’.

You are going to enter ‘Flow Hydrograph’ data so click this option and the window
displayed in Figure 5.2 will open.

Figure 5.2. ‘Flow Hydrograph’ boundary data editor.

37
There are a number of pieces of data that must be entered here. First you need to
select a date and time interval. Our data is on an hourly interval, so in the drop-down
box next to ‘Date time interval:’ select ‘1 Hour’, which is the default.

Next you must set a starting date and time for our hydrograph. To do so you are
going to use the ‘Fixed Start Time’ option, rather than the ‘Use Simulation Time’
option which lies above this. Therefore, make sure that you have selected the fixed
start time approach by selecting the appropriate check box.

You are then required to enter a ‘Date:’ and ‘Time:’ for the start of your flows in the
boxes to the right of the fixed start time option.

In the ‘Date:’ box type in the date exactly as follows….

01Jan2008

And in the ‘Time’ box type…

0100

In the ‘Date’ column of the table, dates and times will be automatically populated.

Before entering the flow information in the table for data entry, below the header
‘Flow m3/s’, you must first check there are enough rows (ordinates) to enter your
data.

You will have 55 hours of data so make sure that there are at least 55 rows by
scrolling down the table. Row number is displayed in the very left-hand column of the
table.

If there are not enough ordinates click the ‘No. Ordinates’ button that is located
above the table and type in a minimum of say, 100 (see Figure 5.3).

Figure 5.3. Window for entering the required number of ordinates.

The flow data you are going to use can be found in the MS Excel file called ‘RAS
course flow data as MS Excel 2007 file.xlsx’, which is located in the ‘C:\HEC RAS
Course\HEC RAS model flow data’ folder (see Figure 5.4).

38
Figure 5.4. Flow data as it appears in MS Excel.

If you don’t have MS Excel the data is also contained within a text file which can be
opened in any text editor such as Notepad. This file is called ‘RAS course flow data
as text file.txt’ which is also located in the folder ‘C:\HEC RAS Course\HEC RAS
model flow data’.

Copy the vertical column of flow values (which are in m3s-1) by highlighting the top
cell and dragging the mouse down to the last cell with flows in it (row A55 in Excel).
Then release and press ‘Ctrl’ and ‘c’ keys at the same time.

Return to the RAS ‘Flow Hydrograph’ window. To paste these values in, click in the
top cell under the ‘Flow’ header and press and hold the left mouse button while at
the same time dragging the cursor down over all rows of cells as far as row 55.

39
Release the mouse and then press ‘Ctrl’ and ‘v’ keys at the same time. This will
paste all the values in.

NOTE: There are no ‘copy’ and ‘paste’ functions in HEC RAS so to populate data in a
table the ‘Ctrl c’ and ‘Ctrl v’ keyboard short cuts must be used. Also, when pasting
values into a table, such as the flows in the hydrograph you are creating, you must
drag the cursor down to highlight the full set of cells you wish to paste into. If you
simply highlight row 1 and then use ‘Ctrl v’, only the value associated with row 1 will
be pasted.

The ‘Flow Hydrograph’ window should now look as displayed in Figure 5.5.

Figure 5.5. ‘Flow Hydrograph’ table with data entered for the reach ‘Erewash -
Tributary’.

You now need to check that the flow data has been entered correctly by clicking on
the ‘Plot Data’ button which is located at the bottom of the ‘Flow Hydrograph’
window.

40
When you open this, the plot should look like that displayed in Figure 5.6.

Figure 5.6. ‘Flow Hydrograph’ for the ‘Erewash - Tributary’ boundary condition.

Close this window and when you are satisfied with this flow data click ‘OK’ at the
bottom of the ‘Flow Hydrograph’ window to return to the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’
window.

You now need to enter data for the upstream boundary condition on the ‘Trent -
Derby’ reach.

To do so click on the greyed-out cell to the right of the ‘Trent - Derby’ row and below
the ‘Boundary Condition’ header in the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window.

When you do so the available boundary condition options will become active below
the ‘Boundary Condition Types’ header.

You are going to enter ‘Flow Hydrograph’ data so click this option and a ‘Flow
Hydrograph’ window will open as per the case for the reach ‘Erewash - Tributary’.

41
Again, select a ‘Date time interval:’ of ‘1 Hour’, select the ‘Fixed Start Time’ option
and enter the date and start time as:

‘Date:’ 01Jan2008

‘Time:’ 0100

Before entering the flow data again check that there are at least 55 rows in the flow
hydrograph data input table.

You are going to use the same flow data for this reach so go through the steps
described for entering the hydrograph data used for the ‘Erewash - Tributary’ reach.

The flow hydrograph should look the same as that for the ‘Erewash - Tributary’
reach, as per that displayed in Figure 5.6 when you use the ‘Plot Data function.

When you are happy with this data click ‘OK’ and return to the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’
window.

You now need to select a boundary condition for the downstream end of the reach
‘Trent - Nottingham’.

Click the greyed-out cell for the ‘Trent - Nottingham’ row below the ‘Boundary
Condition’ header. The available ‘Boundary Condition Types’ highlighted will be:
‘Stage Hydrograph’, ‘Flow Hydrograph’, ‘Stage/Flow Hydr.’, ‘Rating Curve’ and
‘Normal Depth.

You are going to use the ‘Normal Depth’ option so click on this button. The window
displayed in Figure 5.7 will open asking for a ‘Friction Slope’. This is the estimated
slope of the energy gradient used in Manning’s equation.

Enter a value of ‘0.0015’ (m/m) and click ‘OK’ to return to the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’
window.

Figure 5.7. Normal depth friction slope data entry window.

Unsteady flow analysis requires initial steady flow conditions to ‘prime’ the unsteady
solver.

To access a table to enter these flows click on the ‘Initial Conditions’ tab which is
located at the top of the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window.

42
In the window that opens (Figure 5.8) enter the ‘Initial Flow’ values as shown
below…

‘Erewash - Tributary’ = 8 (m3s-1)

‘Trent - Derby’ = 8 (m3s-1)

‘Trent - Nottingham’ = 16 (m3s-1)

Figure 5.8. ‘Initial Conditions’ table.

When this data has been entered click the ‘Apply Data’ button which is located at the
top right-hand-side of the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window. Then, in the ‘Unsteady
Flow Data’ window select…

‘File’  ‘Exit’

All the necessary unsteady flow data has now been entered.

5.2 Unsteady flow computation

To run an unsteady flow computation, select the following icon located on the main
HEC RAS interface…

43
The ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window (Figure 5.9) will open, only yours will have
blank variables.

Figure 5.9. ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window.

Now select…

‘File’  ‘Save Plan As...’

A dialog box will open with the header ‘Save Plan Data As’. The plan name for the
steady run will appear as an option below the ‘Title’ box. Do not use this plan.
Instead create a new plan with the title ‘Trent Unsteady’ and click ‘OK’.

A dialog box will then open asking for a plan identifier. Enter the name ‘Trent
Unsteady’ and click ‘OK’.

Now check that in the box next to ‘Geometry File:’ the file selected is ‘Trent
Geometry:’ and that the file selected next to the ‘Unsteady Flow File:’ is ‘Trent
Unsteady’.

44
You now need to select which programs you need to run for computation and output
in the unsteady solver. In the box with the header ‘Programs to Run’ select
‘Geometry Preprocessor’, ‘Unsteady Flow Simulation’ and ‘Post Processor’.

In the box under ‘Computation Settings’ set:

‘Computation Interval:’ = ‘10 mins’

‘Hydrograph Output Interval:’ = ‘1 Hour’

‘Detailed Output Interval:’ = ‘1 Hour’

Now you need to enter a start and finish date and time for the simulation.

In the table headed ‘Simulation Time Window’ enter the following data exactly as it
appears below…

‘Starting Date:’ 01JAN2008 ‘Starting Time:’ 0100

‘Ending Date:’ 03JAN2008 ‘Ending Time:’ 0600

Now check that all the data has been entered correctly.

You can ignore the other options at the bottom of this window.

Now run the simulation by clicking ‘Compute’.

A runtime window will open and when the blue bars have stopped scanning and the
model has run without crashing click the ‘Close’ button (see Figure 5.10).

You are now ready to view the results.

Figure 5.10. HEC RAS unsteady computation window.

45
6 Adding structures to the basic geometry

6.1 Creating a new geometry file

A set of two structures can now be added to your model; a bridge and a culvert.

You need to create a new geometry file to do this so as to preserve the initial geometry
that you created.

Open up the cross-section geometry editor from the main HEC RAS interface by
selecting the following icon...

The ‘Geometric Data’ editor window will then open.

You now need to save a copy of the ‘Trent Geometry’ file in which you will add your
structures. Select...

‘File’  ‘Save Geometry Data AS…’

The window displayed in Figure 6.1 will open.

Figure 6.1. ‘Save Geometry Data AS’ window.

Under the ‘Title’ header rename this copy of the geometry data as ‘Trent Geometry
with Structures’. The associated file name will be ‘RiverTrentModel.g02’. Now click
‘OK’.

6.2 Bridge

The first structure you are going to create is a bridge on the ‘Trent - Nottingham’
reach. In the ‘Geometric Data’ window select the ‘Brdg/Culv’ icon...

46
The ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ window will then open (Figure 6.2).

Figure 6.2. ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ entry window.

On the top left-hand side next to ‘River:’ select ‘Trent’ from the drop-down box, and
‘Nottingham’ from the drop-down ‘Reach:’ box. Now select...

‘Options’  ‘Add a Bridge and/or Culvert…’

The window displayed in Figure 6.3 will then open in which you must enter a river
station for the bridge.

47
Figure 6.3. River station number entry window for the bridge on the ‘Trent -
Nottingham’ reach with input data.

Enter the ‘River Station’ number ‘4.25’ and click ‘OK’.

This river station is bounded upstream by River Station 4.5 and downstream by River
Station 4. This information is shown below the ‘River:’ and ‘Reach:’ boxes to the
right of the text ‘Bounding XS’s:’. When pressed these reach station buttons take
you to that cross-section in the ‘Cross Section Data’ editor window.

You will now build the bridge deck. Select the ‘Deck/Roadway’ icon…

The ‘Deck/Roadway Data Editor’ window will then open (Figure 6.4).

Figure 6.4 ‘Deck/Roadway Data Editor’ window with input data.

48
Enter the data exactly as it appears in Figure 6.4, click ‘OK’ and then click the ‘Apply
Data’ button.

Note that the ‘Distance’ represents the distance from the bridge section to the next
upstream river cross-section and the ‘Width’ represents the width of the bridge
parallel to the direction of river flow.

You now need to enter pier data for the bridge. Select the ‘Pier’ icon…

The ‘Pier Data Editor’ window will then open (Figure 6.5), only yours will be blank.

Figure 6.5. ‘Pier Data Editor’ window for Pier # 1 with input data.

Next to the ‘Pier #’ text a drop-down box will contain the number ‘1’. This indicates
that this data is for the first pier associated with our bridge. Enter the data for this pier
exactly as it appears in Figure 6.5 and then click ‘OK’.

You now need to enter the data for Pier # 2. In the ‘Pier Data Editor’ click the ‘Add’
button located at the top-left-hand side of the window.

In the drop-down box next to ‘Pier #’ on the top right of the ‘Pier Data Editor’ the
number ‘2’ will appear. Now enter the data as it appears in Figure 6.6 and then click
‘OK’.

49
Figure 6.6. ‘Pier Data Editor’ window for Pier # 2 with input data.

Back in the ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ window click ‘Apply Data’ and the image in the
window should now look like that displayed in Figure 6.7.

50
Figure 6.7. ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ entry window with bridge geometry.

Now select the ‘Bridge Modeling Approach’ icon…

Check that the options in this window are entered exactly as shown in Figure 6.8
then click ‘OK’. These are the default values so you should not need to change
anything.

51
Figure 6.8. ‘Bridge Modelling Approach Editor’ with input data.

Next, from the ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ window select the ‘HTab Param.’ icon…

Enter the values in this window exactly as shown in Figure 6.9, and then click ‘OK’.

Figure 6.9. ‘Parameters for Hydraulic Properties Tables’ window with input
data.

52
You have now entered all the data required for the bridge. In the bridge editor
window select…

‘File’  ‘Exit’

6.3 Culvert

You are now going to build a culvert on the reach ‘Trent - Derby’.

From the ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ editor select from the drop-down boxes:

‘River’  ‘Trent’

‘Reach’  ‘Derby’

Now select…

‘Options’  ‘Add a Bridge and/or Culvert…’

The window displayed in Figure 6.10 will then open, in which you must enter a river
station for the culvert.

Figure 6.10. Window for entering culvert river station with input data.

Enter the ‘River Station’ number ‘3.5’ and click ‘OK’.

This river station is bounded upstream by River Station 4 and downstream by River
Station 3. This information is shown below the ‘River:’ and ‘Reach:’ boxes and to the
right of the text ‘Bounding XS’s:’. When pressed these reach station buttons take
you to that cross-section in the ‘Cross Section Data’ editor window.

Now you will build the surrounds. Select the ‘Deck/Roadway’ icon…

In the window that opens enter the data exactly as displayed in Figure 6.11, click
‘OK’ and then back in the ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ editor click on the ‘Apply Data’
button.

53
Figure 6.11. ‘Deck/Roadway Data Editor’ with input data for culvert.

The ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ editor window should now appear as displayed in Figure
6.12.

Figure 6.12. ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ window with culvert Deck/Roadway data.

54
You now need to design the culvert itself. Select the ‘Culvert’ icon…

The window displayed in Figure 6.13 will then open.

Figure 6.13. ‘Culvert Data Editor’ window with input culvert data.

Enter the data exactly as displayed in Figure 6.12 then click ‘OK’ and when you are
returned to the ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ entry window click on the ‘Apply Data’ button.
The culvert should then appear as displayed in Figure 6.14.

Note that some values in the ‘Culvert Data Editor’ window will need to be typed in,
others selected from drop-down boxes.

55
Figure 6.14. ‘Bridge Culvert Data’ window with culvert geometry.

Now select the ‘HTab Param.’ icon...

In the window that opens (Figure 6.15) enter the following data exactly as shown
then click ‘OK’.

56
Figure 6.15. ‘Parameters for Hydraulic Properties Tables’ window with input
data for culvert.

Now select…

‘File’  ‘Exit’

You will now be returned to the main ‘Geometric Data’ entry window. In this window
select…

‘File’  ‘Save Geometry Data’

Then select…

’File’  ‘Exit Geometry Data Editor’

You will now be returned to the main HEC RAS interface.

6.4 Weir

From the ‘Geometric Data’ editor window click on the ‘Inline Structure’ button…

When the ‘Inline Structure’ editor window opens, in the ‘River:’ box select ‘Erewash’
and in the ‘Reach’ box ‘Tributary’ should appear.

Select ‘Options’ then, ‘Add an Inline Structure…’.

In the pop-up box enter the river station ‘2.25’ and click ‘OK’.

57
The window shown in Figure 6.16 should open.

Figure 6.16. Inline Structure Data entry window.

Select the ‘Weir / Embankment’ editor button…

Now enter the data exactly as it appears in the Figure 6.17 and then click ‘OK’.

58
Figure 6.17. Inline Structure Weir Station Elevation Editor with values to be
entered.

In the ‘Geometric Data’ editor go to ‘File’  ‘Save Data AS…’ and select ‘Trent
Geometry with Structures’.

Then in the ‘Geometric Data’ editor window go to ‘File’ and click ‘Exit Geometry Data
Editor’. Click ‘Yes’ if a dialogue window opens asking whether you wish to save the
data.

6.5 Steady flow analysis including structures

To perform this analysis, go to the ‘Steady Flow Analysis’ window from the main
HEC RAS interface by selecting…

In this window (Figure 6.18), in the drop-down box next to ‘Geometry File:’ select
‘Trent Geometry With Structures:’. Keep the ‘Steady Flow File:’ as ‘Steady Flow’.

59
Figure 6.18. ‘Steady Flow Analysis’ window with data used for running a
simulation using the geometry with structures included.

Now select…

‘File’  ‘Save Plan AS…’

Call it ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation with Struct’ then click ‘OK’.

A window will now open asking for a plan ID. Call it ‘Trent Structures’ then click
‘OK’.

You can now run the simulation so click ‘Compute’.

If the computations are successful the ‘HEC-RAS Finished Computations’ window

will then open (Figure 6.19).

Figure 6.19. HEC RAS steady flow computation window.

60
You are now ready to examine the results.

6.6 Unsteady flow analysis including structures

To perform this analysis, go to the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window from the main
HEC RAS interface by selecting…

In this window (Figure 6.20), in the drop-down box next to ‘Geometry File’ select
‘Trent Geometry with Structures’. Keep the ‘Unsteady Flow File’ as ‘Trent
Unsteady’.

Set the simulation times and computational setting to those used for the unsteady
flow computation in which the geometry without structures was modelled. These
settings are displayed in Figure 6.18. They should however be displayed by default.

Now select…

‘File’  ‘Save Plan AS…’

Call it ‘Trent Unsteady Simulation with Structure’ then click ‘OK’.

A window will now open asking for a plan ID. Call it ‘Trent Un Struc’.

You can now run the simulation so click ‘Compute’.

61
Figure 6.20. Input data for the unsteady flow analysis u
sing the geometry with structures.

If the computations are successful the ‘HEC-RAS Finished Computations’ window

will look as displayed in Figure 6.21.

Figure 6.21. Unsteady modelling computation run output window.

You are now ready to view the results.

62
To view long profile results, go to the long profile plot button on the main HEC RAS
interface…

When the window opens be aware that the results you are viewing are, by default, the
results of the last simulation you have just run. If you wish to view the results of the
steady flow simulation with structures go to ‘Options’ then ‘Plans…’ and the window
shown in Figure 6.22 will open.

Figure 6.22. Plan Selection window in the long profile plot viewer.

Now first select the plan ‘Trent steady flow simulation with struct’ and uncheck all
other plans (as multiple plans can be viewed at one time) then click ‘OK’.

The long profile plot for steady flow simulation, showing all five profiles for the ‘Trent -
Nottingham’ combined with ‘Erewash – Tributary’ reaches should look similar to that
shown in Figure 6.23 and that for the ‘Trent – Derby’ reach should look similar to that
shown in Figure 6.24.

63
Figure 6.23. Long profile plot results for the plan using a steady flow simulation
with geometry including structures for the ‘Trent – Nottingham’ and ‘Erewash –
Derby’ reaches.

Figure 6.24. Long profile plot results for the plan using a steady flow simulation
with geometry including structures for the ‘Trent – Derby’ reach.

We can now also look at the unsteady run results in which the geometry with structures
was used by selecting the plan, ‘Trent Unsteady Simulation with Struct’ from the
‘Plans…’ function under ‘Options’ in the long profile results viewer.

64
The long profile plot for an unsteady flow simulation, displaying the maximum water
surface elevation (‘Max WS’) for the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’ combined with
‘Erewash – Tributary’ should look similar to that shown in Figure 6.25 and that for the
‘Trent – Derby’ reach should look similar to that shown in Figure 6.26.

Figure 6.25. Long profile plot results for the plan using an unsteady flow
simulation with geometry including structures for the ‘Trent – Nottingham’ and
‘Erewash – Derby’ reaches showing the maximum water surface elevation.

Figure 6.26. Long profile plot results for the plan using an unsteady flow
simulation with geometry including structures for the ‘Trent – Derby’ reach
showing the maximum water surface elevation.

65
6.7 Lateral Structures

Flood flows can be reduced in urban areas if there are locations upstream that can
be sacrificed to contain the flood flow, such as open farmland. This is often done by
opening sluice gates in levees as the flow rises, closing the gate as flows reach their
peak and then gradually opening the gates and releasing the stored flow as the flood
recedes.

You are now going to build a levee with a sluice gate in your model and your task is
to adjusted gate opening and closing speed to prevent flood risk at a bridge.

Go to the ‘Geometric Data’ editor and open the file ‘Trent Unsteady with
Structures’.

You will now enter data for your levee which can be achieved by clicking on the
‘Lateral Structure’ button which can be found on the left-hand-side of the interface.

In the window that opens, from the drop-down list on the left-hand-side select:

‘River:’  ‘Trent’

‘Reach:’  ‘Nottingham’.

You now need to set a cross-section location for the levee so go to ‘Options’ at the
top of the window and then select ‘Add a Lateral Structure…’ and in the window
that pops-up asking for a river station enter the value ‘7.5’ and click ‘OK’ (see Figure
6.27).

The pane at the bottom of the window represents the length and shape of the levee
when looking at it at ninety degrees to the flow direction, i.e., you are looking at the
levee from inside the channel, with station 0 toward the upstream cross-section.

Now enter the data exactly as it appears in Figure 6.28.

Note that selection of ‘Right Over Bank’ option in the drop-down list next to the text
‘HW Position’ means that we are looking towards the true right bank of the channel.

Generally, our lateral structure would be connected to another channel or a storage

area, which you would use to model storage on the floodplain but for simplicity we
are simply going to assume that the flow exits the system which is achieve by
selecting ‘Out of system’ as the tail-water connection.

In this instance the boundary condition is simply the depth associated with the control
structure at the levee edge, which in our case will be a weir.

66
Figure 6.27. Lateral Structure Editor.

You now need to enter the geometry of the structure so press the button ‘Weir /
Embankment’ which is located on the left-hand-side of the window.

The window shown in Figure 6.29 will appear, only yours will be blank. Enter the data
into the window exactly as shown in Figure 6.29.

You now need to enter data regarding the sluice gate and to do this press the ‘Gate’
button located on the left-hand-side of the ‘Lateral Structure Editor’.

Now enter the data exactly as shown in Figure 6.30 and click ‘OK’.

When you are returned to the ‘Lateral Structure Editor’ go to ‘File’ and click ‘Exit’.

67
Figure 6.28. Levee position data entry.

68
Figure 6.29. Lateral Weir Embankment window with data input values.

Figure 6.30. Lateral Gate Editor data entry.

69
Now, in the ‘Geometric Data’ entry window go to ‘File’ then ‘Save Geometry Data
AS…’ and enter the file name ‘Trent Geometry with Structures & Lateral’, click
‘OK’ then exit the editor.

We now need to set rules about how the sluice gate opens and closes, which
represents a type of boundary condition so we must do this in the ‘Unsteady Flow
Data’ editor.

Once opened go to ‘File’ then ‘Open Unsteady Flow Data…’ and select the file
‘Trent Unsteady Climate’ and click ‘OK’.

NOTE: If you have not yet created the flow file ‘Trent Unsteady Climate’ go to
Section 8.1 and follow the instructions to do so that are located there.

When the file opens you will see that a boundary condition for the sluice gate will
have been inserted into the list of flow boundary conditions (see Figure 6.31).

Now highly the blank cell below the ‘Boundary Condition’ header on row 3, i.e., the
river station for the gate. Three ‘Boundary Condition Types’ will then become
active from the list. We are going to use water surface elevation-controlled gates, so
press the button ‘Elev Controlled Gates’.

The window shown in Figure 6.32 will then appear. Enter the data exactly as it
appears in this Figure then click ‘OK’ and when returned to the ‘Unsteady Flow
Data’ window go to ‘File’, then ‘Save Plan’ and then exit the editor.

Figure 6.31. Unsteady Flow Data window with details for the file Trent Unsteady
Climate including the inserted row for the sluice gate at river station 7.5 on the
Trent – Nottingham reach.

70
Figure 6.32. Sluice gate control rules.

Now go to the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window. Select the ‘Geometry File:’ ‘Trent
Geometry with Structures & Lateral’ and the ‘Unsteady Flow File:’ ‘Trent Unsteady
Climate’. All other parameters remain the same as for your previous analysis.

Now go to ‘File’, then ‘Save Flow Data AS…’ and when the ‘Title’ box appears call
the plan ‘Trent Unsteady with Lateral’ and click ‘OK’. When the plan identifier window
pops up enter the identifier ‘Trent Lateral’.

Now press ‘Compute’ and once the simulation has run examine your results in the
‘Profile Plot’ for the ‘Trent – Nottingham’ reach. They will look something like that
shown in Figure 6.33, where the lateral structure is shown in grey and the sluice is
shown as a dark grey rectangle (this will show ‘daylight’ as it opens and closes).

71
Figure 6.33. Long profile plot for the Trent – Nottingham reach with the levee in
place.

Exercise

You will see in the initial run that the flow at the bridge downstream of the levee reaches
the underside of the deck at peak flow – a dangerous situation. Your task is to adjust
the gate opening rate, as highlighted in Figure 6.32, such that the maximum flow depth
does not touch the underside of the bridge but at the same time opening the gate as
slowly as possible to prevent the possible negative effects of flow rushing through the
gate onto the floodplain. i.e., select a gate opening rate such that the maximum water-
surface elevation just falls below the underside of the bridge deck.

72
7 Viewing and interpreting model outputs

There are several types of output data that can be accesses, both outputs for visual
assessment of the results, and data outputs that can be saved / exported to other
software for analysis.

7.1 Cross-section outputs

7.1.1 Steady flow

Once a simulation has been completed, select the following icon located on the main
HEC RAS interface…

Depending on which simulation was last performed, and if the run was successful,
you should see the ‘Cross Section’ window as displayed in Figure 7.1 open.

Figure 7.1. Cross-section output from steady flow simulation run for cross-
section 6 on the reach ‘Erewash - Tributary’.

73
At the top left-hand-side of this window you can select the ‘River:’ and ‘Reach:’ of
interest along with the desired cross-section (‘River Sta:’) using the drop-down
boxes.

The river stations can also be scrolled through using the ‘up-down’ buttons…

If more than one simulation has been performed the Plan of interest can be opened
by selecting...

‘Options’  ‘Plans’

The ‘Plan Selection’ window displayed in Figure 7.2 will appear and at this point only
the ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation’ Plan will be present.

Figure 7.2. ‘Plan Selection’ window for cross-section results output.

As more simulation scenarios are performed the resulting Plans will be automatically
populated in this window.

You can click on more than one plan so that results can be compared between input
hydrology scenarios. In addition to this scenarios can be compared where geometry
has also changed although it can only be used by selecting the current plan plus one
other. This option can be used by selecting the check box next to the ‘Compare
Geometry as well as Output (can only select current plan + one more)’.

There are also ‘Select All’ and ‘Clear All’ button options located at the bottom of this
window. Once all options have been selected click ‘OK’ to return to the ‘Cross
Section’ window.

In the first steady flow run you generated, five flows were solved for and you can
select the water-surface elevation for any combination of these. At the top of the
window select…

74
‘Options’  ‘Profiles’

The window displayed in Figure 7.3 will open.

Figure 7.3. ‘Select Profiles’ window.

The available profiles ‘Avail Profiles’ are displayed in the window on the left-hand-
side and the ‘Selected’ profiles are displayed in the right-hand-side window.

An individual profile can be displayed by highlighting it in the left-hand-side window

and then clicking the ‘arrow’ button to select it. Alternatively all profiles can be
selected using the ‘Select All’ button or cleared using the ‘Clear All’ button.

To examine the output for your ‘Trent Steady’ run click ‘Select All’ profiles
(PF1….PF5) then click then ‘Ok’ and the cross-section diagram will show the water
depths for each profile.

As a brief check on your results the water-surface profile for ‘River Sta:’ 1 on
reaches ‘Trent - Nottingham’, ‘Trent - Derby’ and ‘Erewash - Tributary’ should
appear as displayed in Figures 7.4., 7.5 and 7.6 respectively.

75
Figure 7.4. Cross-section output generated from the ‘Trent Steady’ plan for
‘River Sta:’ 1 on the ‘Trent - Nottingham’ reach.

Figure 7.5. Cross-section output generated from the ‘Trent Steady’ plan for
‘River Sta:’ 1 on the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach.

76
Figure 7.6. Cross-section output generated from the ‘Trent Steady’ plan for
‘River Sta:’ 1 on the ‘Erewash - Tributary’ reach.

The default information that will be displayed on the cross-section plot will be ‘River
= …’, ‘Reach = …’ and ‘RS = …’. Immediately above the cross-section diagram itself
the ‘n’ values for LOB, ROB and Channel are displayed (simply as numbers) along
with arrows which show the laterial extent over which they are applied. In our model
these should read, from left to right across the channel ‘0.07’, ‘0.035’, ‘0.07’ for all
cross-sections in the model.

As a default each water-surface elevation is displayed as a blue line with a different

symbol for each profile.

Of note on the cross-section display the left and right bank top markers are displayed
as red dots (denoted in the ‘Legend’ as ‘Bank Sta’. These are important as they are
generally placed at the elevation where, if overtopped, it is assumed that the flooplain
becomes inundated with the associated implications for flooding of infrastructure etc.

There are a number of different variables that can be displayed on each cross-
section along with the water-surface elevation for each profile. To access these from
the ‘Cross Section’ viewer window select…

‘Options’  ‘Variables…’

The window displayed in Figure 7.7 will open.

77
Figure 7.7. ‘Select Variables’ window option within the ‘Cross Section’ output
viewer window.

Obviously the most important variable is ‘Water Surface’ but two other variables are
also important these being the ‘Energy Grade’ and ‘Critical Depth’. The former is
important when interpreting the degree of flow acceleration or deceleration between
cross-sections which may be used to check whether the water-surface elevation
calculations are reasonable and also to interpret as to the suitability of computation
options used at structures such as bridges.

It is important to examine the ‘Critical Depth’ as this indicates the validity of the
computation method selected. You selected a ‘Subcritical’ computation in your
model but, if the water-surface profile mataches that of the critical depth across one
or more cross-sections it is possible that flow is in fact supercritical and that a
simulation should by tried using this option or indeed a ‘Mixed’ profile option.

All three of these options can be selected under the ‘Flow Regime’ header in the
‘Steady Flow Analysis’ window. Note that it is possible for flow to go from subcritical
to supercritical and vice versa at structures and be computed acurately because the
momentum equation and not the eneregy equation may be applied at such locations.

Figure 7.8 shows a cross-section output for Profile 5 on the reach ‘Erewash -
Tributary’, ‘River Sta:’ 1 displaying the Energy Grade elevation (EG PF 5) and
Critical Depth (Crit PF 5) in the ‘Legend’. Note that the water-surface elevation has
been computed as significantly greater than the critical depth indicating that the flow
is definitely subcritical at this discharge so the selection of a subcritical calculation
procedure is the correct approach.

78
Figure 7.8. ‘Cross Section’ output for Profile 5 on the reach ‘Erewash -
Tributary’, ‘River Sta:’ 1, displaying the energy grade elevation and critical
depth.

There are numerous other options in the ‘Options’ tab which can be adjusted to
enable the user to change the appearance of the graphics and the labels displayed.
These are reasonable self-explanatory (see Figure 7.9).

Figure 7.9. Options to adjust cross-section graphics and add / remove a range
of labels.

79
7.1.2 Unsteady flow

For the case of unsteady flow outputs the same viewer is used and will appear as per
displayed in Figure 7.1.

In this case the functionality and features available are the same as those when
viewing steady flow cross-section outputs except that, in this case, flow depths for
each time step can be viewed individually or an animation can be played of the
water-surface elevation change through the duration of the computation.

To view your initial unsteady run cross-section output click on the ‘Cross Section’
viewer icon and the main viewer window will appear. If the last simulation run was the
‘Trent Unsteady’ plan the results for this will be automatically displayed. However, if
you wish to view the results for this plan after other plans have been run select…

‘Options’  ‘Plans…’  ‘Trent Unsteady’

The output for this plan will then appear in the display window.

The ‘Reach:’, ‘River:’ and cross-section (‘River Sta:’) can be selected using the
drop-down boxes located at the top left-hand-side of the ‘Cross Section’ window. As
an example Figure 7.10 displays the output for ‘River Sta: 6’ on the reach ‘Erewash
- Tributary’.

Figure 7.10. Unsteady flow ‘Cross Section’ viewer graphic for the reach
‘Erewash - Tributary’ at ‘River Sta:’ 6 for the water-surface elevation (WS)
computed for 1st January 2008 at 01:00.

The key difference between the graphic for steady flow and that for unsteady flow is
that, in the latter, the ‘Legend’ displays the water-surface elevation for a given date
and time computed in the simulation. The default view when the ‘Cross Section’
window is opened will be the first hour of your simulation – the 1st January 2008 at
01:00.

This information is displayed in the, ‘Legend’ as follows…

80
‘WS 01JAN2008 0100’

If one is interested in the water-surface elevation on a particular day and time this
can be viewed by selecting

‘Options’  ‘Profiles…’

The window displayed in Figure 7.11 will open.

Figure 7.11. Profile selection window for usteady flow cross-section output.

The water-surface elevation for each time step in the unsteady calculations is
displayed in the table below ‘Avail Profiles’.

The maximum water-surface elevation atained during the simulation is denoted by

‘Max WS’ while all other surfaces are denoted using the date and time format used in
the legend.

To select a particular profile highlight it in the left-hand-table and click on the

selection ‘arrow’ located between the two tables and it will then appear in the
‘Selected’ table. One or more profiles can be selected and all profiles can be
selected using the ‘Select All’ button. Once you have selected the profiles of interest
click ‘OK’.

Figure 7.12 displays the water-surface profiles calculated for all time-steps in the
‘Trent Unsteady’ simulation for River Station 6 on the ‘Erewash - Tributary’ reach.

81
Figure 7.12. ‘Cross Section’ output showing water-surface profiles calculated
for all time-steps in the ‘Trent Unsteady’ simulation for ‘River Sta:’ 6 on the
‘Erewash - Tributary’ reach.

Note that the profiles available will be on the interval set up in the unsteady
computation. These parameters are selected in the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’
window.

At the lower right-hand-side of the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window the

‘Hydrograph Output Interval:’ can be selected from the drop-down-box, the range
available being from 1 minute up to 1 year (see Figure 7.13). In your unsteady run
you selected an interval of 1 hour so this is the interval available for water-surface
elevation outputs.

82
Figure 7.13. ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window, showing the ‘Computation
Settings’ refered to in the text.

Below the ‘Hydrograph Output Interval:’ option there is a ‘Detailed Outout

Interval:’ option which ranges between 1 minute up to 1 year or simply for the
maximum water-surface elevation. This option does not represent computation
intervals but the interval upon which data is computed for more detailed variables.
This output cannot be less that the ‘Hydrograph Output Interval:’.

From the ‘Cross Section’ viewer it is possible to animate the water-surface elevation
change through the duration of the simulation by selecting the ‘play’ icon located
towards the top left-hand-side of the window…

When selected the window displayed in Figure 7.14 will appear.

Figure 7.14. ‘Animation Control’ window available in the ‘Cross Section’ output
viewer.

83
When the ‘play’ button is selected the animation will be played and, as the water level
changes the associated time and date will appear in the ‘Legend’ and ‘Animation
Control’ window. The animation can be stopped at any time during the run by
clicking on the ‘stop’ button located to the right of the ‘play’ button and you can scroll
forward and backward in time using the slide-bar located to the left of the ‘play’
button.

Clicking on the button located to the right of the ‘stop’ button brings up an ‘Animation
Speed’ option in which the delay speed in the animation can be changed using the
slider bar (Figure 7.15).

Figure 7.15. ‘Animation Speed’ control option for unsteady flow animation.

7.2 Long-profile outputs

7.2.1 Steady flow

Once cross-section outputs have been studied examine the long-profile outputs by
selecting the following icon located on the main HEC RAS interface…

Depending on which simulation was last performed, and if the run was successful
you should see the ‘Profile Plot’ window displayed in Figure 7.16.

84
Figure 7.16. Long-profile plot for the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’ displaying all
profiles for the plan ‘Trent Steady’.

Reaches and profiles can be selected from the ‘Reaches…’ and ‘Profiles…’ drop
down boxes located at the top left-hand-side of the window.

Note that more than one reach can be selected at a time if they are connected in the
model.

As per the ‘Cross Section’ viewer ‘Plans…’, ‘Profiles…’ and ‘Variables…’ can be
selected from the ‘Options’ menu along with ‘Reaches’.

A number of variables are available to view, and when clicking on the ‘Variables…’
option the window dispalyed in Figure 7.17 will appear.

85
Figure 7.17. Variable selection options in the ‘Profile Plot’ viewer.

From this list the variables of interest available are, as per those for the ‘Cross
Section’ viewer, ‘Water Surface’, Energy Grade Elevation’ and ‘Critical Depth
Elevation’. Also of key importance is plotting the ‘Left main channel bank
elevations’ and ‘Right main channel bank elevations’ as these are the heights at
which, if over-topped means that flow has begun to inundate the floodplain.

It is also valuable to plot the cross-section locations for a given profile. Cross-
sections are represented on the geometry by black ‘squares’ but specific graphical
representation is useful and can be achieved by selecting...

‘Options’  ‘Landmarks’  ‘River Stationing’

In order to check your results the profile plots for reaches ‘Trent - Nottingham’
combined with ‘Erewash - Tributary’ and ‘Trent - Nottingham’ combined with ‘Trent
- Derby’ are displayed for Profile 5 in Figures 7.18 and 7.19 respectively. Be aware
that selecting all three reaches will produced a confusing plot upstream of the ‘Trent
- Nottingham’ reach because ‘Trent - Derby’ and ‘Erewash - Tributary’ follow
approximately the same long-profile elevations.

86
Figure 7.18. Long-profile plot for combination of reaches ‘Trent - Nottingham’
and ‘Erewash - Tributary’.

Figure 7.19. Long-profile plot for combination of reaches ‘Trent - Nottingham’

and ‘Trent - Derby’.

The other ‘Options’ for the long-profile plot enable the user to change the
appearance of the graphics and labels displayed as per those displayed in Figure
7.8.

87
7.2.2 Unsteady flow
For the case of unsteady flow outputs the same viewer is used, i.e. selecting the
long-profile veiwer icon located at the top of the main HEC RAS interface…

The ‘Profile Plot’ will appear as per that displayed in Figure 7.16.

In this case the functionality and features available are the same as those when
viewing steady flow long-profile outputs except that in this case flow depths for each
time-step can be viewed individually or an animation can be played of the water-
surface elevation change through the duration of the simulation.

To view your initial unsteady run long-profile output click on the ‘Plot Profile’ viewer
icon and the main viewer window will appear. If the last simulation run was the ‘Trent
Unsteady’ plan the results for this will be automatically displayed. However, if you
wish to view the results for this plan after other plans have been run select…

‘Options’  ‘Plans…’

Select the plan ‘Trent Unsteady’.

The output for this plan will then appear in the display window.

The ‘Reach...’ can be selected using the drop-down boxes located on the top left-
hand-side of the ‘Profile Plot’ window.

As an example Figure 7.20 shows the output for the maximum water-surface
elevation on the ‘Trent - Nottingham’ reach.

88
Figure 7.20. Long-profile view of the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’ showing the
maximum water surface elevation for the simulation run ‘Trent Unsteady’.

As per the ‘Cross Section’ viewer the water-surface elevation at a particular time
step can be select by clicking on the ‘Profiles…’ button upon which a drop down box
will appear from which the viewer can select a date and time of interest.

An animation of the water-surface elevation through the simulation run can also be
achieved by clicking on the ‘play’ button located to the right of the ’Profiles…’ button
upon which the ‘Animation Control’ window will appear (see Figure 7.14).

7.3 X-Y-Z perspective plot

A 3-D ‘wire frame’ plot of the model can be displayed by selecting the following icon
located on the main HEC RAS interface...

In version 6 Beta of HEC RAS the above icon has been removed and replaced by the
following…

NOTE: At the time of writing the option to view a 3-D ‘wire frame’ model in HEC RAS
version 6 Beta by selecting the above icon does not work and a warning appears
indicating that a terrain must be associated with the data for this viewing method to

89
function. I am not sure whether this is a bug issue with the coding which will be
ironed out in future or whether HEC in fact plans to scrap the x-y-z viewing function
for non-georeferenced 1-D ‘wire-frame’ models.

In version 5 of HEC RAS (and older) this option constitutes a means to visualise the
channel geometry as a 3-D model, along with select water-surface profiles.

If the model geometry is not georeferenced the planform view of the model will simply
emulate that created when definings ‘River Reaches’ in the ‘Geometric Data’ editor
while cross-section shape, distances between cross-sections and slopes will be as
per those generated from the ‘Cross Section Data’ editor window. If the model
geometry is georeferenced it will appear as such in the 3-D plot.

As your model is not georeferenced the plot will look similar to that displayed in
Figure 7.21 for the lower selction of the Trent – Nottingham reach.

Figure 7.21. ‘X-Y-Z Perspective Plot’ for the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’.

Reaches can by viewed by selecting...

‘Options’  ‘Reaches…’

The window displayed in Figure 7.22 will appear.

Figure 7.22. Reach selection window.

90
From this window reaches can be selected via ‘Select By Rivers’ or ‘Full List’. The
transfer ‘arrow’ can then be used to select the reaches required and then click ‘OK’.

Under ‘Options’ ‘Plans’ and ‘Profiles’ can be selected along with means to adjust
graphics and the data labels displayed.

The angle and orientation of the model can be altered using the slider bars
associated with ‘Azimuth Angle’ and ‘Rotation Angle’, while the cross-section
range displayed across the plot can be selected using the ‘Upstream RS:’ and
‘Downstream RS:’ drop down boxes (see Figure 7.23).

Figure 7.23. ‘Rotation Angle’, ‘Azimuth Angle’, ‘Upstream RS:’ and

‘Downstream RS:’ display functions available in the ‘X-Y-Z Perspective Plot’.

An example of a manipuated ‘X-Y-Z Perspective Plot’ is displayed in Figure 7.24 for

the plan ‘Trent Structures’ on the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’.

Figure 7.24. An example of a manipuated ‘X-Y-Z Perspective Plot’ for the plan
‘Trent Structures’ on the reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’.

For the case of displaying the output from unsteady flow runs first select the
appropriate plan by selecting...

‘Options’  ‘Plans…’

select ‘Trent Unsteady’ if it is not already the default plan displayed.

91
The functionality for x-y-z perspective plots is the same for unsteady flow as for
steady flow but, additionally, the flow elevation change throughout the time of the
simulation run can be animated using the ‘play’ button located towards the top left-
hand-side of the ‘X-Y-Z Perspective Plot’ window.

7.4 General profile plots of hydraulic variables

A range of key hydraulic parameters are generated when steady and unsteady flows
are computed that are important for further modelling analysis in HEC RAS or other
hydraulic modelling packages, and for checking the validity of computed results.
These can be accessed by selecting the following icon located on the main HEC
RAS interface…

When selected the ‘General Profile Plot’ will appear and the default graph displayed
will be that of the distribution of mean velocities along the channel length for each
cross-section and flow profile.

As per other output options ‘Reaches…’, ‘Plans…’ and ‘Profiles…’ can be selected
from the drop-down ‘Options’ button located towards the top left-hand-side of the
window.

The ‘up’ and ‘down’ buttons located next to the ‘Reaches…’ button on the top left-
hand-side of the ‘General Profile Plot’ window allow the user to scroll between
outputs for different reaches, and in your case there are three reaches that can be
scrolled between.

Figures 7.25, 7.26 and 7.27 show the profile plots for velocities associated with
steady flow profiles 1 – 5 for reaches ‘Trent - Nottingham’, ‘Trent - Derby’ and
‘Erewash - Tributary’ respectively.

92
Figure 7.25. ‘General Profile Plot’ of mean velocities for Profiles 1 - 5 on the
reach ‘Trent - Nottingham’.

Figure 7.26. ‘General Profile Plot’ of mean velocities for Profiles 1 - 5 on the
reach ‘Trent - Derby’.

93
Figure 7.27. ‘General Profile Plot’ of mean velocities for Profiles 1 - 5 on the
reach ‘Erewash - Tributary’.

There are a large number of variables that get generared during any steady or
unsteady simulation and these can be displayed by selecting...

‘Options’  ‘Plot Variables…’

The window displayed in Figure 7.28 will open from which one or more variables can
be selected.

Figure 7.28. ‘Y Axis Variable’ window displaying the variables generated during
a simulation run that can be selected and plotted.

Rather than having to scroll through this entire list the most commonly required data
can be displayed by clicking on the ‘Standard Plots’ option located towards the top
left-hand-side of the ‘General Plot Profile’ window. Figure 7.29. displays the
variables that can be selected when this window appears.

94
Figure 7.29. ‘Standard Plots’ variables available in the ‘General Profile Plot’
window.

Importantly the data associated with any graph can be viewed and copied to the
clipboard enabling it to be pasted into a spreadsheet or other program in which it can
be manimpulated and used.

To view the tabulated data click on the ‘Table’ tab located next to the ‘Plot’ tab
tawards the top left-hand-side of the graphical display. An example of what may be
viewed is displayed in Figure 7.30.

Figure 7.30. Tabulated velocity data displayed in the ‘General Profile Plot’
window.

To export this data select...

‘File’  ‘Copy Table to Clipboard (with Headers)…’

Or...

‘File’  ‘Write Table Data to File (csv)...’.

95
Data is copied to the clipboard as a text file and this can be pasted directly into, for
example, MS Excel.

If a .csv file is chosen a window will appear in which a file name can be selected and
a location selected to save the file.

If an unsteady plan is selected for viewing in ‘General Profile Plots’, profiles for the
selected variable can be displayed and saved for any water-surface elevation
computed during the simulation.

7.5 Rating curves

Rating curves for any cross-section in the model can be viewed by selecting the
following icon located on the main HEC RAS interface...

For the case of steady flow these curves are generated by linearly interpolating
between water-surface elevations calculated for each profile for which simulations
are performed.

In the case of your first simulation, ‘Trent Steady’ computations were made for five
discharges (profiles) and consequently the rating curves generated for each cross-
section in each reach have five know points between which linear interpolations are
made.

From the ‘Rating Curve’ window ‘River:’, ‘Reach:’ and ‘River Sta:’ can be selected,
while, from the ‘Options’ menu these can also be selected along with the desired
‘Plan…’.

Rating curves can be produced for any combination of the variables generated during
simulation run by selecting...

‘Options’  ‘X Axis Variable…’

And...

‘Options’  ‘Y Axis Variable…’

The rating curve for water-surface elevation vs discharge is perhaps the most useful
as it can be used as a ‘Rating Curve’ boundary conditions to improve the accuracy
of further steady and unsteady simulations.

For the case of unsteady flow simulations points on rating curves are generated for
every time-step in the run so they are much more accurate.

Figure 7.31 displays the water-surface elevation rating curve for the ‘Trent Steady’
run for the reach ‘Erewash - Tributary’ River Station 2.

96
Figure 7.31. Rating curve for ‘River Sta:’ 2 on the reach ‘Erewash - Tributary’
associated with the ‘Trent Steady’ run.

The rating curve data can be exported by copying it to the clipboard. Select...

‘File’  ‘Copy Values to Clipboard’

7.6 Detailed hydraulic outputs

A wide range of hydraulic properties are derived for each cross-section and profile
during the simulation runs. To access these select the following icon located on the
main HEC RAS interface…

A ‘Cross Section Output’ table will appear as displayed in Figure 7.32.

97
Figure 7.32. ‘Cross Section Output’ table for Profile 1 on the reach ‘Trent -
Nottingham’ at ‘River Sta:’ 10.

On the window ‘River:’, ‘Reach:’, ‘Profile:’ and River Station (‘RS:’) can be select
from drop down boxes.

Plans can be selected from the drop-down box on the right-hand-side of the window.
If an unsteady plan is selected the output variables are calculated for each time-step.
The user can select the time step of interest from the drop down ‘Profiles:’ box which
will be populated with the full range computed.

Some of these variables will help the user to refine futher runs or, in the case of
variables such as shear stress and stream power can be used for analysis of, for
example, sediment transport or scour at structures.

The default output table is for cross-sections, but independent outputs are created for
other types of structure. These can be select from the ‘Type’ option located at the top
of the ‘Cross Section Output’ window. When selected the a drop-down box will
open (Figure 7.33).

98
Figure 7.33. Options for the type of ‘Cross Section Output’.

The output data can be exported by selecting...

‘File’  ‘Copy to Clipboard (Data and Headings)’

The data will be coverted to a text file which it can be pasted into, for example, MS
Excel.

At the botton of the ‘Cross Section Output’ table is a window with the header
‘Errors Warnings and Notes’.

This represents a log of any issues that might have arrisen during the computation
procedure for the given reach, profile, timestep and river station and, importantly,
ways in which such issues might be resolved.

 Yellow ‘Warnings’ represent issues that have arrisen which mean that results
might be flawed in some way, but that the computation procedure was able to
complete without crashing. Often these warnings are of minor significance and
occur because the model is quite exacting when it comes to tolerances
associated with convergence on a solution (although the degree of approximation
can be set by the user). Consequently they may not be a serious issue, but
should be checked anyway. Warnings associated with flows at structures should
be given closer inspection because changes in water-surface profiles can be
significant if the flow become rapidly varied.

 Red ‘Errors’ represent significant problem which have caused the simulation to
crash. All ‘Errors’ must be investigated and resolved.

 Green ‘Notes’ represent information which is not crucial to follow to enable a

simulation to run or to generate sensible results, but may help the user to refine
further model computations.

Note that this computation log can also be accessed by selecting the following icon
located on the main HEC RAS interface…

99
The following, ‘Errors Warnings and Notes for Plan:…’ window will open (Figure
7.34). which is perhaps easier to navigate through than the window located at the
bottom of the ‘Cross Section Output’ window.

Figure 7.34. ‘Errors, Warnings and Notes for Plan’ window.

7.7 Comparing simulations

It is possible to compare the output for different simulation runs performed on the
same model, in the ‘Cross Section’ and ‘Profile Plots’ by overlaying the graphical
outputs for two or more ‘Plans’. This can be done for both steady and unsteady
simulations.

For the simulations performed in this model you can examine the impact had by the
structures included in the plan ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation with Struct’ upon the
water-surface profile by overlaying the output graphics onto those for the ‘Trent
Steady Flow Simulation’ run in which structures were not included in the geometry.
.
To do this run the simulations for each of these plans and then open the ‘Profile
Plot’ viewer (the same type of analysis can be performed for the ‘Cross Section’
viewer). To select the relevant plans select...

‘Options’  ‘Plans…’

From the window that opens (Figure 7.35) select ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation’
and ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation with Struct’.

Also select the ‘Compare Geometry as well as Output...’ option located under the
‘Plan Geometry and Results Comparison’ header, then click ‘OK’.

100
Figure 7.35. ‘Plan Selection’ window.

The resulting plot for Profile 5 on the combined ‘Trent - Nottingham’ and ‘Trent -
Derby’ reaches is displayed in Figure 7.36. In this graphic the channel bed and bank-
tops coencide, the difference between the two soley being that the ‘Trent Steady
Flow Simulation with Struct’ geometry includes the bridge and culvert. The water-
surface profile for the ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation’ is shown in blue, while that for
the ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation with Struct’ is shown in red (these colours have
been selected by the user).

It is quite evident from this Figure that the presence of the structures causes flow to
back up behind the culvert on the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach and to a lesser extent behind
the bridge on the ‘Trent - Nottingham’ reach. Outside of the zone of influence of
these structures the water-surface profiles coencide as the channel geometry is the
same.

This display function represents a powerful tool when attempting to optimise, for
example, bridge opening design by trying to minimising flow constriction.

Figure 7.36. The long-profile plot for the combined ‘Trent - Nottingham’ and
‘Trent - Derby’ reaches with flow profiles for the simulations ‘Trent Steady Flow
Simulation’ (blue line) and ‘Trent Steady Flow Simulation with Struct’ (red line).

101
8 Modelling scenarios

Structures, flows and simulation tolerances can be adjusted at any time in HEC RAS
to model ‘what if’ scenarios and to optimise changes / add geometry and flows. You
will run scenarios associated with increases in flows due to climate change and
consequent structural measures required to protect the floodplain from becoming
inundated.

8.1 Climate change

You are going to simulate climate change by simply adding a multiplier to the
unsteady flow boundary conditions.

First, from the main HEC RAS interface select the unsteady flow input icon…

The ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window will open. Select...

‘File’  ‘Open Unsteady Flow Data...’

And in the window that opens select ‘Trent Unsteady’ and then click ‘OK’.

The multipliers will be added to the boundary condition hydrographs for the reaches
‘Erewash - Tributary’ and ‘Trent - Derby’.

To do so, under the ‘Boundary Conditions’ tab first select the ‘Flow Hydrograph’
table cell located below the ‘Boundary Condition’ header for the reach ‘Erewash -
Tributary’ by double-clicking on it.

When the ‘Flow Hydrograph’ window opens enter a value of ‘1.22’ in the box next to
‘Multiplier:’ located at the bottom of this window (see Figure 8.1).

102
Figure 8.1. ‘Flow Hydrograph’ window for the ‘Erewash - Tributary’ reach with a
flow a ‘Multiplier’ of 1.22 added.

Once you are happy with your data close this window and click ‘OK’ in the ‘Flow
Hydrograph’ window.

You are now going to add a multiplier to the ‘Trent - Derby’ boundary condition flow.
Select the ‘Flow Hydrograph’ button in the appropriate box below the ‘Boundary
Condition’ header and the window will open for this condition. At the bottom of this
window enter a ‘Multiplier:’ value of 1.22.

Once you are happy with your data close this window and click ‘OK’ in the ‘Flow
Hydrograph’ window.

You now need to save this data as a new unsteady flow file, so from the ‘Unsteady
Flow Data’ window select…

‘File’  ‘Save Unsteady Flow Data As…’

In the window that opens enter the file name ‘Trent Unsteady Climate’ as the ‘Title’
box. The ‘File Name’ will be automatically populated and named

103
‘RiverTrentModel.u02’. When you have entered the title click ‘OK’. Then in the
‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window select…

‘File’  ‘Exit’

You can now run this simulation so select the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’
computation window by clicking on the following icon on the main HEC RAS
interface...

When this window opens the default ‘Geometry File:’ and ‘Unsteady Flow File:’ will
be ‘Trent Geometry with Structures’ and ‘Trent Unsteady Climate’ respectively
(see Figure 8.2). If they are not, select these two files from the drop-down boxes. You
will run the simulation with these two files.

Figure 8.2. ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window with set-up necessary to run the
simulation with a scenario for climate change.

As per previous runs you must select all three ‘Programs to Run’, i.e., ‘Geometry
Preprocessor’, ‘Unsteady Flow Simulation’ and ‘Post Processor’.

104
The ‘Simulation Time Window’ information will be the same as for previous runs,
i.e.:

‘Starting Date:’ = 01JAN2008 ‘Starting Time:’ = 0100

‘Ending Date:’ = 03JAN2008 ‘Ending Time:’ = 0600

Set a ‘Computation Interval:’ of ’10 Minutes’.

All other options should be set as default parameters, as per previous runs. Now
select...

‘File’  ‘Save Plan As...’

The associated window will open.

In the box below the ‘Title’ header enter ‘Trent Unsteady Climate’ and click ‘OK’. A
plan identifier window will then open. Name the plan ‘Trent Climate’.

Now run the simulation by clicking on the ‘Compute’ button.

The simulation should run and complete although you will see a number of warnings
in the computation log window, but these can be ignored.

The output can now be viewed and you are going to inspect the ‘Profile Plot’ results
so select the appropriate icon...

When the window opens select the ‘Reaches...’ button and choose the reaches
‘Trent - Nottingham’ and ‘Trent - Derby’.

Then, using the ‘Profiles...’ button select the first in the list ‘Max WS’ and remove
any others.

You need to examine how this change in flows has affected the water-surface
elevation so select...

‘Options’  ‘Plans...’

In the window that opens select ‘Trent Climate’ and ‘Unsteady Flow Simulation
Structures’.

Now, in ‘Profile Plot’ window select...

‘Options’  ‘Lines and Symbols...’

The window displayed in Figure 8.3 will open.

105
Figure 8.3. ‘Line Style Options’ window.

Scroll down the ‘Variables’ list in the ‘Lines’ table and for the maximum water-
surface for the simulation with climate change (WS2) click on the corresponding line
below the ‘Line/Fill’ header and change the colour to red by selecting it from the
colour ‘palette’ shown on the right-hand-side of the window.

The resulting plot should look like that displayed in Figure 8.4.

Figure 8.4. ‘Profile Plot’ window showing comparison of unsteady simulation

maximum water-surfaces for the simulations both with (red line) and without
(blue line) the climate change scenario.

It is evident from this plot that, under the climate change scenario flow now over-tops
the culvert on the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach and is close to over-topping the bridge on the
‘Trent - Nottingham’ reach. This outcome might be deemed significant enough to

106
instigate engineering works to raise the ground surface elevation on top of the culvert
and the height of the deck on the bridge.

What is also evident is that, under the climate change scenario flow, upstream of the
culvert, and to a lesser degree the bridge, is backed up to the extent that it inundates
the floodplain because the water-surface elevation is depicted as being greater than
the elected channel-floodplain bank stations (depicted by the green dashed line).

This outcome can also be qualified by examining the cross-section plot for sections
upstream of the culvert. To do so select the cross-section viewer from the main HEC
RAS interface. Then select...

‘River:’  ‘Trent’

‘Reach:’  ‘Derby’

Scrolling through the cross-sections you will see that at the culvert section itself (3.5
Culv U - Culvert Upstream section) the deck is overtopped and that at cross-sections
4 and 5 the flow depth is greater than the elevation of the left and right bank stations.
Figure 8.5 shows the plot for ‘River Sta:’ ‘4’.

This outcome might force the engineer to design levees upstream of this, and the
bridge, structure to limit the possibility of floodplain inundation. It might also be
deemed necessary to modify the structures themselves so that they have greater
freeboard capacity to help reduce the risk of overtopping.

Under the next scenario you will take action in the light of this potential future
scenario by constructing levees along the channel banks.

Figure 8.5. ‘River Sta:’ 4 on the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach showing the maximum
water-surface elevation under the unsteady flow climate change scenario.

107
8.2 Levees

To mitigate against the potential for channel over-topping you are going to create
levees on the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach, which can be done through the ‘Geometric
Data’ editor. From the main HEC RAS interface select the ‘Geometric Data’ editor
icon...

Open with file ‘Trent Geometry with Structures’. You must now save the geometry
data as a new file in order to preserve the original geometry so select…
‘
‘File’  ‘Save Geometry Data AS...’

The associated window will open and in the ‘Title’ box enter ‘Trent Geometry with
Structures & Levees’ and click ‘OK’.

Now select the ‘Cross Section’ editor icon located on the left-hand-side of the
window and the ‘Cross Section Data’ window will open. Now select…

‘River:’  ‘Trent’

‘Reach:’  ‘Derby’

‘River Sta:’  ‘1’

You are going to build a levee along the whole of this reach to mitigate against the
flood potential upstream of the culvert.

In the drop-down list that opens when you click on ‘Options’ select ‘Levees...’ (see
Figure 8.6).

Figure 8.6. ‘Levees...’ function selection from ‘Options’ in the ‘Cross Section
Data’ editor window.

108
When you do this a window will appear with the title ‘XS Levee Data’ (see Figure
8.7). In the data entry boxes in this window a ‘Station’ must be entered for the levees
(i.e., a distance from the left bank) and an associated ‘Elevation’, which is the height
of the crest of the levee relative to the model absolute datum.

Figure 8.7. ‘XS Levee Data’ entry window.

Below these data entry boxes is a ‘Defaults’ button which populates the boxes with
default ‘Station’ as being the left and right bank-top markers, and ‘Elevation’ as the
elevation of the left and right bank marker stations (see Figure 8.7).

Our levees obviously need to be higher than the bank stations as these are over-
topped at cross-sections ‘3.5 Culv U’, ‘4’ and ‘5’. For the sake of brevity, it has
already been determined that setting all levee elevations to ‘2 m’ above bank station
elevations for all cross-sections will prevent overtopping and that the bank marker
stations are appropriate locations for these structures.

Therefore, for ‘River Sta:’ ‘1’ select...

‘Levees...’  ‘XS Levee Data’

Select ‘Defaults’.

Now change the left and right ‘Station’ elevations to ‘24.5 m’, ‘2 m’ above the default
‘Station’ elevations and click ‘OK’. Now click the ‘Apply Data’ button located towards
the top of the ‘Cross Section Data’ entry window.

When data has been applied the levees will be appear in the cross-section plot as
vertical pink lines, having a ‘box’ at their top to indicate that this is the crest elevation
(see Figure 8.8).

109
Figure 8.8. Levee markers on the cross-section plot for ‘River Sta:’ ‘1’ on the
reach ‘Trent - Derby’.

Now for the remaining cross-sections (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) select...

‘Options’  ‘Levees...’

Then select the ‘Defaults’ option for each and set the left and right station elevations
as being ‘2 m’ greater than the default values.

You can check that you have entered the data correctly by opening up the ‘Profile
Plot’ and selecting...

‘Options’  ‘Variables...’

Then in the ‘Select Variables’ window that opens put check marks next to ‘Left
Levee’ and ‘Right Levee’ and then click ‘OK’. The resulting plot should appear as
that shown in Figure 8.9, in which the levees are mark by the pink line and squares.

110
Figure 8.9. Levees marked by pink lines and square markers located on the
‘Trent - Derby’ reach.

Now exit the ‘Cross Section Data’ editor and in the ‘Geometric Data’ editor window
select...

‘File’  ‘Save Geometry Data...’

‘File’  ‘Exit Geometry Data Editor’

You are now going to see the impact had by these levees on the maximum unsteady
flow elevation so select the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window from the main HEC
RAS interface...

When you open this all parameter options should be as per that selected for your
climate change run and the ‘Geometry File:’ should have been automatically
populated as ‘Trent Geometry with Structures & Levees’ (if not select this from the
drop-down list). Now select...

‘File’  ‘Save Plan As...’

In the window that opens enter, in the box below the ‘Title’ header…

‘Trent Unsteady Structures & Levees’.

Then click ‘OK’.

A window will then open asking you to provide a plan identifier. Enter ‘Trent Levees’
and click ‘OK’.

111
The ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window should now look as displayed in Figure 8.10.

Figure 8.10. ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window with parameters and files
selected to run a simulation with the inclusion of levees.

Click ‘Compute’ and the simulation should now commence during which time a
dialogue box will appear showing progress with the computation procedure. When
this has finished click ‘Close’ at the bottom of this window.

To make sure that your run has been saved in the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’
window select...

‘File’  ‘Save Plan’

‘File’  ‘Exit’

You are now ready to view the results.

From the main HEC RAS interface select the cross-section output viewer icon...

Then select...

‘River:’  ‘Trent’

112
‘Reach:’  ‘Derby’

Then scroll to ‘River Sta:’ ‘4’, and ‘5’.

The output for ‘River Sta:’ ‘4’ is shown in Figure 8.11. It is evident that the levees
have prevented out of bank flooding as the blue maximum water-surface line does
not continue to the left and right of the bank markers, as it is ‘contained’ within the
levees which have not been over-topped. This is also evident in ‘River Sta:’ ‘5’
although to a lesser degree.

Figure 8.11. Maximum water-surface elevation contained by levees on the

reach ‘Trent - Derby’ at ‘River Sta:’ 4.

In order to see the effectiveness of the levees you can overlay the ‘Trent Climate’
Plan on top of the ‘Trent Unsteady Structures & Levees’.

To do so in the ‘Cross Section’ plot window select...

‘Options’  ‘Plans...’

In the ‘Plan Selection’ window put a check mark in the boxes next to these two
Plans and also place a check mark in the box next to ‘Compare Geometry as well
as Output (Can only select current plan + one more)’. Then click ‘OK’.

The output should appear like that displayed in Figure 8.12. In this plot the lines and
symbols have been manipulated so that the two water-surface profiles can be
distinguished.

Although it is difficult to distinguish, the water-surface elevation for the pre-levee run
is actually a little higher than that for the run with the levees in place, which is
counter-intuitive as one would have thought that that extra volume of water contained

113
between the levees would cause the water-surface elevation to be higher than
without.

However, this is not the case because the levees actually direct the flow so that it
travels more efficiently under the culvert opening, and not over the top, therefore
‘dragging’ the water-surface elevation down upstream of the culvert. This effect is
evident from the long-profile plot showing the comparison of the two simulations
(Figure 8.13).

Figure 8.12. Comparison between maximum water-surface elevations with and

without levees on the reach ‘Trent - Derby’ for ‘River Sta:’ ‘4’.

Figure 8.13. Long-profile plot of the ‘Trent - Derby’ reach showing that with the
presence of levees the maximum water-surface passes through the culvert
(blue line) while, without the levees the flow over-tops the culvert (red line).

114
9 Model calibration and stability

9.1 Calibration

A model is pretty worthless unless it represents reality so before it can be used for
predictive purposes it must be calibrated against know data, especially know
observed water depths at locations along the model.

Ideally, we would be able to calibrate every cross-section but in practice this is

unlikely and you might simply have some gauge records or observed depths at stage
gauges or physical indicators such as high-water marks on bridges.

You are now going to add some observed depths at peak flow to your model and
adjust the model so that the maximum water surface elevation matches these.

Open the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ editor and go to ‘File’, ‘Open Unsteady Flow
Data…’ and select ‘Trent Unsteady’.

Go to ‘Options’, then ‘Observed (Measure) Data’, and from the list select ‘High
Water Marks…’. See Figure 9.1.

Figure 9.1. Selecting Observed (Measured) Data option.

115
Once you have selected this, the window shown in Figure 9.2 will appear.

Figure 9.2. High Water Marks for Comparison data entry window.

From the drop-down list on the left-hand-side select:

‘River:’  ‘Trent’.

‘Reach:’  ‘Nottingham’.

To the right of these boxes is the text ‘River Sta.:’ with a drop-down list of cross-
section numbers. First select cross-section ‘5’ and then click the ‘Add an Obs. WS
Location’ button.

Below the header ‘Dn Dist’ enter ‘0’; this is the distance from the cross-section in the
downstream direction to the point where the highwater mark was observed. In your
case, you are going to assume that the observation was made exactly at the cross-
section itself.

In the box at the right-hand-side of the table under the header ‘High Water’ enter a
value of ‘15’ m. Now, in the drop-down box select ‘River Sta.: 6’ and click the ‘Add
an Obs. WS Location’ button. A new row will now appear in the table for river station
6. Complete this process for cross-sections 6, 7 and 8 using the data shown in Figure
9.3.

Note that for your purposes these elevations are the maximum water depth during
the time period being modelled.

116
Figure 9.3. Data to be entered in the High Water Marks for Comparison window.

Once you are happy with the data click ‘OK’ to return to the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’
window and go to ‘File’ and ‘Save Unsteady Flow Data’, click ‘OK’ and then exit the
‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window.

Now go to the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window and go to n go to ‘File’, ‘Open

Plan…’ and when the ‘Open Plan File’ window opens select ‘Trent unsteady flow
sim with structures’ and click ‘OK’.

Save Plan AS…’ and when the ‘Title’ box opens call the plan ‘Trent Unsteady
Calibration’ and click ‘OK’. The plan identifier window will then open, so give it an
identifier name ‘Trent Unsteady Calibration’ and click ‘OK’.

Now, when the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window opens press ‘Compute’ and look
at the results in the ‘Profile Plot’ viewer. They should look roughly like those shown
in Figure 9.4, for the reach ‘Trent – Nottingham’ in which the observed water
surface elevations will appear as light grey circles.

Note: The observed water-surface elevation values will only be visible in the profile
and cross-section plots if the just the maximum water surface depth is selected from
the drop-down list under ‘Profiles’.

For calibration purposes, it is probably better to view the data in the cross-section
plots for each of the cross-sections. The plot for cross-section 6 is shown in Figure
9.5.

117
Figure 9.4. Profile plot showing the observed water surface elevations at cross-
sections 5 to 8 on the reach Trent – Nottingham.

Figure 9.5. Plot for cross-section 6 on the Trent – Nottingham reach showing
the observed water surface elevation.

Note that your observed data was for the highest water depth so you should compare
your data with the maximum depth computed in the model at each cross-section. You

118
can select the maximum water surface elevation in the ‘Profile Plots’ by going to
‘Profiles’ and selecting the flow depth right at the top of the list which has the text ‘1
(Max WS)’ next to it (refer to Figure 9.6).

Figure 9.6. Method for selecting the flow maximum water-surface elevation in
Profile Plots from an unsteady flow computation.

For the case of cross-section plots, in the ‘Cross Section’ viewer go to ‘Options’
then ‘Profiles’ and in the pop-up box with the header ‘Select Profiles’ select ‘1 (Max
WS)’ from the list in the left-hand, ‘Avail Profiles’ column and transpose it to the
‘Selected’ column using the rightward-facing arrow icon and press ‘OK’ (see Figure
9.7).

119
Figure 9.7. Profile selection in Cross Section plots.

Note that, in either viewer type, if the observed data points aren’t visible, they can be
selected from the list under ‘Options’, then ‘Variables’.

Exercise

Your task is now to calibrate the model such that the computed water-surface at each
cross-section coincides with the elevation of the observed water-surface.

You must, based upon your learning so far, work out what needs to be adjusted in
the model to achieve this. Note that it will be on a trial-and-error basis and you will
never be ‘bang-on’, so do the best you can.

9.2 Model stability

You are going to adjust the model hydrograph so that the change in flow from one
hour to the next at the peak is quite severe, which can cause instabilities in the model
if the change in flow cannot be ‘captured’ in the selected computation time-step.

In the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ entry window from ‘File’ select ‘Open Unsteady Flow
Data…’ and in the window that opens select the file ‘Trent Unsteady’ and click ‘OK’.

Now select the ‘Flow Hydrograph’ box under the ‘Boundary Condition’ header for
the ‘River’  ‘Erewash’ and ‘Reach’  ‘Tributary’.

Next adjust the flows for ‘Simulations Times’ in rows 15 to 22 (refer to Figure 9.8) to
the values shown in Table 9.1. Then do the same for the reach ‘Trent – Derby’,
adjusting the flows to those also shown in Table 9.1.

120
Figure 9.8. Adjustment of flows for the ‘Erewash – Tributary’ reach.

Table 9.1. Adjustments to Flow Hydrographs for Erewash – Tributary and Trent
– Derby reaches.

Erewash - Tributary Trent - Derby

Row Flow Flow
15 100. 200.
16 10. 5.
17 300. 200.
18 100. 5.
19 100. 300.
20 100. 300.
21 100. 5.
22 100. 500.

Plot the two hydrographs using the ‘Plot Data’ button located at the bottom of the
‘Flow Hydrograph’ window and check that they look correct. Figure 9.9 shows the
adjusted hydrograph for the Erewash – Tributary reach, and Figure 9.10 shows the
adjusted hydrograph for the Trent – Derby reach.

121
Figure 9.9. Plot of the adjusted flow hydrograph for the Erewash – Tributary
reach.

Figure 9.10. Plot of the adjusted flow hydrograph for the Trent - Derby reach.

Once you are happy with the data click ‘OK’ at the bottom of the ‘Flow Hydrograph’
window to return to the ‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window.

Now go to ‘File’ then ‘Save Unsteady Flow Data AS…’ and in the ‘Title’ box call the
file ‘Trent Unsteady with Adjusted Hydrograph’. Next, click ‘OK and’ and exit the
‘Unsteady Flow Data’ window.

122
You are now going to run a simulation using this new unsteady flow data, so open up
the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window.

From the drop-down list of unsteady flow files located to the right of the ‘Unsteady
Flow File:’ text, select the file ‘Trent Unsteady with Adjusted Hydrograph’ if it is
not yet automatically selected (see Figure 9.11).

All other parameters and settings in the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window.
should be as per those performed for ‘Trent Unsteady’, which are shown in Figure
9.11.

Figure 9.11. Unsteady Flow Analysis window.

Now go to ‘File’, then ‘Save Plan Data AS…’ and in the ‘Title’ box call the file ‘Trent
Unsteady with Adjusted Hydrograph’ and click ‘OK’. A Plan identifier box will then
open so call the plan ‘Trent Unsteady with Adjusted Hydrograph’.

The aim of this exercise is to find out at what computation interval the solver fails and
the water surface calculation goes unstable because the time-step cannot capture
the sudden change in flow from one hour to the next.

Therefore, in the drop-down box to the right of the text ‘Computational Interval’
which is to be found in the ‘Computation Settings’ section of the ‘Unsteady Flow
Analysis’ window make your first run using the value you have already used in all
runs thus far, i.e., 10 minutes. Now hit ‘Compute’.

123
Do you get any Errors flagged up? If so, these may be due to the HTab curve
settings and are not ‘fatal’ but may mean that flow through structures may not be
being represented accurately.

Now perform successive runs, increasing the ‘Computation Interval’ each time until
you reach an interval that causes the model to ‘blow up’, as we call it. You will know
this has happened when, once you have pressed ‘Compute’, the blue computation
bars turn to red in the ‘HEC RAS Computations’ window and at the bottom of the
stream of messages you will see in red letters the text ‘Simulation went unstable
at: (followed by the date/time iteration at which the instability occurred)’ (See Figure
9.12). Note that your model unstable date/time might not be exactly the same as that
shown in Figure 9.12.

Figure 9.12. Computation window showing simulation failure notification.

You will get non-fatal errors, even at a computational time-step of 10 minutes and
less, but these are non-fatal. Take a look at the long profile results at each increasing
time-step. You are likely to see some strange looking depths at structures but this is
a HTab parameter setting issue and not a total collapse in the computation.

Exercise

What is the maximum computation time-step you can use before your model blows
up?

124
You should still get some sort of reasonable results to run up to the time point where
the solution goes unstable so ‘play’ the results in the Profile Plot viewer. What
happens to the water-surface profile at the point where the model blows up; does it
look sensible?

9.3 The Courant Number

You are going to determine the Courant Number which is a measure of numerical
model stability; the closer the value is to 1 in theory the more stable the model is.

In the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window go to ‘File’ then ‘Open Plan..’ and in the
‘Open Plan File’ window that appears select the plan ‘Trent Unsteady with
Structures’, then click ‘OK’.

You need to save a copy of this plan with a new name so, once the plan is open go
to ‘File’ and select ‘Save Plan AS…’ and in the ‘Save Plan AS’ window ‘Title’ box
enter ‘Trent Unsteady with Structures Courant’. When the plan identifier box
opens give the name ‘Trent Unsteady with Structures Courant’.

In order to compute and display the Courant Number for each iteration of the St
Venent Equation a number of options must be selected:

1) In the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window in the ‘Computation Settings’ section

place a check mark next to the option ‘Computation Level Output’ (See Figure
9.13).

Figure 9.13. Computation Level Output selection.

2) From the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window go to ‘Options’, then ‘Output

Options’ and the ‘HEC RAS - Set Output Control Options’ window will open
(see Figure 9.14).

125
 There are a set of tabs along the top of this window and you need to select the
‘Computation Level Output Options’ tab. In this tab, towards the lower half of
the window there are a number of variables that can be computed on top of those
automatically generated under the header ‘Additional Variables’, from which
you should select the ‘Courant Channel’ option, and then click ‘OK’ (see Figure
9.14).

3) Now, from the ‘Unsteady Flow Analysis’ window hit ‘Compute’ and once the
computation process has run you can view your results.

Figure 9.14. Unsteady flow analysis output options control.

Go to the main HEC RAS interface and select ‘View’ from the set of headers at the
top of the window and then select ‘Unsteady Flow Time Series Plot (Computation
interval)…’ (see Figure 9.15). The window shown in Figure 9.16 will then appear.
Click on the ‘Variables’ button and a drop-down list of plottable variables will appear.
Select the ‘Courant Channel ()’ option (and unselect all other variables) and the
variation in the Courant Number over the computation time will be displayed as a
graph on the right-hand-side of the window.

You can select any cross-section of interest from the list shown in the left-hand
window by clicking on the cross-section number (a little graphic of a cross-section is
set next to each number).

126
Figure 9.15. Selecting the Unsteady Flow Time Series Plot option.

Figure 9.16. Unsteady Flow Time Series output window.

Exercise

Run the model multiple times, changing the ‘Computation Interval’ in the ‘Unsteady
Flow Analysis’ window in a systematic manner and examine, and compare, the
Courant Number plots (you will have to make observation for each run individually as
multiple plans cannot be plotted in this window).

Keeping in mind the fact that models are more stable the closer the Courant Number
is to 1, which ‘Computation Interval’ seems to be optimal for your model? You will
see that the Courant Number changes at each time-step in the time series plot which
makes an accurate assessment difficult, but which run has results that are on
average closest to 1?

127