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Design of a bilateral-symmetric multi-slot fishway and its comparison with

vertical slot fishway in terms of hydraulic properties

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Received: 6 October 2022 Revised: 2 March 2023 Accepted: 3 March 2023
DOI: 10.1002/rra.4125

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Design of a bilateral-symmetric multi-slot fishway and its

comparison with vertical slot fishway in terms of hydraulic
properties

Di Zhang 1 | Xiaohui Bian 1 | Xiaotao Shi 2 | Jun Deng 3 | Yakun Liu 1

1
Faculty of Infrastructure Engineering, School
of Hydraulic Engineering, Dalian University of Abstract
Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Aiming at improving the hydraulic properties and enhancing the fish passage effi-
2
Hubei International Science and Technology
Cooperation Base of Fish Passage, China
ciency, this study proposes a novel bilateral-symmetric multi-slot fishway (BMSF) by
Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, combining the structural features of a double-sided vertical-slot fishway, multi-slot
China
3
fishway and T-shape fishway. Eight BMSF cases are further designed by adjusting
State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and
Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan the slot width and the distance between the short baffle and the front end of the
University, Chengdu 610065, China
central wall, in order to achieve the relatively best hydrodynamic characteristics. The
Correspondence flow fields of two vertical-slot fishways and eight BMSF fishways are obtained by
Xiaotao Shi, Hubei International Science and
numerically solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation, the volume-of-
Technology Cooperation Base of Fish Passage,
China Three Gorges University, Yichang fluid equation and the k-ω-SST turbulence model. Numerical results manifest that the
443002, China.
recommended BMSF-8 provides the smallest values in terms of the maximum time-
Email: fishlab@163.com
averaged velocity magnitude (1.42 m s
1), the maximum time-averaged turbulent
Yakun Liu, Faculty of Infrastructure
Engineering, School of Hydraulic Engineering, kinetic energy (0.132 m2 s
2), the maximum time-averaged Reynolds shear stress
component (44 Pa), the spatial-mean time-averaged velocity magnitude (0.58 m s
1),
Dalian University of Technology, Dalian
116024, China.
Email: liuyakun@dlut.edu.cn and the spatial-mean time-averaged turbulent kinetic energy (0.042 m2 s
2) in the
middle pool at Q = 1000 L/s. Even for the depth-mean time-averaged velocity mag-
Funding information
Hubei International Science and Technology nitude at the slot and the volume percentages of some critical physical quantities,
Cooperation Base of Fish Passage,
BMSF-8 is also superior to the other cases. To sum up, BMSF-8 leads to the relatively
Grant/Award Number: HIBF2020004;
National Natural Science Foundation of China, lowest flow velocity and turbulence, being more suitable for the passage of the
Grant/Award Number: 51922065, 51909024;
whole fish community (especially for small-sized fishes with weaker swimming abil-
State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and
Mountain River Engineering, Grant/Award ity). In addition, the generalizability of the aforementioned superiority of BMSF-8 is
Number: SKHL2019
displayed by providing the numerical results of four operating conditions
(i.e., Q = 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 L/s).

KEYWORDS
bilateral-symmetric multi-slot fishway, hydrodynamic properties, multi-slot fishway, Reynolds
shear stress, turbulent kinetic energy, vertical-slot fishway

1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N quantity of fish. In order to restore the connectivity of rivers and

Some hydraulic structures have blocked the connectivity of river sys-
tems and fragmented the river's aquatic environment. Consequently,
the breeding and foraging of the whole fish community have been
seriously hindered, resulting in a sharp decline in the species and
enable the longitudinal movements of fish, fishways are usually built
(Daneshfaraz et al., 2021; Kuriqi et al., 2020; Poulet, 2007; Stuart
et al., 2008).
Typical fishways include Denil fishway, pool-weir fishway (PWF),
vertical-slot fishway (VSF), and nature-like fishway (NLF). The Denil

River Res Applic. 2023;1–16. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rra © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1

2 ZHANG ET AL.
fishway is a straight, rectangular water flume with closely arranged
baffles inclining at an angle of 45 on the bottom wall, which usually
has a slope of 15%–25% and is unsuitable for small fishes (less than
250–300 mm) (Rajaratnam & Katipodis, 1984). Katopodis et al. (1997)
ascertained the relationship between the dimensionless flow and the
relative flow depth for both the standard and non-standard Denil fish-
ways. Mallen-Cooper and Stuart (2007) observed that Denil fishways
with a low slope (i.e., 8.3%) have the potential to pass a wide size
range of fishes, which means that their application can be greatly
extended by manipulating the design parameters.
PWF consists of a series of water pools with stepped weirs hav-
ing surface notches or underwater orifices (or a combination of both)
(Santos et al., 2012; Silva et al., 2011), being suitable for fishes with
strong jumping or swimming ability. Fishes use their burst swimming
speed to pass through the weirs. Yagci (2010) carried out the experi-
ment by adopting three different notch sizes but without changing
the orifice size. Kim (2001) studied three different weir types
(a trapezoidal weir without a notch, a rectangular weir with a straight
arrangement of notch and orifice, and a rectangular weir with a zigzag
arrangement of notch and weir). Santos et al. (2014) found that a high
density boulder configuration combined with a higher discharge can
reduce fish transit time. In fact, Mohammad Nezhad et al. (2022) and
Parsamehr et al. (2022) showed that the bed shear stress caused by
discontinuous roughness elements can increase energy dissipation by
generating more turbulence.
VSF can be further classified into same-side VSF (SS-VSF),
alternating-side VSF (AS-VSF), and double-side VSF (DS-VSF)
(Bombač et al., 2014; Fujihara et al., 2002), as shown by Figure 1a–c.
In VSF, only one or two vertical slots are left between adjacent pools
for fishes to migrate, and the slots extend through the entire water
depth (fishes can choose their preferable depth to pass without any
restriction) (Chorda et al., 2010; Quaranta et al., 2017). Rajaratnam
et al. (1992) experimentally studied a total of 18 VSF designs by vary-
ing the slope, the aspect ratio, the slot layout, and the baffle shape.
Calluaud et al. (2014) found that adding a cylinder near the slot can
effectively reduce the local amplitudes of velocity, vorticity, and tur-
bulent kinetic energy. Bombač et al. (2017) focused on the influence
of the deflection angle between small and large baffles in VSF. Ahmadi
et al. (2021) investigated another upgraded VSF version with cylindri-
cal elements positioned behind baffles.
NLF is a shallow, sloping channel that mimics a natural water-
course in terms of substrate, water movements, morphology, and
n
gradient, which can be built with diverse materials (Breto
et al., 2013; Katopodis, 2005; Santos et al., 2005). Although NLF is
often designed to pass a broad size range of fishes, it is unsuitable
in some situations (e.g., when the variable headwater range is large,
when the elevation difference is >12 m, or when the bed slope is
>5%) (Bunt et al., 2012; Stuart et al., 2008). Noonan et al. (2012)
stated that, as for the fish passage efficiency, PWF does not signifi-
cantly differ from VSF and NLF, but is higher than Denil fishways
and fish elevators. Bunt et al. (2012) pointed out that the superior
passage performance of NLF is attributed to its relatively smaller
slope.
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Most existing fishways target larger-sized high-priority fish spe-
cies, such as salmonids. Hence, fishes with weaker swimming capaci-
ties failed to effectively ascend because of high water velocity
exceeding the fish swimming ability (Mallen-Cooper & Brand, 2007;
Quaresma et al., 2018; Stuart et al., 2008). Considering that the goal is
biodiversity protection, it is necessary to take into account the swim-
ming ability of the whole fish community. Although fishways should
allow 90% to 100% adult fishes to successfully migrate so as to miti-
gate habitat fragmentation, Noonan et al. (2012) indicated that the
mean upstream passage efficiency of the existing fishways is only
41.7%, well below the desired level. Therefore, it is vital to develop
new-type multi-species fishways with hydraulic properties adequate
for the whole fish community, which is actually the main motivation
of this study.
In recent years, several new types of fishways have been pro-
posed to facilitate the passage of the whole fish community, irrespec-
tive of fish size and swimming ability. For a multi-slot fishway (MSF)
(i.e., Figure 1d), the pool entrance chamber has two consecutive verti-
cal slots that divide the water-head drop into two parts. When com-
pared to VSF with similar dimensions, MSF can reduce the flow
velocity, the turbulence magnitude, and the operational discharge
(Quaresma et al., 2018; Romão et al., 2018). T-shape fishway (TSF) is
composed of symmetric lateral long baffles, central T-shape piers and
symmetric drop sills (Mao et al., 2012). Mao et al. (2019) further sim-
plified TSF by removing the drop sills (i.e., Figure 1e) and studied the
influences of the pool length and the front-baffle length. Zhang et al.
(2022) put forward a H-shape fishway (HSF), which is constituted
with lateral long baffles, H-shape piers, vertical slots, and lateral short
baffles, as illustrated by Figure 1f.
In view of the huge gap between the desired fish passage effi-
ciency and the mean upstream passage efficiency of existing fishways
(Noonan et al., 2012), there is still significant room for developing
new-type multi-species fishways. With this in mind, this paper innova-
tively puts forward the bilateral-symmetric MSF (BMSF). By introduc-
ing the backward T-shape pier, two fish passage channels and four
recirculation regions (with relatively uniform sizes and relatively
evenly distributed locations) are available in each pool for BMSF,
which contributes to enhancing the fish passage efficiency, offering
more abundant resting areas for fish and effectively reducing the flow
velocity and turbulence. Eight BMSF cases are further designed by
adjusting the slot width and the distance between the short baffle and
the central baffle to obtain the relatively best hydraulic properties.
The flow fields of two VSF and eight BMSF are compared in terms of
flow pattern, velocity distribution, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), and
Reynolds shear stress (RSS).
2 | M A T E R I A L S A N D M ET H O D S
2.1 | Research scope
The hydraulic properties of one SS-VSF, one AS-VSF, and eight BMSF
(Figure 2) are compared in detail to acquire the relatively lowest flow

ZHANG ET AL.
FIGURE 1 Schematic diagrams of SS-VSF, AS-VSF, DS-VSF, MSF, TSF and HSF, and the SS-VSF case studied by Bombač et al. (2014,
2015, 2017).
velocity and turbulence for the purpose of facilitating the passage of
the whole fish community. For BMSF-1, both the width of the front
pair of vertical slots (i.e., bs1) and the width of the back pair of vertical
slots (i.e., bs2) are set at 0.59 m, which is equal to the slot width of SS-
VSF and AS-VSF. Although the value of bs2 is kept unchanged, the
width of the front pair of vertical slots is optimized in this study,
namely BMSF-2 (bs1 = 0.65 m), BMSF-3 (bs1 = 0.70 m), BMSF-4 (bs1
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3
= 0.75 m), and BMSF-5 (bs1 = 0.80 m). Then, based on the optimal
vertical-slot widths (i.e., bs1 = 0.75 m, and bs2 = 0.59 m, deduced from
later discussions), BMSF is further optimized by varying the distance
between the short baffle and the front end of the central wall (i.e., d0).
Figure 2e–l show that d0 = 0 m for BMSF-6, d0 = 0.16 m for BMSF-4,
d0 = 0.32 m for BMSF-7, and d0 = 0.48 m for BMSF-8. All BMSF
cases have the same parameters and settings as the SS-VSF validation
15351467, 0, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rra.4125 by Dalian University Of, Wiley Online Library on [17/03/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
ZHANG ET AL.

F I G U R E 2 The 2D and 3D geometrical dimensions of SS-VSF, AS-VSF and BMSF-1BMSF-8. [Color figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
4
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ZHANG ET AL. 5

case, such as the boundary conditions, the numerical discretization 2.3 | Model validation
schemes, the time-step size, the longitudinal bed-slope (S0 = 1.67%),
the pool length (L = 3.0 m), the pool width (B = 2.2 m), the baffle The accuracy and reliability of the current numerical model are vali-
thickness (I0 = 0.20 m), the baffle height (H = 2.50 m), the Manning dated by the experimental and numerical results of SS-VSF in Bombač
coefficient (n = 0.014), and the length of the outlet reach et al. (2015). As shown by Figure 1g,h, each pool is 3 m long and
(L2 = 9.6 m). 2.2 m wide, and the SS-VSF consists of nine pools, ensuring that the
flow field in the middle pool is not affected by the inlet and outlet
conditions. According to Bombač et al. (2014, 2015, 2017), the slot
2.2 | Numerical model width is bs = 0.59 m, the baffle thickness is I0 = 0.20 m, the flow dis-
charge is Q = 1000 L/s, the bed slope is S0 = 1.67%, the Manning
With the aid of the Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation coefficient is n = 0.014, and the outlet reach is L2 = 9.6 m long.
(OpenFOAM) libraries. Simulations are performed by solving the Although the inlet reach is only L1 = 1.5 m in Bombač et al. (2015),
Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation (RANS), the volume-of- here the inlet is further extended to 100 m upstream of the first pool
fluid equation, and the k-ω-SST turbulence model (Menter to exert the uniform-flow condition because the velocity and water
et al., 2003; Ubbink & Issa, 1999; Zhang et al., 2021): depth within the inlet reach are necessary when performing 3D simu-
lation (but not given in the literature). At the inlet, the uniform-flow
∂ρ ∂ ðρui Þ water depth (hin =0.141 m) and the uniform-flow velocity
þ ¼0 ð1Þ
∂t ∂xi
(uin =3.224 m s
1) can be deduced from the uniform-flow equation
  Q = A*1/n*R2/3*S01/2. Three mesh levels (i.e., coarse mesh, medium
∂ui ∂   1 ∂p ∂ ∂ui ∂uj
þ ui uj þ u0i u0j ¼
 þν þ ð2Þ mesh, and fine mesh) are utilized to verify the grid independence,
∂t ∂xj ρ ∂xi ∂xj ∂xj ∂xi
which has 3.56, 5.72, and 7.57 million cells, respectively. Besides, the
water depth at the outlet is fixed as hout =1.30 m, the standard atmo-
∂αq ∂αq
þ ui ¼0 ð3Þ spheric pressure is specified on the top, the convective outflow condi-
∂t ∂xi
tion is prescribed at the outlet, and the non-slip condition is applied to
0 0

 
∂k ∂ ui k ∂ ∂k0 the bottom and all the baffle surfaces.
þ ¼ Pk
β k0 ω0 þ ðν þ σ k νt Þ ð4Þ
∂t ∂xi ∂xi ∂xi Figure 3 compares the depth-averaged time-averaged streamwise
velocity (ux ), the depth-averaged time-averaged spanwise velocity (uy )
 
0
∂ω ∂ ðui ω Þ 0
Pk ∂ ∂ω0 1 ∂k0 ∂ω0 and the depth-averaged time-averaged TKE (k*) along four cross-
¼ α
βω0 þ
2
þ ðν þ σ ω ν t Þ þ 2ð1
F 1 Þσ ω2 0
∂t ∂xi νt ∂xi ∂xi ω ∂xi ∂xi sections in the middle pool (i.e., Sections I, II, III, and IV in Figure 1h).
ð5Þ Table S1 (in Appendices) provides the mean absolute error (MAE,
defined in the footnotes of Table S1) between the experimental and
where the subscripts i and j indicate the ith and jth components of the numerical data. Relative to the PCFLOW-two dimensional (2D) model
cartesian coordinate, respectively, u and p are the Reynolds-averaged used by Bombač et al. (2015), the present k-ω-SST model leads to a
velocity and pressure respectively, u0 symbolizes the fluctuating veloc- relatively larger sum of MAE (ux ) (i.e., 0.625 m s
1 > 0.496 m s
1), due
ity, t is the time, ρ denotes the density, ν is the kinematic viscosity, νt to its larger velocity prediction within the main flow region
is the turbulent viscosity, αq is the volume fraction of water, k0 is the (Figure 3a,d,g,j). Nevertheless, k-ω-SST results in relatively smaller
instantaneous TKE, ω0 is the instantaneous specific dissipation rate, F1 sum of MAE (uy ) (i.e., 0.399 m s
1 < 0.514 m s
1) and sum of MAE (k*)
is a blending function, and Pk represents the limited value of the k0 (i.e., 0.056 m2 s
2 < 0.088 m2 s
2), which means that k-ω-SST provides
production term. α, β, β*, σk, σω and σω2 are the corresponding more accurate results than PCFLOW-2D in terms of uy and k*
parameters. (Figure 3). On the whole, the experimental data can be well captured
When it comes to the fishway flow, the Reynolds number is rela- by k-ω-SST, but PCFLOW-2D fails to obtain the correct variation
tively large (i.e., 105–107). Therefore, a very fine mesh and a very small trend in Figure 3a,d,e,f,l. Besides, for k-ω-SST, the medium mesh pro-
time step are necessary to conduct large eddy simulation (LES) and duces almost the same results as the fine mesh, therefore, the
direct numerical simulation (DNS), because LES and DNS can produce medium mesh size will be adopted later for all the research cases.
more accurate results than RANS only when the mesh is fine enough.
In order to avoid the huge computational expense, the k-ω-SST model
is adopted here. Zhang (2017) proved that this model possesses the 3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
best overall performance among all the eight RANS models consid-
ered. In fact, their simulations demonstrate that the k-ω-SST model 3.1 | Flow pattern
(employing a relatively coarse mesh) can result in numerical results
similar to those of two LES models (using a finer mesh). Zhang et al. Figure 4 exhibits the 2D time-averaged streamlines and velocity mag-
(2021) further pointed out that k-ω-SST becomes popular due to its nitude contours for six representative cases at Z = 0.5hm, where hm
excellent performance in simulating complex adverse pressure gradi- denotes the spatial-mean time-averaged water depth in the middle
ents and separating flow. pool at Q = 1000 L/s. Considering that all BMSF cases share similar

6 ZHANG ET AL.
flow structures, only four BMSF cases (i.e., BMSF-1, BMSF-4,
BMSF-6 and BMSF-8) are presented here. Besides, similar flow pat-
terns can be obtained at various water depths; therefore, only
Z = 0.5hm plane (at the middle of the water depth) is displayed for
conciseness of presentation. For SS-VSF, Figure 4a indicates that the
mainstream directly runs through the pool without any noticeable
deflection and diffusion, and two recirculation regions are captured
on two sides of the main flow, namely one small recirculation region
behind the short baffle (about 0.50 L  0.15B) and another large recir-
culation region behind the long baffle (about 0.93 L  0.64B). For AS-
VSF, Figure 4b shows that the mainstream obliquely penetrates
through the pool, which generates two equal-sized triangular-shaped
recirculation regions on both sides of the main flow (each about
0.66 L  0.43B). For BMSF, Figure 4c–f shows that the mainstream
forms two sinusoidal-shaped paths, and two pairs of symmetric recir-
culation regions can be identified, namely the front pair behind the
short baffle (each about (0.25–0.34)L(0.18–0.33)B) and the back pair
behind the central baffle (each about (0.47–0.64)L(0.34–0.39)B).
Apparently, only one fish passage channel (connecting two neigh-
boring slots) is available in each pool for SS-VSF and AS-VSF, but
there are two symmetric fish passage channels (separated by the
backward T-shape pier) for BMSF. Increasing the number of fish pas-
sage channels means providing an extra passage route for fish, which
is beneficial to enhancing fish passage efficiency. Moreover, although
SS-VSF and AS-VSF have only two recirculation regions in each pool,
BMSF actually owns four recirculation regions with relatively uniform
sizes and relatively evenly-distributed locations. In view of the fact
that the recirculation region usually has a relatively smaller velocity
 n et al., 2013; Chorda et al., 2010; Liao, 2007;
magnitude (Breto
Marriner et al., 2016), it often serves as the resting zone of fish. When
compared to SS-VSF and AS-VSF, BMSF is believed to be able to pro-
vide more abundant resting areas for fish by virtue of its two pairs of
evenly-distributed recirculation regions (neither too large nor too
small), which contribute to taking a rest and avoiding disorientation
for fish.
3.2 | Velocity field
Velocity is one of the most important hydraulic parameters to deter-
mine the suitability of fishway (Romão et al., 2018; Silva et al., 2018).
Figure 4 and Table 1 reveal that, whether for the mainstream velocity
or for the maximum time-averaged velocity magnitude in the middle
pool (i.e., Max{Umagnitude}) at Q = 1000 L/s, the relative relationship is
SS-VSF > AS-VSF > BMSF-1 > BMSF-4 ≈ BMSF-6 > BMSF-8.
BMSF-8 has the smallest Max{Umagnitude} (1.42 m s
1), being about
30.4% lower than that of SS-VSF (2.04 m s
1
). Among the five BMSF
cases with different slot widths (BMSF-1BMSF-5), BMSF-4
(bs1 = 0.75 m) owns the minimum Max{Umagnitude} (1.46 m s
1), and
hence the slot width of BMSF-6BMSF-8 is designed as
bs1 = 0.75 m. Moreover, BMSF-8 leads to the smallest Umagnitude
(0.58 m s
1, the spatial-mean time-averaged velocity magnitude in the
middle pool). For SS-VSF, the mainstream directly runs through the
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pool due to the slot alignment, giving rise to the largest flow velocity.
AS-VSF reduces the flow velocity to a certain degree by creating a
sinusoidal mainstream pattern by virtue of the alternate slot arrange-
ment. For BMSF, the relatively lowest velocity is caused by the three-
fold impact of the backward T-shape pier. First, while only one
discharge route is available for SS-VSF and AS-VSF, two symmetric
discharge paths are provided in BMSF, which means that the main-
stream is undertaken by more space, decreasing the flow velocity and
turbulence. Second, the two discharge routes of BMSF are also sinu-
soidal (similar to AS-VSF), which can also reduce the flow velocity and
turbulence to some extent. Thirdly, behaving like MSF (Quaresma
et al., 2018; Romão et al., 2018), each discharge path of BMSF is con-
stituted by two adjacent slots (in each pool), and hence the water-
head drop is divided into two parts, which can further decrease the
flow velocity and turbulence.
Marriner et al. (2016) and Quaranta et al. (2019) stated that the
percentage of Umagnitude ≤0.30 m s
1 should be in the range of 30% 
50% to provide a favorable resting environment for fish. Table 1
shows that, except for BMSF-1BMSF-3, the other cases do fall
within this scope. Especially, BMSF-8 results in the largest percentage
of Umagnitude ≤0.30 m s
1 (43.69%). Considering that a too-large recir-
culation region tends to disorient fish (Santos et al., 2012), it is not
true to say that the bigger the better about the recirculation-region
size. Accordingly, as for the percentage of Umagnitude ≤0.30 m s
1,
larger is not always better, because its value should be <50% to avoid
that fishes stay for too long in the low-speed recirculation area. Even
for the percentages of Umagnitude ≤0.43, 0.54, 0.66, 0.78, 0.81, and
1.00 m s
1 (the critical swimming speeds of several fish species given
in Quaresma et al., 2018), BMSF-8 is also superior to the other cases,
since it produces overall larger volume percentages.
When it comes to the spatial-mean time-averaged water depth in
the middle pool (i.e., hm), Table 1 displays that, with the increase of
the slot width, hm monotonically decreases from 1.50 m (BMSF-1) to
1.13 m (BMSF-5) due to the enhancement of the discharge capacity.
However, the variation of d0 has only a negligible effect on hm. The
flow velocity at the slots is the key factor to determining whether
fishes can successfully migrate upstream, and Figure 4g,h compares
the depth-mean time-averaged velocity magnitude at the slot
(i.e., Umagnitude ). All the slot centers are moved along the Y direction to
make them overlap with each other. As expected, the relationship is
still SS-VSF > AS-VSF > BMSF-1 > BMSF-4 ≈ BMSF-6 > BMSF-8 in
terms of Umagnitude . The mainstream velocity should be as small as pos-
sible to enhance fish passage efficiency (Bombač et al., 2017; Calluaud
et al., 2014; Mallen-Cooper & Brand, 2007). Relative to the other
cases, BMSF-8 is deemed to facilitate the passage of small-bodied
fishes with low swimming ability, owing to its lowest values in the
aspects of the mainstream velocity, Umagnitude and Max{Umagnitude}.
3.3 | Turbulent kinetic energy
 
TKE, defined as 1
2 u0 2 þ v 0 2 þ w0 2 , also serves as an important
hydraulic parameter affecting the fishway efficiency (Liao et al., 2003;
15351467, 0, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rra.4125 by Dalian University Of, Wiley Online Library on [17/03/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
7

F I G U R E 3 Comparison of the depth-averaged time-averaged streamwise velocity (i.e., ux ), the depth-averaged time-averaged spanwise
velocity (i.e., uy ) and the depth-averaged time-averaged TKE (i.e., k*) at four cross-sections for SS-VSF. [Color figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
ZHANG ET AL.
 15351467, 0, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rra.4125 by Dalian University Of, Wiley Online Library on [17/03/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
8 ZHANG ET AL.

F I G U R E 4 The 2D time-averaged streamlines and velocity magnitude contours on the Z = 0.5hm plane in the middle pool, and the depth-
mean time-averaged velocity magnitude (i.e., Umagnitude ) along the vertical-slot width for six representative cases at Q = 1000 L/s. [Color figure can
be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Silva et al., 2011; Silva et al., 2012), where u0 , v0 and w0 are the fluctu- averaged TKE (i.e., kmax) and the volume percentages of
ating velocity components along the coordinate axis. Table 1 gives out k ≤ 0.05 m2 s
2 and k ≤ 0.10 m2 s
2 (k denotes the time-averaged TKE)
the spatial-mean time-averaged TKE (i.e., k), the maximum time- in the middle pool at Q = 1000 L/s. Obviously, BMSF-8 provides both
 15351467, 0, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rra.4125 by Dalian University Of, Wiley Online Library on [17/03/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
ZHANG ET AL. 9

the smallest k (0.042 m2 s
2) and the smallest kmax (0.132 m2 s
2)
among all the cases. With respect to the percentages of

2
2
k ≤ 0.05 m s 2
and k ≤ 0.10 m s 2
, BMSF-8 results in the second larg-
est values (i.e., 66.30% and 99.81%, respectively). Considering that
the flow field close to the water surface usually has relatively larger
k values, Figure 5a–f presents the 2D k contours at Z = 0.8hm in the
middle pool for six representative cases. Evidently, in the mainstream
region, both BMSF-6 and BMSF-8 have relatively smaller k values, but
BMSF-8 generates the lowest k values within the back pair of recircu-
lation regions (Figure 5f).
A significant negative correlation between TKE and fish transit
time is observed by Silva et al. (2011). Besides, Quaranta et al. (2017)
and Marriner et al. (2016) pointed out that a large portion of the pool
should stay below 0.05 m2 s
2, because a higher TKE is not favorable
for fishes to recover energy. Quaranta et al. (2019) thought that
k = 0.10 m2 s
2 can be deemed as the maximum upper limit of the
fishes' preferring TKE values. Table 1 proves that the recommended
BMSF-8 does behave much better than SS-VSF and AS-VSF, relying
on its relatively smaller k and kmax but relatively higher percentages of
k ≤ 0.05 m2 s
2 and k ≤ 0.10 m2 s
2. Its relatively smaller k values in
the mainstream region are beneficial for fishes to swim upstream, and
its relatively lower k values in the recirculation region are conducive
for fishes to take a short rest. Figure 4 shows that the mainstream
region of AS-VSF is bigger than that of SS-VSF, and hence AS-VSF
has a larger area with k ≥ 0.10 m2 s
2 (Figure 5b), incurring its lower
percentages of k ≤ 0.05 m2 s
2 (45.74%) and k ≤ 0.10 m2 s
2 (82.33%)
in Table 1.
3.4 | Reynolds shear stress
RSS, defined as
ρu0i u0j , is another important hydraulic parameter
influencing fish behaviors. Fish may be injured or killed when exposed
to an extremely high RSS environment for a long time, and the RSS
component at the X-Y direction (τuv ¼
ρu0 v 0 ) exerts the greatest influ-
ence on fish (Liao, 2007; Liao & Cotel, 2013; Silva et al., 2018).
Table 1 provides the maximum magnitude of the time-averaged RSS
component at the X-Y direction (i.e., Maxjτuv j) and the volume per-
centage of jτuv j≤10 Pa (where 1 Pa = 1N/m2) in the middle pool at
Q = 1000 L/s. Obviously, BMSF-8 leads to the smallest Maxjτuv j
(44 Pa) and the largest percentage of jτuv j≤10 Pa (97.32%). High RSS
usually occurs at regions close to the bottom wall, and hence the
Z = 0.24 m plane is selected here to present the time-averaged RSS.
Figure 5g–l reveals that, relative to various BMSF cases, SS-VSF and
AS-VSF give rise to larger jτuv j, being unfavorable for the fish passage.
RSS represents a force per unit area and is caused by two adja-
cent water layers of different velocities, and therefore fish experience
RSS when moving between two different water layers (Čada
et al., 2006; Silva et al., 2011). Figure 5g–l shows that higher jτuv j
values mostly occur at the transition domain between the mainstream

T A B L E 1 The spatial-mean time-averaged water depth (i.e., hm), the time-averaged velocity-magnitude (i.e., Umagnitude), the time-averaged TKE
(i.e., k), and the time-averaged RSS at the X-Y direction (i.e., τuv) in the middle pool for various cases at Q = 1000 L/s.

Cases SS-VSF AS-VSF BMSF-1 BMSF-2 BMSF-3 BMSF-4 BMSF-5 BMSF-6 BMSF-7 BMSF-8
hm (m) 1.15 1.27 1.50 1.40 1.32 1.22 1.13 1.24 1.21 1.20

1 a 0.67 0.66 0.66 0.67 0.65 0.62 0.62 0.62 0.61 0.58
Umagnitude (m s )

1 b
Max{Umagnitude}(m s ) 2.04 1.76 1.64 1.58 1.53 1.46 1.47 1.46 1.44 1.42
Umagnitude≤ 0.30 m s
1 30.33% 31.73% 22.81% 22.26% 24.11% 35.26% 34.24% 34.22% 39.11% 43.69%
0.43 m s
1 45.57% 47.10% 40.76% 39.35% 40.38% 47.92% 45.49% 46.71% 51.23% 54.18%
0.54 m s
1 55.57% 56.46% 51.48% 49.57% 49.96% 56.51% 53.26% 54.56% 58.66% 59.67%

1
0.66 m s 63.47% 64.41% 59.75% 57.80% 57.94% 62.90% 58.23% 61.85% 63.73% 64.13%
0.78 m s
1 67.96% 69.79% 65.17% 63.48% 63.99% 67.91% 62.70% 67.53% 68.45% 68.60%

1
0.81 m s 68.59% 70.80% 66.46% 64.98% 65.38% 69.22% 63.95% 68.90% 69.67% 69.71%
1.00 m s
1 72.08% 76.83% 74.18% 73.75% 73.91% 77.81% 72.91% 78.04% 77.80% 77.68%
2
2 c 0.050 0.065 0.043 0.044 0.043 0.042 0.042 0.043 0.043 0.042
k (m s )
kmax (m2 s
2)d 0.214 0.214 0.210 0.199 0.153 0.141 0.132 0.132 0.135 0.132

2
k ≤ 0.05 m s 2
61.80% 45.74% 65.96% 65.52% 65.80% 66.13% 65.29% 66.86% 63.27% 66.30%
k ≤ 0.10 m2 s
2 86.13% 82.33% 97.48% 96.98% 97.92% 99.35% 99.91% 99.24% 99.06% 99.81%
Maxjτuvj(Pa) e
101 94 46 59 66 50 54 55 47 44
jτuv j ≤10 Pa 93.26% 82.14% 97.27% 96.55% 95.97% 97.00% 96.89% 94.65% 97.30% 97.32%
a
Umagnitude represents the spatial-mean time-averaged velocity magnitude in the middle pool.
b
Max{Umagnitude} indicates the maximum time-averaged velocity magnitude in the middle pool.
c
k denotes the spatial-mean time-averaged TKE in the middle pool.
d
kmax signifies the maximum time-averaged TKE in the middle pool.
e
Maxjτuv j represents the maximum magnitude of the time-averaged RSS component at the X-Y direction in the middle pool.
 15351467, 0, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rra.4125 by Dalian University Of, Wiley Online Library on [17/03/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
10 ZHANG ET AL.

F I G U R E 5 (a, b, c, d, e, f) The 2D contours of the time-averaged TKE (i.e., k) on the Z = 0.8hm, and (g, h, i, j, k, l) The 2D contours of the
absolute value of the time-averaged RSS component at the X-Y direction (i.e., jτuv j) on the Z = 0.24 m in the middle pool for six representative
cases at Q = 1000 L/s. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
 ZHANG ET AL.

T A B L E 2 The spatial-mean time-averaged water depth (i.e., hm), the time-averaged velocity-magnitude (i.e., Umagnitude), the time-averaged TKE (i.e., k), and the time-averaged RSS at the X-Y
direction (i.e., τuv) in the middle pool for SS-VSF, AS-VSF and BMSF-8 at different flow discharges.

Q = 600 L/s Q = 800 L/s Q = 1000 L/s Q = 1200 L/s

Cases SS-VSF AS-VSF BMSF-8 SS-VSF AS-VSF BMSF-8 SS-VSF AS-VSF BMSF-8 SS-VSF AS-VSF BMSF-8
hm (m) 0.71 0.81 0.77 0.91 1.04 0.98 1.15 1.27 1.20 1.34 1.57 1.41

1 0.65 0.61 0.56 0.66 0.64 0.57 0.67 0.66 0.58 0.68 0.68 0.60
Umagnitude (m s )
Max{Umagnitude} (m s
1) 2.03 1.75 1.36 2.04 1.76 1.41 2.04 1.76 1.42 2.08 1.76 1.45
Umagnitude≤ 0.30 m s
1 31.96% 40.51% 45.10% 30.40% 35.75% 44.68% 30.33% 31.73% 43.69% 27.62% 23.84% 41.80%
0.43 m s
1 47.81% 54.58% 55.56% 46.07% 50.41% 54.85% 45.57% 47.10% 54.18% 45.27% 38.99% 52.53%

1
0.54 m s 57.79% 62.85% 61.04% 56.26% 59.54% 60.30% 55.57% 56.46% 59.67% 55.31% 50.10% 58.27%
0.66 m s
1 65.55% 68.74% 65.78% 64.03% 67.19% 64.80% 63.47% 64.41% 64.13% 63.09% 59.85% 63.17%

1
0.78 m s 68.58% 72.34% 70.71% 68.29% 71.30% 69.44% 67.96% 69.79% 68.60% 67.91% 67.92% 67.97%
0.81 m s
1 69.13% 73.20% 72.04% 68.92% 72.09% 70.61% 68.59% 70.80% 69.71% 68.58% 69.75% 68.98%

1
1.00 m s 72.33% 78.23% 81.45% 72.13% 76.94% 79.07% 72.08% 76.83% 77.68% 71.88% 79.71% 77.65%
2
2 0.045 0.052 0.035 0.047 0.061 0.040 0.050 0.065 0.042 0.052 0.072 0.042
k (m s )
2
2
kmax (m s ) 0.186 0.206 0.109 0.200 0.212 0.127 0.214 0.214 0.132 0.214 0.220 0.141
2
2
k ≤ 0.05 m s 64.82% 55.87% 77.18% 62.84% 51.43% 69.33% 61.80% 45.74% 66.30% 60.25% 34.03% 63.49%
k ≤ 0.10 m2 s
2 87.57% 86.87% 99.97% 87.04% 82.88% 99.83% 86.13% 82.33% 99.81% 83.95% 78.02% 99.69%
Maxjτuv j (Pa) 56 86 52 90 88 41 101 94 44 79 137 62
jτuv j≤10 Pa 99.61% 97.48% 98.16% 98.33% 97.17% 98.05% 93.26% 82.14% 97.32% 97.64% 82.10% 95.68%
11

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12
F I G U R E 6 The 2D time-averaged streamlines and velocity magnitude contours on the Z = 0.5hm plane for SS-VSF, AS-VSF and the
recommended BMSF-8 at different flow discharges. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
region and the recirculation region, which is not difficult to under-
stand because a large velocity gradient must exist in the region con-
necting the high-speed mainstream water layer and the low-speed
recirculation water layer. As for the recirculation regions behind the
central baffle, BMSF-8 has the relatively smallest jτuv j (Figure 5l),
which provides a better resting environment because fish tend to
spend less time in cells with a higher RSS (Silva et al., 2011). Quar-
esma et al. (2018) chose 10 Pa as the critical value of jτuv j and gave
the percentage of jτuv j≤10 Pa for different configurations. In this
study, as expected, BMSF-8 produced the largest percentage of
jτuv j≤10 Pa (97.32%).
3.5 | Different operating conditions
For proving the generalizability of the superiority of BMSF-8 over SS-
VSF and AS-VSF, other three discharge conditions (Q = 600, 800 and
1200 L/s) are added here. Table 2 shows that, when raising the dis-
charge, some hydraulic parameters have a monotonically increasing
trend, such as hm, Max{Umagnitude}, Umagnitude , k and kmax. On the con-
trary, a monotonically decreasing trend is observed for the volume
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ZHANG ET AL.
percentages of Umagnitude ≤0.30, 0.43, 0.54, 0.66, 0.78, 0.81 and
1.00 m s
1, k ≤ 0.05 m2 s
2 and k ≤ 0.10 m2 s
2. But, no obvious mono-
tonicity can be observed for both SS-VSF and BMSF-8 with respect
to Maxjτuv j. For the percentage of jτuv j≤ 10 Pa, although AS-VSF and
BMSF-8 continuously decrease, SS-VSF actually first decreases and
then increases. Figure 6 displays the 2D time-averaged streamlines
and velocity magnitude contours at Z = 0.5hm, Figure 7 shows the 2D
contours of the time-averaged TKE at Z = 0.8hm and Figure 8 exhibits
the 2D contours of the absolute value of the time-averaged RSS at
Z = 0.2hm for various flow discharges.
Variable hydrological characteristics (e.g., river discharge, head-
water level, and tail-water level) are one of the major challenges for
the fishway design, because fish migrations are time-sensitive and dif-
fer between species (Katopodis, 2005; Stuart et al., 2008). Different
flow discharges should be considered during the design stage to
ensure that the proposed fishway is always effective, even for highly
variable river hydrology (Katopodis et al., 1997; Kim, 2001; Silva
et al., 2012). By supplying the hydraulic properties at four discharge
conditions (Table 2 and Figures 6–8), this study confirms that: (1) the
recommended BMSF-8 can operate over a wide range of flow dis-
charge; (2) in the range of Q = 600 L/s–1200 L/s, relative to SS-VSF

ZHANG ET AL.
F I G U R E 7 The 2D contours of the time-averaged TKE (i.e., k) on the Z = 0.8hm plane for SS-VSF, AS-VSF and the recommended BMSF-8 at
different flow discharges. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
and AS-VSF, the recommended BMSF-8 invariably generates much
lower flow velocity, TKE, and RSS (whether at the slot or in the pool),
contributing to the passage of the whole fish community (especially
for small-sized fishes with weaker swimming ability) (Mallen-Cooper &
Brand, 2007; Quaresma et al., 2018).
4 | C O N CL U S I O N S
This study innovatively proposes a novel BMSF and systematically
analyzes the flow characteristics of 10 fishways (i.e., SS-VSF, AS-VSF,
and BMSF-1BMSF-8). The main findings include the following:
1. Although SS-VSF and AS-VSF have only one fish passage channel
and two recirculation regions in each pool, BMSF actually pos-
sesses two fish passage channels and four recirculation regions
(with relatively uniform sizes and relatively evenly-distributed loca-
tions). Therefore, BMSF can not only enhance the fish passage
efficiency, but also provide more abundant resting areas for fish.
2. In view of its smallest values of Max{Umagnitude} (1.42 m s
1),
Umagnitude (0.58 m s
1), k (0.042 m2 s
2), kmax (0.132 m2 s
2),
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13
Maxjτuv j (44 Pa) and Umagnitude , BMSF-8 has the best overall hydrau-
lic performance (i.e., the relatively lowest flow velocity and turbu-
lence) among all the cases, being beneficial to the passage of the
whole fish community (especially for small-sized fishes with
weaker swimming ability). BMSF-8 also can produce relatively
larger percentages of k ≤ 0.05 m2 s
2 (66.30%), k ≤ 0.10 m2 s
2
(99.81%), jτuv j≤10 Pa (97.32%), and Umagnitude ≤0.30, 0.43, 0.54,
0.66, 0.78, 0.81 and 1.00 m s
1 at Q = 1000 L/s.
3. For all four discharges (i.e., Q = 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 L/s), rel-
ative to SS-VSF and AS-VSF, the recommended BMSF-8 invariably
generates much lower flow velocity, TKE, and RSS (whether at the
slot or in the pool), contributing to the passage of the whole fish
community.
4. For BMSF, the impact of the backward T-shape pier is threefold.
First, only one discharge path is available for SS-VSF and AS-VSF,
but two symmetric discharge paths are provided in BMSF, which
means that the mainstream is undertaken by more space, decreas-
ing the flow velocity and turbulence. Second, the two mainstream
routes of BMSF are sinusoidal (similar to AS-VSF), which can also
reduce the flow velocity and turbulence to some extent. Third, like
MSF, each mainstream path of BMSF contains two adjacent slots

14
F I G U R E 8 The 2D contours of the absolute value of the time-averaged RSS component at the X-Y direction (i.e., jτuv j) on the Z = 0.2hm plane
for SS-VSF, AS-VSF and the recommended BMSF-8 at different flow discharges. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
(in each pool), and hence the water-head drop is divided into two
parts, which further decreases the flow velocity and turbulence.
Considering that the bed-slope is one of the important parame-
ters affecting the hydraulic characteristics, six extra numerical cases
(i.e., SS-VSF, AS-VSF, and BMSF-8, with a bed-slope of 8.5% at
Q = 800 L/s and Q = 1000 L/s, respectively) were also carried out. As
expected, even for a much larger bed-slope (8.5%, approaching the
upper limit of the most frequently used slopes in VSF), the recom-
mended BMSF-8 still generates the relatively lowest flow velocity,
TKE, and RSS, contributing to the passage of the whole fish commu-
nity (especially for small-sized fishes with weak swimming ability).
Due to the limited number of words, figures and tables, the corre-
sponding results are not presented in the article.
Except for comparing the hydraulic properties, the fish passage
experiment is another important way to evaluate the fish passage
efficiency of different fishways. Therefore, future studies should
involve testing the fish passage performance of the recommended
BMSF-8 by carrying out fish passage experiments on a physical
model and/or on the field and analyzing various fish passage param-
eters (e.g., entry efficiency, entrance time, passage success rate, and
fish transit time).
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ZHANG ET AL.
ACKNOWLEDG MENTS
The authors acknowledge the financial support of National Natural
Science Foundation of China (51922065; 51909024), Hubei Interna-
tional Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Fish Passage
(HIBF2020004) and State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain
River Engineering (SKHL2019).
CONFLIC T OF INTER E ST STATEMENT
The authors declare no potential conflict of interest.
DATA AVAILABILITY STAT EMEN T
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the
corresponding author upon reasonable request.
OR CID
Di Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6442-6500
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How to cite this article: Zhang, D., Bian, X., Shi, X., Deng, J., &
Liu, Y. (2023). Design of a bilateral-symmetric multi-slot
fishway and its comparison with vertical slot fishway in terms
of hydraulic properties. River Research and Applications, 1–16.
https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4125