Jakarta Plastics

M.Sc. Thesis: Fluid mechanics of trash clogging hydraulic structures in Indonesia

Background
Flooding in Jakarta is exacerbated by trash clogging hydraulic structures within the city’s network of drainage canals. Floods cause damage and casualties, while climate change, unchecked development, and land subsidence are worsening the problem. Jakarta’s planned Giant Seawall, touted a a solution to some floods, will be vulnerable to trash.

Objective
The frequent urban floods in Jakarta, Indonesia affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. One factor contributing to these floods is trash clogging the city’s drainage structures, but when and how much flooding will occur due to trash is unknown, as no research exists on the rate at which trash accumulates at structures, or the manner in which flow rate is reduced. Based on field measurements of Jakarta’s drainage system, the MSc will apply analytical and numerical models of trash behavior in rivers, and formulate design criteria for structures in trash-laden streams and devise ways to pass trash during floods. It is expected that this MSc will conduct fieldwork in Indonesia for 4-5 months during Q2-Q3 in 2019-2020, together with a student of our counterpart at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Supervisors
Jeremy D. Bricker PhD PE, j.d.bricker@tudelft.nl, CITG 3.96
Wim Uijttewaal, W.S.J.Uijttewaal@tudelft.nl