Abstract

1. Abstract The Cove River is a marshland located behind West Haven High School. The marshland is about fifteen acres of open space and filled with botany and wildlife. Up until a few years ago, the marsh has been occupied by Phragmitesaustralisor more well known as Common Reed. Since the phragmites are not a native species to the marshland, they were able to thrive with no natural predators. In doing so, the native species of plants, birds, and fish were not able to inhabit the areas they once lived in. This caused a great decrease in population size. To counteract this problem, the Department of Environmental Protection supervised the restoration of the marshlands. Of the different approaches used, they had found that the restoration of tidal flow was a highly successful because of the high salinity levels of the different tides (<18 parts per thousands). In order to restore the tidal flow to its original state, the use of a Self-Regulating Tide Gate (SRTG) was used. An SRTG is able to restore the tide by opening and closing the gate based on the tides, regulating the tide levels. The Redesigning of The Self-Regulating Tide Gate Redesign The model used for the redesign is a stop-go model, in which water flow is regulated at low and mid-tides, thus allowing a the most water flow of all the SRTGs. As for the improvements, three of them have been made, labeled by the numbers. Improvement 1 is the changing of the float; as opposed to the original barrel-like shape, the new shape is like a small ball. This shape allows for the SRTG to be placed in smaller areas that could not have been used before due to the bulky size of the float. Improvement 2is the implementation of a filter. The filter will block any runoff, debris, or wildlife that may block the flow of water. The last improvement is a experiment. A way to save money and change the water quality. Since the phragmites have been eliminated due to the increase in salinity, I decided to add that factor into the design. Primary salinity is produced by the weather, in our case, of rocks. The salt deposit will slowly change due to the weathering and increase salinity. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291577/scho0811buay-e-e.pdf Problem Statement The objective the project is to redesign a model of a Self-Regulating Tide Gate. The SRTG should be able to improve the data collected from the GLOBE research project. • Bibliography • "Cove River Historical Site." CRS Local Community. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2014. • Golden Harvest, Inc., and Under Ghi Patent #us 6779947. TIDE GATES (n.d.): n. pag. Web. • "Salinity and Water Quality Fact Sheet." Department of the Environment. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2014. • Self-regulating Tidegate: A New Design for Habitat Creation: Technical Summary. Bristol: Environment Agency, 2011. Web. • Waterman Industries. "SRT (Self-Regulating Tide Gate)." Self Regulating Tide Gate. Web. • Rozsa, Ron. Tidal Wetland Restoration in Connecticut. Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. Web. Future Results With the new redesign of the SRTG, not only will the flow of water be controlled, but the salinity levels will rise to a stable level and the wild life will be organized. The phragmites, as stated before, have decreased in numbers due to the intolerance to salinity levels higher than 18 ppt. With the control of salinity levels, the extermination of phragmites will occur even quicker. Also for the concern of fish and other aquatic animals getting lost by entering the SRTGs, the new design will prevent anything but water to flow through it. This way the wildlife will be able to stay in their habitats. Acknowledgements I’d like to thank Dr. Scott Graves and Mr. Kevin Dickson for introducing me to this GLOBE project, giving me guidance all the way through. I’d also like to thank all of my friends who have helped and supported me through out my project. Special thanks to Mary Sue Isabella for helping me redesign the SRTG. By Ahmad Mohd Azhar