This paper presents the research results of statistical parameters
associated with turbulence in a natural river caused by the
movement of navigation traffic. Movement of navigation traffic
within restricted inland waterways, such as the Illinois,
Mississippi, or Ohio Rivers, changes their flow characteristics
temporarily in space and time. These spatial and temporal changes
must be quantified in order to assess their efforts on
biologically sensitive areas, and they have seldom been evaluated
for natural waterways. Data are collected from the Illinois River
to evaluate these changes. The longitudinal and lateral
components of fluctuating velocity, Reynolds stress, turbulent
intensities, turbulent kinetic energy, and maximum return velocity
generated by navigation traffic are analyzed here. Results have
shown that significant changes occur in all of these parameters.
The largest changes take place in a zone within 10% of the channel
width from the shore.
