Tidal bore impact can be strong and destructive, placing estuarine infrastructures under great threat. However, there is a lack of research focusing on accurately estimating the impact pressure exerted by tidal bores. Herein new experiments were conducted to investigate the pressure of tidal bore fronts in a glass flume. Through analysis of instantaneous pressure of three forms of tidal bore, it was observed that the pressure fluctuation of weak and strong breaking bore fronts is characterized by impact pressure. The vertical distribution and maximum impact pressure of tidal bore were studied.The maximum impact pressure of breaking bore fronts appeared around 0.46 times height of it. The relationship between relative impact pressure and height of the tidal bore fronts was found to closely follow a normal probability density function. Through nonlinear regression analysis, an empirical equation was derived to calculate impact pressure, which was validated using observation data from the Qiantang River in China. This equation can be utilized to predict the impact pressure of tidal bore fronts and provide valuable support for estuarine engineering design.

In the estuary zone, tidal bore front with strong aeration has a great impact on the navigation, the transportation of sediment, the diffusion of pollutant and the growth of many species of wildlife, but scarcely any studies have interested in the aeration of tidal bore front. New experiments were accomplished in a horizontal glass flume with generated tidal bore. The form of tidal bore front was observed by a high-speed camera, the aeration process and aeration form of tidal bore were recorded and presented herein. Meanwhile, the relationship among the intensity of tidal bore, the Froude number of tidal bore and the relative aeration length of tide bore is analyzed and discussed by measuring the height, mean propagation velocity and the aeration length of tide bore front. An experimental formula is obtained to calculate the aeration length of tide bore by nonlinear regression analysis, which could have practical implications for represent and indirectly quantify the tidal bore aeration.