“…Studies on linkage systems are usually focused on experimental facilities with emphasis on the efficiency (Bock et al, ; Gómez & Russo, ; Gómez & Russo, ; Li, Geyer, et al, ; Li, Sorteberg, et al, ; Li et al, , ; Martins et al, ; Russo et al, ) or the use of fully 3‐D CFD models to study the characteristics of the flow inside the manhole (Djordjevic et al, ; Leandro et al, ; Lopes et al, , ). Studies that verify the applicability of 2‐D models to directly reproduce drainage flows and flow conditions close to the linkage structure on the floodplain during flood events are however scarce (Martins, Kesserwani, et al, ; Rubinato et al, ), and proper validation is usually focused on the bed elevation (Cea et al, ) far from the interface structures.…”