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ASCEManualsandReportsonEngineeringPracticeNo.

110

Sedimentation
Engineering

Processes,Measurements,
Modeling,andPractice
EditedbyMarceloH.Garca,Ph.D.,
P.Eng.
Preparedby
theASCETaskCommitteetoExpandandUpdateManual54ofthe
SedimentationCommitteeof
theEnvironmentalandWaterResourcesInstitute

PublishedbytheAmericanSocietyofCivilEngineers

LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
AmericanSocietyofCivilEngineers.TaskCommitteeforthePreparationoftheManualon
Sedimentation.

Sedimentationengineering:processes,management,modeling,andpractice/editedby Marcelo
H.Garcia;preparedbytheASCETaskCommitteeforthePreparationoftheManualon
SedimentationoftheSedimentationCommitteeoftheHydraulicsDivision

p.cm.(ASCEmanualsandreportsonengineeringpractice;no.110).
CompletarytoSedimentaryengineering,editedbyVitoA.Vanoni.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN13:9780784408148(alk.paper)
ISBN10:0784408149(alk.paper)
1. Sedimenttransport. 2. Soilconservation. I. Garca,MarceloH.,1959 II. Title.

TC175.2.A432 2007
627 '.042dc22

2006027517

PublishedbyAmericanSocietyofCivilEngineers1801
AlexanderBellDrive
Reston,Virginia20191
www.pubs.asce.org

AnystatementsexpressedinthesematerialsarethoseoftheindividualauthorsanddonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsofASCE,whichtakesnoresponsibilityfor
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Copyright2008bytheAmericanSocietyofCivilEngineers.
AllRightsReserved.
ISBN13:9780784408148
ISBN10:0784408149

ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
Aboutthecover:RiverdunesintheRioParannearPasodelaPatria,Argentina.Bedmorphologymeasurementsweremadewithamultibeamechosounder inMay
2004.Notetheubiquitoussuperimpositionofsmallerbedformsonthestosssideofthelargerdunes.ImagecourtesyofDanParsonsandJimBest,UniversityofLeeds,
U.K.

Contents

Chapter

Chapter

Foreword

xvii

Dedication

xxi

OverviewofSedimentation
Engineering
RobertC.MacArthur,CharlesR.Neill,BradR.Hall,
VicJ.Galay,andAndreyB.Shvidchenko

1.1

Introduction

1.2
OverviewofErosion
1.3 OverviewofSedimentTransport
1.4 OverviewofSedimentDeposition
1.5 ManagementandTreatmentofSedimentationProblems

4
8
11
14

References

17

SedimentTransportANDMORPHODYNAMICS

21

MarceloH.Garca

Chapter

2.1 SedimentTransportMechanicsandRelatedPhenomena

21

2.2 FluidMechanicsandHydraulicsforSedimentTransport
2.3
SedimentProperties
2.4 ThresholdConditionforSedimentMovement
2.5
SedimentTransport
2.6
BedLoadTransport
2.7
BedForms
2.8 BedForms,FlowResistance,andSedimentTransport
2.9
SuspendedLoad
2.10 DimensionlessRelationsforTotalBedMaterialLoad
inSandBedStreams
2.11 MorphodynamicsofRiversandTurbidity
Currents
2.12 MorphodynamicsofLakeandReservoirSedimentation

24
34
44
60
66
77
99
107

References

146

123
129
133

TransportofGraveland
SedimentMixtures
GaryParker

165

3.1 FluvialPhenomenaAssociated

vii

3.2

withSedimentMixtures
EngineeringRelevance

165
171

3.3

GrainSizeDistributions

175

viii CONTENTS
3.4 DimensionlessBankFullRelationsforGravelBed
andSandBedStreams
3.5 TheActiveLayerConcept
3.6 GeneralFormulationforBedLoad
TransportofMixtures
3.7 RelationsforHidingandBedLoad
TransportinMixtures
3.8
FieldData
3.9
Abrasion
3.10 NumericalModelingofBedLevelVariation
withSorting
3.11 StaticandMobileArmoring:Observations,
Experiments,andModeling
3.12 DownstreamFining:Observations,Experiments,
andModeling
3.13 MorphodynamicsofLocalPlanformSorting
3.14 TheCaseofSuspensionDominatedSandBedRivers
3.15 TracersandVerticalSorting
Notation

References

Chapter

178
183
186

191
209
210
213
216
223
227
229
237
239

243

FineGrainedSedimentTransport

253

AshishJ.MehtaandWilliamH.McAnally

4.1

Chapter

Introduction

253

4.2
SedimentCharacterization
4.3
SedimentTransportProcesses
4.4
Aggregation
4.5
SettlingVelocity
4.6
DepositionUnderFlow
4.7
ConsolidationandGelling
4.8
Erosion
4.9
WaveInducedErosion
4.10 Diffusion
4.11 Applications

254
259
261
266
270
272
275
283
291
293

References

297

SedimentTransportMeasurements

307

5.1 General
P.Diplas,R.Kuhnle,J.Gray,andD.Glysson

307

5.2

309

BedMaterialMeasurementTechniques

5.3

P.Diplas
SuspendedSedimentSamplers

J.Gray,D.Glysson,andT.Edwards

5.4

BedLoadSamplers

andSamplingMethods

320
339

R.Kuhnle

References

Chapter

346

FundamentalsofFluvial
Geomorphology
D.S.Biedenharn,C.C.Watson,andC.R.Thorne

6.1

BasicConcepts

355

6.2

ChannelMorphology

359
CONTENTS ix

355

6.3

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

SedimentTransport

363

6.4
ChannelFormingDischarge
6.5
RelationshipsinRivers
6.6 ChannelStabilityandInstability
6.7
ChannelClassification
6.8
ChannelEvolutionModels
6.9
GeomorphicAssessment
6.10 Closure
Notation

364
367
371
375
379
381
382
382

References

383

StreamBankErosionandRiver
WidthAdjustment
JamesE.PizzutoandtheASCETaskCommittee
onHydraulics,BankMechanics,andModelingof
RiverWidthAdjustment

387

7.1

387

Introduction

7.2 GeomorphicContextofRiverWidthAdjustment
7.3 FactorsInfluencingBankErosion
andWidthAdjustment
7.4 MethodsforEvaluatingBankErosionand
WidthAdjustment
7.5 ProcedureforApproachingWidthAdjustmentProblems
7.6
Conclusions
Appendix.DataSources
Acknowledgments

387

408

References

430

391

426
428
429
430

RiverMeanderingandChannel
Stability
A.JacobOdgaardandJorgeD.Abad

439

8.1

439

Introduction

8.2
MeanderingProcess
8.3 FlowandBedTopographyinMeanders
8.4
ChannelStability
8.5 ApplicationsofFlowandStabilityRelations
8.6 SimulationofMeanderEvolution
8.7
ChannelStabilization

439
443
445
449
450
451

References

454

StreamRestoration

461

F.DouglasShields,Jr.,RonaldR.Copeland,
PeterC.Klingeman,MartinW.Doyle,
andAndrewSimon

9.1

Introduction

461

9.2 PreparationofSedimentStudiesPlan
9.3 SelectingValuesforDesignDischargeandBed
MaterialSize

466

9.4

474

StabilityAssessment

469

CONTENTS

9.5

Chapter

10

RiverRestorationDesign

485

9.6
StabilityChecks
9.7
ImplementationandConstruction
9.8 MonitoringandPostconstructionAdjustment
9.9
Conclusions
Acknowledgments

494
496
496
497
497

References

497

BridgeScourEvaluation

505

J.R.RichardsonandE.V.Richardson

10.1 Introduction

Chapter

11

505

10.2
TotalScour
10.3 ClearWaterandLiveBedScour
10.4 LongTermBedElevationChanges
10.5
GeneralScour
10.6 CriticalVelocityforMovementofBedMaterial
10.7
LocalScour
10.8 LocalScouratPiers
10.9 HEC18PierScourEquation
10.10 ScourDepthswithDebrisonPiers
10.11 JainandFishersEquation
10.12 MelvillesEquation
10.13 OtherPierScourEquations
10.14 TopWidthofPierScourHoles
10.15 LocalScouratAbutments
10.16 ChangandDavisAbutmentScourEquation
10.17 SturmAbutmentScourEquation
10.18 RichardsonandTrivinoAbutmentScourEquation

506
507
507
508
510
511
512
513
523
523
524
525
525
525
527
528
529

10.19 Richardsonetal.EquationforL/y25

530

10.20 ComputerModels
10.21 StreamInstability
10.22 ScourinTideAffectedWaterways
10.23 ScourCalculationsforTidalWaterways
10.24 OverviewofTidalProcesses
10.25 PreliminaryAnalysis
10.26 DeterminationofHydraulicVariables

530
530
531
532
533
534
536

References

539

BridgeScourPrevention
andCountermeasures
BruceW.Melville,ArthurC.Parola,and
StephenE.Coleman

543

11.1 Introduction

543

11.2
ScourProcesses
11.3 ProtectionagainstGeneralScour
andContractionScour
11.4 CountermeasuresforLocalScouratBridgePiers
11.5
AbutmentProtection
11.6
EnvironmentalConsiderations

543

References

574

549
557
568
574

CONTENTS

Chapter 12

xi

ReservoirSedimentation

579

GregoryL.Morris,GeorgeAnnandale,
andRollinHotchkiss

12.1 Introduction

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

579

12.2
SedimentationRates
12.3
Sustainability
12.4
SedimentationImpacts
12.5 SedimentDeliverytoReservoirs
12.6
QuantifyingSedimentYield
12.7 SedimentDepositioninReservoirs
12.8 SedimentManagementinReservoirs
12.9
DamRemoval
12.10 ConcludingRemarks

580
582
585
587
590
595
598
607
608

References

609

iceeffectsonSedimentTransport
inRivers
RobertEttema

613

13.1 Introduction

613

13.2
IceFormation
13.3 IceCoverEffectsonFlowDistribution
13.4
IceCoverBreakup
13.5 SedimentTransportbyIce
13.6 IceCoverEffectsonSediment
TransportbyFlow
13.7 RiverIceEffectson
AlluvialChannelMorphology
Acknowledgments

615
619
623
625

References

645

627
635
645

ComputationalModelingof
SedimentationProcesses
WilliamA.ThomasandHowardChang

649

14.1 Introduction

649

14.2 LocalScourandDeposition
14.3 GeneralEquationsforFlowinMobile
BoundaryChannels
14.4 SimilaritybetweenComputationalModelStudies
andPhysicalModelStudies
14.5 DataTypesandResolution
14.6
ModelCalibration
14.7
BaseTest
14.8
PlanTest
14.9
InterpretationofResults
14.10 ExamplestoIllustrateModelApplicability
14.11 AnExampleApplication
14.12 AvailableComputationalModels

650

References

680

650
654
656
667
670
671
671
671
672
679

xii CONTENTS

Chapter

15

TwoandThreeDimensional
NumericalSimulationofMobileBed
HydrodynamicsandSedimentation
MiodragSpasojevicandForrestM.Holly,Jr.

683

15.1 Introduction

683

15.2 ProblemTypesandAvailableTechniques
andModelingSystemsASurvey
15.3 MathematicalBasisforHydrodynamicsin
TwoandThreeDimensions
15.4 OverviewofModelsofSediment
TransportandBedEvolution
15.5 BedandNearBedProcesses
15.6
SuspendedMaterialProcesses
15.7
SedimentExchangeProcesses
15.8 SystemClosureandAuxiliaryRelations
15.9 MobileBedNumerical
SolutionConsiderations
15.10 FieldDataNeedsforModelConstruction,
Calibration,andVerification
15.11 Examples
15.12 CriticalAssessmentofStateofthe
ArtandFuturePerspectives

References

Chapter

Chapter

16

17

685
690

695
701
705
707
708
712
714
720
755

759

TurbulenceModelsforSediment
transportEngineering
D.A.Lyn

763

16.1 Introduction

763

16.2 Turbulence,Models,andParticulateFlows
16.3
TheReynoldsAveragedEquations
16.4
TurbulenceClosureModels
16.5 ApplicationsofTurbulenceModelstoProblems
RelatedtoSedimentTransport
16.6
Discussion
AppendixI.CartesianTensorNotation
AppendixII.SpatiallyAveragedModels

763
766
771

References

820

WatershedSedimentYield

794
812
815
817

827

DevaK.Borah,EdwardC.Krug,andDanielYoder

17.1 Introduction

827

17.2
UplandSoilErosion
17.3
GullyErosion
17.4 StreambedandBankErosion
17.5 GrossErosion,DeliveryRatio,andSedimentYield
17.6
WatershedModels

829
837
839
839
840

References

854

CONTENTS xiii

Chapter 18

EngineeringGeomorphology

859

S.A.SchummandM.D.Harvey

18.1 Introduction

Chapter

19

859

18.2
History
18.3
SystemsApproach
18.4
GeomorphicHazards
18.5 TheEngineeringGeomorphicApproach
18.6
Conclusions

861
865
873
878
880

References

880

SedimentationHazards

885

MarceloH.Garca,RobertC.MacArthur,
RichardFrench,andJulianneMiller

19.1 Introduction

885

19.2 SedimentationHazardsHistoryandMagnitude
19.3 MechanicsofMudflows,DebrisFlows,and
MudFloods
19.4 AlluvialFanFloodingandSedimentation
19.5 MethodstoMitigatetheConsequencesof
SedimentationHazards
19.6 MathematicalModelingofMudflows
andDebrisFlows

887

References

917

889
900
905
909

AppendixCHAPTER19CaseStudyMount

Chapter

20

St.Helens20YEARSLATER
JeffreyBradley,TomGrindeland,
andHansHadley

923

IntroductionandChronology

923

WatershedRecovery
SedimentSources
SedimentYield
Conclusions

927
930
933
934

References

936

AmericanSedimentationLawand
PhysicalProcesses
JamesE.Slosson,DouglasHamilton,
andGerryShuirman

937

20.1 Introduction

937

20.2 Manual54:SedimentationEngineering(Vanoni1975)
20.3 RecentTrendsinAmericanSedimentationLaw
20.4 KeyTrendSettingCourtDecisions
20.5 PublicLiabilityandNaturalHazards:
CommonLawandRegulatory

TakingsFutureDirections

937
939
939

940

xiv

CONTENTS

20.6 VariousDefenses

Chapter

21

946

20.7
SovereignImmunity
20.8
StatutesofLimitations
20.9 HazardMitigationMeasuresBased
uponTortTheories
20.10 MoreontheTakingsIssue:ExpandedStatusand
TrendsinTortandTakingsLaws
20.11 UpstreamversusDownstreamLegalIssues
20.12 ActofGodDefense
20.13 ForensicGeology
20.14 FutureDirections
20.15 SummaryandRecentDevelopments
20.16 Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References

946
948

CourtCitationsandOtherReferences

957

ContaminantProcessesinSediments

948
949
949
950
952
952
954
956
956
956

959

DannyD.Reible

21.1 Introduction

Chapter

Chapter

22

23

959

21.2
ContaminantsofConcern
21.3 ContaminantReleaseandExposurePathways
21.4 WaterSideMassTransferProcesses
21.5 AnalysisofSedimentBedFate
andTransportMechanisms
21.6
EngineeringManagement
ofContaminatedSediments
21.7
Summary

960
962
968

References

979

969
974
979

SedimentOxygenDemand(sod)inRivers,
Lakes,andEstuaries
MikiHondzoandNancySteinberger

983

22.1 Introduction

983

22.2
DiffusiveSublayerThickness
22.3
MassTransferCoefficient
Appendix:DevelopedFlowConcepts

984
987
989

References

990

developmentandapplicationof
NumericalModelsofSediment
TransportAssociatedwith
DamRemoval
YantaoCuiandAndrewWilcox

995

23.1 Introduction

995

23.2 DamRemovalandSedimentTransportModeling
23.3 NumericalSimulationofSedimentTransport
FollowingtheRemovalofMarmot
Dam,SandyRiver,Oregon
Acknowledgments

1000
1019

References

1019
CONTENTS xv

995

Appendix

Appendix

Appendix

RockScour
GeorgeW.AnnandaleandErikF.R.Bollaert

1021

Introduction

1021

OverviewofRockScour
CombinedApplicationofMethods
TheEIM
TheCSM
Summary

1021
1024
1024
1026
1035

References

1035

RiprapDesign
SteveMaynordandCharlesNeill

1037

B.1 Introduction

1037

B.2 RiprapStructureTypes
B.3 PhysicalCharacteristicsofRiprapStone
B.4 SignificanceofHydraulicLoading
B.5 GeotechnicalRequirementsforRiprap
B.6 EnvironmentalRequirementsforRiprap
B.7 ScourProtectionRequirementsforBankRevetments
B.8 SizeRequirementsforRiprap
B.9 ConstructionandMaintenance

1037
1039
1041
1044
1045
1046
1048
1053

References

1054

SedimentTransportScaling
forPhysicalModels

1057

CliffordA.Pugh

C.1 Introduction
C.2
C.3

1057

ModelingConsiderations
Nomenclature

1057
1064

References

Appendix

1065

EstimatingSedimentDischarge

1067
~

JohnR.GrayandFranciscoJ.M.Simoes

D.1 Introduction
D.2 SuspendedSedimentConcentrationInterpolation
Method
D.3 TransportCurveMethodforSuspendedSediment
Load,BedLoad,andTotalLoad
D.4 EquationsforEstimatingBedLoadand
BedMaterialLoad
D.5 TowardCollectionofConsistent,Reliable
FluvialSedimentData

References

Appendix

1067
1067
1069
1073
1083

1084

LimitedGlossary
OFSelectedTerms

1089

RobertC.MacArthurandBradR.Hall

Appendix

ConversionofUnits

1103

VitoA.Vanoni(1904 1999 )
NormanH.Brooks

1107

Index

1115

Chapter1

OverviewofSedimentationEngineering
RobertC.MacArthur,CharlesR.Neill,BradR.Hall,VicJ.Galay,
andAndreyB.Shvidchenko

1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 General
Sedimentation engineering embraces the
identification, planning, analysis, and
remediation, principally in the context of
civil and hydraulic engineering practice, of
projectsortechnicalinvestigationstoavoid
and/or mitigate problems caused by
sedimentation processes. These processes
include erosion, entrainment, transport,
deposition, and compaction of sediment.
External agents and forces driving these
processesmayincludewater,wind,gravity,
and ice. Human activities also affect
sedimentation processes. This volume of
Sedimentation Engineering, referred to
hereinasManual110,focusesprimarilyon
physicalprocesses,measurements,modeling,
and the practice of sedimentation
engineering,mainlyinthecontextofrivers
and inland water bodies. (Chapter 4,
however, addresses fine sediments topics,
includingthosefoundincoastalandestuarine
environments.)

The original ASCE Manual 54


Sedimentation Engineering, editedby VitoA.
Vanoni (1975), represents a10year effortby
the Task Committee for the Preparation of a
Manual on Sedimentation under the
coordination of the Sedimentation Committee
oftheHydraulicsDivisionofASCE.Professor
Vanoni and the Task Committee assembled
and organized stateoftheart information on
sediment mechanics and sedimentation
engineering available at the time. Since then,
awareness of the importance, scope, and
potential consequences of sedimentation
processes in relation to civil engineering
works, human activities, and the environment
has greatly increased. Also greatly expanded
arethescientificandengineeringunderstanding
andknowledgeofunderlyingprocessesrelated
to sedimentation engineering. Manual 110 is
designed to update selected topics in the
originalmanualandtopresentrecentadvances
andnewtopicsinsedimentationengineeringas
acomplementtothe

OVERVIEWOFSEDIMENTATION
ENGINEERING

originalManual54.Manual110isintendedto
supplement rather than replace the original
manual, which contains a wealth of
fundamental information that has not lost its
validity.Together,bothmanualsdocumentthe
evolution of the specialized field of
sedimentation engineering over a 50year
period.

1.1.2 GlobalAspectsandChanging
Roles
As awareness of sedimentation processes and
the consequences of poor sediment
management practices has increased among
civil engineers and other water resources
professionals,ithasincreasinglybeenrealized
that a multidisciplinary approach to problem
identification,quantification,andmanagement
is often required to deal with the interrelated
effectsofgeomorphologic,environmental,and
engineeringissues.Thistypeofcomprehensive
systems approach is also demanded by more
stringent legal and regulatory requirements
regardingsedimentandhydraulicprocessesin
waterbodies.
Factors that have resulted in increased
publicawarenessandgreaterpotentialimpacts
towaterresourcesandtheenvironmentinclude
thefollowing:
Growing global populations place
increasing pressures on land and water
resources. As forest and farmlands
become subjectto increasedsoil erosion
(Fig. 11), reservoirs designed for
centuries of useful life may fill with
sediment in a few decades, and water
supply, irrigation systems, and critical
aquatichabitatareasmaybecomeclogged
with sediment deposits, while poorly
managedforestsandfarmlandsdeclinein
functionandproductivity.
Human settlements have increasingly
occupiedareasmorevulnerabletoerosion
and sedimentation, thus aggravating
runoff,soilerosion,andgullying(Fig.1
2).Poorlanduseplanning,management,
andmaintenance

Fig.11. Severesoilerosionresultingfromannual
burningofunderbrushinteakforestsonhillsidesin
Java,Indonesia.PhotographbyB.J.Evans.

Fig.12. Acceleratedlanderosionandgullying:
active gullying resulting in severe soil loss and
highsedimentyieldsontheupperplateauofRio
Calicanto,Bolivia.Thisfertilecroplandwasaban
donedbylocalfarmersbecauseoftheirmigration
tococaproducingareas.Becauseofneglectand
lackofannualmaintenance,thealteredlandsare
nolongermanagedorstabilized,resultinginrapid
erosion and headcutting of gullies during
rainstorms. Irrigation reservoirs downstream are
now filled with sediment eroded from this area,
resultinginsignificantimpactstowatersupplyand
floodcontrol.PhotographbyV.J.Galay.

Thefollowingexcerptsfromavolumedevoted
to reservoir sedimentation by Morris and Fan
(1997) raise difficult issues related to water
resourcesandsedimentationengineering:

practices often lead to dramatic


consequences.Severenaturaleventssuch
as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes,
landslides, and volcanic eruptions can
produce more dramatic geomorphic
changes and sedimentation effects in
highly altered settings that can last for
decades.
One of the most significant factors
affectingglobalmanagementanddelivery
ofsedimenthasbeentheconstructionof
dams on rivers. Approximately 80,000
damshavebeenbuiltintheUnitedStates
ofAmericaduringthepastcentury(Graf
2001).MorrisandFan(1997)summarize
howconstructionofdamsprovidesmany
benefits but may alter a rivers natural
balance of sediment inflow and outflow.
They emphasize the urgent need to
improve global planning, operation,
maintenance, and management of dams
and reservoirs with respect to sediment
relatedproblems.AnexampleistheDavis
Dam on the Colorado River near Las
Vegas (Fig. 13), which, along with the
Hoover,theGlenCanyon,theParker,the
Headgate Rock, the Palo Verde, the
Imperial, and the Laguna dams, have
fragmentedtheriverintoaseriesofpools
andsedimentsinksthatalterthenatureand
movementofsedimentalongtheColorado
River.
Scientific experts and governments
worldwideacknowl edgestrongscientific
evidence demonstrating that human
activitiesarechangingtheEarthsclimate
and that further change is inevitable.
Expected results include an increasing
likelihood worldwide for more frequent
occurrences ofextreme stormsand flood
events (National Research Council 1989;
Hasselmann et al. 2003; Watson 2003).
Such events are often responsible for a
major part of longterm morphologic
changesandsedimentationactivity,while
theoccurrenceofseverehydrologicevents
onhighlyaltered,destabilizedlandscapes
mayresultinmoredramaticconsequences
than previously anticipated. This may
become one of the most important
engineering and environmental issues
facingsocietiesworldwide.

Fig.13. PhotoofDavisDamontheColoradoRiver.
Watershed sedimentsaretrappedbehindaseriesof
eightdamsandreservoirsresultinginapproximately
20 feet of riverbed lowering in places along the
ColoradoRiver.PhotographbyV.J.Galay.

Inanumberofcountriespopulationgrowth
seems to be rapidly outstripping the
availablewaterresourcesbase....
Waterresourceengineersanddevelopment
planners have a responsibility to study,
understand and communicate the capacity
andlimitsoftheearthsresources....Isita
legitimate or ethical function of the

engineering profession to destroy entire


ecosystems to feed a runaway human
population?
With increasing awareness of the
importance,scope,andpotentialconsequences
ofsedimentationprocessesinrelationtocivil
engineering works, human activities, and the
environment,sedimentationengineeringstudies
require consideration of basinwide processes
associated with sediment sources, transport
routes, and depositional sinks, as well as the
potentialfutureeffectsontheenvironmentand
on upstream and downstream interests.
Forecastingmayberequiredofincrementaland
cumulativeimpactsfromasequenceofpastand
futureprojectsforexample,possibleimpacts
ofaseriesofroadandbridgecrossingsonthe
hydraulicsandmorphologyofariverfloodplain
shouldbeassessedpriortoprojectconstruction.
Sedimentation issues often embrace water
quality, contaminant transport (e.g., heavy
metals, pesticides, and petroleum byproducts
thatattachtosediments),andimpactsonnatural
habitat, health, and amenities, requiring that
sedimentation engineers participate in
multidisciplinary teams to plan and design
effectiveprojects.IntheUnitedStatesandother
countries, legislation increasingly calls for
detailed quantification of sedimentation
processesaswellasotherimpactsfromwater
resourcesprojects.

1.1.3 AdditionalComments
Some general observations on the state of
sedimentationengineeringintheearlyyearsof
thetwentyfirstcenturyareasfollows:
Sedimentation processes are not always
adverseorundesirableassomewritings
suggest. To the contrary, sedimentation
processes are essential for the mainte
nance of morphologic balance and are
critical components of aquatic
ecosystems. For example, fertile
agriculturallandsandwildlifeareasmay
benefit from periodic flooding and silt
deposition,andfishmayrelyoncontinual
renewal of bed sediment (gravels) in
spawning areas. Sedimentation processes
are key components of most fluvial
systems.
Project planners and designers are
presented with so much information on
environmental and biological issues that
the importance of hydraulic and
sedimentation processes are sometimes
overlookedorunderestimated.Giventhe
needforreliablefielddata,however,itis
importanttoaddresssedimentationissues
atanearly

INTR
ODU
CTIO
N
stage.Wherethereareclearlysignificant
problems or impacts, sediment data
collection should receive as much
attention as hydrometeorologic and
environmentaldata.Itisasimportantto
develop uninterrupted longterm
sedimentationdatasetsasitistomonitor
hydrologic and biologic changes and
trends.
Field studies providing fullscale
confirmationoftheoreticalandlaboratory
resultsarerelativelyscarce,comparedto
thelargenumberoftheoreticalandsmall
scale experimental studies proposing
methodsforthecomputationofsediment
transport rates, scour depths at bridge
foundations,andsoon.Thisisnotsurpris
inggiventheirdifficultyandcost,butthe
limitationsoftheoreticalformulationsand
scaleduplaboratoryresultsaresometimes
overlooked.
Sediment management issues and
morphological changes may arise from
reduction of sediment inputs as well as
from increases in sediment production.
Poor project planning, poor land use
management, or the occurrence of
significant natural hazards (fires, earth
quakes,andfloods)mayresultinshortor
longterm sediment imbalances. For
example, construction of storage
reservoirs that trap fluvial sediment or
excessive mining (extraction) of fluvial
sediments may have adverse effects on
channel morphology and the biological
habitat in downstream river reaches and
cause undermining of structure
foundationsandaltercoastalmorphology
andstability.

Addressing realworld problems in


water resources and sedimentation
engineering is often challenging
because of the extreme complexities
related to large spatiotemporal
heterogeneities, sparsity of reliable
data,andknowledgegapsthatlimitour
abilitytopredictmorphologicchanges
during individual storm events or
duringlonger,decadalperiodsoftime.
Perhaps even more challenging to
hydraulic and sediment engineering
scientists is understanding and
quantifying the interaction between
flowandsedimentdynamics,andthe
short and longterm effects of these
processes on aquatic ecosystems
(modified from Lyn, 2006). Solutions
tothisclassofchallengingissueswill
require a multidisciplinary approach
fromengineersandscientists.Thisneed
is driving the development of a
predictive science of Earth surface
dynamics that integrates many
disciplines and approaches, including
hydrology,geomorphology,oceanand
atmospheric science, sedimentary and
structural geology, geochemistry, and
ecology(Paolaetal.2006).

1.1.4 ScopeofSubsequentChapters
andAppendices

OVERVIEWOFSEDIMENTATION
ENGINEERING

Chapters 2 through 23 and Appendices A


through D address a wide range of
sedimentationtopics.Toaconsiderableextent,
the topics covered reflect the expertise and
interestsofindividualauthorsandareintended
topresentrecent
advances and new topics in sedimentation
engineering.Primarytopicsinclude:

Sedimentsources,erosion,andhazards:
Chapters6,1719.
Sedimenttransportmechanicsand
measurement:Chapters25.
Computationalmodelingofsediment
transport:Chapters14,15,19,and23.

Lateralstabilityofriverchannels:
Chapters7and8.

Assessmentandremediationofselected
sedimentationproblems:Chapters912
and23.

Environmentalissues:Chapters9,21,
and22.

Iceeffectsonsedimenttransport:Chapter
13.
Turbulencemodeling:Chapter16.
Sedimentationlaw:Chapter20.
AppendicesAthroughDprovidesummarieson
additionaltopicsincludingrockerosion,riprap
design, the use of physical models for
assessing sediment engineering problems, and
methods for estimating sediment discharge.
AppendicesEandFprovideaglossaryofterms
andunitconversions.

1.2 OverviewofErosion
1.2.1 General
ASCEs original Manual 54 (Vanoni 1975)
distinguished between geological (or natural)
erosion and accelerated (or humaninduced)
erosion, viewing the latter as a mainly local
phenomenon.Inthetwentyfirstcentury,sucha
view is outdated. Hooke (1994) estimated
annualglobalvolumesoferosionduetovarious
agents and concluded that humans are
arguablythemostimportantgeomorphicagent
currently shaping the surface of the Earth.
However, others (Valdiya 1998) have shown
that geological erosion through mountain
ranges, such as the Himalayas, continues to
produceimmensevolumesofsediment.
Itisoftendifficulttodeterminewhetheran
observed erosional process is natural or
whetheritresultswhollyorpartlyfromhuman
influences. For example, gullying and
landslides that appear natural may have been
triggered or aggravated by overgrazing,
significant land use modifications such as
urbanization,infiltrationofirrigationwater,or
deforestation. Overviews of erosion, sediment
transport, and deposition are presented in
Sections1.2,1.3,and1.4,respectively.

Fig. 14. Grand Canyon, Arizona: spectacular


example of geologic erosion by flowing water
throughlayersofsedimentarydeposits.Notesites
where active erosion provides sediment directly
into the river from small, steep drainages.
PhotographbyV.J.Galay.

1.2.2 GeologicorNaturalErosion
Geologicalerosionresultsfromtectonicuplift,
earthquakes, weathering, and chemical
decomposition and the longterm action of
water,wind,gravity,andice(seeChapters6,
17,and18).Overlongperiods,suchprocesses
haveproducedsomeenormouserosionalscars
for example, theGrand Canyonin Arizona
(Fig.14).Insomeregions,thebulkofnatural
erosionmayresultfromsevereepisodicevents
like

earthquakes,landslides,volcaniceruptions,and
extremefloods.
Ratesofgeologicerosionvarywidelyboth
among and within regions. Summerfield and
Hutton (1994) list average rates of natural
erosion estimated for major world drainage
basins. Rates tend to be slow in terms of a
humanlifetimebutmaybesignificantenough
to require consideration in some projects.
Controlisoftendifficultorimpracticalbecause
the erosion is distributed over large areas
divided among multiple owners and resource
managementjurisdictions.Poorlydesignedand
implemented land or water use projects can
dramaticallyacceleratepriorerosionrates.
Geologic erosion rates have varied widely
over time, primarily as a result of climatic
variations.Rapidclimatechangeintheformof
global warming has led to unprecedented
erosioninsensitiveareasliketheArcticcoast
ofNorthAmerica(McCarthyetal.2001).

1.2.3 AcceleratedorHumanInduced
Erosion
Accelerated erosion may be wholly or partly
caused by human activities. The impacts of
individualorcumulativehumanactivitiesmay
be subtle and may commence slowly but can
resultindramaticrapidchangesinmorphology,
sedimentproduction,anddepositionwithtime
once critical geomorphic stability thresholds
are exceeded. Hatheway (2005) explains that
prior to the nineteenth century, humans
possessedarelativelylimitedabilitytoalterthe
geologic landscape. However, anthropogenic
effects on global landscapes and the
environment dramatically accelerated during
thenineteenthandtwentiethcenturies.Besides
causingsedimentationproblemsandimpacting
constructed facilities, poorly planned human
activities often lead to environmental
degradationanddamagetohabitat. Simply to
address accelerated erosion as a local
engineering problem without regard to
basinwide sources and responses is generally
inadvisable.Thepotentialforerosionshouldbe
consideredinthecontextofamultidisciplinary
and participatory approach to a range of
associated problems. In the face of growing
populationsandassociatedpressuresplacedon
landandnaturalresources,thebasicproblems
associated with sedimentation processes may
notbefullysolvable,butatleasttheyshouldbe
recognized and faced by authorities and the
public.

1.2.4 SourcesofAcceleratedErosion
Extensivediscussionsonanumberofsources
of accelerated erosion are contained in the
original Manual 54. Some important sources
arediscussedbrieflybelowandinChapters6
and17through19.
1.2.4.1 AgriculturalActivities Manual54
cited an estimated annual soil loss from
croplands in the United States of 4 109
tons/year,ofwhichabout25%wasestimated
toreachtheoceans.IntheUnitedStates,severe
soil erosion in the 1930s was followed by
intensive conservation efforts, which
substantiallyreducedratesofsoillossbyabout
40%invulnerableregions,between1982and
1997(UriandLewis1998).
Globalpopulationincreases,ontheorderof
80millionpeopleperyearbetween1975and
2000, have placed severe pressures on
agricultural and water resources on several
continents.Ithasbeenestimatedthattowardthe
endofthetwentiethcentury,from5to7million
hectares of arable land worldwide were lost
annually because of soil degradation and
erosion (Hauck 1985; Jalees 1985; Brown
1991). Although improvements have occurred
andcontinuetotakeplaceintheUnitedStates,
Canada,andsomeotherpartsoftheworld,soil
losshassubstantiallyincreasedinotherregions,
leadingtoanetincreaseinworldwideannual
soilloss(Barrow1991;FoodandAgricultural
Organization of the United Nations [FAO]
2001).
1.2.4.2 Forest Activities World timber
demand,extendedagriculture,anduseofwood
forfuelinmany
OVERVIEWOF
SEDIMENTATIONENGINEERING
crossflows into bridge and culvert openings
(which may have serious effects in steep
terrain)and(2)interferencewithnaturalriver
migration and overbank flow patterns by
construction of permanent bridge crossings,
approach embankments, and levees running

OVERVIEW
OFEROSION
regions have caused extensive destruction of
forestlandbycuttingorburning,especiallyin
parts of Africa, Asia, and South America
(Bryantetal.1997).Inasingledecadebetween
1990and1999,theglobalforestareadeclined
bynearly20%(FAO2001).Ithasbeenclaimed
that conversion of forestland to agriculture
generally increases soil erosion by a factor
ranging from several times to as much as 25
times(Golubev1982).

Whereforestsaremanagedforsustainable
timber yield, extraction activities are not
necessarilyerosional,butacceleratederosion
oftenresultsfromcuttingonsteepslopesor
closetostreambanksandfromconstruction
of access roads and skid trails. In steep
terrain, alteration of streams and drainage
patternscantriggerdestructivedebrisflows
containing boulders, gravel, fine sediment,
and woody debris (Costa 1988; Slaymaker
1988). Poorly planned, irresponsible
conversionofforestlandshasledtodramatic
longtermenvironmentalimpactsandlossof
stableforestareasinAsia,Africa,andinthe
Amazon River basin in South America.
Stabilization and rehabilitation of such
channels and river systems may require
largescale and expensive engineering
measures(WieczorekandNaeser2000).

1.2.4.3 Urbanization Rapid growth of


citiesand suburbanareasinthelatertwentieth
century,especiallyinlessdevelopedcountries,
contributed to increases in erosion due to
accelerated runoff from developed areas,
especially where steep hillsides are used for
unregulated lowcost shelter (Ismail 1997). In
some cases, disastrous landslides and mud
flows following severe rainfall have caused
largescalepropertydestructionandlossoflife
(QuinonesandJohnson1987).
Inwellplannedurbandevelopments,onthe
otherhand,localerosiontendstobeimportant
only during construction. Accelerated runoff
from developed areas has customarily been
directedintostormdrainsorhardlinedflood
control channels, but this may cause adverse
changesindownstreamriversandwaterbodies.
In some jurisdictions, there is pressure to
replace hardlined channels with restored
natural stream systems (see Chapter 9).
Restoring natural streams to a semistable
conditionwheretheyreceivesubstantialurban
runoff requires multidisciplinary planning and
carefulengineeringdesign,generallyinvolving
storage facilities or the maintenance of large
undeveloped floodplain areas to reduce flow
peaks and trap sediment. Once confined,
realigned, and affected by increased urban
runoff, former natural channel processes are
forever altered. This often results in regular,
longterm management and maintenance
requirements (including annual monitoring,
permitting, and funding to support these
activities)thatmayhavebeenunanticipatedby
projectproponents.
1.2.4.4 Roads, Railways, Bridges, and
Levees The main sedimentation impacts of
these facilities, apart from temporary
constructioneffects,are(1)alterationofnatural
drainage patterns by redirecting and
concentratingdispersed
alongsiderivers(Figs.15and16).Chapters8,
10,and11presentmaterialsrelevanttothese
topics.
1.2.4.5 MiningActivities Attentionisgiven
intechnicallyadvancedcountriestocontrolling
erosion from openpit mining operations, but
operations in less developed countries have
oftenproceededwithinsufficientplanning

and oversight. Uncontrolled excessive in


channel and floodplain mining can result in
geomorphic alteration of river form and
processes (Collins and Dunne 1990; Kondolf
1994,1998a,1998b;Brownetal.1998;Church
2001). Poorly managed mining can lower
watersurfaceelevationsanddisruptthebalance
betweensedimentsupplyandastreamstrans
porting capacity, which can result in channel
incision, bed degradation, diversion of flow

through disturbed sediment removal sites,


increaseofchannelinstability,andchangesin
overall channel morphology and sediment
transportprocesses(Fig.17).
1.2.4.6 DamsandRiverRegulation The
primarysedimentationeffectofadamisusually
totrapriverbornesedimentinthereservoirand
thereby reduce the availability of sediment
loadfordownstreamsedimenttransport,often
leading to local sediment starvation and
channel incision downstream of the reservoir.
Sedimentdeposition

Fig.15. JacalitosCreek,California:thecreekisattemptingtooutflankahighwaybridgebecausethenarrow
bridgeconstrictionandapproachembankmentpreventnaturaldownvalleymigrationofmeanders.Flowisfrom
righttoleft.PhotographbyV.J.Galay.

Fig.16. LowerGuadalupeRiverbelowtheCity
of San Jose, California: an example of a
channelized urban river. The formerly
meandering river was significantly straightened
and leveed, restricting floodwaters to the main
riverchannel.Formerlyanagriculturalarea,the
floodplainisnowmainlyoccupiedbyurbanand
industrial development. View downstream.
PhotographbyR.C.MacArthur.

inreservoirsisaddressedinChapters2and12.
Chapters 6 and 18 discuss other beneficial
aspectsofreservoirsaswellastheirpotential
impactsonriversystems.
Erosionaleffectsassociatedwithdamsand
reservoirsmayincludethefollowing:
Slope flattening and headcutting of the
downstream river and consequent
destabilizationoftributarystreamsdueto
sediment starvation, increased flow
duration,and/ormagnitudeofflows(Fig.
18).

Waveerosionaroundtheshorelines.

In circumpolar regions, collapse of


shorelinesbythawingofpermafrost.

Fig.17. Natural(topphoto)andmined(bottom
photo) reaches of Cache Creek, California, in
1986. Historically, excessive aggregate mining
significantly altered the channels morphology,
causingchanneldegradationandthalweglowering
(incision). Implementation of comprehensive
mining regulations in 1996 has improved
conditions.PhotographsbyR.C.MacArthur.

Engineering works such as flood protection


levees, which do not generally produce
increased sediment inputs, may nevertheless
havesignificanterosionaleffectsbecausethey
increase inchannel flows and as well as
average channel velocities. The downstream
channel gradient may flatten by channel
incision and headcutting, resulting in
undercuttingofchannelbanksandundermining
of engineering works such as bridge and
pipeline crossings (U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers[USACE]1994).
River channel alterations designed to
augment hydraulic capacity for drainage
purposescancauseseriouserosion,particularly
whenmeanderingchannelsarestraightenedand
cleared of vegetation without introducing
resistant linings or grade control structures
(Schummetal.1984;USACE

OVERVIEW
OFEROSION
1994). Chapters 6 through 9 present relevant
informationregardingthesetopics.
1.2.4.7 Warfare and Population
Migrations Themainpotentialerosionaleffect
oftheseactivitiesresultsfromconstructionof
defenseworksandtheneglectorabandonment
of traditional agricultural methods, water
conveyancesystems,orengineeringworksthat
previously protected land and streams against
erosion. Heavy armored transport, shelling,
bombing,andfirescanalsocausesignificant
destructionofforestsanderosionprotectionand
land conservation systems. Rose (2005)
discusseshowhistoricalmilitaryactivitieshave
impacted local and regional geological
conditionsbychangingthenatureandrateof
erosionanddepositionprocesses.
1.2.4.8 Multiple Causes Accelerated
erosioninmanyworldregionsmayarisefroma
combination of causes. For example, a
publication edited by Walling et al. (1992)
presents a regional approach for evaluating
basinwidechangesanddealswithinterrelated
problems of erosion, debris flows, and the
environment in mountain regions, with
particularattentiontothePacificRim.

1.2.5 EstimationofErosionRatesand
Quantities

Fig.18. Severeerosionandheadcuttinginformer
natural channel below Grapevine Dam Spillway,
Texas, resulting mainly from greatly increased
maximumoutflowsfromcollectedurbanfloodrunoff.
PhotographbyC.R.Neill.

OVERVIEWOF
SEDIMENTATIONENGINEERING
or more locally from measured deposition
quantitiesinlakesandreservoirsormeasured
rates of sediment transport in rivers.
Uninterrupted, longterm sediment delivery
data from monitored basins produce the most
reliable sediment yield estimates.
Unfortunately,veryfewbasinshavesuchdata,
so sediment yield estimates must usually be

Estimationoferosionratesandsedimentyield
fromriverbasinscaninvolvelargeuncertainties
duetothesparsityofreliabledata.Theproblem
can be approached indirectly by considering
sourcequantitiesoferosionorsoilloss,ormore
directlybyconsideringsedimentyieldthatis,
the quantity delivered to the river system
which is usually much less than the source
erosion.Thefirstapproachtendstobefavored
by geographers, soil scientists, and
agriculturistsandthesecondbyurbanplanners
and water resource engineers. Extensive
literatureexistsforbothapproaches(see,e.g.,
Barfieldetal.1981;SimonsandSenturk1992;
Haan et al. 1994; Reid and Dunne 1996; de
Boeretal.2003).Inmanybasins,asignificant
proportionofthematerialerodedfromtheland
surfacedoesnotreachtheriversystembecause
ofintermediatetopographicfeaturesthatactas
sediment sinks (traps or temporary storage
areas).
Erosion from land surfaces can be
considered on a large scale in the context of
typicalratesperunitareafromspecificregions
orspecifictypesofterrain,oratsmallscalein
thecontextofexperimentalplotsthatmeasure
erosion from different types of soil under
different vegetation covers and land uses.
Experimental plots often tend to overpredict
effectivesedimentproductionanddeliveryrates
fromlargerareas.Ontheotherhand,estimates
based only on land surface erosion may
overlook erosion from valley slopes, gullies,
andstreamchannels.Inthecaseofmigrating
stream channels, reliable determination of net
erosionquantitiesisdifficultbecauseerosionat
one location is often compensated by
depositionatanother.
Sedimentyieldcanbeconsideredgloballyin
the form of typical rates per unit area from
variousregionsorterraintypes,
developed from empirical relationships. For
specific regions, empirical correlations are
availablerelatingsedimentdeliveryratio(the
ratioofnetsedimentyieldtogrosserosion)to
drainage area or other physiographic
parameters.Therearealsomethods(Barfieldet
al. 1981; Haan et al. 1994; Reid and Dunne
1996) for estimating sediment yield in
unmonitoredbasinsfromregionalsoilerosion
and yield maps, empirical yield estimation
relationships, or simplified soil loss and
delivery models, as well as methods for

translating measured sediment yield values


fromamonitoredbasintoanunmonitoredbasin
of similar character. Sediment yield is
addressedinChapter17.
1.2.6 LocalErosionandScour
Associated withEngineering
Works
Many types of engineering works in water
bodieswitherodiblebedscauselocalerosion,
usually referred to as scour when it proceeds
downwardintoachannelbed(Fig.19).This
problem is an important consideration in the
design of bridge foundations, dams, culverts,
weirs, riverbank protection, and other works.
Scour associated with bridges is treated in
Chapters10and11;referencesincludeMelville
and Coleman (2000), Richardson and Davis
(2001), and Transportation Association of
Canada (2001). Rock scour is addressed in
Appendix A. Other publications covering a
broader range of local scour and erosion
problems include USACE (1994), Julien
(2002), and May et al. (2002). Thompson
(2005) discusses the history of the use and
effectiveness of instream structures on river
processes in the United States. Appendix B
discusseserosioncountermeasures.

Fig.19. 1995photoofbedscourandbankerosion
under Highway 162 Bridge on Sacramento River,
California.Longlengthsofformerlyburiedpilesare
exposedbybankrecessionassociatedwithtoescour.
PhotographbyR.C.MacArthur.

1.3 OverviewofSediment
Transport
1.3.1 General
Sediment transport is treated extensively in
severalchaptersofManual54(Vanoni1975).
That earlier treatment includes transport by
windandtransportinpipes,neitherofwhichis
addressed in the present volume. Substantial
partsofthematerialintheoriginalManual54
are of a fundamental nature and retain their
validity.Chapters2through5ofManual110
mainly update selected aspects of the topic.
Chapters14through16and23covernumerical
modeling, a topic that has developed rapidly
since1975andwasnotcoveredintheoriginal
Manual54.AppendixDdiscussesmethodsfor
estimatingsedimentdischarge.

1.3.2 ModesofSedimentTransport
Thetermsedimentcoversawiderangeofgrain
sizes transported by flowing water, ranging
fromfineclayparticlestolargeboulders.These
areoftenviewedinspecificsizeclasses,suchas
finesand,coarsegravel,andsoon,usingoneof
several alternative classification systems
(ASCE 1962). Depending on grain sizes and
sediment material density, fluid density and
viscosity,andthestrengthandturbulenceofthe
flow,sedimenttransportmayoccurinavariety
ofmodesinvolvingdifferentsizeclassesatthe
sametimeorthesameclassesatdifferenttimes.
In rivers and channels with moderate
gradients,therearetwooverlappingsystemsof
classifyingtransportmodes:
(1)as bedload plus suspendedload or(2)as
bedmaterial load plus washload (seeChapter
2). Under the first system, suspended load
consists of the finer sediment maintained in
suspension by turbulence, whereas bed load
consists of the coarser particles transported
alongthebedintermittentlybyrolling,sliding,
or saltating. Under the second system, bed
material load comprises all sizes normally
found in the bed, whether transported as bed
load or in suspension, whereas wash load
consists of fine sizes that always travel in
suspension and are not found in significant
quantitiesinthebed.
Bedloadtransportmaytakeplacesimilarly
toaconveyorbelt(ormovinglayers)orby
evolution and migration of various bed and
channelforms(dunes,bars,bends,andsoon).
Insomeenvironments,unusualandrareforms
of bedload transport may occur, such as the
developmentandmovementofarmoredmud
balls(Fig.110).
Suspended load is generally transported
within andat thesame velocityas thewater,
whereas bedload transport may occur only
occasionally during highflow events. The
boundarybetweensuspendedsedimentandbed
loadtransportisnotpreciseandmayvarywith
the flow strength. The higher the flow, the
coarserthesedimentthatcanbesuspendedby
turbulence. Suspended load plus bed load, or
wash load plus bedmaterial load, together
composethetotalsedimentload(seeTable24
inChapter2).

OVERVIEWOFSEDIMENT
TRANSPORT
Raudkivi(1976),GardeandRangaRaju(1977),
Yalin (1977), Parker (1978), Graf (1984),
Thorneetal.(1987),Chang(1988),Ikedaand
Parker (1989), Parker (1990), Simons and
Senturk(1992),vanRijn(1993),Yang(1996),
ChienandWan(1999),andJulien(2002).

Fig. 110. Mud ball train in ephemeral Arroyo


Hondo, western San Joaquin Valley, California.
These rare bedload features, up to 1 meter in
diameter,formedandweretransportedduringan
intense flood in March 1997. Flow direction is
from right to left. Such balllike sediment
agglomerations are found in some ephemeral
streamsinCaliforniawithhighloadsofclay,silt,
andsand.PhotographbyR.Leclerc.

Particlesthatcanmoveeitherassuspended
load or as bed load and that periodically
exchange with the nonmoving bed constitute
the bedmaterial load. At least in theory, this
partofthetotalsedimentloadcanbecalculated
fromhydraulicparametersandthecomposition
ofthebedmaterial. On the other hand, wash
loadconsistsofthefinerparticles(usuallysilt
and clay) in the suspended load that are
continuously maintained in suspension by the
flow turbulence and that are not found in
significantquantitiesinthebed.Thispartofthe
totalloadisusuallyrelatedtowatershedsupply
andcannotbedeterminedtheoreticallyinmost
cases.
Anotherformoftransportthatoccursonly
in limited settings and steep channels is
referred to as hyperconcentrated flow, where
waterandveryhighconcentrationsofsediment
moveasanintegratedmasshavingproperties
somewherebetweenthoseofaNewtoniananda
nonNewtonianfluid.Flowsofthistype,which
include mud flows, debris flows, lahars, and
rockandbouldertorrents,formaspecialgroup
of sediment hazards with unique fluid
properties, high energy, and very destructive
capabilities. Snow avalanches and ocean
densitycurrentsrepresentsomewhatanalogous
phenomenainotherenvironments.Chapter19
addresses this class of fluids and associated
sedimenthazards.

1.3.3 SedimentTransportMechanics
Sediment transport mechanics as used herein
(Chapters 2 through 5) refers to theories and
experiments concerning physical factors that
determinesedimentdisplacementandtransport
and methods of estimating quantities
transported. Although the fundamentals were
fairlywellestablishedbefore1975,theoutput
of publications treating the subject has
continued. Significant references since 1975
include

10

OVERVIEWOFSEDIMENTATION
ENGINEERING
provide a thorough summary of sediment
measurement methods according to USGS
approvedprotocols.Fielddataareoftenneeded
to develop reliable sediment budgets and are
essentialforpropercalibrationandvalidationof
numerical models used to predict sediment
dynamicsinriversandreservoirs.Borgenetal.
(2003)reportadvancesinthesetechniques.

Whenestimatingsedimenttransportrates
forgivenhydraulicconditions,theengineer
may select from a wide range of transport
formulas,algorithms,orprocedures,manyof
which are offered as options in computer
programs for sediment transport modeling.
Most of those have a partially theoretical
background but depend importantly on
laboratory experimental data for their
quantitative aspects. A considerable degree
ofexperienceandjudgmentmayberequired
to select those most appropriate for the
particular circumstances. It is usually
advisable to compare results from several
methods because results may vary over a
wide range. Wherever practicable, some
degree of calibration against field
measurements is highly desirable.
Comparisons of sediment transport
calculationproceduresweresummarizedby
Vanoni(1975)andmorerecentlybyChang
(1988), Gomezand Church (1989),Simons
andSenturk(1992),Yang(1996),Chienand
Wan (1999), and Julien (2002), among
others. This topic is covered further in
Chapters2through5.

Publishedproceduresmaydealwithoneor
morecomponentsoftotalsedimenttransport.
Ingeneral,hydraulicbasedrelationshipscannot
predict wash load, which is usually supply
limitedandmayconstituteasignificantportion
ofthetotalload.Thewashloadportionofthe
total load is generally determined from field
measurements. Some hydraulic relationships
predictbedloadonlyandarelimitedmainlyto
gravel and coarser sediment. Others predict
totalbedmaterialloadandaremoreappropriate
wheresandisanimportantsizeclass.Although
theoretical relationships cannot predict wash
loadinquantitativeterms,theycanpredictthe
competenceoftheflowtotransportgivensizes
insuspensionandtheirdistributionwithdepth.
This can greatly assist interpretation and
extrapolation of suspended sediment data
obtainedfromfieldmeasurements.
Basicissuesinsedimenttransportmechanics
are the definition of hydraulic conditions
required to (1) initiate movement of a given
sedimentgrainsizeonthebedofachanneland
(2)liftitintosuspension.Theseissueswhich
are closely linked to sediment transport
calculations and in the first case to the
determination of stable sizes for erosion
protection,havebeenaddressedboththeoreti
callyandexperimentallysincetheearlydaysof
hydraulicengineeringandformthesubjectof
numerousstudiesandpublications.Chapters2
through5addressthesetopicsinconsiderable
detail.

1.3.4 SedimentTransport
Measurements
Sediment measurement techniques are
discussedindetailinChapter5andAppendix
D.EdwardsandGlysson(1999)also
Suspended load concentrations are often
reportedroutinelyalongwithstreamflowdata
atcertainrivergaugingstations. Limited data
on grainsize distributionsin suspendedloads
andinthebedmayalsobereported.Suspended
loaddatareportsareusuallybasedonsampling
the water column down to a short distance
abovethebed. Measured suspendedload data
include virtually all the wash load and,
especiallyinthecaseofsandtransport,partof
the bedmaterialload. Where routinedata are
not available, special measurements may be
undertakenoveralimitedtimeperiod.

Forestimationofsedimentationinreservoirs
andrelatedproblems,measuredsuspendedload
data over a period of years are generally
correlatedwithflowdatatodevelopasediment
rating curve. Total sediment delivery over a
period is then determined by applying the
sediment rating curve to a flowduration
relationship.Anallowanceontheorderof10%
isoftenaddedtoaccountforbedloadorother
unmeasuredload.However,thepercentageof
bedloadcanbesubstantiallygreaterthan10%
insteepriversandstreamswithlargesupplies
ofgravelandcoarsematerials.
Sediment rating curves usually show wide
scatter because the transportflow relationship
may vary widely with season, basin cover
conditions, and other factors. Where the
availabledatadonotincludemuchinformation
on high flows, extrap olation of the curve to
flood flowswhich may account for a large
proportion of the transportmay introduce a
high degree of uncertainty. Testing and
validation of extrapolated values is always
recommended.
Bedloadisdifficulttomeasureandisnot
normally measured on a routine basis. For
project purposes, special field measurements
maybeundertakenusingtechniquesdescribed
inChapter5andAppendixD.

1.3.5 SedimentModeling
AfterthepublicationofManual54in1975,the
use of integrated computer programs for
numerical modeling of sediment erosion,
transport, and deposition in time and space
becameincreasinglycommon(seeChapters14
and 15). Some are onedimensional, typically
applied for evaluation of sedimentation
processesalongriversandchannels.Othersare
twoorthreedimensional,typicallyappliedfor
evaluationofsedimentationprocessesinbroad
floodplains, estuaries, coastal regions, and
stratified water bodies. Numerical models are
particularlyvaluableforexaminingtheeffects
of historical or proposed changes and of
alternativeprojectproposals.Chapter23pres
ents methods for modeling the effects of
sediment transport associated with dam
removal, while Chapter 16 discusses tur
bulence modeling associated with
sedimentationprocesses.

appliedforthesetup,execution,andevaluation
oftheextensivedatabasestypicallygenerated
by the timevariant solution of
multidimensional equations of hydrodynamics
and conservation of sediment mass. On the
otherhand,theconvenienceofGUIsenables
inexperienced users to unknowingly set up
poorly formulated or erroneous simulations.
(This dilemma is not unique to
multidimensional sedimentation modeling.) It
is, therefore, highly recommended that

Modeling programs generally contain


default values of various parameters that are
meanttobeadjustedbycalibrationagainstreal
data, typically consisting of observed
morphologicalchanges(erosionordeposition)
or observed sediment transport rates. In the
absenceofmodelcalibration,resultsmaydiffer
widelyfromreality.Thereisalsoadangerof
redefining the actual problem to suit the
limitations of the model being used. In
modelingfutureconditions,pastdatamaynot
provide reliable guidance because of shifts in
trends or changes in controlling factors.
Experience and insight are often needed to
selectareasonablerangeforkeyvariablesand
hydrologicconditions.Itmayalsobenecessary
toconsiderthepotentialforcatastrophicevents
thatarenotrepresentedinthehistoricalrecord
(seeChapter19).
Physicalmodelingofsedimentdisplacement
and transport for proposed civil engineering
projectsorfacilitiescanprovideanalternative
means for assessing project performance and
testing project alternatives. This is
accomplishedinahydrauliclaboratorywitha
mobileboundary modeling facility. The
reproductiononasmallscaleofbothbedload
and suspendedload behavior may present
severedifficulties,andmodelingcompromises
areoftennecessarywithconcentrationonkey
aspects for the problem in hand. Where the
prototype setting involves sand beds, it is
usually advisable to use lowdensity granular
material in the model in order to achieve
sufficient mobility and transport. Sediment
transport scaling for physical models is
addressedinAppendixC.
Numerical sedimentation models are
sometimesreferredtoasmorphologicalmodels
becausetheprocessesbeingsimulatedinvolve
theinteractionandfeedbackbetweentheflow
structureandthemovablechannelboundaries.
Typically, sediment erosion, transport, and
depositionaresimulatedalongthelongprofile
(i.e.,downchannel)throughaonedimensional
formulation.TheSt.Venantequationsforopen
channel flow(or somesimplification ofthese
equations)aretypicallycoupledtoasolutionof
the conservation of sediment massoften
referred to as the Exner equation (USACE
1993a). The simulation progresses forward in
time, with userspecified boundary conditions
defining the hydrologic events of interest.
Numericalmodelresultstypicallyconsistofthe
timehistoryofriverstage,discharge,channel
bed elevation, bed material gradation, and
quantityandgradationofsedimenttransport,all
at specified locations along the long profile
axis. Additional details on the formulation,
assumptions, and typical applications of one
dimensionalnumericalmodelscanbefoundin
Chapter14.
Asof2006,applicationofmultidimensional
(twoandthreedimensional)numericalmodels
isbecomingmorecommon,giventherelative
economyofpowerfulcomputers,thecontinued
developmentandtestingofefficientnumerical
approximation schemes, and the ongoing
trainingandexperiencegainedbypractitioners
asthetoolsbecomemorewidelyavailableand
affordable (Gessler et al. 1999). Chapter 15
provides extensive information on issues
associatedwiththetheoreticalformulationand
application of these computational tools.
Graphicaluserinterfaces(GUIs)areusually
modelersseekthoroughindependentreviewof
theirproblemformulationsandresults.

Additional subsets of computational


numerical models presented in Chapter 8
were developed specifically to depict and
quantify the response of channel cross
sectionalgeometryandplanformtochanges
inwaterandsedimentinputs.Althoughnot
asextensivelyappliedinengineeringpractice
astheonedimensionalandmultidimensional
models described in Chapters 14 and 15,
these models utilize advances in
understanding of complex morphological
processesandprovideameansofassessing
erosionriskforinfrastructurelocatedinthe

vicinityofactivefluvialsystems.(Chapter7
summarizestheextensiveresearchandanaly
sisonstreambankerosionandchannelwidth
adjustment conducted since publication of
Manual 54.) Recent models address the
effectsofhumaninducedinfluencessuchas
flow regulation by reservoirs, land use
changes and associated changes in runoff
and sediment yield, and alteration of
floodplain boundaries due to levee
construction(Parker1978;Paolaetal.2006).
Chapter 8 discusses the physical processes
andnumericalmodelingofrivermeandering
andchannelplanformadjustment.Planform
response models are based on linkages
between channel curvature, velocity
redistribution, and bank erodibility (Ikeda
andParker1989).Chapter19addressesthe
computationalmodelingofsedimenthazards
suchasmudanddebrisflowsandfloodingin
alluvialfans.

1.4 OverviewofSediment
Deposition
1.4.1 General
Asinthecaseoferosion,sedimentdeposition
canbecategorizedintogeological(ornatural)
andaccelerated(orhumaninduced)deposition.
Geologicdepositionoccursbecauseofnatural
processesoftectonicuplift,volcaniceruptions,
earthquakes, climate warming, glacial
movements, and so on. This category of
processesusuallyoccursoverlongperiodsbut
mayalsoresultfromsevereepisodicevents.On
the other hand, humaninduced deposition
resultingfromvarioushumanactivitiesusually
results in relatively rapid changes in river
morphologyandsedimentation.
Productsoferosionmaybetransportedand
depositedoverawiderangeofdistancesfrom
theirsource.Wheretherearelongdistancesto
theultimatesinkoftheoceans, only a minor
fractionofthesourceloadmayarrivethere.It
has been estimated that in the United States,
only about 10% of the material eroded from
uplandbasinsreachesthe

12

OVERVIEWOFSEDIMENTATION

ENGINEERING

railroads, redirect the course of streams, or


destroybuildingsandproperties.Debrisflows
may have natural causes but may also be
initiated or aggravated by logging and road
constructiononsteepforestslopes.

OVERVIEWOFSEDIMENT
DEPOSITION 11
oceans, the remainder being stored in lakes,
reservoirs,channels,andlandsurfaces(Curtis
etal.1973;Holeman1981).
Deposited sediment may be harmful or
beneficial according to circumstances and
viewpoints. Although sediment may fill
reservoirsandeliminatetheirstoragecapacity
or aggrade riverbeds and lead to increased
flooding, silt deposits on floodplains may
eventuallyformvaluableagriculturalsoils,and
graveldepositsinriversmayprovidevaluable
fishhabitatandasourceforbuildingmaterials.
Where deposition in downstream reaches of
rivers poses problems, settlement basins are
sometimes provided to store deposited
sediment at upstream locations. These may
offeronlytemporaryreliefunlessthedeposits
can be removed at regular intervals.
Construction of dams and other flow control
structuresthatencouragesedimentdeposition
can reduce sediment delivery downstream to
coastalareasandmayleadtolongtermbeach
erosionandshorelineretreat.
Problems and studies involving sediment
deposition have greatly expanded beyond
concerns over engineering works (structures)
intoenvironmentalconcernssuchaseffectson
fish habitat and benthic communities and the
roleofsedimentinstoringandreleasingtoxic
contaminants.Chapters21through23address
these topics further. Acute problems of
sediment deposition may follow catastrophic
eventssuchasearthquakes,volcaniceruptions,
dam failures, massive landslides, and debris
flows(seeMacArthuretal.1985,1990;Costa
and Wieczorek 1987; Committee on Alluvial
Fan Flooding (CAFF) 1996; Chen 1997;
Wieczorek and Naeser 2000). Chapter 19
discussesthesetopicsfurther.

1.4.2 CausesofSedimentDeposition
1.4.2.1 UplandRiverDeposits Depositsat
the base of eroding slopes are discussed in
Manual 54. Some other forms of nearsource
depositsaredescribedbrieflybelow.
Debrisflowsinsteepstreamsproducerun
out deposits containing large woody debris
mixedwithfinerorganicmaterialandsediment
ofawiderangeofsizesuptolargeboulders
(Fig.111).Suchdepositsmayblockroadsand

Fig.111. Debrisflowdepositfromsmalltributaryof
TinauRiverinNepal.PhotographbyV.J.Galay.

Alluvial fans (or inland deltas) generally


formwhereastreamemergesfromamountain
zone, becomes laterally unconfined, and
undergoes an abrupt reduction in gradient.
Fans,whichmaybeofanysize,maycontain
sand, gravel, and boulders and are
characterized by multiple shifting stream
channels with sudden avulsions during
floods. Fans may exist in an aggrading,
degrading,orstablestate.Themorphologyand

hydraulics of fans are discussed by French


(1987), Rachocki and Church (1990), and
CAFF(1996).
Braided river deposits (or outwash valley
trains) somewhat resemble narrow elongated
fans,withmultipleshiftingchannels(Fig.1
12).Theymaybefounddownstreamoferoding
mountain ranges or glaciers. Gravel deposits
are most common in braided river systems;
however, braided sand or boulder rivers also
occur (Ikeda and Parker 1989; Best and
Bristow1993).
1.4.2.2 IntermediateandLowlandRiver
Deposits
Channelandfloodplaindepositsarediscussed
inManual54.Otherformsarediscussedbriefly
below.
Depositsofriverbornesedimentoftencause
problemsinengineeredconduitssuchascanals,
tunnels,culverts,andpipelinesthatdivertriver
water for irrigation, hydropower, and so on
(Fig.113).Thesedimentmaydepositatshal
lowdepthsoveralonglengthandmaynotbe
noticeduntilhydrauliccapacitiesareseverely
reducedbylossofarea, increased roughness,
andweedgrowth.
Meandering rivers with their adjacent
floodplainsgenerallyrepresentlargevolumes
of stored sediment that gradually work
downstream through a process of meander
migration, eroding sediment from one place
and depositing it farther downstream (Fig. 1
14).Asectionthroughthefloodplaingenerally
exhibits coarser riverbed sediments up to a
certainlevelandfineoverbankdepositsabove.
Installationofdikes,

Fig.112. BraidedriversystemlocatedontheRio
Maule, Chile, comprised primarily of cobble and
bouldermaterials.PhotographbyC.R.Neill.

levees,andbankprotectionmaydisruptnatural
processesandcauseunforeseenproblems,such
as channel aggradation or degradation or
acceleratederosionofunprotectedbanks.
1.4.2.3 Sedimentation
Due to
Mining
Activities
Miningactivitiesinriverbasinsandfailuresof
mine tailings dams can produce disastrous
sedimentation and contamination of
downstreamrivers/waterbodies(Figs.115and
116). The design, construction, and
maintenanceofsuchfacilitieshaveoftenbeen
inadequate (see, e.g., United Nations
Environment Program and International
Commission on Large Dams [UNEP/ICOLD]
2001). Once constructed, mines and tailings
damsoftenresultinlongtermhazardsthatmay
culminate in costly mitigation having to be
performedbyfuturegenerationsoflandowners
and governments. When mines and tailing
ponds are eventually abandoned, extensive
engineeringmeasuresmaybeneededtoprevent
future erosion or release of contaminated
sediments.
1.4.2.4 DepositsinLakesandReservoirs
Deposits in larger lakes and reservoirs that
receiveriverbornesedimentgenerallyconsistof
coarsersediment(sandandgravel)forminga
delta at the inlet end and finer sediment (silt
andclay)

Fig.113. Boxculvertandsedimentdetentionbasin
on urbanized reach of Upper Berryessa Creek in
Milpitas,California.Basinfilledwithgravelisshown
intopphotoandaftercleaninginbottomphoto.View
isupstream.PhotographsbyR.C.MacArthur.

Fig.114. MeanderingreachofWalker
River,California.
PhotographbyE.Wallace.

OVERVIEWOFSEDIMENT
DEPOSITION 13

Fig.115. CopperandgoldmineonMountFubilan
inPapuaNewGuinea.Sincethemid1980s,themine
has discharged 70 million tons per year of
contaminatedrockandtailingsintotheOkTediand
Flyrivers.PhotographbyB.Hall.

spreadoutoverallorasubstantialpartofthe
bottomarea(Figs.117and118).Insmaller
waterbodies,thedeltamayeventuallyextendto
occupy most of the volume. Lakebottom
sedimentsinsomeregionsexhibitannuallayers
(varves) that reflect different conditions of
deposition between seasons. These can
sometimesbeusedtodeterminethevariation
ofdepositionratesoverlongperiodsoftime.
Deposition patterns of finer sediment may be
affected by weak currents, wind, and density
currentsarisingfromthedifferentdensitiesof
sedimentbearinginflowsandclearlakewater.
During the middle part of the twentieth
century, when large numbers of dams and
reservoirs were constructed worldwide in
regionsofunstablephysiographyforpurposes
such as hydropower, irrigation, and water
supply,theproblemofreservoirsedimentation
tendedtoreceiveinsufficientattentioninmany
preproject planning studies. Sediment
depositionseverelyaffectsoperationsand

Fig. 117. High sediment concentration turbidity


currents from Frosst Creek, British Columbia,
Canada, plunging through delta into Cultus Lake.
PhotographbyV.J.Galay.

Fig. 116. FlyRiver in Papua New Guinea: an


example of maninduced ecological disaster.
Sediment deposition from the Ok Tedi mine
continues to aggrade riverbeds and amplifies
floodingandsedimentationofforestareas,killing
fish, forcing animals to migrate, and destroying
vegetationovervastareas.PhotographbyB.Hall.

14

OVERVIEWOFSEDIMENTATION
ENGINEERING

Fig.118. LakeSolano,California:exampleof
significantreservoirsiltation.PhotographbyR.C.
MacArthur.

theusefullifeofthefacility.Arelatedproblem
ishowtomanagereservoirsedimentdepositsto

avoidadversedownstreamconsequenceswhen
adamisremovedordecommissionedbecause
of disuse, structural deterioration, and so on.
Chapter 23 discusses how numerical models
can be used to assess potential changes in
sediment transport associated with dam
removal.
Morris and Fan (1997) provide extensive
information regarding deposition in reservoirs
and lakes, including dam removal, and cite
numerous case studies. They provide an
overview that emphasizes sustainable
development and the need for longterm
viewpoints in planning and design. White
(2001)presentsinformationdevotedtoremoval
of sediment from reservoirs. The
morphodynamicsofreservoirsedimentationis
addressedinChapter2.Chapter12providesan
additionaloverviewofreservoirsedimentation
issues.

1.4.3 EnvironmentalandHabitat
Effects
ofSedimentDeposition

Sedimentdepositionmayhavemajoreffectson
zoologicalhabitat,particularlyforsalmonidand
other nonwarmwater fish species in streams.
Problems tend to occur whenever the natural
hydrologicandsedimentregimeisdisruptedin
suchawaythatchangesoccurinquantitiesand
gradation of delivered sediment or in the
physicalcharacteristicsoftheriverbed.Inmany
jurisdictions, regulations regarding both short
and longterm disturbances have become
increasinglystringent.
Where sediment is trapped in new
reservoirs,downstreamfisheryeffectsmaybe
beneficial or harmful. If the stream formerly
carriedhighsuspendedloadsoffinesediment,
trappingmaybebeneficialtoaquaticspecies.
Ontheotherhand,ifsandandgravelistrapped
from a relatively clear stream, downstream
reachesmaydowncuttoaflattergradientand
becomepavedwithlargestonesthatofferpoor
habitatandbiologicalenvironmentforavariety
of benthic and pelagic species. Reduction of
flood peaks by reservoir regulation may
adversely affect annual flushing of fine sedi
mentfromspawningareas.Chapter3contains
materialusefultoaddressingthesetopics.
Wherelandusechangesincreaseinputsof
fine sediment to a river, its deposition
downstream may clog spawning beds (Huang
andGarcia2000).Constructionoperationsfor
bridgeandpipelinecrossingsmaytemporarily
increase fine sediment inputs, with similar
results.
Manytoxicsubstancesandcontaminantsin
water become preferentially attached to
sediment (particularly to fine sediments) and
accumulate within deposition zones.
Contaminatedsedimentsmaybecomeburiedif
thesourceisdiscontinuedbutmaybeexposed
later by erosion and channel shifting.
Concentration by bioaccumulation, especially
ofheavymetalsandpesticides,isoftenamajor
concern. Deposits behind mine tailings dams
are often highly contaminated, requiring
massivecleanupoperationsin

cases of failures of such structures


(UNEP/ICOLD 2001). These topics are
discussedfurtherinChapters21and22.

1.4.4 EstimationofDepositionRates
andQuantities
Estimation of past rates and quantities of
deposition in static water bodies is usually
based on periodic bathymetric surveys aided
bycoresamplinganddating.Reservoirssubject
to significant sediment deposition should be
surveyed and sampled at regular intervals.
Statistics on reservoir deposition are often
availablefromowners,operators,andregulat
ingagencies.

Estimation of future deposition rates for


new reservoirs, flood control facilities, and
sedimentbasinsmaybebasedempiricallyon
datafromotherwaterbodiesinsimilarenvi
ronmentswithregardtodimensionsandtrap
efficiency or semiempirically on studies of
sedimentyieldanddeliverywithregardto
grain size distributions and settlement rates
or based on comprehensive numerical
modeling that accounts for currents, wind,
andturbulence.Dependingonthedimensions
ofthewaterbody,oneortwodimensional
modelingmaybeappropriateandbeneficial
duringprojectevaluations.

1.5 ManagementandTreatment
ofSedimentationProblems

1.5.1 General
In general, management and treatment of
sedimentation engineering problems can be
addressed upstream at the sources of the
sedimentproduction,downstreamatthesiteof
the problem, or at intermediate locations.
However,theefficacyofsedimentmanagement
canbeenhancedbyaddressingandmanaging
sedimentproblemsatawholewatershedlevel
ratherthroughaseriesofdisconnectedlocally
independent projects. Obviously, the best
solution is to avoid problems through good
planning and design. More important,
restorationofprocessismorelikelytoaddress
the causes of river degradation, whereas res
torationtowardafixedendpointaddressesonly
the symptoms (Wohl et al. 2005). Some
problems,suchasscouratbridgefoundations,
are clearly local and require only local
treatment. Others, such as deposition in
reservoirs, often derive from an extensive
drainagebasinandmightbeaddressedeitheron
a local or on a basinwide basis. In many
sedimentationproblems,acompletesolution
is not possible, and the best that can be
achievedisareliablesystemformanagement
andmonitoring.Attentionshouldgenerallybe
given to the feasibility of nonengineering as
wellasengineeringapproaches.
Treatment of erosion at the source would
often be the most satisfactory solution in the
long term, but in many cases it may not be
physically, economically, or socially feasible
becausethesourcesaretoowidelydistributed
and are associated with natural geological
processes or human activities regarded as
inviolable. The engineer must then design
works

MANAGEMENTANDTREATMENTOFSEDIMENTATIONPROBLEMS 15

and develop methods for handling


sediment at or nearer to the site of
interesttoensurethattheperformance
and life of the works are not
unreasonablyaffected.Inthecaseofa
storage reservoir liable to fill too
rapidlywithsediment, consideration
couldbegiventolandreclamationin
the basin, to the provision of
intermediate sediment detention
basins upstream of the site, or to
methods of bypassing sediment past
the reservoir or flushing it out at
intervals to minimize downstream
impacts. The relative advantages of
alternativeapproachesmaydependon
theplannedlifeofthefacilityandon
environmental concerns upstream or
downstream.
Sediment control methods are
treatedextensivelyinManual54.As
of 2005, much of the material
containedthereinisstillvalid.Inthe
present volume, coverage and
updating are limited. Chapter 9
addresses the restoration of streams
adverselyaffectedbyhumanactivities
orextremenaturalevents,Chapter11
addressespreventionofscouraround
bridge foundations, Chapter 12
addresses reservoir sedimentation,
Chapter 19 discusses sediment
hazards,Chapter23discussestheuse
ofmodelingtodeterminechangesin
sediment transport associated with
dam removal, and Appendix B
addressesthedesignofripraperosion
protection.

1.5.2 ProblemIdentification
andDefinition
During planning and design of new
projects and before attempting to
devisealternativesolutionstoexisting
sedimentationengineeringproblems,
it is important to develop a clear
definition of existing and potential
problems,whichmaybecomplexand
mayultimatelyinvolveotherinterdis
ciplinary concerns. To do this, each
importantcomponentofaproblem(or
potentialproblems)mustbeidentified
and quantified to some level of
certainty.Thoroughprojectplanning
and evaluation of future project
performance can greatly increase
project reliability while reducing
maintenance and possible future
sedimentrelatedproblems.Chapter3
intheCorpsofEngineersEM1110
21416, River Hydraulics (USACE
1993b), outlines procedures for
conducting hydraulic engineering
studies so as to avoid unforeseen
sediment or project performance
problems. Questions to consider
duringplanformulationandproblem
identification and definition phases
mayincludethefollowing:
Wherearethesourcesoferosion
andsediment,andwhataretheir
relativesignificances?
Istheproblemascribablemainly
tofinewashloadsedimentsuch
assiltandclay;tocoarserbed
materialsedimentsuchassand,
gravel,andboulders;ortoboth?
Inwhatmodeswillthematerial
be transported under various
streamflowconditions?

Istheproblemassociatedmainly
with river flood conditions or
with a wide range of stream
flows?
Istheproblemneworhasitbeen
developingforalongperiodof
time?Istheproblemperiodicor
chronic?Whatisthehistoryof
thesourcesoferosion?

Istheproblemlocalizedormore
regional in nature? Is its scale
smallorlarge?
Is theproblem associatedwith
scour,depositionofmaterials,or
both?
Whatinformationisavailableon
rates and quantities and grain
sizesofsedimentintransport?
Haveratesandquantitiesbeen
increasing, and, if so, why?
Have there been significant
changes in land use or river
worksandmanagement,orhave
extreme events occurred
recently?
If sediment will be stored in
reservoirs or detentionbasins,
how fast will this occur, and
whatwillhappenwhentheseare
filled?Whatarethedownstream
engineering and environmental
implications ofperiodic storage
and release of materials from
thereservoirinthefuture?
What are the degrees of
uncertainty in quantitative esti
mates,andwhataretheproject
implications of under or
overestimatingfuturequantities?
What allowances should be
made for land use change and
climatechange?

16

OVERVIEWOF
SEDIMENTATIONENGINEERING
Examples of works and projects
most amenable to engineering
treatment include (1) intakes from
rivers into pipelines and canals for
purposesofhydropower,irrigation,or
water supply, where the aim is to
reduce or eliminate the inflow of
specificsizeclassesofsedimentthat
would clog or deposit in diversion
conduits and facilities; (2) bank
protection and channel maintenance
in large or fastflowing rivers and
streams(Fig.119);
(3) protection of rivercrossing
facilitiesagainstbankerosionandbed
scour;(4)damsandreservoirs,where
itisinfeasibletodealwithupstream
basinconditionsandsedimentinflows
mustbeacceptedasdeliveredtothe
site;and(5)floodcontrolfacilitiesto
provide public safety during severe
floodevents.
Thedesignofintakestoreducethe
entryofsedimentisaddressed,among
others, by Bouvard(1992), Raudkivi
(1993),andASCE(1995).Riverbank
protection is addressed by Appendix
B and USACE (1991, 1994), CUR
(1995), Thorne et al. (1995), and
Escarameia(1998).Scouratbridgesis
addressed in Chapters 10 and 11
herein,andreservoirsedimentationis
addressedinChapter12.
In formulating and presenting
engineering solutions, it is important

Whatessentialdataareneededto
betterdefinepotentialproblems
andsolutions?
What alternative solutions are
there, and how sustainable are
alternative solutions in both
engineering and environmental
terms?
Manyoftheseimportantquestionsare
addressed in the following chapters
and appendices of this manual. The
keytosuccessfulproblemavoidance
and solution is to achieve objective,
credible problem identification early
inprojectplanning.Thiswillfacilitate
more effective field and office
investigationsandthedevelopmentof
feasiblealternatives.Carefulattention
tothisstepcanproduceeconomiesin
investigations and avoid the
formulationofinappropriatesolutions.
Chapter20,AmericanSedimentation
Law and Physical Processes,
discusses changes in legal
requirementsandliabilitiesassociated
with standards of care, responsible
projectplanning,anddesign.
SincetheprintingofManual54in
1975, the focus of sedimentation
engineering has greatly expanded
fromtheidentificationandsolutionof
individual problems (however
complex they may be) to much
broader

involvement

in
multidisciplinary planning, analysis,
anddesignofmultipurposeprojects.
This role often requires careful
balancing of engineering science,
environmental concerns, public
interests,andaffordability.

1.5.3 EngineeringTreatment
Engineering(orengineered)treatment
embracestheplanninganddesignof
civil engineering works and
operationalsystemstodealwithand
managesedimentationprocessessoas
to avoid serious problems. The
chapteronsedimentcontrolmethods
inManual54isdevotedmainlytothis
type of treatment. Engineering
treatments

and

erosion
countermeasures are usually
associated with more traditional
structural hardscape solutions (see
Chapters11and19andAppendicesA
andB).
to identify limitations in knowledge
and uncertainties as to future
outcomesandtoprovideflexibilityfor
future changes if quantitative
estimates and performance of works
prove to be less favorable than
expected. The limitations and
uncertainties inherent in quantitative
sediment estimates and sediment
modeling are not always fully
understood by project planners,
environmentalists, and structure
designers. Legal aspects and
responsibilitiesofsedimentengineers
arediscussedinChapter20.

1.5.4 Nonengineering
(Nonstructural)Treatment
In the latter part of the twentieth
century,atrenddevelopedtoreplace
engineering treatment of
sedimentation problems by
nonengineering, or nonstructural,
treatment with apparently greater
environmental benefits; fewer
hardscapetype

structures; more bioengineering


features; and more environmental
acceptability. Project planning and
design specifications began to seek
opportunities and requirements for
enhancing and restoring natural
aspectsofwaterresourcesystemsand
to discourage engineered
hardscaping. Examples of
nonengineeringtreatmentsincludethe
following: (1) for reservoirs,
upstream improvements in soil
conservation and land use, such as
reforestation, reduction of grazing
pressure, or restriction of urban
development;
(2) for shifting streams, bank
stabilization and restoration using
vegetation and bioengineering
techniquesinsteadofrockorconcrete
erosionprotection(Figs.120and1
21);and(3)forfloodcontrolprojects,
restoring wetlands and natural water
and sediment storages instead of
constructing artificial sediment
detentionbasinsorexcavatinglarger

Fig.119. Bankprotectionworksinurban
settingconsistingof ripraptoearmorand
bank revetment materials with horizontal
rowsofwillowpoleplantings,asinstalled
onSoquelCreek,California.

PhotographbyS.Seville.

floodconveyancechannels.Chapter9
presents detailed discussions of the
benefits and methods for restoring
river systems using a variety of
bioengineeringtechniques.
Some publications and guidelines
prepared by nonengineers have
tendedtorecommendtheapplication
of

nonengineering

and
bioengineering measures in
circumstanceswheretheyareunlikely
to be successfulfor example,
vegetation plantings for bank
protectioninsteepstreamswithhigh
velocities and turbulence. It is
therefore an unfortunate
misrepresentation associated with
recent movement toward
nonengineered or bioengineered
methodstoimplythatlessengineering
analysesandjudgmentisrequiredin
ordertoachievebetterresults.Tothe
contrary, significant hydraulic, river,
and sedimentation engineering
experience andanalyses arerequired
with inputfrom otherbiological and

Fig. 120. Planting vegetation to reduce


flow velocities, capture debris, and
encouragesedimentdepositiontoprovide
protection along an eroding bank of the
RussianRiver,California. Photograph by
D.Ripple.

Fig. 121. Bioengineered logjams being


installedtoprotecterodingriverbanks,to
increasehabitatcomplexity,andtoprovide
deeppoolsforfishontheMahattaRiver,
BritishColumbia,Canada.

PhotographbyB.Walsh.

ecological disciplines to ensure


successful project planning and
design. Also of importance is the
movement toward restoration of
function as opposed to piecemeal
treatmentofsitespecificproblems.In
general, a holistic view should be
takenofsedimentationmanagementto
utilize both engineering and
nonengineering measures where
appropriate and feasible (Petts and
Calow 1996; Federal Interagency
Stream Restoration Working Group
1998; Copeland et al. 2001). In
locations that have been severely
damaged by poor land use practices
and neglect, the benefits of such an
approachmayextendfarbeyondthe
project under consideration (see
Natural Resource Conservation
Service 1992, 1996; Gray and Sotir
1996).

1.5.5 FishHabitatand
EnvironmentalIssues

Since publication of Manual 54 in


1975, many jurisdictions in
technically advanced countries have
enacted strict requirements for the
design and construction of works in
water bodies to avoid or mitigate
erosion and sedimentation effects on
fish habitat and aquatic resources.
Engineers and planners have
sometimes considered certain
regulatorycontrolstobeexcessive
forexample,whenplacementofsmall
areas of rock riprap around river
bridge piers is prohibited or made
conditional on the provision of
artificially constructed habitat
elsewhere. In general, however,
recognition by engineers of the
necessityfortoughlegalrequirements
for environmental protection (see
Chapter 20) has improved
significantly since the mid1980s
(BassandHerson1993a,1993b).
Stream restoration projects are
often designedto improveor restore
fishhabitat(Fig.121)orimprovefish
passage(Fig.122)(Clay1995)andto
support ecosystems in streams that
have been adversely affected by
logging or other human activities
(CommitteeonRestorationofAquatic
Ecosystems1992;Cookeetal.1993;
Wohl et al. 2005). As of 2006, the
success of such projects in terms of
biological productivity was not
universally accepted. Kellerhals and
Miles(1996)statedthatthescientific
basis linking morphological change,
habitat, and fish productivity was
weakintermsofpredictionandthat
some stream restoration projects had
beenundertaken

REF
ERE
NCE
S

17

Fig.122. Photosshowbarriertofish
passage through bridge culvert before
(top)andafter(bottom)constructionof
log step weirs and gravelbottom pool
and step approach aprons on Little
Salmon Creek, Toledo, Washington.
View is upstream. Photographs by J.
Johnson.

without a proper understanding of


biologicallimitingfactorsorasound
basis for predicting the results of
habitatmanipulations.Insomecases,
long periods of many years may be
neededtoreestablishaviablehabitat,
andtheeffortmaybelargelynullified
by overexploitation of the fish
resource. This complex topic is
discussedfurtherinChapter9.

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Chapter2

SedimentTransportandMorphodynamics
MarceloH.Garca

ASCE Manual 54, Sedimentation


Engineering, prepared under the
leadershipofProfessorVitoA.Vanoni,
hasprovidedguidancetotheoreticians
and practitioners world wide on the
primary topic of sediment problems
involvedinthedevelopment,use,and
conservation of water and land
resources. First published in 1975,
Manual 54 gives an understanding of
thenatureandscopeofsedimentation
problems, of the methods for their
investigation, and of practical
approaches to their solution. It is
essentiallyatextbookonsedimentation
engineering, as its title accurately
reflects. Manual 54 was the first and
mostcomprehensivetextofitskindand
has been circulated throughout the
worldforthepast30yearsasthemost
complete reference on sedimentation
engineeringintheworld.Ithasrecently
been published again as the Classic
Edition (Vanoni2006).Inthespiritof
itspredecessor,thischapterofManual
of Practice 110, Sedimentation
Engineering, aims at presenting the
state of the art concerning the
hydraulicsofsedimenttransportinflu
vial systems based on the knowledge
gained in the last three decades. A
concerted effort is made to relate the
mechanics of sediment transport in
riversandbyturbiditycurrentstothe
morphodynamicsoflakeandreservoir
sedimentation,includingtheformation
offluvialdeltas.

2.1 SedimentTransport
Mechanics
andRelatedPhenomena

The field of sediment transport might


just as well be called transport of
granularparticlesbyfluids.Assuch,it
embodiesatypeoftwophaseflow,in
whichonephaseisfluidandtheother
phase is solid. The prototype for the
fieldistheriver.Here,thefluidphase
is river water, and the solid phase is
sedimentgrains,e.g.,quartzsand.The
most common modes of sediment
transportinriversarethoseofbedload
and suspended load. In bed load,
particlesroll,slide,orsaltateovereach
other, never rising too far above the
bed.In

21

suspendedload,fluidturbulencecomes
intoplay,carryingtheparticleswellup
into the water column. In both cases,
thedrivingforceforsedimenttransport
is the action of gravity on the fluid
phase; this force is transmitted to the
particlesviadrag.Whetherthemodeof
transportissaltationorsuspension,the
volume concentration of solids
anywhereinthewatercolumntendsto
beratherdiluteinrivers.Asaresult,it
is generally possible to treat the two
phasesseparately.
Inthegeophysicaldomain,thefield
ismuchbroaderthanriversalone.The
samephenomenaofbedloadandsus
pendedloadtransportoccurinavariety
ofothergeophysicalcontexts.Sediment
transport is accomplished in the near
shore of lakes and oceans by wave
action. Turbidity currents act to carry
suspended sediment into lakes,
reservoirs, and the deep sea.
Landslides,debrisflowsandmudflows
providemasstransportmechanismsfor
thedeliveryofsedimentfromhighlands
tolowlands.
Thesolidphasecanvarygreatlyin
size,rangingfromclayparticlestosilt,
sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders.
Rocktypescanincludequartz,feldspar,
limestone,granite,basalt,andotherless
commontypessuchasmagnetite.The
fluidphasecan,inprinciple,bealmost
anythingthatconstitutesafluid.Inthe
geophysical sense, however, the two
fluids of major importance are water
andair.
The phenomenon of sediment
transportcansometimesbedisguisedas
ratheresotericphenomena.Whenwater
is supercooled, large quantities of
particulatefrazilicecanform. As the
watermovesunderafrozenicecover,
one has the phenomenon of sediment
transport in rivers stood on its head.
Thefraziliceparticlesfloatratherthan
sink,andthustendtoaccumulateonthe
bottomsideoftheicecoverratherthan
on the riverbed. Turbulence tends to
suspendtheparticlesdownwardrather
thanupward.
In the case of a powder snow
avalanche,thefluidphaseisairandthe
solidphaseconsistsofsnowparticles.
The dominant mode of transport is
suspension. These flows are close
analoguesofturbiditycurrents,insofar
asthedriving

22 SEDIMENTTRANSPORT
ANDMORPHODYNAMICS

force for the flow is the action of


gravity on the solid phase rather than
the fluid phase. That is, if all the
particles drop out of suspension, the
flow ceases. In the case of sediment
transportinrivers,itisaccuratetosay
that the fluid phase drags the solid
phase along. In the cases of turbidity
currentsandpowdersnowavalanches,
the solid phase drags the fluid phase
along.
Desert sand dunes provide an
example for which the fluid phase is
air,butthedominantmodeoftransport
is saltation rather than suspension.
Because air is so much lighter than
water, quartz sand particles saltate in
long, high trajectories, relatively
unaffected by the direct action of
turbulent fluctuations. The dunes
themselvesarecreatedbytheeffectof
the fluid phase acting on the solid
phase. They, in turn, affect the fluid
phasebychangingtheresistance.
In the limiting case of vanishing
solids, the field reduces to pure fluid
mechanics. As a result, sediment
transport must be considered to be a
subfieldoffluidmechanics.Inthelim
iting case of vanishing fluid, the
problemreducestothatoftheflowofa
granular substance in a vacuum. The
driving force now typically, but not
always,becomesgravity.Thisproblem,
as well, can be treated with the
techniquesoffluidmechanics,aslong
asoneiswillingtomovefarafieldof
traditionalNewtonianfluidmechanics.
Martian rock avalanches constitute a
geophysical realization of grain flows
inanearvacuum,anditislikelythat
thefluidphaseplaysonlyasubsidiary
roleinmanyterrestrialrockavalanches.
Anotherexampleofgrainflowisaslab
avalanche of snow. If they attain
sufficientspeed,slabavalanchestendto
devolveintomoredilutepowdersnow
avalanches in which the fluid phase
playsagreaterrole.
Among the more interesting
intermediate cases are debris flows,
mud flows, and hyperconcentrated
flows. In all of these cases, the solid
andfluidphasesarepresentinsimilar
quantities. A debris flow typically
carries a heterogeneous mixture of
grain sizes ranging from boulders to
clay.Mudflowsandhyperconcentrated
flows are generally restricted to finer
grain sizes. In most cases, it proves
useful to think of such flows as
consisting of a single phase, the
mechanics of which is highly non
Newtonian.
The study of the movement of
grainsundertheinfluenceoffluiddrag
and gravity constitutes a fascinating
field in its own right. The subject
becomes even more interesting when
one considers the link between
sedimenttransportandmorphology.In
thelaboratory,thephenomenoncanbe
studied in the context of a variety of
containers, such as flumes and wave
tanks,specifiedbytheexperimentalist.
In the field, however, the fluid
sediment mixture constructs its own
container:theriver.Thisnewdegreeof
freedom opens up a variety of
intriguing possibilities for river and
coastal morphodynamics (Parker and
Garcia2006).
Considerariver.Dependingonthe
existence or lack thereof of a viscous
sublayerandtherelativeimportanceof
bedloadandsuspendedload,avariety
ofrhythmicstructurescanformonthe
riverbed.Theseincluderipples,dunes,

antidunes,andalternatebars.Thefirst
three of these can have a profound
effectontheresistancetoflowoffered
by the riverbed. Thus, they act to
control river depth. Riverbanks
themselvescanalsobeconsideredtobe
a selfformed morphological feature,
thusspecifyingtheentirecontainer.
The container itself can deform in
plan. Alternate bars cause rivers to
erodetheirbanksinarhythmicpattern,
thusallowingtheonsetofmeandering.
Fully developed river meandering
implies an intricate balance between
sediment erosion and deposition. If a
streamissufficientlywide,itwillbraid
rather than meander, dividing into
several intertwining channels. Braided
rivers are an important component of
the Earths surface. The deposits of
ancient braided rivers may contain
significant reserves of water and
hydrocarbon.
Rivers create morphological
structures on much larger scales as
well. These include canyons, alluvial
fans,anddeltas.Turbiditycurrentsact
to create similar structures in the
oceanic environment. In the coastal
environment,thebeachprofileitselfis
createdbytheinteractionofwaterand
sediment. On a larger scale, offshore
bars, spits, and capes constitute
rhythmic features created by wave
currentsediment interaction. The
boulderleveesoftencreatedbydebris
flows provide another example of a
morphological structure created by a
sedimentbearingflow.
Thischapterisanintroductiontothe
mechanics of sediment transport and
river morphodynamics. Rivers evolve
over time in accordance with the
interaction between the flow and
sedimenttransport fields over an

erodible bed (which changes the bed)


and the changing morphology of the
bed (which changes the flow and
sedimenttransport fields). This co
evolution is termed morphodynamics.
Sedimenttransportbyturbiditycurrents
and the mechanics of lake and reser
voirsedimentationarealsoconsidered
in this chapter. The approach is
intended to be as mechanistic and
deductive as possible so that readers
willbeabletogainafirmfoundation
inthemechanicsofsedimenttransport.
This should be beneficial both for
understanding the rest of the material
presentedinthemanualaswellasfor
sedimentation engineering and
teachingpurposes.

2.1.1 TheSedimentCycleinthe
Environment
The sediment cycle starts with the
processoferosion,wherebyparticlesor
fragments are weathered from rock
material. Action by water, wind, and
glaciers as well as plant and animal
activities,contributestotheerosionof
theearthssurface.Fluvialsedimentis
the term used to describe the case
where water is the key agent for
erosion.Natural,orgeological,erosion
takes place slowly, over centuries or
millennia. Erosion that occurs as a
resultofhumanactivitymaytakeplace
much faster. It is important to
understand the role of each when
studyingsedimenttransport.
The dynamics of sediment in the
environment and its morphological
consequences are schematized in Fig.
21.Anymaterialthatcanbedislodged
isreadytobetransported.The

SEDIMENTTRANSPORTMECHANICSANDRELATEDPHENOMENA

23

Fig.21. SedimentationprocessesandassociatedmorphologicalchangesinaWatershed(adaptedfrom
DietrichandGallinatti1991).

transportation process is initiated on the land surface


when raindrops result in sheet erosion. Rills, gullies,
streams, and rivers then act as conduits for sediment
movement.Thegreaterthedischarge,orrateofflow,
the higher the capacity for sediment transport. Mass
sediment transport can also occur through landslides,
debrisflows, andmudflows.Hyperconcentratedflows
have also a tremendous capacity to transport vast
amounts of sediment as observed after the release of
largeamountsofsedimentfollowingtheeruptionofMt.
St.HelensinWashingtonState,USA(Chapter19).
Thefinalprocessinthesedimenttransportcycleis
deposition. When there is not enough energy to
transport the sediment, it comes to rest. Sinks, or
depositional areas, can be visible as newly deposited
materialonafloodplain,barsandislandsinachannel,
and deltas. Considerable deposition occurs that may
notbeapparent,asonlakeandriverbeds.Alluvialfans
aredepositionalenvironmentstypicallyencounteredat
the base of a mountain front. Flooding processes
occurring on alluvial fans are considerably different
from those occurring along singlethread rivers with
welldefined floodplains (French 1987; Bridge 2003).
Active

24 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS

transportinicecoveredriversisthesubjectofChapter
13.Hyperconcentratedflows,includingmudflowsand
debris flows as well as sediment hazards related to
flowsinalluvialfans,aretreatedinChapter19.This
chapterisintendedtoprovidethefoundationfortherest
ofthemanual.

erosion, rapiddeposition,anduncertaintyinflowpath
makethepredictionoffloodevolutionandextentrather
difficult(NRC1996).

2.1.2 ScopeofthisChapter
This chapter presents fundamental aspects of the
erosion, entrainment into suspension, transport, and
depositionofsedimentinfluvialsystems.Theemphasis
isonprovidinganintroductiontothefluidmechanicsof
sedimenttransportinriversandthemorphodynamics
of lake and reservoir sedimentation by turbidity
currents, with the objective of establishing the
backgroundneededforsedimentationengineeringand
management. Emphasis isplaced onthe transportof
noncohesivesediment,wherethematerialinvolvedisin
granularformandrangesinsizefromfinesilttocoarse
sand.Thetransportofgravelandsedimentmixturesis
treated in Chapter 3, whereas the transport of fine
grained,cohesivesedimentisconsideredinChapter4.
Fluvial processes are addressed in Chapter 6 while
engineering aspectsof geomorphologyare coveredin
Chapter16.Sediment

2.2 FluidMechanicsandHydraulicsfor
SedimentTransport

In this section, basic fluid mechanics and hydraulics


concepts needed for the analysis of sedimentation
processesarepresented.

2.2.1 FlowVelocityDistribution:Lawofthe
Wall

Consider a steady, turbulent, uniform, openchannel


flowhavingameandepthHandameanflowvelocity
U (Fig.22).Thechannelhasameanwidth B thatis
much greater than the mean flow depth H, and its
bottomhasameanslopeSandasurfaceroughnessthat
can be characterized by the effective height ks
(Brownlie1981).Forverywidechannels(i.e.B H
1), the hydraulic radius of the channel, Rh (cross
sectional area over wetted perimeter), can be
approximated by the mean flow depth H. When the
bottomofthechanneliscoveredwithsedimenthaving
ameansizeordiameterD,theroughnessheightkswill
beproportionaltothisdiameter.Duetotheweightof
the water, theflow exertson thebottom atangential
forceperunitbedareaknownasthebedshearstress b,
which in the case of steady, uniform flow can be

expressedas:

bgHS

where

consideration.Withthehelpoftheboundaryshearstress,it
ispossibletodefinetheshearvelocityu*as

u*

Theshearvelocity,andthustheboundaryshear
stress,providesadirectmeasureoftheflowintensity
and its ability to entrain and transport sediment
particles.Thesizeofthesedimentparticlesonthe
bottomdeterminesthesurfaceroughness,whichin
turn affects the flow velocity distribution and its
sedimenttransportcapacity.Becauseflowresistance
and sediment transport rates are interrelated, it is
importanttobeabletodeterminetheroleplayedby
thebottomroughness.
Inthecaseofsteady,uniformflowtheshearstress
varieslinearlyintheverticaldirectionasshowninFig.
22andisgivenbythefollowingexpression:

waterdensityand

g gravitationalacceleration.

This equation is simply the onedimensional


momentumconservationequationforthechannelreach
under

(22)

(23)

Itiswellestablished,bothexperimentallyandfrom
dimensional arguments (Schlichting 1979; Nezu and
Rodi1986)thattheflowvelocitydistributioniswell
representedby:

ln z

z
(24)
0

Here
u timeaveraged flow velocity at a distance z
abovethebed;
z0
Fig. 22. Definition diagram for openchannel flow over a
sedimentbed.

bed roughness length (i.e., distance above the bed


wheretheflowvelocitygoestozero);and

is known as von Karmans constant and has a


valueofapproximately0.41(NezuandRodi1986;
Longetal.1993).Theabovelawisknownasthe
law of the wall. It strictly applies only in a
relatively thin layer (z H 0.2) near the bed
(NezuandNakagawa1993).Itiscommonlyused
asareasonableapproximationthroughoutmostof
theflowinmanystreamsandrivers.
If the bottom boundary is sufficiently smooth, a
conditionrarelysatisfiedinrivers,turbulencewillbe
drasticallysuppressedinanextremelythinlayernear
thebed,knownastheviscoussublayer.Inthisregion,a
linearvelocityprofileholds(OConnor1995):

u* z

u*

where v is the kinematic viscosity of water. This law


mergeswiththelogarithmiclawnearz v,where

(25)

FLUIDMECHANICSANDHYDRAULICSFORSEDIMENTTRANSPORT
25

11.6

represents bothranges, as well as the


transitionalrangebetweenthem,canbe
writtenas(Yalin1992)

v
u*

denotes the height of the viscous


sublayer.Inthelogarithmicregion,the
constant of integration introduced
abovehasbeenevaluatedfromdatato
yield

u
u*

ln

5.5 followingempiricalfit

Bs8.5

Understanding the physics of the


flow in the viscous sublayer is of
relevance in benthic boundary layer
flows (e.g., Boudreau and Jorgensen
2001).Forexample,sedimentoxygen
demand isaffected byviscous effects
as well as nearbed turbulence levels,
as is shown in Chapter 22 of this
manual. Also, the existence of a
viscous sublayer seems to be a nec
essaryconditionforthedevelopmentof
ripples in unidirectional flows (e.g.,
Raudkivi1997;ColemanandMelville
1994,1996).
Most boundaries in alluvial rivers are
hydraulically rough. Let ks denote an
effectiveroughnessheight.If ks v 1,
thennoviscoussublayerwillexist,because
the roughness elements will protrude
through such layer. In this case the
correspondinglogarithmicvelocityprofileis
givenby

u*

1lnz

Bs
ks

with Bs asafunctionof Re* u*ks v


which can be estimated with the

u* z

Comparing Eqs. (27) and (24), it


follows that zo v
9u* for a
hydraulicallysmoothflow.

1lnz

u*

2.5ln Re*

3e

0.121ln

AplotofthisfunctioncanbeseeninFig.
AnalternativewayofwritingEq.(29a)is

A z

ln

u*

s ks

ItfollowsthenthatAsandBsarerelatedb
A

Another useful fit to the vertical


velocity distribution in openchannel
flows, which also covers the entire
range from hydraulically smooth to
hydraulically rough as well as the
transition, was proposed by Swamee
(1993),

8.5 ln30

ks

It follows that zo ks 30 for a


hydraulically rough flow. As noted
above, the logarithmic velocity
distribution often holds as a first
approximation throughout the flow
depthinariver.Itisbynomeansexact
since wake effects near the free sur
facecanbeimportant(Coleman1981;
Lyn 1991). Sedimentinduced
stratificationaswellasthepresenceof
bedformscanalsoinfluencetheflow
velocity distribution. For many years,
the effect of suspended sediment was
understood to be in a change of von
Karmans constant k (Einstein and
Chien 1955; Vanoni 1975). However,
there isnow conclusiveevidence that
vonKarmansconstantisnotaffected
bythepresenceofsuspendedsediment
as previously believed, and its clear
water value (k 0.41) can be
consideredtobeauniversalone(Smith
and McLean 1977; Coleman 1981,
1986; Lyn 1991; Soulsby and
Wainright 1987; Wright and Parker
2004a).
As is to be shown, it is not
uncommon under field conditions to
find that the flow regime is neither
hydraulicallysmoothnorhydraulically
rough.Theconditionsks v 1for
hydraulicallyroughflowandks v
1forhydraulicallysmoothflowcanbe
rewrittentoindicatethattheroughness
Reynolds number, given by u*ks v,
should be much larger than 11.6 for
turbulent rough flow, and much smaller
than 11.6 for turbulent smooth flow. A
composite form that

u*

u*z

103

9(u*zv)

ln1

10.3(u*ksv

Typically, muddy bottoms as well


asbedscoveredwithsiltandfinesand
arehydraulicallysmooth, whereas the
presence of coarse sands and gravel
leads, in general, to hydraulically
roughconditions.

2.2.2 FlowVelocity
Distribution:VelocityDefect
andLogWakeLaws

Theflowvelocitydistributiongivenby
thelawofthewall,Eq.(24),requires
someknowledgeofthebedroughness
characteristics. An alternative
formulationcanbeobtainediftheflow
depth H is introduced as the relevant
length scale. Assuming that the
maximum flow velocity umax takes
placeatthewatersurface, z H,Eq.
(24)canbemanipulatedtoobtainthe
socalled velocitydefect law, also
knownastheouterformofthelawof
thewall(Schlichting1979)

u u
max

z
lnH

26 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

Fig.23. PlotofBsfunctioninloglawvelocitydistribution.

Anumberofresearchershavearguedthat
the logarithmic behavior of the velocity
distribution,eitherintheinnerformgivenby
Eq.(24)orintheouterformgivenbyEq.(2
11), can be justified only for a restricted
regionnearthebed(z H 0.2),andthat,for
z H 0.2, a correction of the logarithmic
function is necessary (Coleman and Alonso
1983;Sarmaetal.1983).
NezuandNakagawa(1993)addedawake
functiontothestandardloglawgivenbyEq.
(27), calling it the logwake law, as
follows,

u
u

ln

u*z

5.5 w

z
H

where w(z H) is the wake function first


proposed by Coles (1956) for turbulent
boundarylayerflows,whichtakestheform

z
H

2W

sin2

z
2H

In this relation W0 is known as the Coles


wake parameter, expressing the strength of the
wake function. Through trigonometric
substitution,Eq.(211)canalsobewritteninlog
wakeform(Coleman1981;ColemanandAlonso
1983).

max

z
ln

2W0

cos

A procedure to estimate the Coles wake


parameter from flow velocity measurements,
originallyproposedbyColeman(1981),canbe
found in Julien (1995 p. 103). Nezu and Rodi
(1986),inexperimentsonflatbed,smoothbed,
turbulent flows, found W0 to vary from 0 to
0.253,withameanvalueofW0 0.2.Thisresult
was confirmed independently by Lyn (1991).
Coleman(1981)andParkerandColeman(1986)
demonstratedthatforthecaseofsedimentladen
flowsoverflatbeds,W0increaseswithincreasing
sediment concentration, ranging from 0.191 to
0.861. Lyn (1993) found that for flow over
artificialbedforms,W0rangedfrom0.05to0.1,
andsuggestedthatnegativevaluesofW0arethe
resultof

z
2H

(213)

FLUIDMECHANICSANDHYDRAULICSFORSEDIMENTTRANSPORT
27

strong, favorable pressure gradients.


Lyn(1993)alsofoundgoodresultsin
replicating measured velocity profiles
overbedformswiththelogwakelaw.
Most knowledge of flow velocity
distribution in turbulent, freesurface
flows stems from laboratory studies
(e.g.,NezuandRodi1986;Nelsonet
al.1993;Songetal.1994;Bennettand
Best 1995; 1996; Best et al. 2001;
LemminandRolland1997;Musteand
Patel1997;GrafandCellino2002).In
the past few years, however, new
acoustic technology for flow
measurement has made possible the
observation of velocity profiles in
streamsandriversaswell(Kostaschuk
etal.2004;DinehartandBurau2005).
Withthehelpofobservationsmadein
theMissouririver,Holmes(2003)has
foundthatthevelocitydefectlaw,Eq.
(213),workswellforfieldconditions
and the Coles wake parameter takes
valuesrangingfrom 0.035to0.36.In
all cases, dunelike bed forms were
present, suggesting that such features
mightberesponsibleforthedeviations
fromthelogarithmicvelocitydistribu
tion,observedawayfromthebottom.
More field observations need to be
made to quantify the effect of bed
forms on the velocity distribution in
alluvialriversaswellastheroleplayed
bystratificationinducedbysuspended
sediments. A recent review of mean
flow,turbulenceandbedformdynam
ics in alluvial rivers can be found in
Best(2005).

2.2.3 RelationsforChannel
FlowResistance

udz

Nowbyslightlychangingthelower
limit of integration to avoid the fact
thatthelogarithmiclawissingularatz
0,thefollowingresultisobtained:
H

u*

ln

z
ks

ks

oraftertheintegrationisperformed
U

ln H

ks

6 ln

9.34 z

ln30

u*

ks

ks

ln11

k
*

8.1

Tofacilitatetheircomparison,aplot
ofEqs.(217a)and(217b)isshownin
Fig. 24. It is similar to the one
presented by Brownlie (1983). The
relativeerrorbetweentheloglawand
thepowerlawislessthan4.2%inEq.
(217a)andlessthan3%inthecaseof
Eq.(217b).Keulegan(1938)wasthe
first to point out the equivalence
between the loglaw and the power
law, given by Eq. (217b), in the
context of openchannel flows. Chen
(1991) provides a rigorous discussion
oflogarithmicandpowerlawvelocity
distributions, including a comparison
of the associated flow resistance
relationsforbothhydraulicallysmooth
flowsandfullyroughflows.
Now, between Eqs. (22) and (2
16),aresistancerelationcanbefound
forthebedshearstress:
b

Most river flows are commonly


consideredtobehydraulicallyrough.
Neglectingwakeeffects,Eq.(28)can
be used to obtain an approximate
expressionfordepthaveragedvelocity
U thatisreasonablyaccurateformost
flows. Integrating the mean flow
velocitydistributiongivenbyEq.(28)
and dividing by the mean flow depth
yields

toestimategraininducedresistancein
gravelbed streams (e.g. Bray 1979;
Parker1990).
Itcanbeshownthatthelogarithmic
form ofEqs. (28) and(216) canbe
approximated by power laws of the
ManningStricklerform,asfollows:

CfU

(218)

wherethefrictioncoefficientCfis
givenby

H16
k

16

ln11

Cf

(219)

ks

Fig.24. Comparisonoflogarithmiclaws
versuspowerlawsforvelocitydistribution
andflowresistance.

Thisrelationisknownas
Keulegansresistancelawforrough
flow(Keulegan1938)andithasbeen
extensivelyused

28 SEDIMENTTRANSPORT
ANDMORPHODYNAMICS

IfEq.(217b)isusedinsteadofEq.
(216),thefrictioncoefficienttakesthe
form:

8.1 H

Cf

16

ks

ItisimportanttoemphasizethatEq.
(218) providesa localpoint estimate
of bed shear stress, while Eq. (21)
givesareachaveragedvalueofthebed
shearstress(Yen2002).
Itisusefultoshowtherelationship
betweenthefrictioncoefficientCfand
the roughness parameters in open
channelflowrelationscommonlyused
inpractice.BetweenEqs.(21)and(2
18), a form of Chezys law can be
derived(Chow1959):
12 12

UCzH S

wheretheChezycoefficientCzis
givenbytherelation
g
CZ

12

Cf

A specific evaluation of Chezys


coefficient can be obtained by
substitutingEq.(219)intoEq.(222).
It is seen that the coefficient is not
constant,butvariesasthelogarithmof
the relative roughness H ks. A
logarithmic dependence is typically a
weak one, partially justifying the
common assumption that Chezys
coefficient in Eq. (221) is roughly a
constant. By substituting Eq. (220)
into Eq. (221) and Eq. (222),
Manningsequationinmetricunitsis
obtained

H23S12

HereManningsnisgivenby
n

k1s
8.1g

12

This relation is often called the


ManningStrickler form of Mannings n
(Brownlie1983).Itisdeceptivelysimple
butitalsocontainsimportantinformation.
Even for large increases in roughness
height ks,Mannings n doesnotchange
much. The opposite behavior is seen if
large values of Mannings n are

considered, and the corresponding value


ofksisestimatedwiththehelpofEq.(2
23b).Oftenthebackcalculatedvaluesof
ksturnouttobelargerthanthemeanflow
depth H, suggesting that the value of
Manningsnbeingusedisnotarealistic
one. From the analysis above, it should
alsobeapparentthatManningsequation
canonlybeappliedtouniform,

numberSt.Analternativewaytoexpress
theStrickler number is withKeulegans
equation and powerlaw equivalent.
Assumingthatks D,theidentitygiven
in Eq. (217b) can also be used to
estimatetheStricklernumber

hydraulically rough, fully turbulent


flows.ExtensivetablesofManningsn
values for different channel
characteristics are given in Chow
(1959)andYen(1991).
It is also important to notice that
accordingtoEq.(223b),Mannings n
isnotadimensionlessparameter.Yen
(1992, 2002) and Dooge (1991), as
wellasMostafaandMcDermid(1971),
have proposed dimensionally
homogeneous forms of Mannings
equation.Suchdimensionlessequation
canbereadilyobtainedfromEqs.(2
23a)and(223b)asfollows:

HD
St
(224c)

UM

gHS

ks

WherethedimensionlessconstantM
8.1 in this case and is valid for very
widechannels.Differentvaluesfor M
canbefoundintheliteraturedepending
ontheStrickler(1923)coefficientused
in Eq. (223b). Yen (1993) reports
values of M between 6.71 and12.82,
whileJulien(2002)fitsavalueofM
5tofieldobservations.Withthehelpof
Eq. (223b), itispossibletodefinea
dimensionlessStricklernumber

St

1
8.1

Itfollowsthattheconstant M inEq.
(224a) is the inverse of the Strickler

ln11H D

This relation gives values of St


closeto0.12,asobtainedfromEq.(2
24b)intherangeofrelativeflowdepth
H D from 10 to 1,000 (Nio 2002).
ForvaluesH Dlowerthanabout10,a
sharpincreaseofSthasbeenreported
(e.g., Limerinos 1970), due to form
resistance added to the grain (skin)
friction, associated with flow
separation in the wake of large bed
elementsrelativetotheflowdepth.For
instance, Ayala and Oyarce (1993)
calibratedthefollowingrelationfrom
field data obtained in the Mapocho
RiverintheChileansideoftheAndean
mountains, for values of H D lower
than10andtakingD D90,
0.40

St0.30
0.

H
D

90

ThisimpliesthatMintherelationto
estimatethemeanflowvelocity(Eq.2
24a)wouldnolongerbeconstantbut
would change as a function of flow
depthforH D 10.

FLUIDMECHANICSANDHYDRAULICSFORSEDIMENTTRANSPORT
29
onal
accelerat
ion;u*
shear
velocity;
Rhisthehydraulicradius(approximately
equaltotheflowdepthHforverywide
channels);andfisthe

There is no accepted standard


equationforpredictingflowvelocities
in channels with large relative
roughnes, i.e. where channel bed
materialislargerelativetowaterdepth.
This is typical of mountain streams
(Jarrett 1984; AguirrePe and Fuentes
1990).Smartetal.(2002)conductedan
analysis of existing flow resistance
equations which points to the dif
ficultiesassociatedwiththedefinition
ofdepthandhydraulicradiuswhenthe
bed roughness is large relative to the
flow depth. They found that the log
law, or the equivalent power law, is
onlyapplicablewhentheroughnessis
of sufficiently small scale, and
recommendedtheuseofasquareroot
powerlawtoestimateflowvelocityin
thepresenceoflargescaleroughness.
In the case of sandbed streams,
flowresistanceisinfluencedbyboth
grainorskinfrictionaswellasform
drag induced by the development of
bed forms such as ripples, dunes and
bars,soanyestimateofMannings n,
oranyotherroughnesscoefficient,has
to account for the possibility of
differentflowregimes(i.e.,lowerand
upper regimes). Bruschin (1985),
Camacho and Yen (1991), Wu and
Wang (1999), and Hager and Del
Giudice (2001) have proposed
equationstoestimateMannings n for
thecaseofsandbedrivers.Amodified
ManningStricklerformulaforflowin
alluvial channels with sand beds has
also been advanced by Yu and Lim
(2003). Flow resistance predictors for
sandbedstreamsarediscussedlaterin
thechapter.

2.2.4 FixedBed(SkinorGrain)
Roughness
Itisclearthattousetheserelationsfor
channelflowresistance,acriterionfor
evaluating the equivalent roughness
height ks isnecessary.Frictionfactors
forturbulentflowinpipesandinfixed
bed channels have their roots in the
classic sandroughened pipe
experiments conducted by Nikuradse
(1933).Heconductedasetofpioneer
experiments and proposed the
following criterion. Suppose a rough
surfaceissubjectedtoaflow.Thenthe
equivalent roughness height ks of the
surfacewouldbeequaltothediameter
of sand grains that, when glued
uniformlytoacompletelysmoothwall,
andthensubjectedtothesameexternal
conditions, yields the same velocity
profile. Nikuradse used sand glued to
the inside of pipes to conduct this
evaluation.
ToanalyzetheworkofNikuradse,
it is convenient to introduce another
relation that can be used to estimate
mean flow velocity in openchannel
flows, known as the DarcyWeisbach
equation

U
Inthisequation
g
gravitati

8
f

gR S
h

8
f

dimensionless
DarcyWeisbach
frictioncoefficient,which,forapipe
with diameter D is known to be a
function of the flow Reynolds
number Re UD v and the relative
roughnessD ks.

Brownlie (1981) reexamined


Nikuradses data and proposed the
frictionfactordiagramshowninFig2
5.Thediagramprovidesthevaluesof
thefrictionfactor f,introducedinEq.
(226), as a function of the Reynolds
number Re UD v and the relative
roughness D ks. This diagram is
equivalent to the well known Moody
diagram shown in Fig. C2 of
Appendix C, and can be used for
sidewall corrections in laboratory
experiments(VanoniandBrooks1957)
as well as for separating total
resistance into grain resistance and
formresistanceinalluvialstreamswith
dunes (Brownlie 1981; Fedele and
Garca2001). For openchannel flow
calculations, the pipe diameter D
shouldbereplacedby4Rh,inwhichRh
is the hydraulic radius. Again, for a
very wide channel, the hydraulic
radius can be replaced by the mean
flow depth. The sidewall correction
procedureisexplainedindetailbothin
Brownlie (1981) as well as in ASCE
Manual 54 (Vanoni 2006) and
thereforeisnotrepeatedhere.
In the late 1930s, Zegzhda
conducted a set of experiments in
straight rectangular flumes of varying
roughness, using an experimental
method (gluing sand to the walls)
similar to the one used by Nikuradse
for flow in pipes (see Novak and
Cabelka 1981, p. 124). Because this
workwasnotpublishedinEnglish,itis

notaswellknownasNikuradseswork
on pipes. However, this experimental
study was conducted for a set of
relativeroughness(Rh ks)valuesmore
representative of the conditions
observed in the field for the case of
sandbedstreamswithplanebeds. In
fact,therelationobtainedbyZegzhda
forfullyroughhydraulicconditionsis
very similar to the expression
advanced independenly at about the
sametimebyKeulegan(Eq.216).
Afittotheexperimentalresultsof
Nikuradsethatcanbeusedtoestimate
the roughness length parameter z0 in
Eq. (24) as a function of ks was
proposed by Christofferson and
Jonsson(1985)

ks 1exp
30

u*ks
27

Smith(1977)seemstohavebeenthe
first to plot Nikuradses data in a way
useful to estimate the roughness length.
Similar empirical relations have been
proposed by Fuentes and Carrasquel
(1981)andDadeetal.(2001).Foru*ks v
3, the flow is hydraulically smooth
andz0 0.11v u*;whereasforu*ks v
100theflowishydraulicallyroughandz0
0.033ks.Inmanyinterestingsediment
transport situations the flow is
hydraulicallytransitionalandanequation
such as Eq. (227) has to be used to
estimatetheroughnesslengthinEq.(24)
associated with graininduced roughness
(Kamphuis 1974). Typically, muds and
flatfinesandsare

9u

30 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

Fig.25. RevisedNikuradsefrictionfactordiagramforflowinpipesofdiameterDoropenchannelflowswith
hydraulicradiusRh D 4(afterBrownlie,1981).
sizelargerthanD50ismoremeaningfultoestimateflowresistance

because of the dominant effect of large sediment particles. The


hydraulicallysmoothortransitional,andcoarsesands
range of s values and the diverse representativesediment
andgravelsarehydraulicallyrough(Soulsby,1997).It
is common practice to treat all flows over sands as
sizeusedforDxindicatethatfurtherresearchonthis
beinghydrodynamicallyroughsincethissimplifiesthe
conceptisnecessary.
analysis. This simplifying approximation makes less
In a study of flow resistance associated with rip
than10%errorintheestimationoftheshearvelocity
rappedsurfaces,Maynord(1991)reviewedanumberof
u*,forallvaluesu*abovethethresholdofmotion(see
formulations commonly used to estimate the Darcy
Section2.4.2)ofgrainslargerthan60m.
Weisbachfrictioncoefficientandfoundthatapower
lawequationcanbeusedformostriprap(i.e.,fixed
Although it is clear that the sediment size
bed) problems in very wide openchannel flows, as
distribution in most rivers is not as uniform as the
follows:
materialusedinhisexperiments,Nikuradsesconcept
of graininduced roughness for pipe flows has been
1
extended to estimate friction factors in streams and
8
H 1
riversaswell(Yen1992).Nikuradses
equivalentsandgrainroughness,ks,
iscommonlytakentobe
f
6.89 D

ks

sDx

Suggestedvaluesof swhichhaveappearedinthelit
eraturearelistedinTable21,originallycompiledbyYen
(1992; 2002) and updated for this manual. Different
sedimentsizeshavebeensuggestedfor Dx inEq.(228).
Statistically,D50(thegrainsizeforwhich50%ofthebed
material is finer) is most readily available. Physically, a
representative

(229)

50

proportionaltoarepresentativesedimentsizeDx,

(228)Noticethesimilaritywiththepowerlawequations

forflowresistancepresentedearlier. Maynord (1991)


alsofoundalogarithmicexpressionforflowresistance,
basedonhisownexperimentsaswellasondatafrom
othersources,givenby
1

8
f

3.92log

H
D
50

6.86

(230)

FLUIDMECHANICSANDHYDRAULICSFORSEDIMENTTRANSPORT 31

Table21 RatioofNikuradseEquivalentRoughnessSizeandSedimentSizeforRivers
Measureofsedimentsize,Dx

Investigator

AckersandWhite(1973)

1.23

84

1.6

Strickler(1923)

50

Katuletal(2002)

84

Keulegan(1938)

50

MeyerPeterandMuller(1948)

50

ThompsonandCampbell(1979)

50

Hammondetal.(1984)

50

EinsteinandBarbarossa(1952)

65

Irmay(1949)

65

EngelundandHansen(1967)

65

LaneandCarlson(1953)

75

Gladki(1979)

80

Leopoldetal.(1964)

84

Limerinos(1970)

84

Mahmood(1971)

84

Hey(1979),Bray(1979)

84

Ikeda(1983)

84

Colosimoetal.(1986)

84

WhitingandDietrich(1990)

84

SimonsandRichardson(1966)

85

Kamphuis(1974)

90

VanRijn(1982)

90

whichappliesintherange2.2 H D50 23.Similar


empirical relations have been advanced by Hey (1979),
ThompsonandCampbell(1979),Grifiths(1981),Pyleand
Novak(1981),andBathurst(1985).

Fromtheseequations,itfollowsthatforwide,open
channelflowstheDarcyWeisbachfrictioncoefficient
andManningsroughnesscoefficientarerelatedby
1

8
f

KnH
1

ng

U
gHS

inwhichKnisaconstantequalto1inmetricunitsand
equalto1.486inEnglishunits(Yen2002).Thevelocity
distribution in highgradientstreams with relatively low
values of relative submergence H D50 is no longer
logarithmicnear thebedduetothewakeeffectproduced
by large roughness elements. Wiberg and Smith (1991)
have developed a model for the velocity field in steep
streams with coarse gravel beds that is capable of
reproducingthefieldobservationsmadeby

32 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS

2.2.5 MovableFlatBedRoughness
Inflowsovergeometricallysmooth,fixedboundaries,
theapparentroughnessofthebed ks canbecomputed
usingNikuradsesapproach,asshownabove.However,

Dx

35

AguirrePeandFuentes(1990)

s s

Marchand et al. (1984). At about the same time,


AguirrePeandFuentes(1990)proposedatheoryfor
flowresistanceinsteep,roughstreamsthattakesinto
accounttheexistenceofthehighlyturbulentwakezone
nearaveryroughbed.Theirmodelpredictionscompare
favorablyagainstfieldobservationsbyseveralauthors.
As shown by Smart (1999; 2002), most of the
uncertainty when dealing with coarse gravel and
cobblesinshallowchannelsisinthedeterminationof
the mean bed location so that the origin of the flow
velocityprofilecanbeascertained.Inrelationtothe
difficulties associated with defining the mean bed
(231)
elevation,Nikoraetal.(2001)showtheimportanceof
spatialaveragingwhendealingwithshallowflowsover
gravel bed streams. In the absence of a logarithmic
velocity distribution, Katul et al. (2002) developed a
velocity distribution equation based on mixinglength
theory capable of reproducing flow resistance
characteristicsobservedinshallowstreamswithlarge
relative roughness. More recently, Buffington et al.
(2004) studied the effects of channel type and
associatedhydraulicroughnessonsalmonidspawning
gravelavailabilityinmountaincatchments.
oncethetransportofbedmaterialhasbeeninstigated,
the characteristic grain diameter and the viscous
sublayerthicknessnolongerprovidetherelevantlength
scales.Thecharacteristiclengthscaleinthissituation
isthethicknessofthelayerwherethesedimentparticles
arebeingtransportedbytheflow,usuallyreferredtoas
thebedloadlayerheight(WibergandRubin1989).As
thegrainsstarttorollandsaltatealongthebed,they
take momentum away from the mean flow via drag,

3.3
3.5
1
1
2.0
6.6
1
1.5
2.0
3.2
2.5
3.9
2.8
5.1
3.5
1.5
3.6
2.95
1
2.0
3.0

resulting in an increase in flow resistance that trans


latesintoanincreaseinbedroughness.
Oncethebedshearstress b exceedsthecriticalshearstress for
particlemotion c,theroughnesslengthcanbeestimated withan
expression inspired by the work of Owen (1964) for
windinducedsedimenttransport,andfirstproposedby
Smith(1977)forsedimenttransportbywatercurrents,

0N

Sincebothestimatorsdependontheflowintensity
asgivenbythebedshearstress,Eqs.(232a)and(2
32b) provide an estimate of a variable roughness
appropriateformovablebedswithoutthepresenceof
bedforms.
Wiberg and Rubin (1989) evaluated several
expressionsforcharacterizingbedroughnessproduced
byalayerofsaltatingsedimentgrains;theyproposed
with the help of a formulation for the vertical eddy
(232a)
diffusivity coefficient (Gelfenbaum and Smith 1986;
Longetal.1993)aformulationwhichmakesuseofa
vertical flow velocity distribution given by the fol
lowingexpression

where
0

z0 N
s

26.3;
Nikuradseroughnesslength;and

0.033ksandks

z0 N
b

zexp

(zH)3.3(zH)

(2
33)

where
z distancefrom
thebed;H flow
depth;and

0.41 vonKarmansconstant.

(232b)Seven upper planebed experiments of Guy et al.

0N

1 b

(1966)wereusedtoobtainbestfitvaluesfortheshear
velocityu*andbedroughnesslengthz0withthehelpof
Eq.(233).TheanalysisofWibergandRubin(1989)
showsthatthebedroughnessassociatedwithsediment
transportcanreachvaluesaboutanorderofmagnitude
empiricalconstantequalto0.077;
largerthantheNikuradsegrainroughnessinplanebed
0.033ksandks
Nikuradseroughnesslength;and
flows,butthisroughnesswillingeneralbesignificantly
smallerthantheroughnessassociatedwithripplesand
bedloadlayerheight,
duneswhentheyarepresentonthebedsurface.

whichiscomputedas
1.2D(1

cos)

b
c

dz

2.2(zH)

z0

1(zH)

z
*

bedsedimentdensity.

Thisapproachisparticularlysuitableforsandbed
rivers and has been widely used in coastal
sedimentation(e.g.,SmithandMcLean1977).
Theroughnessparameteralsocanbeestimatedwith
aschemeproposedbyDietrichandWhiting(1989),

where

u(z)

0.2

b
c

where
angleoffriction,and

D meandiameterofthebedmaterial.

Athighbedshear stressesandsedimenttransportinten
sitiesinsandbedstreams,dunesarewashedoutandthebed
becomesplane.Inthisregime,sedimentistransportednearthe
bedinalayerwithathicknessthatismuchlargerthanthe
grainsize.Collisionsbetweengrainsareintenseinthislayer,
resultinginagrainfloworgranularfluidflow.Thisregimeis
knownassheetflowandmeasurementstakenbyresearchers
(Wilson1987,1989;NnadiandWilson1992)haveshownthat
(232c)
flowresistanceincreasesdrasticallywithflowintensityinthis
regime.Sumeretal(1996)foundthatflowresistanceinduced
bythesheetflowlayercanbeexpressedintermsoftheratio
of Nikuradses equivalent sand roughness to the grain
diameter (ks D). This ratio was found to behave differently
whetherofnotthegrainsbecamesuspendednearthebed.In
theabsenceofsuspensionmode,ks D dependsonlyonthe
*
Shields parameter ( ) defined by Eq. (256). In the
*
suspensionmode, ks D dependsnotonlyon
but
also on a dimensionless sediment fall velocity

parameter Rf definedbyEq.(246b).Thereis
also evidence that sediment transport in the
sheetflowlayerisinfluencedbytheturbulent
burstingprocess(e.g.,Sumeretal.2003).

FLUIDMECHANICSANDHYDRAULICSFORSEDIMENTTRANSPORT
33

offlow(Nikoraetal.2001)overdunes
areavailable,thismethodcanbeused
to estimate a spatiallyaveraged com
posite roughness kc due to the
combinedeffectofbothgrainfriction
andformdragduetobedformsinlarge
sandbedrivers.Boundarylayerstudies
haveshownthatanalternativetoEq.
(29a)fordescribingtheverticalflow
velocity distribution in flows where
thegeometryandsizeoftheroughness
elementsissuchthatskinfrictionand
formdragarepresent,isgivenbythe
followingequation

2.2.6 EquivalentRoughnessof
BedForms
As the flow intensity increases, bed
forms such as ripples and dunes can
develop (e.g., Raudkivi1997). In this
situation, the bed roughness also will
beinfluencedbyformdragduetothe
presence of bed forms. The
fundamental problem is that the bed
formcharacteristicsand,hence,thebed
roughness depend on the main flow
characteristics (e.g., mean velocity,
depth) and sediment characteristics
(e.g., grain size, density). Thus, the
hydraulicroughnessinthepresenceof
bedformsisadynamicparameterthat
depends strongly on flow conditions
as well as on the bed sediment
properties. The equivalent roughness
of alluvial beds in the presence of
ripplesandduneswasaddressedwith
the Nikuradse hydraulic roughness
approachbyBrownlie(1981)andvan
Rijn (1982, 1984c). In van Rijns
approach, the height due to grain
induced roughness (Eq. 228) was
addedtoanestimateoftheequivalent
roughness height produced by ripples
and dunes obtained from field and
laboratory observations, to obtain a
measure of the total (grain plus form
resistance)effectiveroughness,

D
s90

and

ln

zu*

u u*kc
u*

InEq.(235a),
0.41and A 5.5
are universal constants previously
introduced,and u u*isaroughnessfunc
tionwhichisequaltozeroforsmoothwalls
(square brackets indicate functional
relationship). When plotting u u*versus
ln(u*z v),thisequationrepresentsafamily
of parallel lines, each being displaced
downwards from the smoothwall velocity
profile by an amount u u* (Schlichting
1979).

1.1(1e
sf

3(seeEq.228);

grainsizeforwhich90%of
thebedmaterialisfiner;

duneshapefactor 1.
sf

u*

The roughness function for alluvial


streamswithdunesisshowninFig.26.
u u* as a function of the
parameterkcu* vforlaboratoryandfield
streams with fullydeveloped dunes
(FedeleandGarca2001).Itisobserved
thatforvaluesoftheroughnessReynolds
numberkcu*T vlarger

25 It shows

where
D 90

bedformheightandlength,
respectively;andbedform
steepness.

than100200,mostofthedatacollapsealong
a straight line, along the fullyrough
hydraulicregime,whichiswellrepresented
bythefollowingfit,

u* kc

2.43ln

u*

3.24

Theeffectiveroughnessheightwas
thenusedtoestimatetheChezyfriction
coefficient(Eq.222),
1

CZ

18log

12

Cf

(235b)

An application of the alluvial


roughnessfunctionisitspotentialuse
to assess the effect of temperature
changes on flow structure and bed
morphology.ItisobservedinFig.26
that even though the flows are under
fullyrough hydraulic conditions,
temperature variations will affect the
viscosityofthewaterandthisinturn
willcausevariationsintheroughness
Reynolds number and the flow
structure.

In this equation, Rhb hydraulic


radius of the river bed (i.e.,
substractingstreambankeffectsonflow
resistance)accordingtoVanoniBrooks
(1957) (see Vanoni 2006, p. 91).
NoticethattheChezycoefficientisnot
dimensionless. A dimensionless
expression of the Chezy coefficient
applicable to bankfull sand bed and
gravel bed streams can be found in
Chapter3.
Application of Eq. (234a) to field
conditions resulted in considerable
overestimationofthehydraulicroughness
(vanRijn1996).Furtheranalysisshowed
that the leeside slopes of natural sand
dunesinriverswerelesssteepthanthose
of dunes in the laboratory and a shape
factor sf 0.7 was recommended for
applicationtonaturalriverdunes.

A different approach based on


boundarylayer theory and measured
velocity profiles was proposed by
Fedele and Garca (2001). When
spatiallyaveragedvelocityprofiles

Fig. 26. Roughness function for alluvial


streamswithdunes(afterFedeleandGarca
2001).

34 SEDIMENTTRANSPORT

ANDMORPHODYNAMICS

FedeleandGarca(2001)alsofound
thatthecompositeroughnesskccouldbe
approximatedwith

ep

1.45

ThedatausedtobyFedeleandGarca
(2001)toobtainthisfitareshowninFig.
27. This expression provides only a
crude approximation for the friction
factor, but clearly indicates that the
roughnessinalluvialstreamswithdunes
is a dynamic parameter that depends
nonlinearlyontheflowintensitygivenby
the Shields stress parameter ( *), the
relative flow depth (H D), and the
particleReynoldsnumber(Rep).

whichisvalidfor(H D) 10 andRep
30, which are commonly found
conditionsforlargealluvialriverswith
sanddunes.

Here,
*

H
S
R

dimensionlessbedshearstress(i.e.,Shields
parameter)foruniformflow
flowdepth;
channelslope;
1 submergedspecific
s
ment;

sedimentsize;

gRDD

ep

particleReynoldsnumber;and

H D relativeflowdepth.

Fig. 27. Total friction coefficient for


alluvialflowswithsanddunes(afterFedele
andGarca2001).

A simple method to estimate the


composite roughness kc has been
proposedbyWright and Parker (2004b)
and can be found in Section 2.8.3.3
below.

The total friction coefficient for


flow in an alluvial channel in the
presence of dunes can be estimated
withthehelpofKeulegansEq.(216),
Eq.(219),andEq.(235c),

1
f

U
u

ln

(HD)
*3R

ep

2.3 SedimentProperties
Inthissection,rocktypes, aswellas
fundamental characteristics of
sediment particles such as size, size
distribution, density, and fall velocity
are considered. The role of sediment
sizeonstreammorphologyisanalyzed
also,withthegoalofunderstandingthe
behavior of sandbed and gravelbed
streams.

2.3.1 RockTypes
The solidphase insediment transport
canbeanygranularsubstance.Interms
of engineering applications, however,
the granular substance in question
typically consists of fragments
ultimately derived from rockshence
the name sediment transport. The
properties of these rockderived
fragments,takensinglyoringroupsof
many particles, all play a role in
determiningthetransportabilityofthe
grains under fluid action. The
important properties of groups of
particles include porosity and size
distribution. The most common rock
typeoneislikelytoencounterinthe
riverorcoastalenvironmentisquartz.
Quartz is a highly resistant rock and
cantravellongdistancesorremainin
placeforlongperiodsoftimewithout
losing its integrity. Another highly
resistantrocktypethatisoftenfound
togetherwithquartzisfeldspar.Other
commonrocktypesincludelimestone,
basalt,granite,andmoreesoterictypes

specific gravities for various natural


and artificial sediments are listed in
Table22.

2.3.3 ModelLaboratory
Sediments
Inthelaboratory,itisoftenofvalueto
employ light weight model sediment
(Shen1990).Toseetheutilityofthis,
itisusefultoconsideramovablebed
scalemodelofanactualriver.Consider
a reach of the Minnesota River,
Minnesota, with a bankfull width of
90 m, a bankfull depth of 4 m, a
streamwise slope of 0.0002, and a
mediansedimentsize D50 of0.5mm.
Thereachisscaleddownbyafactorof
100 to fit into a typical laboratory
model basin, resulting in a bankfull
widthof90cmandabankfulldepthof
4 cm. In an undistorted model, slope
remainsconstantat0.0002.

If the sediment employed in the


modelweretobethesameasinthe
field,itwouldmostlikelynotmove
atallinthescalemodel.Carryingthe
analogytoitslogicalconclusion,it
would be as if the sediment in the
fieldMinnesotaRiverhadamedian
sizeof0.5mm 100 0.5m,i.e.,
boulders. It should be clear that, in
thiscase,thefieldsedimentcannot
be employed directly in the model.
The obvious alternative is to scale
down sediment size by the same
factorasallotherlengths,i.e.,bya
factorof100.Thiswouldyieldasize
of 5 m, which is so close to the
clayrangethatitcanbeexpectedto
display some kind of
pseudocohesiveness. In addition,
viscous effects are expected to be
greatlyexaggeratedduetothesmall
size.Thenetresultismodelsediment
thatismuchlessmobilethanitought
to be and, in addition, behaves in
ways radically different from the
prototypesediment.

suchasmagnetite.Limestoneisnota
resistantrock;ittendstoabradetosilt
rathereasily.Siltsizedlimestoneparti
cles aresusceptible tosolution unless
thewaterissufficientlybuffered.Asa
result,limestoneisnottypicallyfound
tobeamajorcomponentofsediments
atlocationsdistantfromitssource.On
the other hand, it can often be the
dominant rock type in mountain
environments.
Basaltic rocks tend to be heavier
than mostrocks composingthe crust
oftheearth.Theyaretypicallybrought
to the surface by volcanic activity.
Basalticgravelsarerelativelycommon
in rivers that derive their sediment
supply from areas subjected to
volcanism in recent geologic history.
Basalticsandsaremuchlesscommon.
Regions of weathered granite often
provide copious supplies of sediment.
Theparticlesproducedbyweathering
areofteninthegranulesizebutoften
quicklybreakdowntosandsizes.
Sediments inthe fluvialor coastal
environmentinthesizerangeofsilt,or
coarser, are generally produced by
mechanical means, including fracture
orabrasion.Theclayminerals,onthe
otherhand,areproducedbychemical
action. As a result, they are
fundamentally different from other
sedimentsinmanyways.Theirability
toabsorbwatermeansthattheporosity
ofclaydepositscanvarygreatlyover
time.Claysalsodisplaycohesiveness,
which renders them more resistant to
erosion.

2.3.2 SpecificGravity
Sediment specific gravity is defined as
theratiobetweenthesedimentdensity s
andthedensityofwater .Sometypical

There are several ways out of this


dilemma. One of them involves using
artificial sediment with a low specific
gravity.Let denotethedensityofwater,
and sdenotethespecificgravityofthe

materialinquestion.Theweight
WofaparticleofvolumeV p is
givenby
W SgVP
(236a)

Table22 SpecificGravityof
RockTypesand
ArtificialMaterials
Rocktypeormaterial

Quartz
Limestone
Basalt
Magnetite
Bakelite
Coal
Groundwalnutshells
PVC

SEDIM
ENT
PROPE
RTIES

WS

Quartz,forexample,isamineralwith
a specific gravity s near 2.65. If a
grainofthesamevolumeweremodeled
inthelaboratoryusingcrushedcoalwith
aspecificgravityof1.3,itwouldfollow
from Eq. (236a) that the coal grain
wouldbeonly1.3 2.65or0.49timesthe
weight of the quartz grain. Rephrasing,
thecoalgrainis2.04timeslighterthan
thequartzgrain,andthus,insomesense,
twiceasmobile.
In fact, the benefit of using
lightweightmaterialismuchgreaterthan
this, because the effective weight
determiningthemobilityofagrainisthe
submerged weight Ws, i.e., the actual
weight minus the buoyancy force
associatedwiththe hydrostaticpressure
distributionabouttheparticle.Thatis,

gVP

0.30

0.

quartz
WS quartz
1.65
Itfollowsthatunderwater,thecoal
grainis1 0.18 5.5timeslighterthan
a quartz grain of the same size.
Lightweightmodelsedimentsarethus
a very effective way of increasing
mobility in laboratory experiments
(Zwamborn 1981; ASCE 2000, p.
105). More material on physical
modeling of sedimentation processes
canbefoundinAppendixC.

where
g accelerationofgravity.

coal

35

WS

R
coal

2.3.4 Size
Thenotation D willbeusedtodenote
sediment size, the typical units of
whicharemillimeters(mmsandand
coarsermaterial)ormicrometers( m
clay andsilt). Another standardway
of classifying grain sizes is the
sedimentological scale,accordingto
which

D 2

RgV

(237a)

Takingthelogarithmofbothsides,it
isseenthat

where
R

log2D

denotesthesubmergedspecificgravity
ofthesediment.Comparingcoaland
quartz again in terms of submerged
weight,itisseenthat

36 SEDIMENTTRANSPORT
ANDMORPHODYNAMICS

inserted into Eq. (237b) simply as a


matter of convenience to
sedimentologists, who are more
accustomed to working with material
finer than 1 mm rather than coarser
material. The reader should always
recall that larger implies finer
material.
The scaleprovidesaverysimple
wayofclassifyinggrainsizesintothe
following size ranges in descending
order:boulders, cobbles, gravel, sand,
silt, and clay. This is illustrated in
Table23.
Itshouldbenotedthatthedefinition
ofclayaccordingtosize(D 2 m)
does not always correspond to the
definitionofclayaccordingtomineral.
That is, some clay mineral particles
canbecoarserthanthislimit,andsome
siltparticlesproducedbygrindingcan
befinerthanthis.Ingeneral,however,
the effect of viscosity makes it quite
difficulttogrindupparticlesinwater
tosizesfinerthan2 m.

Note that the size


0
correspondstoD 1mm.Theutility
ofthe scalewillbecomeapparent
upon a consideration of grain size
distributions.Theminussignhasbeen
Inpracticalterms,thereareseveral
waystodeterminegrainsize.Themost
popularwayforgrainsrangingfrom
4to
4(0.0625to16mm)is
with sieves. Each sieve has a square
mesh, the gap size of which
corresponds to the diameter of the
largest sphere that would fit through.
ThegrainsizeDthusmeasuredexactly
corresponds to diameter only in the
caseofasphere.Ingeneral,thesieve
sizeDcorrespondstothesmallestsieve
gap size through which a given grain
canbefitted.
For coarser grain sizes, it is
customarytoapproximatethegrainas
an ellipsoid. Three lengths can be
defined. The length along the major
(longest) axis is denoted as a, that
alongtheintermediateaxisisdenoted
as b, and that along the minor
(smallest)axisisdenotedas c.These
lengths are typically measured with a
caliper.Thevaluebisthenequatedto
grainsizeD.

Table23 SedimentGradeScale
Sizerange

ClassName

Millimeters

Microns

lnD
ln2

Verylargeboulders

4096 ~2048

Largeboulders

2048 ~1024

Mediumboulders

1024~512

Smallboulders

512 ~256

9~

Largecobbles

256 ~128

8~

128~64

7~

64 ~32

6~

32 ~16

Smallcobbles
Verycoarsegravel
Coarsegravel

5~

16~8

4~

Finegravel

8 ~4

3~

Veryfinegravel

4 ~2

2~

Verycoarsesand

2.000 ~1.000

1~0

2000 ~1000

Coarsesand

1.000 ~0.500

0 ~1

1000~500

Mediumsand

0.500 ~0.250

1 ~2

500 ~250

Finesand

0.250 ~0.125

2 ~3

250 ~125

Veryfinesand

0.125 ~0.062

3 ~4

125~62

Coarsesilt

0.062 ~0.031

4 ~5

62 ~31

Mediumsilt

0.031 ~0.016

5 ~6

31 ~16

Finesilt

0.016 ~0.008

6 ~7

16~8

Veryfinesilt

0.008 ~0.004

7 ~8

8 ~4

Coarseclay

0.004 ~0.002

8 ~9

4 ~2

Mediumclay

0.002 ~0.001

2 ~1

Fineclay

0.001 ~0.0005

1 ~0.5

0.0005 ~0.00024

0.5~0.24

Mediumgravel

Veryfineclay

For grains in thesilt and clay sizes,


many methods (hydrometer, sedigraph,
etc.) are based on the concept of
equivalent fall diameter. That is, the
terminal fall velocity vs of a grain in
water at a standard temperature is
measured.TheequivalentfalldiameterD
is the diameter of the sphere having
exactly thesame fall velocity under the
sameconditions.Sedimentfallvelocityis
discussedinmoredetailbelow.

A variety of other more recent


methodsforsizingfineparticlesrely
onblockageoflightbeams. The area
blockedcanbeusedtodeterminethe
diameter of the equivalent circle, i.e.,
theprojectionoftheequivalentsphere.
Itcanbeseenthatallofthesemethods
can be expected to operate con
sistently as long as grain shape does
notdeviatetoogreatlyfromthatofa
sphere.Ingeneral,thisturnsouttobe
the case. There are some important
exceptions,however.Atthefineendof
thespectrum,micaparticlestendtobe
platelike; the same is true of shale
grainsatthecoarserend.Comparison
with a sphere is not necessarily a
particularlyusefulwaytocharacterize
grain size for such materials. More
recently, techniques employing light
scattering arebecoming morepopular
for both particlesize analysis and
settling velocity measurements (e.g.,
Pedocchi and Garca 2006). More
materialcanbefoundinChapter5.

2.3.5 SizeDistribution

Anysedimentsamplenormallycontainsa
range of sizes. An appropriate way to
characterizethesesamplesisintermsofa
grain size distribution. Consider a large
bulksampleofsedimentofgivenweight.
Let pf (D)or pf ( )denote the
fraction by weight of material in the
sampleofmaterialfinerthansizeD( ).
Thecustomaryengineeringrepresentation
ofthegrainsizedistributionconsistsofa
plotofpf 100

SEDIM
ENT
PROPE
RTIES
37

(percentfiner)versuslog10(D)thatis,
a semilogarithmic plot is employed.
Theplot,then,wouldlookliketheone
inFig.28(a).
The same size distribution plotted in
sedimentological form would involve
plottingpf 100versus onalinearplot,
likeshowninFig.28(b).

Note that on a linear axis is


completely equivalent to D on a
logarithmicaxisbecause isrelated
linearlytolog10(D):

1
log10(2)

log10 (D

Theutilityofalogarithmicscalefor
grain size now becomes apparent.
Consider asediment samplein which
onethird of the material lies in the
range0.11.0mm,onethirdliesinthe
range1.010mm,andonethirdliesin
therange10100mm.InFig.28(c)pf
100isplottedversus D onalinear
scale, and in Fig. 28(d) pf 100 is
plottedversusDonalogarithmicscale
pf 100isplottedagainstlog 10(D).
Plot(c)isvirtuallyunreadable,asthe
finesttworangesarecrowdedoffthe
scale. Plot (d) provides a useful and
consistent characterization of the
distribution. It can be concluded that
for the purposes of statistics, the
relevant grain size should be on a
logarithmic scale, e.g., rather than
Ditself.
The size distribution pf ( ) and size
densityp( )byweight(Fig.28(e))canbe
usedto extractusefulstatisticsconcerning
thesedimentinquestion.Letxdenotesome
percentage, say 50%; the grain size x
denotes the size such that x% of the

weightofthesampleiscomposed
of finer grains. That is, x is
definedsuchthat

(a)

(b)

Fig.28. Sedimentgrainsizedistributionin(a)semilogscale,(b)sedimentologicalscale ,(c)


linearscale,(d)logscale,(e)sizedistributionandsizedensity,and(f)discretizationofgrainsize
distribution.

38 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

(d)

(c)

(e)

(f)
Fig.28.

Sedimentgrainsizedistributionin(a)semilogscale,(b)sedimentologicalscale,

(c)linearscale,(d)logscale,(e)sizedistributionandsizedensity,and(f)discretizationofgrainsize
distribution .(Continued)

particularlyusefulforcharacterizingbedroughness,as
discussedpreviously.

pf

100

The density p(

) can be used to extract statistical

moments.Ofthese,themostusefularethemeansize mand
(239a)
the standard deviation . These are given by the
relations

Itfollowsthatthecorrespondinggrainsizeintermsof
equivalentdiameterisgivenbyDx,where

Dx2

Themostcommonlyusedgrainsizesofthistypearethe
mediansizeD50andthesizeD90suchthat90%ofthesample
byweightconsistsoffinergrains.Thelattersizeis

(239b)

Dg

(240b)

Thecorrespondinggeometricmeandiameter Dg andgeo
metricstandarddeviation garegivenas

g
m

(240a)

(241a)

(241b)

SEDIMENT
PROPERTIES

Notethatforaperfectlyuniformmaterial,
0and g
1.Asapracticalmatter,asedimentmixturewithavalueof
g oflessthan1.3isoftentermedwellsortedand canbe

treated as a uniform material. When the


geometric standard deviationexceeds1.6, the
materialcanbesaidtobepoorlysorted.

In point of fact, one never has the continuous


function p( )withwhichtocomputethemomentsof
Eqs. (240a) and (240b). One must rather rely on a
discretization.Tothisend,thesizerangecoveredbya
given sediment sample is discretized in terms of n
intervalsboundedbyn
1grainsizes , 2,..., n1inascendingorderof
,asillustratedinFig.28(f).Thefollowingdefinitionsare
madefromi 1ton:

1
i

1
m

i1

16

(242b)

D84

1 2

D16

DgD84D16

Relations(240a)and(240b)nowdiscretizeto

12

It must be emphasized that the relations are


exactonlyforaGaussiandistributionin .This
isoftennotthecaseinnature.Asaresult,itis
strongly recommended that Dg and g be
computedfromthefullsizedistributionviaEqs.
(243a), (243b), (241a), and (241b) rather than the approximate form
(243b)
(243a)
embodiedintheaboverelations.

i i

i=1

i
i

2.3.6 Porosity

In some cases, especially when the material in


question is sand, the size distribution can be
approximated as Gaussian on the scale (i.e., log
normalinD).ForaperfectlyGaussiandistribution,the
meanandmediansizescoincide:

50

84

16

Furthermore,itcanbedemonstratedfromastandardtable
thatinthecaseoftheGaussdistributionthesize displaced
onestandarddeviationlarger that m isaccurately given
by 84;bysymmetry,thecorrespondingsizeonestandard
deviation smaller than 84 is 16. The following

relationsthushold:

1
2

84

The porosity p quantifies the fraction of a given


volume of sediment that is composed of void space.
Thatis,

16

40 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS

sedimentisoftenreferredtothepercentageoffinesin
thegraveldeposit.Whenthisfractionrisesabove2026
%byweight,thedepositisoftenrenderedunsuitable
for spawning. Salmon bury their eggs within the
gravel,andhighfinescontentimplieslowporosityand
thus reduced permeability. The flow of groundwater
necessary to carry oxygen to the eggs and remove
metabolicwasteproductsisimpeded.Inaddition,newly
hatched fry may encounter difficulty in finding pore
spacethroughwhichtoemergetothesurface.Allof
the above factors dictate lowered survival rates. An

(244b)

Rearranging the relations with the aid of Eqs. (2


40a),(240b)and(243)and(244a),itisfoundthat

(242a)

84

(245a)

p p

i f

39

(243c)

volumeofvoids
volumeoftotalspace

Ifagivenmassofsedimentofknowndensityis
deposited, the volume of the deposit must be
computedassumingthatatleastpartofitwillconsist
ofvoids.Inthecaseofwellsortedsand,theporosity
canoftentakevaluesbetween0.3and0.4.Gravels
tend to be more poorlysorted. In this case, finer
particles can occupy the spaces between coarser
particles,reducingthevoidratiotoaslowas0.2.So
calledopenworkgravelsare essentiallydevoid of
sandandfinermaterialintheirinterstices;thesemay
have porosities similar to that of sand. Freshly
deposited clays are notorious for having high
porosities. As time passes, clay deposits tend to
consolidate under its own weight so that porosity
slowlydecreases.WuandWang(2006)proposedan
(244a)
empiricalrelationtoestimatetheinitialporosityof
sediments,whichhavebeddepositedwithinayear
orless,asafunctionofthemediandiameterD50of
the sediment mixture. In situ measurements of
porosityindicatethatbiologicalactivitycanhavean
important effect on the porosity of sediments
(Wheatcroft2002).
The issue of porosity becomes of practical
importanceasregards,forexample,salmonspawning
grounds in gravelbed rivers (Alonso and Mendoza
1992;HuangandGarca2000).Thepercentageofsand
andsiltcontainedinthe
empiricalrelationshipbetweenpercentembryosurvival
andthegeometricmeandiameterofthesubstratein

(245b)

gravelbedriversisshowninFig.29(ShiraziandSeim
1981).Itisclearthatasthematerialbecomescoarser,
the substrate porosity can be expected to increase
accordingly, augmenting the embryo survival rates.
Chief causes of elevated fines in gravelbed rivers
includeroadbuildingandclearcuttingoftimberinthe
watershed.

2.3.7 Shape
Fig.29. Relationshipbetweenpercentembryosurvivaland
thegeometricmeandiameterofthesubstrate(afterShiraziand
Seim,1981).

There are a number of ways in which to classify


grainshape(Vanoni2006).Oneofthese,theZingg
classificationscheme,isillustratedhere.According
tothedefinitionsintroducedearlier,asimplewayto
characterizetheshapeofanirregularclast(stone)is
in terms of the lengths a, b, and c of the major,
intermediate,andminoraxes,respectively.Ifthese
threeareallequal,thegraincanbesaidtobecloseto
asphereinshape.Ifaandbareequalbutcismuch
smaller, the grain is rodlike. Finally, if c is much
smallerthanb,whichis,inturn,muchsmallerthan
a, the resulting shape should be bladelike. This is
illustratedintermsoftheZinggdiagraminFig.210.
Instudiesofthefallvelocityofgeometricshapes
andsandgrainsbyMcNown,Albertsonandothers,the
shapeoftheparticleshasbeenexpressedbytheCorey
shapefactor SF,whichmakesuseofthecharacteristic
lengths,definedabove,andisgivenby(Vanoni2006,p.
14)
SF

c
a
b

ItfollowsthatasphericalparticlewillhaveaSF
1.FornaturalsandsSF 0.7.Theshapefactorhas
beenusedin

Fig.210. DefinitionofZinggdiagram.

studiesofparticlefallvelocity(Dietrich1982;Jimenez
andMadsen2003;WuandWang2006).Morematerial
onsedimentparticleshapeanditseffectonparticlefall
velocitycanbefoundinVanoni(2006,p.14).

2.3.8 FallVelocity

A fundamental property of sediment particles is their


fallorsettlingvelocity.Thefallvelocityofsediment
grains in water is determined by their diameter and
densityandbytheviscosityofthewater.Fallingunder
theactionofgravity,aparticlewillreachaconstant,
terminalvelocityoncethedragequalsthesubmerged
weight of the particle. The relation for terminal fall

SEDIMENT
PROPERTIES

velocityforasphericalparticleinquiescentfluidvscan
bepresentedas

41

12

Rf

3C D R

therangesforsilt,sand,andgravelareplottedforakine

(246a)
maticviscosityv 0.01cm2 s(clearwaterat20 C)anda

submerged specific gravity R 1.65 (quartz). An


equivalentdiagramtoestimatefallvelocityofparticleswas
proposedearlierbyParker(1978).

where

Noticethatforfinesilts,Rpissmallerthanoneandthedrag
coefficientgivenbyEq.(246d)reducesto
s

Rf

(246b)

gRD

24

CD

Rp

(246c)

Substitutionof(246f)into(246a)yieldsthewell
knownStokeslawforsettlingvelocityoffineparticles,

andthefunctionalrelationCD f(Rp)denotesthedrag
coefficient for spheres (Garca 1999). Here g is the
acceleration of gravity, R ( s
) is the
submergedspecificgravityofthesediment,and isthe
kinematicviscosityofwater.Thisrelationisnotvery
usefulbecauseitisnotexplicitin s;onemustcompute
fallvelocitybytrialand error.Onecanusethe

followingequationforthedragcoefficient
CD
CD

(246f)

Rp

24 10.152R1/2p

0.0151Rp

vs

gRD

(246g)

18

Ausefulempiricalrelationtoestimatethekinematicvis
cosityofclearwateris:

(246d)

1.7910

Rp

(m s)

0.00021T

10.03368T

andthedefinition

(246h)

where

gRDD
ep

toobtainanexplicitrelationforfallvelocityintheformofRf
versusRep.SuchadiagramispresentedinFig.211,where

T temperatureofthewaterindegrees
centigrade( C).

(246e) Anumberofrelationsforterminalfallvelocityfor

thecaseofnonspherical(natural)particlescanbefound
intheliterature.Dietrich(1982)analyzedfallvelocity
datafornaturalparticlesanduseddimensionalanalysis
toobtaintheusefulfit

Rfexpb1
b4 ln
where

b2lnRep
3

Rep

b3ln
b5ln

Rep
4

Rep

(247a)

b1 2.891394,b2 0.95296,b3 0.056835,


b4 0.002892,b5 0.000245
(247b)

In an attempt to obtain a more practical relation,


Jimenez and Madsen (2003) fitted the formula of
Dietrich(1982)totheexpression

42 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

Fig.211. DiagramofRfversusRepcalculatedfromthedragcoefficientforspheres.

vs

vs
*

gRD

A
N

B
S*

(10.36

3 1/2

1.049D* ) 10.36

where

inwhich

gR
S*

DN
4

(249a)

D*

13

(249b)

gRDN

Here, DN nominal particle diameter. The


coefficients Aand BinEq.(248a)arefunctions
ofCoreyshapefactorandparticleroundnessand
are expressed graphically by Jimenez and
Madsen (2003). In many practical applications,
the sediment is naturally worn quartz sands
characterizedbytheirsievediameterDs.Forthis
typicalapplication, DN Ds 0.9,A 0.954and
B 5.12,arerecommended.Withthesevalues
incorporated in to it, Eq. (248a) was found to
provide reliable predictions of fall velocity for
natural quartz sediment with sieving diameters
rangingfrom0.063mmupto2mm(Jimenezand
Madsen2003).
Another simple relation to estimate the fall
velocityofnaturalsandparticleshasbeenproposed
by Soulsby (1997) for use in the marine
environment,

Here
accelerationofgravity;

D
R

kinematicviscosityofwater;
meansievediameterofgrains;and
( s
)isthesubmergedspecificgravityofthe
grains.

Equations very similar to (249a) have been


proposed independently by Zanke (1977) and van
Rijn(1984).

At high concentrations the flows around adjacent


settlinggrainsinteractresultinginalargerdragthanfor
thesamegraininisolation.Thisphenomenonisknown
ashinderedsettlingandresultsinthehinderedsettling
velocity vsC for high sediment concentrations to be
smaller that the fall velocity vs at low sediment
concentrations (less than 0.05). Applying reasoning
similartotheonethatledtoEq.(249a),

v
Soulsby(1997)proposedthefollowingrelationforthehin
dered fall velocity vsc of grains in a dense suspension
havingavolumetricsedimentconcentrationC:

sC

4.7

3 12

(10.36 1.0491C D* )

10.36 (249c)

whichisvalidforallvaluesofD*andC.WhenC 0,
Eq.(249c)reducestoEq.(249a).

Thesubjectofsedimentfallvelocityisfarfrom
being resolved. However, the empirical fits
presented here should suffice for engineering
purposes. Other useful relations to estimate
sedimentfallvelocitycanbefoundinSwameeand
Ojha (1991), Cheng (1997), Ahrens (2000), and
Ahrens (2003). Recently, Wu and Wang (2006)
compared different formulations and developed
anotherempiricalfittoestimatefallvelocitywhich
accountsfortheeffectofparticleshapethroughthe
Coreyshapefactor

SF c ab.

Materialonparticlesettlingforthecaseoffine
grainedcohesivesedimentispresentedinChapter4.

SEDIMENT
PROPERTIES
43

2.3.9 RelationbetweenSize
Distributionand StreamMorphology
Thestudyofsedimentproperties,andinparticular
sizedistribution,ismostrelevantinthecontextof
stream morphology. The material that follows is
intendedtopointoutsomeofthemoreinteresting
issues,andinparticular,morphologicaldifferences
between sandbed and gravelbed streams. More
discussiononthesubjectcanbefoundinChapters3
and6.

InFig.212,severalsizedistributionsfromthe
sandbed Kankakee River, Illinois, are shown
(Bhowmiketal.1980).ThecharacteristicSshape
suggests that these distributions might be
approximatedbyaGaussiancurve.Themedian
sizeD50fallsnear0.30.4mm.Thedistributions
areverytightwithanearabsenceofeithergravel
orsilt.Forpracticalpurposes,thematerialcanbe
approximatedasuniform.
InFig.213,severalsizedistributionspertaining
to the gravelbed Oak Creek, Oregon, are shown
(Milhous1973).Ingravelbedstreams,thesurface
layer(armororpavement)tendstobecoarser
thanthesubstrate(identifiedassubpavementin
thefigure).Whetherthesurfaceorsubstrateis

Fig.212. ParticlesizedistributionsofbedmaterialsinKankakeeRiver,Illinois(afterBhowmiketal.1980).

44 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

Fig.213. SizedistributionofbedmaterialsamplesinOakCreek,Oregon(afterMilhous1973).

considered, it is apparent that the distribution ranges


overamuchwiderrangeofgrainsizesthaninthecase
ofFig.212.Morespecifically,inthedistributionsof
thesandbedKankakeeRiver, variesfromabout0
toabout3,whereasinOakCreek, variesfromabout
8toabout3.Inaddition,thedistributionofFig.213
is upward concave almost everywhere, and thus
deviatesstronglyfromtheGaussiandistribution.
These two examples provide a window toward
generalization. A river may loosely be classified as
sandbed or gravelbed according to whether the
mediansizeD50 ofthesurfacematerialorsubstrateis
less or greater than 2 mm. The size distributions of
sandbedstreamstendtoberelativelynarrowandalso
tendtobeSshaped.Thesizedistributionsofgravel
bedstreamstendtobemuchbroaderandtodisplayan
upwardconcave shape. There are, of course, many
exceptions to this behavior, but it is sufficiently
generaltowarrantemphasis.
MoreevidenceforthisbehaviorisprovidedinFig.
2.14.Here,thegrainsizedistributionsforavarietyof
streamreacheshavebeennormalizedusingthemedian
sedimentsizeD50.Foursandbedreachesareincluded
withthree

gravelbed reaches. All of the sandbed distributions


are Sshaped, and all have a lower spread than the
gravelbed distributions. The figure indicates that the
standarddeviationofthegrainsizedistributioncanbe
expected to increase systematically with increasing
sedimentsize(Whiteetal.1973).Thethreegravelbed
sizedistributionsdiffersystematicallyfromthesand
bed distributions in a fashion that accurately reflects
OakCreek(Fig.213).Thestandarddeviationis,inall
cases,markedlylargerthanforanyofthesandbeddis
tributions, and the distributions are upward concave
exceptperhapsnearthecoarsestsizes.

2.4 ThresholdConditionfor
SedimentMovement
Inthissectionthethresholdconditionsforinitiationof
motionareanalyzed.Amechanisticmodelforinitiation
ofmotionispresented.TheShieldsdiagramandother
methods for assessing initiation of motion are
introduced. The analysis is limited to noncohesive
granularsedimentssuchassilt,sandandgravel.

THRESHOLDCONDITIONFORSEDIMENTMOVEMENT

45

Fig.214. Dimensionlessgrainsizedistributionfordifferentrivers(afterWhiteetal.1973).

2.4.1 SubmergedAngleofRepose

Ifgranularparticlesareallowedtopileupwhilesubmergedina
fluid,thereisaspecificslopeangle beyondwhichspontaneous
failure of the slope occurs. This angle is termed the angle of
repose,oralternatively,thefrictionangle.Tostudythisinmore
detail,consideratypicalgrainrestingonthesurfaceofsucha
slopeasshowninFig.215.
ThecoefficientofCoulombfrictionisdefinedtobe ,where

Fgn (s

)gVpcos (250c)

Fr
Fgn(250d)Theconditionfor
incipientmotionisgivenby

FF

gt r

(250e)

That is, the downslope impelling force of gravity should just


balancewiththeCoulombresistiveforce.Fromtheabovefour
relations,itisfoundthat

tangentialresistive
force
downwardnormalforce

(250a)

Theforcesactingontheparticlealongtheslopearethesubmergedforceofgravity(gravitationalforceminusbuoyancyforce),whichhasadownslope
componentFgtandanormalcomponentFgn,andatangentialresistiveforceFrduetoCoulombfriction.Thesearegivenby

gt

)gV sin
p

tan

(250b)
(250f)

Theangleofreposeisanempiricalquantity.Testswithwellsortedmaterialindicatethat isnear30 forsand,graduallyincreasingto


40 forgravel.Poorlysorted,angularmaterialtendstointerlock,givinggreaterresistancetofailure,andasaresult,ahigherfrictionangle
.Suchmaterialisthusoftenchosenforriprap(seeAppendixB).
Frictionanglemeasurementsobtainedingravelbedstreams,includingimplicationsforcriticalshearstressestimations,canbefoundin
Kirchneretal.(1990)andBuffingtonetal.(1992).

46 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

Fig.215. Definitiondiagramforangleofrepose.

2.4.2 CriticalStressforFlowovera
GranularBed
When a granular bed is subjected to a
turbulentflow,itisfoundthatvirtuallyno
motion of the grains is observed at some
flows, but that the bed is noticeably
mobilizedatotherflows(ChengandChiew
1998;Papanicolauetal.2002;Nioetal.
2003). Literature reviews on incipient
motioncanbefoundinMilleretal.(1977);
LavelleandMofjeld(1987);andBuffington
andMontgomery(1997).
Factorsthataffectthemobilityofgrains
subjected to a flow are summarized as
follows,

Randomness

Grainplacement
Turbulence

Lift
FluidMean&
tur
bul
ent
Dr
ag

of motion presented by Ikeda (1982),


which is basedonthe work of Iwagaki
(1956) and Coleman (1967). A similar
analysis was presented by Wiberg and
Smith(1987)forthecaseofnonuniform
sedimentsize.Considerthegranularbed
of Fig. 216. The flow forces on a
dangerously placed spherical sediment
particleprotrudingupwardfromthemean
bedareconsideredinordertoanalyzethe
thresholdofmotion.

CertainassumptionsenterintotheIkeda
ColemanIwagaki analysis. The flow is
takentofollowthelogarithmiclawnearthe
boundary (Eq. 24). The origin of the z
coordinate for evaluating the logarithmic
law is taken to be the base of the dan
gerouslyexposedparticle.Turbulentforces
ontheparticleareneglected.Dragandlift
forces act through the particle center (in
general,theydonot,givingrisetotorqueas
well as forces). The value of the drag
coefficient cD canbeapproximatedbythe
freestream value (Coleman 1967). The
coordinate z is taken to be vertically
upward, corresponding to very low
streamwiseslopes S.Theroughnessheight
ksisequatedtotheparticlediameterD.

Forcesongrains
Gravity

In the presence of turbulent flow,


random fluctuations typically prevent the
clear definition of a critical or threshold
condition for motion: the probability of
grain movement is never precisely zero
(Paintal1971;GrafandPaziz1977;Lopez
and Garca 2001; Zanke 2003). It is,
nevertheless,possibletodefineacondition
below which movement can be neglected
formanypracticalpurposes.
The following analysis is a slightly
generalizedversionofthederivationofthe
fullShieldscurveforthethreshold

Fig.216. Forcesactingona
dangerouslyplacedparticle.

THRESHOLDCONDITIONFOR
SEDIMENTMOVEMENT
Itisseenfromtheaboveassumptionsthat 47
theparticlecenterislocatedat z D 2.Itis
Nowtheforcesactingontheparticlecanbe
necessary to use some information about
turbulent boundary layers to define the
considered.ThestreamwisefluiddragforceD f,
effectivefluidvelocityufactingontheparticle
upwardnormal(verticalinthiscase)fluidlift
inordertofacilitate computation ofthefluid
force L f , and downward vertical submerged
forces.Aviscoussublayerexists(seeEq.26)
gravitationalforce Fg actingonthe particle of
whenD vislessthanabout0.5,or (u*D v)
thepreviousfigurearethus
5. In this case, the effective fluid velocity uf
actingontheparticleisestimatedwithEq.(2
5)as

uf

1uD

2
c

(252a)

cLu2f

(252b)

u*

v
Lf

Ontheotherhand,ifD v 2,noviscous
sublayerexists,andthelogarithmiclawapplies
near(butnotat)thebed.Sotheflowvelocity
actingontheparticlecanbeestimatedby

uf

Fg
2.5ln 30

u*

z
D

uD

u*

Rg 3

Fr
Fg
(252d)

Lf

The critical condition for incipient


motionoftheparticleisthattheimpelling
dragforceisjustbalancedbytheresisting
Coulombfrictionalforce:

where

DfFr
F

1u*D
2

for

u*D

13

and
F6.77for

(252c)

From Eq. (250d), it is seen that the


CoulombresistiveforceFrisgivenby

ItfollowsthenthatEqs.(251a)and(2
51b) can be written in the more general
form

6.77
1

uf

u*D

13.5

Thatis,if Df Fr,theparticlewillnot
move,andifDf Fr,itwillmove.Between
Eqs. (252a), (252b), (252c), (252d), and
(253),thefollowingrelationisobtainedfor
criticalfluidvelocityufatz D 2:

(253)

uf

(254)

3cD

RgD

cL

However,itwouldbemoreconvenient
tohaveacontinuousfunctionF,sothatthe
transition between hydraulically smooth
andfullyroughcondition,issmooth.Thefit
proposedbySwamee(1993)canbeusedto
evaluateFinEq.(251c)bysettingz D 2
andks DinEq.(210),

shearstressinquestionisthecritical
one for the onset of motion and is
denotedby bc. Between Eqs. (251c) and
(254), the IkedaColemanIwagaki
relation is obtained for the critical
shearstress:

9uD

10

Thisrelationisnowconvertedtoarelationin
termsofboundaryshearstress.Itmayberecalled
that by definition u2*
b, where b denotes
the boundary shear stress. In this case, the

ln 1

u*D

0.3

uD

4
3 c

1
D

F2(u

(255a)
Dv)

*c

The equation is valid for nearly

beds but the effect of channel


(251f)horizontal
slope can be readily incorporated. For a

48 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS
effectofgravityhastobeincludedinthe
forcebalancepresentedearlier,resultingin
the following expression for the critical
shearstress

*
c

4 cos
3

sin

(c

c
D

Dv

F (u

*c

Noticethatfor
0,Eq.(255b)reduces
toEq.(255a).Apredecessorofallthese
equationswasadvancedbyEgiazaroff
(1965).ItcanbefoundinVanoni(2006,p.
58)andisusedforsedimentmixturesin
Chapter3.Similarrelationswerealso
obtainedbyFredseandDeigaard(1992,p.
203)andcanalsobefound,albeitwithout
derivation,in

channelwithadownstreamslopeangle ,
thedownslope
(251f ) and certain realistic assumptions
abouttheinternalangleoffriction ,and
thedrag cD andlift cL coefficients.Asan
example, two internal friction angles are
considered,
40 (
0.84) and
60 (
1.73), and the following
assumptionsaremade: ks 2D,and cL
0.85cD.ItisfurthermoreassumedthatcDis
givenasafunctionof ufD v accordingto
thestandarddragcurveforspheres(i.e.,Eq.
246d).AplotofEq.(255a)isshownin
Fig.217,togetherwiththedataofShields
(1936). Considering all the assumptions
madefordevelopingthethreoreticalmodel,
theagreementisquitereasonable.Thebest
agreement between the IkedaColeman
IwagakimodelandShieldsobservationsis
found for
60 (
1.73). Such
friction angle is rather high but is not
possible to know the exact value of this
parameterforthesedimentusedbyShields
in his experiments, and whether or not
incipienttransportconditionswerepresent

ChienandWan(1999,p.319).
*

Intheaboverelation, c isadimensionless
measureof boundaryshearstressknownasthe
Shieldsparameterandgivenbythedefinition

*
c

bc

gRD

where
bc
u

*c

u2 *c criticalbed shearstress
motion;

criticalshearvelocity;
waterdensity;

)isthesubmergedspecificgravityofthe

sediment;

g
D

accelerationofgravity;and
sedimentparticlediameter.

The most relevant fact about the


mechanistic approach to this problem of
initiation of motion relates to the pos
sibilityofobtaininganexplicitformulation
of the relation explored by Shields with
dimensionalanalysisandexperiments. Eq.
(255a)canbeevaluatedwiththeaidofEq.

Fig. 217. Comparison of IkedaColeman


Iwagaki model for initiation of motion with
Shieldsdata.

(Buffington 1999). The theoretical model


developed here is for idealized spherical
particlesforwhichthefrictionanglecanbe
expected to be lower than for natural
sediments. For the case of
40 (
0.84),thecurvepredictedwithEq.(255a),
follows the trend of Shields data but
predictsvaluesofcriticalshearstressthat
are smallerby afactor ofabout 1.6. It is
interesting that several researchers have

combinationsofcriticalshearstress bc,sediment
and waterspecificweightssand ,respectively,
sedimentsize

D, critical shear velocity u*c


bc , and
kinematic viscosity of water . These
quantities can be expressed inany consistent
set of units. The Shields dimensionless
parametersarerelatedbyasimpleexpression,

u D
*
c

bc

gRD

F*

*c

The Shields diagram shown in Fig. 218


wasoriginallypreparedbyVanoni(1964).This
diagram is the predecessor of the one that
finally appeared when Manual 54 was first
published in 1975 (Vanoni 2006, p. 57). A
modernaccountoftheShieldsdiagramandits
history can be found in *Kennedy (1995).
Critical Shields values c are commonly

used to denote conditions under


which bed sediment particles are
stable but on the verge of being
entrained.ThecurveintheShields
diagram was originally introduced
by Rouse (1939), whereas the
auxiliary scale was proposed by
Vanoni (1964) to facilitate the
determinationofthecriticalshear
stress bc once the submerged specific
gravity, the particle diameter D and
thekinematicviscosityofwater are
specified.Itisknownthatthevaluesobtained
from the Shields diagram (Fig. 218) for
initiationofmotionareindeedlargerthanthose
observedbyotherresearchers,inparticularfor
coarse material.
For example, Neill (1968)
gives c* 0.03 instead of 0.06 for the
dimension

foundthatShieldscrticalshearstressvalues
are indeed higher than those observed.
More discussion on the internal friction
angle is given below when the model of
WibergandSmith(1987)ispresented.
Although there are a number of
assumptions made in its derivation, the
mechanisticIkedaColemanIwagakimodel
(Eq. 2.55a) makes it possible to visualize
the sources of uncertainty (i.e., angle of
repose, drag and lift coefficients, particle
location,etc.)andhelpstounderstandwhy
it is so difficult to characterize the
threshold condition with a deterministic
model (e.g., Bettess 1984; Lavelle and
Mojfeld1987;Komar1996;Papanicolauet
al. 2001; Shvidchenko and Pender 2001;
Nio et al. 2001; Dancey et al. 2002).
Recentlytheroleplayedbyturbulenceon
initiationofmotionhasbeenexaminedby
Zanke (2003), whofoundthatturbulence
inducedfluctuationsintheliftforcemake
particleslighterandeasiertomove.

2.4.3 ShieldsDiagram
Shields(1936)conductedhissetofpioneering
experiments to elucidate the conditions for
whichsedimentgrainswouldbeattheverge
of moving. While doing this, Shields
introduced the fundamental concepts of
similarityanddimensionalanalysisandmade
a set of observations that have become
legendary in the field of sediment transport
(Kennedy 1995). Shields deduced from
dimensional analysis* and fluid mechanics
considerationsthat c shouldbeafunction
ofshearReynoldsnumberu*cD v,as
impliedbyEq. (255a).TheShieldsdiagram
isexpressedbydimensionless

THRESHOLDCONDITIONFOR
SEDIMENTMOVEMENT
49

lesscriticalshearstressforvaluesofRe*

u*Dvinexcess

of500,whileGessler(1971)suggestsusingavalueof
*
c

0.046forsuchcondition.
*

Thevalueof

tobeusedindesigndependsonthepar

ticularcaseathand.Ifthesituationissuch
thatgrainsthat

aremovedcanbereplacedbyothersmovingfrom
upstream, some motion can be tolerated, and the
valuesfromtheShieldscurvemaybeused.Onthe
otherhand,ifgrainsremovedcannotbereplacedas
onastreambank,theShieldsvalueof c* aretoo
large and should be reduced. As already

mentioned it is well known from


observationsbyNeillandYalin(1969)
andGessler(1970)thatShieldsoriginal
valuesforinitiationofmotionofcoarse
material are too high and should be
dividedbyafactorof2forengineering
purposes.

AsfirstnoticedbyVanoni(1964),the
Shieldsdiagramisnotpracticalintheform
ofFig.218,becauseinorder
bc,one

tofindthecriticalshearstressforincipientmotion
mustknowthecriticalshearvelocityu*c
relationcanbecastinexplicitformbyplotting
*
c versusRep,notingtheinternalrelation

u*D

whereR

u*
gRD

gRDD

bc

* 12

Rep

.The

(258)

is thesubmerged specific gravityof

thesediment.

Fig.2.18. Shieldsdiagramforinitiationofmotion(sourceVanoni,1964).
50 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS
conducted a series of experiments and
observedthatforfinegrained,noncohesive
sedimentsthecriticalshearstressescanbe
Brownlie(1981)usedthisrelationtoconvertthe
estimatedwiththefollowingrelation
original Shieldsdiagram intoone with * versus
c

Rep.SimilardiagramsusingD* (seeEq.2

49b)insteadofRep havebeenadvanced
amongothersbyBonnefille(1963),Smith
(1977), van Rijn (1984a), Garca and
Maza (1997), and Soulsby and
Whitehouse (1997). A useful fit to the
ShieldsdatawasproposedbyBrownlie
(1981,p.161):

0.261

*
c

0.135R

ep

whichisvalidfortherange0.056 Rep 3.16.


Equations(259a)and(259c)mergefor Rep
4.22.

Lavelle and Mofjeld (1987) used the


pioneeringbedstability observationsmade
byGrass(1970)toquestiontheexistanceof
a deterministic value of critical stress for
*
0.6
incipientmotionasforeseenbyShiedsand
0.22
0.06exp
17.77 to promote a probabilistic approach to
Rep
c
addressthresholdconditionsforinitiationof
motion and entrainment into suspension.
Alongthesamelineofthought,Lopezand
*
Withthisrelation,thevalueof c canbe
Garca (2001) have proposed a riskbased
readilycomputed when thepropertiesof the
approachshowingthattheShieldsdiagram
waterandthesedimentaregiven.Asalready
canbeinterpretedinaprobabilisticway.At
mentioned,tobeonthesafesidethevalues
givenbyEq.(259a)shouldbedividedby2
the sametime, there isalso evidencethat
for engineering purposes, resulting in the
theShieldsdiagramisquiteusefulforfield
followingexpression
application. For instance, Fisher et al.
(1983) experimentally investigated
incipient motion of organic detritus and
inorganic sediment particles on sand and
1
*
0.6
gravel beds and found that their
0.22
0.06exp17.77
observationsfollowedthecharacteristicsof
R
ep
R
c
2
theShieldsdiagram.Recently,Marshetal
(2004)testedtheShieldsapproachtogether
withthreeothermethodsavailableinthe
literatureandshowedthatitisstilloneof
Thisequationisplottedinthemodified
the best methods available for sandbed
ShieldsdiagramshowninFig.219,where
streams.More
thesizerangesforsilt,sandandgravelare
alsoshown.
For finegrained sediments (silt and
finer),theShieldsdiagramdoesnotprovide
realisticresults.Mantz(1977)

(259c)

Fig.219. ModifiedShieldsdiagram(afterParker2005).
Thecriticalconditionformotionofthe
coarsematerialmakinguptheriprapcanbe
writtenas
2
recently, Sarmiento and Falcon (2006)
u* c
*
introducedthenovelideaofusingspatially
averaged(overmanyparticles)shearstresses
(iii)c
to define incipient conditions for particle
RgDRR
motionatlowtransportrates.
Buffington(1999)thoroughlyreanalyzed
Shields work, pointing out some
Where *c shouldbebetween0.02and0.03
inconsistencies in the way Shields obser dependinguponhowbroadlythebediscovered
vations had been interpreted and used by withriprap(seeFig.219).Combiningtheabove
relationsyields
others. This motivated a discussion that
analyzed the universality of the Shields
1
diagraminthecontextofsandandgravel
1H
U
* 1
(iv)
8.1 c
bed rivers (Garca 2000), resulting in the
s
D
riversedimentationdiagrampresentedbelow
RR
(Fig.229).
RgDRR
2.4.3.1 Application to Riprap Sizing
Forexample,if
0.03
and
2.5,thisrelation
*
andFlowCompetence Itisworthwhileto
s
c
show how knowledge about velocity reducesto:
distributionandinitiationofmotioncanbe
used for a practical problem. Consider the
design of a riprap cap to protect
contaminated riverbed sediment against
U
H 1
erosion.Ageotextileorafilterlayercanbe
1.204
(v)
used to cover the contaminated riverbed
portionandthenthislayercanbeprotected
D
withriprapmaterialhavingasize DRR.The
RR
RgDRR
riprap size has to be determined to ensure
thestabilityofthecapdesign.
This equation is very similar to the many
As introduced earlier, the Manning empiricalequationsthathavebeendetermined
Stricklerrelationforflowresistanceis
forriprapdesign(see
1

(i)

8.1

u
*

H
k

Here
(ii) ks

sDRR

Typicalvaluesforthecoefficient
foundinTable21.

scanbe

2.4.4 YalinandKarahanDiagram

THRESHOLDCONDITIONFOR
SEDIMENTMOVEMENT
51

Eq.B.5inAppendixB).Inparticular,
thisrelationisverysimilartotheone
proposedbyNeill(1968)forinitiation
ofmotionofcoarsematerial

(vi)

U
RgDRR

1.204

RR

Suppose that the riprap is to be


designedtobeabletowithstanda10
year flood, at which the mean flow
velocityUisestimatedtobe3m sand
theflowdepthHisestimatedtobe2.5
m.Usingasubmergedspecificgravity
R 1.65, Eq. (v) gives a riprap size
DRR 15.2 cm (6 inches), andNeills
relation yields DRR 9.3 cm (3.65
inches).Asafetyfactorshouldbebuilt
into the design and if the material is
poorlysorted,theriprapsizeshouldbe
selectedsothatDRR D90.Thereader
is referred to Appendix B for a full
treatmentofthistopic.

Asimilaranalysiscanbeusedto
estimatetheflowcompetencetomove
coarse riverbed material of a given
size.Inthiscase,thequestionwould
bewhatmeanflowvelocityanddepth
areneededtomovecoarsematerialof
a certain size? This is a typical
problem when analyzing salmonid
spawning gravel streams (e.g.,
Buffingtonetal.2004).

Inastudyoftemperatureeffectsoninitiation
ofmotion,TaylorandVanoni(1972)reported
thatsmallbutfiniteamountsoffinegrained
sediment were transported in flows with
*
valuesof c wellbelowthosegivenbythe
Shieldscurve. They found that as the

size of sediment grains decreases,


the dimensionless critical shear
stress increases more slowly than
one would infer by extrapolating
the
Shields
curve.
Similar
observations were made by Mantz
(1977; 1980) but the most
conclusive evidence for such
behavior was pro-vided by Yalin
and Karahan (1979) through
carefully con-ducted experiments.

Yalin and Karahan (1979) compiled a


substantialnumberofdatawhile conducting
theirownsetofexperimentswithsandsizes
ranging from 0.10 to 2.86 mm for both
laminarandturbulentflowconditions.Inthis
*
diagram,Ycr
c andXcr Re*.Theyused
glycerine in some of the experiments to
increasethethicknessoftheviscoussublayer,
thusmakingitpossibletoobserveinitiationof
motion under laminar and turbulent flow
conditions.AsshowninFig.220,Yalinand
Karahanwereabletoelucidatethenatureof
transport inception conditions for a wide
rangeofgrainReynoldsnumber Re* u*cD
v. For Re* * 70, hydraulically rough
conditions, c takesavalueofabout0.045.
Forvaluesof
Re* 10,therelationbetween
*
c and Re* dependsontheflowregime,i.e.,

whether the flow is laminar or


turbulent.

LiketheoriginalShieldsdiagram,the
YalinKarahan diagram can only be
used in an iterative way since *c
appears

52 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

Fig.220. DiagramforInitiationofMotion,YalinandKarahan(1979).

Forlaminarflowconditions,

both in the abscissas and in the ordinates. To


obtainanexplicitsetofcurves,atransformation
similar to Eq. (258) can be introduced, as
follows

Re
D

13

*c

(
D

*c

0.1439
*c

)g

13

D0.352

0.0084exp

*c

5.6243

9.21

D
*c

0.2164D*c11.252

Hereand

specificweightofwaterandsediment,

These relations can be used to estimate


respectively.GarcaandMaza(1997)haveproposedthefol
criticalshearstressforawiderangeofsediment

lowingusefulfittotheYalinKarahandata:
Forturbulentflowconditions,

0.137D

*c

*
c

0.377

0.1074

*c

*c

0.178
D

31.954
0.0437exp

0.7303
*c

2.084

2.453

10
*c

*c

47.75

c0.045;
*

D*c47.75

sizesandflowconditions.Dey(1999)hasalso
proposed a rather simple model for threshold
conditions that captures the behavior displayed
by the Yalin and Karahan (1979) laboratory
observations.
2.4.5 WibergandSmith
Diagramfor
HeterogeneousSediments
Mostoftheworkoninitiationofmotionhasbeen
doneforuniformsizesediment.Oneexceptionis
the model advanced by Wiberg and Smith
(1987). They derived an expression for the
critical shear stress of noncohesive sediment
usingabalanceofforcesonindividualparticles
verysimilartotheoneshownpreviously.Fora
given grain size and density, the resulting
equationdependsonthenearbeddragforce,lift
forcetodragforceratio,andparticleangle

(261d)

of repose. They were able to reproduce the THRESHOLDCONDITIONFORSEDIMENT


observations of Shields for uniform size MOVEMENT
sedimentsaswellasinitiationofmotioninthe
caseofsedimentmixtures.Theyfoundthatfor 53
mixedgrainsizestheinitiationofmotionalso
dependsontherelativeprotrusionofthegrains
Fig. 221. The agreement with observations
intotheflowsandtheparticleangleofrepose.
madebyanumberofauthorsisexcellent.
The relation obtained by Wiberg and Smith
Toevaluatetheangleofrepose 0ofnatural
(1987)fornaturalsedimentispracticallyiden
particles in mixedsize beds, the observations
tical to the IkedaColemanIwagaki relation
madebyMillerandByrne(1966)withnaturally
(Eq. 255b) presented earlier for nearly
sorted sediments were used. The following
sphericalparticles,andcanbewrittenas
geometric relationship was found to represent
thedatawell,

*
c

4 tan
3

0cos

cD

where

tan

sin
0cL

F (zz o )

cos

Dks
Dks

where z*
0.02 is the average level of the
bottomofanalmostmovinggrainanddepends
0 angleofreposeofthegrains;cDandcLdragandlift onparticlesphericityandroundness.Hereksisthe
equivalent Nikuradse roughness length. Equation
coefficients,respectively;
(262b)wasfoundtorepresentthedataofMiller
andByrne(1966)wellfor D ks 0.5.Computed
curvesfornondimensionalcriticalshearstressfora
andthefunction F u(z) u* isthelogarithmic
range of ratios of particle diameter to bed
function (i.e. Eq. 24) that relates the effective
roughness,D ks 0.5 5.0,areshowninFig.2
fluidvelocityactingontheparticletotheshear
22a.AlargeratioofD ksindicatesalargerparticle
velocity.WibergandSmith(1987)evaluatethe
onasmallerbed,andvice versa.Inthisplot,the
logarithmic function with an equation for the
critical roughness Reynolds number (R*) cr
velocitydistributionfirstproposedbyReichardt
(u*)cr ks v isacharacteristicofthebed.Thus, for
in the early 1950s, which provides a smooth
anybedroughness,theintersectionsofavertical
transition between the viscous sublayer and the
linethroughsome(R*)cr andthe( *)cr curvesfor
outerportionofthevelocityprofile(Schlichting
1979,p.601).Criticalshearvelocitiescomputed
theappropriateD ks valuesdeterminethecritical
withEq.(262a)asafunctionofnominalgrain
shearstressforthesizes ofmaterialpresentinthe
bed.
diameterforquartzdensitysedimentareshownin

bedslopeangle;

Wiberg and Smith (1987) found that their


model (i.e., Eqs. (262a) and (262b))
reproducedsuchobservations.Asinthecaseof
theoriginalShieldsdiagram,Wibergand

Fig.221. Calculatedcriticalshearvelocityasafunctionofgraindiameter(afterWibergandSmith1987).

(262b)

54 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

(a)

(b)
Fig.222. (a)Calculatednondimensionalcriticalshearstressasafunctionofcriticalroughness Reynolds
numberforvaluesofparticlediametertobedroughnessscale.(b)Calculatednondimensionalcriticalshear
stressasafunctionofnondimensionalparticlediameterforvaluesofparticlediametertobedroughnessscale
ratio(afterWibergandSmith,1987).

on grain size and density and on fluid density and


viscosity. As shown in Fig. 222b, the abscissa in the
criticalshearstressdiagramisgivenbyavariableK
*
1 3
Smith found it more useful to express the critical 0.0047( *) where
shearstressintermsofaparameterthatdependsonly

D s
*

(R*)crDks

( )

* cr

THRESHOLDCONDITIONFORSEDIMENT
MOVEMENT
55

ForH D 744.2

Inthisfashion,iterationisnotneededtofindthecritical
shear stress for a particle of diameter D in a bed with
characteristicroughnesslengthks.

Asystematicanalysisofeightdecadesofincipient
motionstudies,withspecialreferencetogravelbed
rivers was conducted by Buffington and
Montgomery (1997). Different models available in
theliteraturetoestimateentrainmentintomotionof
sedimentshavingmixedgrainsizesanddensitiesare
reviewed by Komar (1996). The work of James
(1990) with spheres and Carling et al (1992)
employingregularlyshapedparticles(rods,cylinders,
discs and cubes) illustrates that grainshape
variability and grain orientation are important to
entrainment, resulting in a range of stresses for
particlesthathaveotherwisethesameweight.Bridge
andBennett(1992)havedevelopedamathematical
modelforentrainmentandtransport,whichaccounts
fordifferentgrainsizes,shapesanddensities.Nio
etal(2003)wereabletomeasuretheeffectofgrain
size variability on sediment entrainment into
suspensionwiththehelpoflaboratotyexperiments.
More information about initiation of motion and
transport of gravel and sediment mixtures can be
foundinChapter3.
2.4.6 LischtvanLebedievDiagramfor
MaximumPermissibleFlowVelocity
Inpractice,itisoftenconvenienttoestimatetheflow
velocitynecessaryforinitiationofmotionandsediment
erosion.Anumberofresearchershaveconductedflume
experiments to collect data relating grain sizes and
densities to flow velocities, discharges and mean
stresses needed to initiate particle movement (e.g.
Miller et al. 1977). In the early 1920s, Fortier and
Scobey first introduced the concept of maximum
permissible flow velocity (Chow 1959, p. 165). The
maximumpermissibleflowvelocity,orthenonerosible
flow,isthegreatestmeanvelocitythatwillnotcause
erosionofthechannelbed.LischtvanandLebedievused
observations made in Russian channels (Lebediev
1959)forwiderangesofquartzsedimentsizes(0.005
mm D 500mm)andflowdepths(0.40m H
10m)toobtainvaluesofthemaximumpermissibleflow
velocityUcasafunctionoftherelativeflowdepthH D
(GarciaandMaza1997).The LischtvanLebedievdata
are plotted in dimensionless form in Fig. 223. Two
curveshavebeenfoundtofitthedatabyGarcaand
Maza(1997).

H0.1283

Uc
RgD

(263a)

1.630 D

ForHD744.2
Uc

H0.3221

RgD

1.453 D

(263b)

AninspectionofFig.223suggeststhatEq.(263a)
corresponds to flow conditions representative of
gravelbed and cobblebed streams (i.e., low relative
flowdepth),whileEq.(2.63b)correspondsconditions
commonly found in sandbed streams (i.e., large
relative flow depth). Notice that the general form of
these relations is very similar to the one obtained in
Section 2.4.3.1. The LischtvanLebediev relations are
widelyusedinLatinAmericaforthedesignofstable
channels and to estimate potential sediment erosion
conditions in sandbed rivers (e.g. Schreider et al.
2001).

2.4.7 EffectofBedSlopeonIncipientMotion
2.4.7.1 GranularSedimentonaSlopingBed The
work of Shields and others on initiation of motion
applies only to the case of nearly horizontal slopes.
Moststreams,particularlyinmountainareas,havesteep
gradients,creatinganeedtoaccountfortheeffectof
thedownslopecomponentofgravityontheinitiation
of motion. In fact, the model of Wiberg and Smith
(1987) as given by Eq. (262a) does account for the
effectofstreamwisechannelslope.

Asshownforthecaseofnegligiblelongitudinal
slope, the effect of the streamwise bed slope on
incipient sediment motion can be illustrated by
considering the forces (lift, drag, buoyancy, and
gravity)actingonaparticlelyinginabedconsisting
of similar particles over which water flows. Such
analysisyieldstheequation(ChiewandParker1994)
*
c

cos

co

tan
tan

(265a)

where
angleofrepose;
*
c

criticalshearstressforsedimentonabedwitha
longitudinalslopeangle;and
criticalshearstressforabedwithverysmallslope.

co

The value of *co can be found from the Shields


diagram withEq.(259),orwithEq.(261).Eq.(265a)is
forpositive ,whichappliesfordownwardslopingbeds.
Forbedswithadverseslope, isnegativeandtheterm
tan tan in

56 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

Fig.223. LischtvanLebedievdiagramformaximumpermissibleflowvelocity.

Eq.(265a)ispositive.Intermsofshearvelocities
therelationtakestheform

*c

tan
cos1

*o

tan

equationmathematicallyequivalenttoEq.(2
65a)oftheform

*
c
*
co

sin
sin

An expression similar to Eq. (265a) was


derivedbyLysne(1969),whoalsoperformedaset
ofexperimentsontheeffectofthebedslopeonthe
incipient motion of sand in a closed channel.
Lysnes results agree very well with the curve
givenbyequation(265a)foravalueof
47 .
A similar result was found by FernandezLuque
andVanBeek(1976),whoalsofittedarelationship
similar to Eq. (265a) to their results for the
incipientmotionofsand,gravel,andmagnetitein
openchannelflowonslopingbeds.
Chiew and Parker (1994) conducted a set of
laboratoryexperimentswithaclosedduct,totest
the validity of Eq. (265b) for both positive and
adverseslopes.TheresultsareplottedinFig.224.
Ingeneral,goodagreementisobservedbetweenthe
experimentalobservationsandthevaluespredicted
withEq.(265b).
LauandEngel(1999)useddimensionalanalysis
coupledwiththeobservationsmadebyFernandez
LuqueandVanBeek(1976)andChiewandParker
(1994)toobtainan

(265c)
Theyfoundthattheconditionforinceptionofmotion
dependsontheslopeangleaswellasontheReynolds
numberoftheflow.TheirrecommendationisthatEq.(2
65c)canbeusedforslopeanglesallthewayuptothe
angleofreposetogtherwithShieldscriteriatoestimate
*
co.Whitehouse etal.(2000)testedEq.(265c),

finding good agreement with experimental


observations.Thisrelationhasbeenrediscov
ered many times since Armin Schoklitsch
introduced it for the first time in the early
1900s.

Several investigators, such as Stevens et al.


(1976), Fernandez Luque and van Beek (1976),
Howard(1977),Allen(1982),Smart(1984),Dyer
(1986), Whitehouse and Hardisty (1988); Chiew
andParker(1994),IversenandRasmussen(1994),
Dey (1999), and Dey and Debnath (2000), have
usedrelationshipssimilartoeitherEq.(265a),Eq.
(265b),Eq.(265c)todeterminethecriticalshear
stress for sediment lying on a nonhorizontal
slopes.Stevensetal.(1976)usedsuchrelationship
toinvestigatethefactorofsafety

THRESHOLDCONDITIONFORSEDIMENTMOVEMENT

57

Fig.224. Effectofstreamwisebedslopeoncriticalshearvelocity.CurvecorrespondtoEq.2.65b(modified
fromChiewandParker1994).

for riprap protection, whereas Smart (1984) used


themtoevaluatesedimenttransportratesinasteep
channel. Kostic et al. (2002) used Eq. (265a) to
studytheforesetslopeofprogradingdeltasinlakes
and reservoirs. Whitehouse and Hardisty (1988),
Grafetal.(2000),andDamgaardetal.(2003)used
similarconceptstostudytheinceptionofbedload
transportonsteepslopes.Theeffectofseepageon
initationofmotionhasbeenanalyzedbyOldenziel
andBrink(1974),ChengandChiew(1999),andDey
andZanke(2004).

2.4.7.2 ThresholdConditiononSideSlopes The


analysespresentedaboveapplystrictlytothecaseof
flow on a nearly horizontal or sloping bed in the
streamwisedirectionthatishorizontalinthetransverse
direction (i.e., negligible transverse bed slope). An
important problem in engineering applications is the
caseofsedimentparticlesonasideslope(Simonsand
Senturk1992).Thisproblemisofparticularrelevance
tothedesignofriprapprotectionand

stable channels in coarse material (see Appendix B).


Thus it is worthwhile to present a more detailed
analysis.

In the present simplified analysis, the flow


velocity profile is again taken to be logarithmic
upwardnormalfromthebed.Aforcebalanceisdone
foraparticlelocatedonasideslope,asshownin
Fig.225.Theflowistakentobeinthestreamwise
direction, parallel to the side slope. The vectorial
fluiddragforceDfactingonaparticleisthusgiven
as

2
2

Df

(266a)

c u e
D f 1

The gravitational force Fg has a transverse as well as a


downwardnormalcomponent:

FF e

F e

g g 2 2

g3

(266b)

58 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS

FurtherreducingwiththeaidofEqs.(254)and(2
55),itisfoundthat

wheree1,e2,ande3areunitvectorsinthestreamwise,
transverse, and downward normal to the side
directions,respectively.

Rg 4 D

F ,F
g2

g3

sin,cos

Theliftforceisgivenas

1
2

cLu2fe3

angle ,Eq.(269b)reducesto

(267)

magnitudegivenby Fg 3e 3 Lf .Asshowninthedia
gram,undercriticalconditions,itmustpreciselybalancethe
vectorialsumoftheimpellingforcesduetoflow(Df)anddue
tothetransversedownslopepullofgravity(Fg2e2).

Theseconditionsonmagnitudeanddirectionleadto
thefollowingresultforthresholdconditions:

g3 3 f

Df

F e

g2 2

SubstitutingEqs.(266a),(266b),(266c)and(2
67) into Eq. (268) and reducing, the following
relationisobtained:

RgD

3cD

4
3cD cos

cD

the transverse direction.


Using this value to
normalizethevalue *c obtainedonasideslopeof

TheCoulombresistiveforceactingonagrain
hasa

F e L

Thecaseofatransverselyhorizontalbedisrecovered
bysetting
0.ThecriticalShieldsstressisfoundtobe
givenbyEq.(255a)forthiscase.Thisvalueisdenotedas
*
co,thesubscript o denotingthatthebedishorizontalin

(269b)
cL

cos

3c D F2

and denotes the local transverse angle of the side


slope,asillustratedinFig.225.

Lf

3c D F2

(266c)

2 12

4 sin

sin
cLu

12

c c

L D

*
co

sin
(269c)
c

12

c c

L D

cos

*
c
*
co

Equation(269c)isaquadraticpolynomialin *c *co,
and assuchiseasilysolved.AsolutionisshowninFig.2
26,whichhasbeenevaluatedforthecase
0.84(
40 )andcL 0.85cD.ItisalsoassumedthatcDisgiven
(268)
asafunctionofuf D vaccordingtothestandarddragcurve
for spheres (i.e. Eq. 246d). As can be seen there, the
Shieldsstresstakesthevalue *co onahorizontalbed(
0).Itprogressivelydecreasesasthesideslopeangle
increases,reachingavalueof0attheangleofrepose.

Manymethodsforstablechanneldesign,starting
withthe classic workofGlover and Floreyin the
early 1950s, make use of Eq. (269c) to design a
channelincoarsealluviumthatisatthethreshold
forsedimentmotionbutisstable(e.g.,Lietal.1976;
Diplas and Vigilar 1992). Parker (1978) also used
thisapproachtoanalyzeflowinselfformedstraight
rivers with mobile beds and stable banks. More
material on stable movablebed channels can be
foundinChapter7.
(269a)

If the lift force is neglected (i.e., cL 0), Eq. (269c)


reducestothewellknownLane(1955)relation,

2
f

cDRgD

*
c

*
co

cos

tan

tan

Fig.225. Definitiondiagramforparticlelocatedona
sideslope.

(270)

Equation(270)hasalsobeenderivedforapplication
tocoastalsedimenttransportproblemsbyFredseand
Deigaard(1992,p.204).Whitehouseetal(2000)tested

THRESHOLDCONDITIONFORSEDIMENTMOVEMENT

59

Fig.226. VariationofnormalizedcriticalShieldsstressforinitiationofmotionasafunctionofsideslope
angleaspredictedbyEq.2.69c.

the values predicted by Eq. (270) with the


observations made by Ikeda (1982) and found
reasonableagreement.Christensen(1972)foundout
thatthecriticalshearstressesestimatedwithEq.(2
70) have a tendency to be too conservative and
proposed an alternative method that takes into
accounttheratiobetweenthebedroughnessandthe
grainsize.Asthisratioincreases,LanesEq.(270)
andChristensensmethodgiveidenticalresults.The
methodofWibergandSmith(1987)presentedabove
also takes into account the effect of the relative
roughness D ks ontheevaluationofcriticalshear
stressconditionformotion.James(1990)hasalso
provided useful information on the effect of such
parameter on initiation of motion. Similar
approaches, which follow the socalled grain
pivotingmodel,havebeensuggestedbySlingerland
(1977) and Komar and Li (1988) among others
(Komar,1996).BridgeandBennett(1992)havealso
advancedamodelthataccountsforbedslopeeffects
oninitiationofmotion.

2.4.7.3 Threshold Condition for Motion on an


Arbitrarily Sloping Bed The general case of an
arbitrarily slopingbedwasfirsttreatedanalyticallyby
KovacsandParker(1994),whodevelopedavectorial
equation for sediment threshold on a combined
transverseandlongitudinal

60 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS

Duanetal.(2001)andDuanandJulien(2005)have
usedthefollowingformulationforsedimenttransport
modelinginmeanderingchannels,
2 12

*
c

*
co

cos

tan

tan

sloping bed. Their analysis was extended by


Seminara et al. (2002) to include the effect of lift
force. While studying coastal sediment transport,
Calantoni(2002,p.77)generalizedtheanalysisof
Fredse and Deigaard (1992) and obtained a
quadratic equation for the threshold condition for
motion,similartoEq.(269c),whichshowspromise
forpracticaluse.The positive rootof theequation
gives an equation that can be used to estimate the
criticalshearstressformotionofaparticlelocatedon
abedsurfacehavingalongitudinal(paralleltheflow
direction) slope angle and a transverse
(perpendiculartoflowdirection)slopeangle ,
*
c

*
co

cos

cos

tan
tan

tan
tan

Noticethatwhen
0,Eq.(271a)reducestoEq.
(270)andwhen
0,Eq.(271a)reducestoEq.(2
65a). Calantoni and Drake (1999) used Eq. (271) to
developadiscreteparticlemodelforbedloadtransport
inthesurfzonethataccountsforvariationsinbottom
slope.
Noticethatwhen
0,Eq.(271b)reducesEq.(2
65c)whichisalsoequivalenttoEq.(265a).When
0,Eq.(271b)reducestoEq.(265a).Itshouldbeclear
that Eqs. (271a) and (271b) are mathematically
equivalent.Intheearly1960s,NormanBrooksprovided
anexcellenttheoreticalanalysisofthisprobleminthe
contextofriverbends.ItcanbefoundinVanoni(2006,
p.64).

Other efforts to estimate critical shear stress

(271b)
values for sediments on arbitrarily sloping beds

sin

sin

include the work of Dey (1999, 2003). More


research,includingexperimentsoverawiderangeof

(271a)

conditions that can be used to test and improve


different formulations, is needed on this important
topic. Stream channel stability, bank erosion, and
meanderingchannelsaretopicswherethematerial
covered previously plays a crucial role. This will
become apparent in Chapter 7, Chapter 8, and in
AppendixBRipRapdesign.

2.5 SedimentTransport
Sedimentloadinthismanualreferstothesediment
thatisinmotioninariver.Therearetwocommon
waysofclassifyingthesedimentloadasshownin
Table 24. The first divides the sediment load
according to the mechanism for transport into bed
loadandsuspendedload.Thesecondclassifiesthe
loadbasedonparticlesizeintowashloadandbed
sediment load. The suspended load, as the term
denotes,movesinsuspensionandisthatpartofthe
load which is not bed load. Wash load is fine
sedimentmoving in suspensionwhichmakes upa
very small part, usually a few percent, of the
sedimentonthebed.Washloadiscommonlytaken
asthesiltandclayfractionofthebedsediment,i.e.,
thatfractionwithgrainsizesfinerthan0.062mm.
Thebedsedimentloadconsistsofparticlesthatare
coarser than the wash load. The transport rate or
discharge of wash load tends not to be correlated
with water discharge while discharge of bed
sediment, both in suspension and as bed load, is
usually correlated with water discharge. The total
sedimentloadismadeupofwashload,suspended
(bedmaterial) load and bed load. Methods and
technologies for measuring sediment transport are
coveredinChapter5.

In some rivers the different components of the


sedimentloadcanbeclearlydifferentiated.Thisisthe
caseoftheNigerRiver,Nigeria,depictedinFig.227,
wherethedifferentcomponentsofthesedimentload
weremeasuredincubicmetersperyearbyNEDECO
(1959).Inthisparticular

Table24 SedimentLoadClassification
Classificationsystem
Basedon

Basedon

Totalsedimentload

mechanismof
transport

Washload

Suspendedload

Washload

Suspended

Suspendedload

Bedmaterial

bedmaterialload

Bedload

particle
size

load

Bedload

Bedmaterial
load

examplethewashloadismanytimeslargerthanthe
loadofbedmaterialtransportedassuspendedandbed
load.Noticealsothattherearetwopeaksforthewash
loadassociatedwithsedimentgrainsizesofabout0.001
mm and 0.025 mm. These might be related to the
watershed activities taking place at the time the
observationsweremade.

2.5.1 SedimentTransportModes:Bed
MaterialLoad
andWashLoad

The sediment transport processes that can be


characterized with fluid and sediment dynamics
principlesarethoseofbedloadandsuspendedload.
Intheformercase,theparticlesroll,slide,orsaltate
alongthebed,neverdeviatingtoofarabovethebed.
In the latter case, the fluid turbulence comes into
play carrying the particles well up into the water
column.Inbothcases,thedrivingforceforsediment
transportistheactionofgravityonthefluidphase;
this force is transmitted to the particles via drag.
Whileitispossibletoquantifythemechanicsofbed
materialtransportassuspendedloadandbedload,a
similaranalysistoassessthewashloadhasproved
rather elusive. Before considering bedmaterial
transport in more detail, the wash load will be
considerednext.Importantquestionsarewhatisrole
ofsedimentintheflowenergybalanceandhowthe
divisionbetweenwashloadandbedmaterialloadin
sandbedstreamscanbemade?

The floodplains of most sandbed rivers often


contain copious amounts of silt and clay finer than
about0.062mm.Thismaterialisknownaswashload
because it often moves through the river system in
suspension without being present in the bed in
significantquantities(Colby1957).Increasedwashload
does not cause deposition on the bed, and decreased
wash load does not cause erosion, because it is
transportedatwellbelowcapacity.Thisisnotmeantto
implythatthewashloaddoesnotinteractwiththeriver
system.Washloadinthewatercolumnexchangeswith
thebanksandthefloodplainratherthanthebed.Greatly
increasedwashload,forexample,canleadtothickened
floodplaindepositswithaconsequentincreaseinbank
fullchanneldepth.Soilfertilitydepends

SEDIMENT
TRANSPORT
61

cohesivestreambankscancontributetothewashload
duringbankfullflowevents.Miningactivitiescanalso
contribute substantially to the wash load of river
systems, with potential environmental effects on
estuarineandcoastalareas(e.g.,coralreefs).Despiteits
importance, a physical characterization of the wash
loadisnotaneasytask.
Bydefinition,thewashloadisnotdeterminedbythe
hydrauliccharacteristicsofagivenriverreach;henceit
cannotbecomputed(EinsteinandChien1953).Atthe
sametime,sedimenttransportformulaeapplyonlyto
bedmaterialtransportanddonotaccountforwashload.
De Vries (1993) argues that there are at least two
reasons why a quantitative distinction between bed
materialloadandwashloadisnecessary.
(i)

Fig. 227. Total Sediment Load in the upper Niger River,


Nigeria (adapted from Jansen et al. 1979). Ordinates are in
hundreds of thousands of cubic meters per year for each
sedimentsizefraction.

largelyontheamountofwashloaddepositedbyfloods
onagivenfloodplainovertheyears.Thisfactwaswell
knownbytheEgyptians,whopracticeagricultureinthe
floodplainsoftheNileRiver.Alsoofrelevance,isthe
factthatcontaminantssuchasPCBsandheavymetals
are often attached to the finegrained sediments that
constitutethewashload.Thewashloadiscontrolledby
landsurfaceerosion(rainfall,vegetation,landuse)and
notbychannelbederosion.However,

For comparison of sediment transport


predictionswithvaluesmeasuredinthefieldit
is necessary to substract the wash load
component.
(ii) Areductionoftheflowvelocityinthedirection
ofthecurrentwillmakeafractionofthewash
load become bedmaterial load (e.g., reservoir
sedimentation).
Vlugter (1962) discriminated between sinking
material and floating material. He argued that fine
sedimentparticles(i.e.,floatingmaterial)beingmoved
downstreaminariveraddpartoftheirpotentialenergy
to the flow and can be transported in suspension
indefinitetly as long as the flow conditions do not
change.Ontheotherhand,coarsegrains(i.e.,sinking
material)requirekineticenergyfromthemeanflowto
remain in suspension. Bagnold (1962) arrived to a
similarconclusionwhilestudyingturbiditycurrents,and
called this condition autosuspension. Interestingly,
both Vlugter and Bagnold ideas were very similar to
thosearticulatedafewyearsearlierbyKnapp(1938)
whilelookingattheenergybalanceinstreamscarrying
suspended sediment. As pointed out by Jansen et al
(1979) in their river engineering book, the energy
balance concept underlying the Vlugter and Bagnold
argumentshasnotyetbeenacceptedbyeveryone(e.g.,
Parker 1982). In order to better understand some of
theseideasitisusefultoconsidertheenergybalancein
sedimentladenflows.
Consider a steady, uniform sedimentladen open
channelflowinachannelwithabedslopeS,asdescribed
in Fig. 231. The role of fine sediment in the energy
balancecanbeobservedbyconsideringtheaveragerateof
workPg(i.e.,dotproductofmomentumandvelocity)done
by gravity on the flow which can be approximated as
follows,

PggSUH
1

62 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS

specificgravityofthesediment,

sedimentdensity,

waterdensity, vs sedimentfallvelocity,and g
tionalacceleration.

gravita

ThephysicalsignificanceofthetermsinEq.(272a)
canbeidentifiedasfollows:
(1) Meanrateofenergyinputtothefluidphase(i.e.,
water).
(2) Mean rate of energy input to the mean flow
throughthesolidphase(i.e.sediment).

RgHCv

RgSCUH
(2)

(272a)

Inthissimplifiedenergybalancerelation,U mean
flowvelocity, H flowdepth, C meanvolumetric
concentrationofsuspendedsediment,R ( s
1)
submerged
(3) Meanrateofenergylossbymeanflowthrough
turbulent mixing required for maintaining
sedimentinsuspension.
Themaininputofenergytothemeanflowthroughthe
sediment phase can thus be positive or negative,
dependingonwhetherornotterm(2)isgreaterthan
term(3).Ifterm(2)islargerthan(3),itmeansthatthe
suspendedsedimentcontributesenergytotheflow.On
theotherhand,if(3)islargerthan(2)itmeansthatthe
flow is expenging energy to keep the sediment in
suspension. However for a dilute openchannel
suspension(C 1),terms(2)and(3)areverysmall
comparedtoterm(1).Thustheflowenergeticsistoa
first approximation independent of sediment
concentration.Itfollowsthatwhetherornotterm(2)is
greaterthanterm(3)hasessentiallynothingtodowith

whether theflow hasenough energyto sustainitself,


sincealmostalltheenergyentersthroughthewatervia
term(1).
Inthecaseofaturbidunderfloworturbiditycurrent
overlainbyclear,still,nonstratifiedwaterandflowing
downasubmarinechannelwithaslope S (Fig.259),
thesituationisdrasticallychanged.Clearwaterwillnot
flow down a submarine channel or canyon due to
gravity in the absence of suspended sediment. An
analysisoftheequationsofmotion(seeSection2.11.3)
showsthattheworkdonebythehydrostaticpressure
gradientofthefluidphasejustcancelsterm(1),sothat
in fact there is no positive energy input to the fluid
phase.Inthecaseofturbiditycurrents,gravityactson
the solid phase which in turn drags the fluid phase
downslopeforminganunderflow.Thenetmeanenergy
inputthroughthesolidphasePgsissimply

RgSCUHRgHCvs

gs

ThisistheclassicalBagnoldcriterionforturbidity
currents(Bagnold1962).Itensuresthatthesediment
supplies more energy than it consumes. The
Bagnold criterion must be satisfied if a self
sustaining turbidity current is to occur. This is a
necessaryconditionbutisnotsufficientasdescribed
by Parker et al (1986) since the flow has to be
capable of entraining sediment into suspension to
sustainitself.

The analogous energy constraint for a self


sustaining,dilute(RC 0.1),openchannelsuspension
isfoundtobefromEq.(272a),

(3)foraselfsustainingturbiditycurrent,

RgSCUHRgHCvs
Thisrelationcanbereducedto
US

vs

RC

vs

IRC

(272b)

2 3
Thustheonlypositiveenergyinputintotheturbidity
currentisviaterm(2).Itfollowsthatterm(2)must
exceedterm

US

RC

(272e)

This condition was first articulated by Knapp


(1938) and expressed mathematically by Vlugter
(1942, 1962). An openchannel suspension can
guarantee that the KnappVlugter criterion is
satisfied, by lowering the suspended sediment
concentrationC,andthusitsexcessfractionaldensity
RC,viasedimentdeposition.Vlugter(1962)usedthe
abovecriteriontodesignstableirrigationchannelsin
(272c)
Indonesia.AccordingtoVlugter,sedimentwithafall
velocity vs that satisfies the above condition
constitutesthefloatingmaterialthatdoesnotrequire
energyfromtheflowtobetransported.Thefloating
materialisequivalenttothewashload.Ontheother
hand,sedimentwithfallvelocitiesthatdonotsatisfy
the KnappVlugter condition and that take energy
awayfromtheflowtobetransportedisdubbedthe
sinking material. The sinking material can be
(272d)
regardedasthebedmaterialload.Vlugterstatesthat
inpractice,whenthemeanflowvelocityU 0.5m
s,allsiltparticlessmallerthan0.07mmappearto
behaveasfloatingmaterial(i.e.,washload).Thisis
closetothegraindiameterof 0.062mmcommonly
usedtodefinethewashload(e.g.,Colby1957).
De Vries (1993) has suggested that the Knapp
Vlugtercriterion(Eq.272e)couldbeusedtofinda
tentative division between wash load and bed
materialloadinsandbedstreams.Therehavealso
been attempts to use Bagnolds ideas, which are
applicable only to turbidity currents as previously
shown, for the analysis of selfsustaining suspen
sions in openchannels flows (e.g., Southard and
Mackintosh 1981; Wang 1984). As could be
expected,thishasgeneratedasubstantialamountof
discussionintheliterature(e.g.,Parker1982;Paola
andSouthard1983;Nordin1985a;Brush1989).It
should be clear that Bagnolds criterion does not
correspondtoanenergyconstraintonopenchannel
suspensions. The fundamental differences and
similaritiesbetweensedimenttransportbyriversand
turbiditycurrentsareaddressedinSection2.11.
While conducting sedimentation studies in the
Orinoco River in Venezuela, Nordin and Perez
Hernandez(1985)definedthewashloadasthematerial
thatcanbesuspended(i.e.,u* vs 1.25)assoonasits
motionatthebedisinitiated

R
(i.e., b
bc).Mathematically,thisconditioncanbedefined
indimensionlessformbytherelations
*

where
*

*
c

Rf

gRDD andcanbeevaluated,forexample,with

ep

Dietrichsrelation(Eq.247).

Nordin(1985b)suggeststhatthemostpracticalway
1.11R when
(272f)
*
toapplythiscriterioninthefieldistoplotthelargest
f
c
particle size that can be suspended and the largest
particlesizethatcanbemovedatthebed,asfunctions
of the shear velocity (u*). The sediment diameter at
which the two curves intersect defines the upper
limitingsizeofthewashload,andparticlesfinerthan
dimensionlessShieldsstressparameterdefinedby
thiswouldnotbefoundinappreciablequantitiesinthe
bedbecausetheywouldgointosuspensionassoonas
Eq.(273a);
their motion is initiated. In the case of the Orinoco
River,Nordin(1985b)foundthattheupperlimitingsize
dimensionlesscriticalShieldsstressforincipient
forthewashloadis0.095mmforawatertemperature
motion(Fig.219);
of 25 C. A limiting size for the wash load in
dimensionlessformwhichimplicitlyincludestheeffect
vs
of temperature, can be found from the dimensionless
dimensionlessfallvelocity(Eq.246b)
particle Reynolds number (Rep) where the curves for
gRD
initiationofmotionandsuspensionintersect,asshown
inFig.228below.However,therelationsproposedby
whichisafunctionof
Mantz(Eq.259c)orYalinandKarahan(Eq.261a)for
incipient motion of finegrained sediment should be
usedinsteadoftheShieldscriterion(Eq.259b)which

doesnotworkforthegrainsizesfoundinthewash
load.
WhileNordinsapproachcanprovideanideaofthe
sizeoftheparticlesmakingupthewashload,because
this finegrained material is transported well below
capacity what ultimately determines how much
sedimentistransportedaswashloadisthesupplyof
finesedimenttoagivenriverfromitswatershedandnot
the transport capacity of the river itself. Watershed
sedimentyieldisaddressedinChapter17.
In what follows, the emphasis is placed on
understandingthemechanicsofbedloadandsuspended
load transport in openchannel flows, including
morphologicalchangesinrivers,lakesandreservoirs,
withthegoalofprovidingtheknowledgeneededfor
sedimentationengineering.Themechanicsoftransport
by turbidity currents is also considered, and used to
analyzedeltaformationandreservoirsedimentation.

2.5.2 ShieldsParkerRiverSedimentation
Diagram
Alluvial rivers that are free to scour and fill during
floodscanbroadlybedividedintotwotypes:sandbed
streamsand

SEDIMENT
TRANSPORT
63

gravel bed streams. Sand bed streams typically have


values ofmedian bedsediment sizebetween 0.1 mm
and 1 mm (Fig. 212). The sediment tends to be
relativelywellsorted,withvaluesofgeometricstandard
deviationofthebedsedimentsizevaryingfrom1.1to
1.5. Gravel bed streams typically have values of
mediansizeofthebedsedimentexposedonthesurface
of15mmto200mmorlarger;thesubstrateisusually
finerbyafactorof1.5to3(Fig.213).Thegeometric
standard deviation of the substrate sediment size is
typicallyquitelarge,withvaluesinexcess3beingquite
common. Although gravel and coarser material
constitute the dominant sizes, there is usually a
substantialamountofsandstoredintheintersticesof
thegravelsubstrate(Chapter3).
Twodimensionlessparametersprovideaneffective
delineatorofriversintotheabovetwotypes(Garca
2000).Thefirstoftheseparametersisthedimensionless
Shieldsstressforuniformflowconditions,definedas:
*

HS

gRD

RD

(273a)

where
b

bedshearstress;

g gravitationalacceleration

and swaterandsedimentdensity,respectively;
R ( s
)
submerged specific gravity of the
sediment;

D meansediment
diameter;Histheflow
depth;and
Sisthestreamslopewhichforsteady,uniformflow
isthesameastheenergygradient.
ThesecondoftheseparametersistheparticleReynolds
numberRepdefinedas:

gRDD
ep

where is the kinematic viscosity of water. This


secondparametercanbeconsideredasadimensionless
surrogateforgrainsize.
RiverswerefirstintroducedintotheShieldsdiagram
by GaryParker inthe early1980s. Parkerused these
twoparametersbuthisdiagram,showninFig.228,
did not include field data (Garca 1999). Parkers
diagram,however,gaveanindicationoftheareasinthe
modified Shields diagram corresponding to sandbed
andgravelbedstreams.
Motivated by a thorough review of the Shields
diagramdonebyBuffington(1999),Garca(2000)used
fieldandlaboratotydatatoconfirmtheearlyideasof
Parker,resultinginFig.229.Thisfigureshowsaplot
ofthevaluesoftheShieldsstress(Eq.273a)evaluated
atbankfullflowversusparticleReynoldsnumber(Eq.
273b)forsixsetsoffield

(273b)

64 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTANDMORPHODYNAMICS

Fig.228. ParkersRiverSedimentationDiagram(Garca1999).

data:a)gravelbedriversinWales,UK(Wales);
b) gravel bed rivers in Alberta, Canada
(Canada); c) gravel bed rivers in the Pacific
Northwest,USA(Pacific);d)singlethreadsand
streams (Sand sing); e) multiplethread sand
streams (Sand mult); f) large sandbed rivers
(Parana, Missouri, etc.); and g) largescale
laboratory experiments on bridgepier scour
conducted at St Anthony Falls Laboratory
(SAFL),UniversityofMinnesota.

Thecriticalconditionforsuspensionisgivenby
the ratio (Nio and Garca 1998; Lopez and
Garca2001)
u*

As could be expected, the ShieldsParker


diagram(Fig.229)alsoshowsthatingravel
bedrivers,bedmaterialistransportedmainlyas
bedload.Ontheotherhand,insandbedrivers,
suspension and bed load transport of bed
materialcoexist,particularlyathighflows.The
diagram is valid for steady, uniform flow
conditions, where the bed shear stress can be
estimatedwith b
gHS(Eq.21).Theranges
for silt,sand,andgravelarealsoincluded.In
this diagram, the critical Shields stress for
motionwasplottedwithEq.(259a).

(274)

where u* is the shear velocity; and vs is the


sediment fall velocity. Eq. (274) can be
transformedinto:

There are three curves in the ShieldsParker river


sedimentation diagramofFig.229thatmakeitpossible
toknow,fordifferentvaluesof( *,Rep),ifagivenbed
sedimentgrainwillgointomotion,andifthisis

thecase,whetherornottheprevailingmode
of transport will be suspended load or bed
load. The diagram can also be used to
estimate what kind of bed forms can be
expected for different flow conditions and
sedimentcharacteristics.Forexample,ripples
will develop in the presence of a viscous
sublayer and finegrained sediment. If the
viscoussublayerisdisruptedbycoarsesedi
ment particles, then dunes will be the most
commontypeofbedform.

vs

Rf

(275)

where:
2

u
*

(276) gRD

denotesathresholdShieldsnumberforsuspension
and Rf is given to be Eq. (246b), and can be
computedfordifferentvaluesofRepwiththehelp
ofDietrichsfallvelocityrelationgivenbyEq.(2
47a).

Finally, the critical condition for viscous


effects(ripples)wasobtainedwiththehelpof
thedefinitionfortheviscoussublayerthickness
(Eq.26)asfollows,

11.6

u*D

(277)

SEDIMENTTRANSPORT

65

Fig.229. ShieldsParkerRiverSedimentationDiagram(afterGarca2000).

whichindimensionlessformcanbewritten
as
*
v

11.6
Rep

gravelbed rivers at bankfull stage, which has


implications for movablebed physical modeling.
Ifonewantedtomodelinthelaboratorysediment
transport in rivers, the experimental conditions
would be quite different depending on the river
typeinquestion.Inordertosatisfysimilarityina
smallscale,rivermodel,itwouldbenecessaryto
satisfytheidentities(Garca2000)
*

Inthisequation, v denotesthethresholdShields
numberbelowwhichripplescanbeexpected.

Relations(259a),(275),and(278)aretheones
plotted in Fig. 229. The ShieldsParker diagram
should be useful for studies concerning stream
restoration and naturalization (Chapter 9), for it
provides the range of dimensionless shear stresses
correspondingtobankfullflowconditionsforgravel
*
bed streams (0.01
0.2) and for sandbed
*
streams (0.6
6). Notice that the bankfull
dimensionless Shields shear stress is in general, an
orderofmagnitudelargerforsandbedstreamsthan
forgravelbedstreams.

An interesting observation is that sandbed


streamsareinthetransitionbetweensmoothand
hydraulically rough conditions, while gravelbed
streamsarealwayshydraulicallyrough.Thishas
implications, for instance, for the use of
Manningsrelation(Eq.223a)whichappliesonly
tofullyroughandturbulenthydraulicconditions
(Yen2002).
TheShieldsParkerdiagramalsoshowsavery
cleardistinctionbetweentheconditionsobserved
insandbedand

66 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS

diagramprovidesatooltoquicklydetermine potential
scale effects in movablebed
model studies by simply
plottingthevaluesof( *; Rep)formodelandprototype

*
model

ep model

prototype

ep

prototype

forbankfullflowconditions.Inmostmovable
bedmodels,FroudesimilarityisenforcedandEq.
(279a) is used to achieve sediment transport
similarity.However,sedimenttransportconditions
and the associated bed morphology in a model,
seldom precisely reproduce prototype conditions
becausethesecondconditiongivenbyEq.(279b)
is rarely satisfied. This leads to the common
practiceofusinglightweightmaterial(Table22)
toreproduceprototypeconditionsinsmallscale
models(e.g.,Shen1990).However,thisdoesnot
implythatthebedformsobservedinthemodelwill
bethesameasthoseintheprototype.Theriver
sedimentation

conditions in

Fig. 229. As discussed in


Henderson(1966,p.504),theconditiongiven
byEq.(279b)canberelaxedforsufficiently
large values of Rep (i.e. hydraulically rough
flow)inbothmodelandprototype.Itisclear
from Fig.229,that this wouldbe possible
onlyforthecaseofgravelbedstreams.More

(2

(2

informationonmovablebedphysicalmodels
canbefoundinAppendixC.

2.6 BedloadTransport
SincethepublicationofASCEManual54(Vanoni
1975),asignificantamountofworkhasbeendone
tounderstandthemechanicsofbedloadtransport.
Twoschoolsofthoughtcanbeclearlyidentified
andtheybearthenameoftwogiantsinthefieldof
sedimentation,BrigadierRalphAlgerBagnoldand
ProfessorHansAlbertEinstein.
Bagnold(1956)definedthebedloadtransport
as that in which the successive contacts of the
particles withthe bedare strictlylimited bythe
effect of gravity, whereas the suspended load
transport is defined as that in which the excess
weight of the particles is supported by random
successions of upward impulses imported by
turbulenteddies.Einstein(1942,1950),however,
presented a somewhat different view of the
phenomenon.Einsteindefinedbedloadtransport
asthetransportofsedimentparticlesinathinlayer
abouttwoparticlediametersthickjustabovethe
bedbysliding,rolling,andmakingjumpswitha
longitudinaldistanceofafewparticlediameters.
Thebedloadlayerisconsideredtobealayerin
whichmixingduetoturbulenceissosmallthatit
cannot directly influence the sediment particles,
andthereforesuspensionofparticlesisimpossible
in the bed load layer. Further, Einstein assumed
thattheaveragedistancetraveledbyanybedload
particle(asaseriesofsuccessivemovements)isa
constantdistanceofabout100particlediameters,
independentoftheflowcondition,transportrate,
andbedcomposition.InEinsteinsview,saltating
particles belong to the suspension mode of
transport,becausethejumpheightsandlengthsof
saltating particles are greater than a few grain
diameters. On the other hand, Bagnold (1956,
1973) regards saltation as the main mechanism
responsibleforbedloadtransport.
Mostresearchworksthatprovideamechanistic
descriptionofbedloadtransportunderuniform
equilibriumconditionshavefallenintooneorthe
other school of thought. The centerpiece of the
Einsteineanformulationisthespecificationofan
entrainmentrateofparticlesintobedloadtrans
port(pickupfunction)asafunctionofboundary
shear stress and other parameters. The work of
NakagawaandTsujimoto(1980),vanRijn(1984a)
and Tsujimoto (1991), for example, represent
formulationsofthistype.

2.6.1 BedLoadTransportAnalysis
Sedimentcanbetransportedinseveralways.A
grain will begin to move when the boundary
shearstressjustexceedsacriticalvalue.Atthe
lowest transport stages, particles move by
slidingandrollingoverthesurfaceofthebed,
but with a small increase in boundary shear
stressthesegrainswillhopupfromthebedand
follow ballistictype trajectories. This latter
mode of bed load transport is known as
saltation.Gilbert(1914)seemstohavebeenthe
firsttousethetermsaltation,derivedfomthe
Latin verb saltare, which means to leap or
dance,todescribethemotionofsandparticles
inwater.

Saltation is described as the unsuspended


transportofparticlesoveragranularbedbyafluid
flow,intheformofconsecutivehopswithinthe
nearbed region. It is governed mainly by the
action of hydrodynamic forces that carry the
particlesthroughtheflow,thedownwardpullof
gravityandthecollisionoftheparticleswiththe
bed,whichtransferstheirstreamwisemomentum
into upward momentum, thus sustaining the
saltation motion (Nio and Garca 1998). This

Inthe Bagnoldean formulation, however,a


relationforthearealconcentrationofbedload
particlesasafunctionofboundaryshearstress
derivesautomaticallyfromtheimpositionofa
dynamic condition at the bed, according to
whichthefluidshearstressdropstothecritical
value for the onset of sediment motion. The
physicalimplicationisthatmovinggrainswill
extractenoughmomentumfromthefluidinthe
bedloadlayer,suchthatthefluidstressatthe
bed remains at the critical shear stress for
motion.Thisdynamicconditionisreferredtoas
theBagnoldhypothesisorBagnoldconstraint.
The hypothesis was used by Owen (1964) to
calculatesedimenttransportbysaltationforthe
case ofwindblownsand.Itis implicit inthe
bedload formulations of Ashida and Michiue
(1972) and Engelund and Fredse (1976) for
nearly horizontal beds. Wiberg and Smith
(1989),SekineandKikkawa(1992)andNio
and Garca (1994; 1998), for example, have
used the hypothesis to derive models of bed
loadtransportonnearlyhorizontalbedsbased
on an explicit calculation of grain saltation.
Sekine and Parker (1992) used the Bagnold
hypothesistodevelopasaltationmodelforbed
loadonasurfacewithamildtransverseslope,
and Kovacs and Parker (1994) extended the
analysis ofAshidaand Michiue (1972)tothe
case of arbitrarily sloping beds. Bridge and
Bennett (1992) have employed the Bagnold
hypothesis to study the bedload transport of
sedimentmixtures.

Based on the most recently published


formulations of bed load transport, then, it is
possibletosaythatthefieldasawholehastended
away from the Einsteinean and toward the
Bagnoldean formulation. This notwithstanding,
doubts have been expressed from time to time
concerningtheBagnoldhypothesis.Forexample,
the experimental work of FernandezLuque and
van Beek (1976) does not support the Bagnold
hypothesis.Areanalysisofthedataandformula
tionpresentedinNioetal.(1994)andNioand
Garca(1994)causedNioandGarca(1998)to
castfurtherdoubtsonthehypothesis.Kovacsand
Parker (1994) were forced to modify the
hypothesis in order to obtain a wellbehaved
theoryofbedloadtransportonarbitrarilysloping
beds. With the help of numerical experiments,
McEwanetal.(1999)havefoundthatonlyinthe
caseofhighsedimentavailabilitydoesthefluid
shearstressatthebedequalthecriticalstressfor
intiation of motion. Seminara et al. (2002) and
Parker et al. (2003) have shown that Bagnolds
hypothesis breaks down when applied to
equilibrium bedload transport on beds with
transverseslopesabovearelativelymodestvalue
thatiswellbelowtheangleofrepose.Allofthe
above suggests that formulae that make use of
Bagnoldshypothesismightonlybeabletopredict
bedloadtransportforcertainconditions(Nioand
Garca 1998). This notwithstanding the ideas of
Bagnold have nevertheless contributed
substantially to the understanding the physics of
the sedimenttransport problem. Acollection of
hallmark papers by R.A. Bagnold has been
publishedbyASCE(Thorneetal1988).
differsfromanearlierdefinitiongivenbyBagnold
(1973) who assumed that the only upward
impulses exerted on the saltating particles were
thoseresultingfromtheimpactofparticleswith
the bed. Thus, Bagnold neglected the effect of
hydrodynamicliftandverticalimpulsesowingto
flowturbulence,whichhavebeenshowntoplay
anessentialroleinthesaltationphenomenon(e.g.
Leeder1979a;BridgeandDominic1984;Bridge
and Bennett 1992; Nio et al., 1994; Nio and
Garca1994).Experimentalstudiesonsaltationof
gravelandsandbyNioetal.(1994)andNioand
Garca(1998b)havegivendetailedinformationon
thephysicsofparticlesaltation.Inparticular,they
have provided a description of the particle
collisionwiththebed,allowingcalibrationofa
stochastic modelfor thisphenomenon, and have
also provided statistics for the geometric and
kinematicpropertiesofthesaltationtrajectories.
In addition to its significance for the flux of
sedimentmovingasbedload,thebedloadlayer
servesasanexchangezonebetweenthebedand
sediment transported in suspension; the upward
fluxofsedimentatthetopofthebedloadlayer
provides the boundary condition for suspended
sediment transport calculations. Once sediment
starts moving and sliding along the bed, the
prevalent mode for bed load transport will most
likelybesaltationforarangeofbedshearstresses.
At higher values of boundary shear stress, the

surfacelayerofthebedmaydeformandmoveasa
grain flow or granular fluid flow (Wilson 1987,
1989). Grain flow is also known as sheet flow
(FredseandDeigaard1992;Sumeretal1996).
Collision of the moving particles with the bed
exertsbothatangentialandanormalstressonthe
bedsurface.TheworkofBagnold(1954),Hanes
andInman(1985),andJenkinsandHanes(1998)
onhighconcentration,granularshearflowshave
shownthatiftheratiooftheappliedtangentialto
normal shear stresses exceeds the critical yield
criterion,thefrictionalresistanceofthebed

BEDLOAD
TRANSPORT

67

willbeovercome,andagrainflowwillbeinitiated
in the surface layer of the bed (Fredse and
Deigaard1992). Soitisimportanttobeableto
discriminatebetweendifferentmodesofsediment
transportsothatthedomainofapplicabilityofbed
loadtransportmodelscanbedetermined(Sumeret
al1996).
Inanattempttointerpretdifferenttransportmodesfol
lowinginitiationofmotion,Wiberg(1987)usedamechanis
ticmodelofbedloadtransport(WibergandSmith1985)to
produceadiagram(Fig.230)oftransportstage(T*
b
bc) or bed shear stress ( b) versus quartz grain
diameter(D), depicting the range of conditions

overwhichsedimentmovesstrictlyasbedload
and a saltationbased model can be used to
describe the phenomenon. Conditions for the
initiationofmotion,thetransitiontosuspension
and the transition to grain flow, are also
included.

AsshowninFig.230(a),attransportstagesT*
1nosedimentmovesinauniformbedofa
given grain size. For grain sizes D 0.08 cm
(coarsesandandfiner),theconditionsforincipient
motionoccurattransportstageslowerthanthose
at which the applied stresses at the bed are
sufficient to overcome the beds frictional
resistance.ForsizesD 0.08cm,thissituationis
reversed, and the conditions for potential grain
flow(sheetflow)atthebedsurfacearereached
beforetheparticlesaresignificantlyaffectedby
the vertical turbulent velocity fluctuations that
couldentrainthegrainsintosuspension(Nioand
Garca1996).Wiberg(1987,p.94)indicatesthat
the advent of either of these processes does not
precludethepossibilityoftheother,butchangesin
the bed load dynamics produced by these
processes are certain to influence the transport
stage at which the other could occur. This is
supported by the observations made by Wilson
(2005),whichshowthatwhentheratiobetween
the shear velocity (u*) and the sediment fall
velocity(vs)increasesoveracriticalvalue(u* vs
6.5), arapid increasein bothflow resistance
and sediment entrainment into suspension is
observed.
For all sediment sizes, Fig. 230(a) suggests
thatatransportstageofabout20isanupperlimit
forsaltationbasedbedloadtransport.Asaltation
model might still provide reasonable transport
predictions for incipient grainflow conditions
beyondthislimit,butthephysicsofthephenom
enon becomes more complicated as graingrain
interactionbecomesmoreintense(e.g.,Kobayashi
andSeung1985).
Fig.230(b)presentsthesameresultsasshownin
Fig. 230(a), but in terms of dimensional boundary
shearstress, b (dy cm2),togiveabettersenseof
when the transition to these transport modes are
actually likely to occur. For sediment sizes D
0.018cm(finesandandfiner)atinitialmotion,the
moving particles go directly into suspension fol
lowingintiationofmotion.Thecorrespondingcritical
shearstress b 2dy cm2,isquitelow,andmaterial
of these sizes is frequently mobilized, provided
cohesiveeffectsarenotlarge(seeChapter4).Fineto
coarsesand(D 0.0180.08cm)movesinitiallyas
bedload,withparticlesstartingtogointosuspension
athighershearsstresses.Forexample,medium

68 SEDIMENTTRANSPORTAND
MORPHODYNAMICS

largesandbedriversorinhighgradientmountain
streams. Thus for the grain sizes commonly
encountered, suspendedload transport is an
important mode of transport for fine sediment,
whereas highconcentration grain flows are
probably relatively uncommon except in a few
specific environments. For a large range of
sedimentsizesinthemediumtocoarsesandrange
andabove,ifthesedimentismovingatall,itis
certainlymovingasbedload.

2.6.2 BedLoadTransportDefinition
Bedloadparticlesroll,slide,orsaltatealongthebed.The
transportthusistangentialtothebed.Whenallofthe
transportisdirectedinthestreamwise,orsdirection,the
volume bed load transport rate per unit width (n
direction) is given by qb; the units are
3
2
length /length/time,orlength /time.Ingeneral, qb isa
function of boundary shear stress b and other

sedimentparameters;thatis,

qbqbb,otherparameters

(2

In general, bed load transport is vectorial, with


components qbs and qbn inthe s (streamwise)and n
(lateral) directions, respectively. Basically the bed
loadtransportratecanbedefinedastheproductof
particleconcentration,particlevelocity,andbedload
layerthickness,

qu c

b b

bb

(2

inwhichq
b isthevolumetricbedloadtransportrate
(m2 s),cbisthevolumetricsedimentconcentration
(i.e.volumeofsediment/volumeofwatersediment
mixture),ubisparticlevelocity(m s),andbisthe
thicknessofthebedloadlayer(m).Bagnoldeanbed
load transport models use this definition of the
bedload transport rate (Ashida and Michiue 1972;
EngelundandFredse1976;VanRijn1984a;Wiberg
andSmith1987;SekineandKikkawa1992;Nioand
Garca 1994; Lee and Hsu 1994; Nio and Garca
1998;Leeetal.,2000).
Fig. 230. Tentative ranges of conditions over which
sediment moves strictly as bed load. (a) Initiation of
motion,thetransitiontosuspensionandthetransitionto
grain flow plotted in terms of transport stage versus
grain size. (b) The same curves plotted in terms of
dimensional boundary shear stress (in dy/cm 2), versus
gransize.Theverticallinemarkstheparticlesizeatthe
intersection of the incipient suspension and incipient
grainflowcurves, D 0.08cm(adaptedfromWiberg
1987).
2

sand begins to move at b 2 to 3 dy cm and2


incipientsuspensionbeginsat b 10to30dy cm
Shearstressesofsuchmagnitudecanbereachedduring
moderateriver flowsandduringstormsoncontinental
shelves.

Inveryenergeticenvironments,suchasthesurf
zoneincoastalareasorduringlargeriverfloods,it
mayalsobepossibleforagrainflow(sheetflow)
todevelop(Wilson1987,1989;Sumeretal1996).
Forcoarsesandandgravel(D 0.086cm),a
relativelylargeboundaryshearstressisrequired
justtoinitiatethemotionofthesediment.For
example,forD 0.5cm(finegravel),thecritical
shearstressis bc 45dy cm2)andagrainflow
ispossibleatashearstress b 550dy cm2;
theseconditionsareonlylikelytooccurinvery

Thebedloadtransportratecanalsobedefined
astheproductofthenumberofmovingparticles
perunitarea,theparticlevolumeandtheparticle
velocity(Garca2000),

qbNbVbub

(2

inwhichNbisthenumberofparticlesperunitbedarea
2
3
(m ), Vb is the particle volume (m ), and ub is the
particle velocity (m s). If the particle velocity is
definedastheratioofthesaltationorsteplength and
the saltationormovementperiod T (i.e.ub
T),
then

qbNbVbTEpDp

Here, Ep and Dp eroded and deposited volume of


particles per unit bed area per unit time (m s),
respectively. Equilibrium bed load transport conditions
implythatEp Dp.

Theideaofapickuprateandasteplength
wasfirstproposedbyEinstein(1942;1950)and
constitutes the basis of Einsteinian bedload

(2

transport models (Nakagawa and Tsujimoto,


1980; Tsujimoto, 1992). A comparison of
several pickup rate functions and their
applicationscanbefoundinVanRijn(1984b;
1986). Einstein defined the particle step
length as the particle travel distance from
entrainment to deposition (i.e., when the
particlestopsmovingandcomestorest)and
estimatedittobeequaltoabout100timesthe
particlediameter.Einsteinsparticlelengthcan
beexpectedtobeseveraltimes the saltation
length previously defined. This assumption
will be considered below in light of the
experimentalobservationsmadebyWongand
Parker(2006a).
2.6.3 ConservationofSediment
Mass: TheExnerEquation
andMorphodynamics

vE
s

BEDLOAD
TRANSPORT

69

andParker1991;Nioetal.2003).Erosioninto
suspensioncanbetakentobedirectedupward
normal,i.e.,intheposi
tivezdirection.
_

Letudenotethemeanflowvelocity(ms)atapoint

located at a distance z normal to the bed, and c


denote the mean volumetric
concentration of
suspended sediment (m3 of sediment m3 of
sedimentwatermixture),averagedoverturbulence.
The streamwise volume transport rate of sus
pendedsedimentperunitwidthisgivenby
H

Beforeconsideringbedloadtransportrelations
in more detail, it is useful to formulate the
interaction between bed sediment and the
watercolumnthrougherosionanddeposition,
sothatthesedimentmassconservationcanbe
formulated. Consider the definition diagram
for a sedimentladen, uniform, openchannel
flowshowninFig.231.Thevolumerateof
erosion of bed material into suspension per
unittimeperunitbedareaisdenotedas
Er.
3
2
The units of Er are length / length /time, or
velocity. A dimensionless sediment entrain
mentrate Es canthusbedefinedintermsof
thesedimentfallvelocityvs:

Next Page

qS

u cdz

(2

Letsdenotethestreamwisedirectionandndenote
the lateraldirection ina twodimensionalcase;then
twocomponents,qSsandqSnresult,where
H

(28

u cdz

Ss
0

Ingeneral, Es canbeexpectedtobeafunctionof
boundary shear stress b and sediment related
parameters(Garca

(28

v cdz

Sn

wherevisthemeanlateral(ndirection)velocity
atadistancezabovethebed.

Depositionontothebedisbymeansof
settling.Therate

atwhichmaterialisfluxedverticallydownwardontothebed
_

(volume/area/time)isgivenbyvc

,wherec
sb

valueofthevolumetricsediment
concentration
authors assume that the value of the nearbed
concentration is the same as the sediment
concentration in the bed load layer defined
previously (Einstein1950; Engelundand Fredse
1976;ZysermanandFredse1994).Thedeposition
rateDrrealizedatthebedisobtainedbycomputing
thecomponentofthisfluxthatisactuallydirected
normaltothebedas

D
r

v c
sb

whichgivesthevolumeofsedimentdeposited
perunitbedareaperunittime(Garca2001).
Fig. 231. Definition diagram for sedimentladen
openchannelflow.

Nowitispossibletoformulatethesedimentmass
conservationforbedmaterialtakingintoaccountboth
bedloadtransportandsedimenterosionintoandfrom
suspension.Consideraportionofriverbottom(Fig.2
32),wherethebedmaterialistakentohaveaconstant
porosity p. Mass balance of sediment requires

thatthefollowingequationbesatisfied:
massofbedmaterial netmass
bedloadinflowrate
t

netmassrateofdepositionfrom
suspension

Adatumofconstantelevationislocatedwell
belowthebedlevel,andtheelevationofthebed
withrespectto

isanear
_

c.So

(2

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