3 Sediment Transport in Rivers

Last update 18.12.2009. Original material by Tuomo Karvonen, 2002.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Helsinki University of Technology

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3 SEDIMENT TRANSPORT IN RIVERS
3.1 Introduction
Water flow in rivers causes sediment transport and the relationship between flow factors (e.g.
velocity, depth) and amount of material transported is a very interesting but complex phenomena
and it has several important engineering aspects like erosion around structures, backfilling of
dredged channels or reservoirs, erosion below a dam, morphological changes in rivers, etc.
The purpose of this material is to cover the basic phenomena related to sediment transport both as
bed load and as suspended load. In order fully to understand the sediment transport processes the
material included covers first some very important basic concepts of open channel hydraulics
(sections 3.2 and 3.3):
shear stress in laminar and turbulent flow (section 3.2.1 and 3.2.2)
bottom shear stress and friction velocity (section 3.2.4 and 3.2.5)
classification of flow layers (section 3.2.7)
velocity distribution in open channel flow (sections 3.3.2 and 3.3.3)
bed roughness and bottom friction coefficient (sections 3.3.4 and 3.3.7)
drag force (section 3.3.6)
The sediment transport theory and equations for calculating bed load and suspended load are given
in section 3.4.
The text is aimed for students who are not very familiar with the subject but basic knowledge of the
theory of open channel hydraulics is needed:
flow types (laminar, turbulent, steady, unsteady)
uniform flow, non-uniform flow
basic flow factors like hydraulic radius, wetted perimeter, Reynolds number etc.
Froudes number, subcritical and supercritical flow
friction losses, Manning, Chezy and Darcy-Weissbach friction coefficients
continuity equation
energy principle (specific energy, Bernoulli equation)
momentum principle
The basic theory of the topics described above can be examined e.g. from the web-pages of the
Yhd-12.2010 Hydraulics.
Most of the equations shown in this material are definitely well-known, and referenced in numerous
papers. In this case the notations and equations collected by Liu (2001) are used. The material
included is not intended to replace the text books. On the contrary, this should encourage to get
acquainted the theory more thoroughly.
Throughout the text the following symbols have been used for the most often used variables.
The symbols for water and sediment properties:
: density of water depending on temperature and e.g. salt concentration; usually around 1000
kg m
-3

s
: density of natural sediments; usually a value 2650 kg m
-3
is used
s: relative density is denoted as s=
s
/
: kinematic viscosity of water [10
-6
m
2
s
-1
]
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d, d
50
: grain diameter is denoted as d or d
50
, which is the 50 % point in the grain size distribution
curve [m]
Flow factors, velocity distribution parameters:
h: water depth [m]
u: the symbol used for time averaged horizontal velocity of water is u [m s
-1
]
w: the symbol used for time averaged vertical velocity of water is w [m s
-1
]
u
*
: friction velocity [m s
-1
]
l
m
: mixing length [m]
z
0:
the point of zero velocity in hydraulically rough flow [m]

:
theoretical thickness of the viscous sublayer [m]
Friction and shear stress parameters:
: von Karman constant (=0.40)
k
s
: bed roughness
H
r
: ripple height [m]
f : Darcy-Weissbach friction coefficient
C: Chezy coefficient
S
*
: sediment-fluid parameter

c
: critical Shields parameter

: shear stress in laminar flow (viscous shear stress) [N m

-2
]

t
: shear stress in turbulent flow [N m
-2
]

b
: bottom shear stress [N m
-2
]

b
'
: effective shear stress acting on a grains [N m
-2
]
Sediment transport variables:
q
s,b
: bed load transport [m
2
s
-1
]
q
s,s
: suspended load transport [m
2
s
-1
]
q
s,T
: total sediment load transport [m
2
s
-1
]
3.2 Laminar, turbulent and bottom shear stresses
3.2.1 Shear stress in laminar flow
In laminar flow the fluid particles move horizontally without macroscopic mixing, i.e. the laminar
flow can be visualised as layers which slide smoothly over each other as shown in Fig. 3-1. The
layers close to the bottom have slower velocity and therefore there is a shear stress between the
different "layers" since the upper layer moves faster than the layer below. This shear stress can also
be called viscous shear stress since it is caused by the viscosity of water.
The shear stress can be given by Newtons law of viscosity
dz
dv

(3-1)
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where is density of water and is kinematic viscosity, v is velocity and z is vertical coordinate
(positive upwards). The velocity difference dv/dz determines the magnitude of the shear stress. It
has to be remembered that also in the turbulent flow there is narrow laminar flow layer near the
bottom.
Fig. 3-1. Shear stress in laminar flow (u(z) refers to v(z)).
3.2.2 Shear stress in turbulent flow
In turbulent flow the particles move both horizontally and vertically and there is a continuous
"mixing of particles". Some move upwards and some downwards according to a stochastic process.
In turbulent flow the instantaneous velocity components in horizontal (x) direction, V, and in
vertical (z) direction, W can be defined as
' w w W
' v v V
+
+
(3-2)
where v and w are the time averaged velocities in x and z direction, respectively and v and w are
the instantaneous velocity fluctuations. Time averaged values v and w are usually used in the
computations.
In turbulent flow the particles move irregularly causing continuous exchange of momentum
(remember: momentum is mass multiplied by velocity) from one portion of fluid to another and this
momentum exchange is the reason for the turbulent shear stress, which is also called the Reynolds
stress. The turbulent shear stress, given by time-averaging of the Navier-Stokes equation, is
' w ' v
t

(3-3)
Eq. (3-3) can be used if measurements of velocities in horizontal and vertical direction are available
over a period (e.g. few minutes) and the readings are stored e.g. several times during one second.
Then it is possible to calculate the time-averaged values v and w from the measurement series and
thereafter v' and w' can be calculated for each individual measurement. The Reynolds stress can
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then be calculated by calculating the time-averaged value of v'w' (2
nd
momentum, i.e. variance) and
by multiplying the value with density as shown in (3-3). Without real measurements equation (3-3)
is not very useful in calculations and therefore further development is needed for those cases.
Prandtls mixing length theory
Prandtl introduced the mixing length theory in order to calculate the turbulent shear stress. As we
remember from above, turbulent shear stress is caused by particle movement from one layer to
another causing momentum exchange. Prandtl's mixing length theory is based on the assumption
that a fluid parcel has to travel over a length l
m
before its momentum is transferred. Basically it is
easy to understand the concept of the mixing length: since turbulent stress is caused by momentum
transfer, it is useful to have a physical length that defines when the momentum has been transferred.
Fig. 3-2. Prandtl's mixing length theory (adapted from Liu 2001) (u refers to v).
Fig. 3-2 shows the time-averaged profile. The fluid particle locating in layer 1 and having the
velocity u
1
, moves to layer 2 due to eddy motion. There is no momentum transfer during the
movement, i.e. the velocity of the fluid parcel is still u
1
when it just arrives at layer 2, and decreases
to u
2
some time later by momentum exchange with other fluid in layer 2. This action will speed up
the fluid in layer 2, which can be seen as turbulent shear stress
t
acting on layer 2 trying to
accelerate layer 2 (Liu 2001).
Note: The momentum transfer discussed above happens in the vertical direction. It is useful to point
out now that later on in this material it is shown that there is momentum transfer between the main
channel and floodplain in the horizontal direction which causes an additional resistance to the main
channel flow. That is, there is a shear stress in the imaginary wall between the main channel flow
and the floodplain flow. In this case the momentum is transferred in horizontal direction
(perpendicular to the flow direction) and particle moving from the main channel to floodplain will
speed up the flow velocity in the floodplain, which can be seen as additional stress acting on the
boundary.
The horizontal instantaneous velocity fluctuation of the fluid parcel in layer 2 is (see Fig. 3-2).
dz
dv
l v v ' v
m 2 1

(3-4)
and assuming the vertical velocity fluctuation having the same magnitude
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dz
dv
l ' w
m

(3-5)
where the negative sign is due to downward movement in this case. The turbulent shear stress is
now (see Eq. (3-3)):
2
2
m t
dz
dv
l ' w ' v

,
_

(3-6)
The very useful definition called kinematic eddy viscosity [m
2
s
-1
] is:
dz
dv
l
2
m

(3-7)
which has the same unit than the kinematic viscosity used in the shear stress in laminar flow in Eq.
(3-1). The turbulent shear stress can now be defined in a similar way compared to laminar (viscous)
shear stress:
dz
dv
t

(3-8)
3.2.3 Total shear stress
The total shear stress is the sum of viscous shear stress (it is acting also in turbulent flow) and the
turbulent shear stress:
dz
dv
dz
dv
t
+ +

(3-9)
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3.2.4 Bottom shear stress
The derivation of the bottom shear stress is completely analogous to the derivation of the Chezy
coefficient in the "Hydraulics"-course.
Fig. 3-3. Fluid force and shear stress (adapted from Liu 2001)
Assuming uniform flow and balancing the forces acting on the darker area in Fig. 3-3 we get
o z
xS ) z h ( g sin x ) z h ( g x (3-10)
which leads to
o z
S ) z h ( g (3-11)
where S
o
is the bottom slope. The bottom shear stress (z=0) in uniform flow is thus
o b
ghS (3-12)
Bottom shear stress
b
for an irregularly shaped cross-section can be easily derived by taking into
account that the shear stress is acting on the whole wetted perimeter P over the whole length x.
sin x gA x P
b
(3-13)
and by remembering that hydraulic radius R=A/P the bottom shear stress equation will be
o b
gRS (3-14)
For wide channels R is around h and then (3-12) and (3-14) are almost equal.
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3.2.5 Friction velocity
The bottom shear stress is often converted to so called friction velocity u
*
, which is defined by
o
b
*
gRS u
(3-15)
The unit of u
*
is the unit of velocity [m s
-1
] and it denotes the fluid velocity very close to the bottom
(see Eq. (3-24) in section 3.3.2).
3.2.6 Viscous sublayer
On the bottom of an unvegetated channel there is no turbulence and the turbulent shear stress
t
=0,
and therefore in a very thin layer above the bottom, viscous stress is dominant, and hence flow is
laminar in that layer called viscous sublayer.
Above the viscous sublayer the turbulent stress dominates and the total stress can be calculated
from Eq. (3-16), i.e. as the sum of viscous and turbulent shear stresses.
o t v z
S ) z h ( g + (3-16)
The total stress decreases linearly towards zero when approaching the water surface (z approaches
water depth h). The distribution of the shear stress as a function of z is completely analogous with
the hydrostatic pressure p=g(h-z) with the exception of the viscous sublayer close to the bottom.
3.2.7 Classification of flow layers
According to Liu (2001) the so called scientific classification of flow layers is the one shown in Fig.
3-4.
Fig. 3-4. Scientific classification of flow regions in unvegetated channels (not to scale). Adapted
from Liu (2001).
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Near the bottom there is the thin viscous sublayer where there is almost no turbulence.
Measurements show that the viscous shear stress in this layer is constant and equal to the bottom
shear stress
b
. Flow in this layer is laminar. In the transition layer viscosity and turbulence are
equally important. In the turbulent logarithmic layer viscous shear stress is negligible and the
turbulent shear stress is equal to the bottom shear stress. The Prandtl's mixing length theory was
developed for this layer and it leads to the logarithmic velocity profile as shown later on. The
turbulent outer region consists of about 80-90 % of the total region and velocity is relatively
constant due to the strong mixing of the flow (Liu 2001).
3.3 Velocity distribution
It was described in section 3.2.7 that the measurements show that the turbulent shear stress is
constant in the turbulent logarithmic layer and it equals the bottom shear stress. By assuming that
the mixing length is proportional to the distance to the bottom, l
m
=z ( is von Karman constant),
Prandtl obtained the logarithmic velocity profile. By the modifications done to the original theory,
the logarithmic velocity profile applies also in the transitional layer and in the turbulent outer layer.
Measured and computed velocities show reasonable agreement. This means that from an
engineering point of view, two different velocity profiles need to be considered (Liu 2001):
logarithmic velocity distribution, which covers the transition layer, turbulent logarithmic layer
and turbulent outer layer from Fig. 3-4.
velocity profile in the viscous sublayer
3.3.1 Characterisation of smooth and rough flow
It is necessary to characterise the flow as hydraulically smooth or rough since it influences e.g. the
thickness of the viscous sublayer etc.
A very big series of experiments were carried out by Nikuradse for pipe flows. He introduced the
concept of equivalent grain roughness k
s
, which is usually called bed roughness for open channel
flow. Based on the experiments it was found that the following criteria can be used to characterise if
flow is hydraulically smooth, rough or in the transitional zone:
flow al transition lly hydraulica ; 70
k u
5
flow rough lly hydraulica ; 70
k u
flow smooth lly hydraulica ; 5
k u
s *
s *
s *
(3-18)
where u
*
is the friction velocity calculated using Eq. (3-15) and is the kinematic viscosity.
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3.3.2 Velocity profile in the turbulent layer
In the turbulent layer the total shear stress is assumed to contain only the turbulent shear stress. The
total shear stress increases linearly with depth
)
h
z
1 ( ) z (
b t
(3-19)
According to Prandtl's mixing length theory shown in section 3.2.2 and Eq. (3-6)
2
2
m t
dz
du
l

,
_
(3-6)
Now comes the modification of the original theory. Instead of assuming that the mixing length
l
m
=z like Prandtl assumed, l
m
is replaced by equation
5 . 0
m
)
h
z
1 ( z l (3-20)
it is possible to combine (3-20) and (3-6) to get
z
u
z
/
dz
du
* b

(3-21)
Eq. (3-21) can be integrated from z
0
to h to get the logarithmic velocity profile.
,
_
0
*
z
z
ln
u
) z ( u (3-22)
The integration constant z
0
is the elevation corresponding to zero velocity (see Fig. 3-5).
Note the similarity to the calculation of aerodynamic resistance r
a
needed in the estimation of
potential evapotranspiration rate using the Penman-Monteith equation! In these calculations the
roughness length is usually around 10-13 % of the crop height!
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Fig. 3-5. Velocity distribution in hydraulically smooth and rough flow (graphs not to scale).
The integration constant z
0
(m) is here based on the study conducted by Nikuradse for pipe flows.
'
flow al transition lly hydraulica ; 70

k u
5 k 033 . 0
u
11 . 0
flow rough lly hydraulica ; 70
k u
k 033 . 0
flow smooth lly hydraulica ; 5
k u
u
11 . 0
z
s *
s
*
s *
s
s *
*
0
(3-23)
The friction velocity u
*
is the fluid velocity very close to the bottom and it is the flow velocity at
elevation z=z
0
e
, i.e.
*
e
0
z z
u u
(3-24)
3.3.3 Velocity profile in the viscous sublayer
In the case of hydraulically smooth flow there is a viscous sublayer whereas in the rough flow there
is a height z
0
with zero flow (Figs. 3-5 and 3-6). Viscous shear stress is constant in the viscous
sublayer and it is equal to the bottom shear stress as shown in Fig. 3-4.
b
dz
dv

(3-25)
Eq. (3-25) can be integrated assuming that velocity v=0 when z=0. Integration gives
z
v
z ) z ( v
2
*
b
(3-26)
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giving a linear velocity distribution in the viscous sublayer. The thickness of the viscous sublayer
can be obtained by finding the z value where the logarithmic velocity distribution intersects the
linear distribution giving a theoretical thickness of the viscous sublayer
(Liu 2001).
*
v
6 . 11

(3-27)
3.3.4 Bed roughness
One important question is how to determine the bed roughness k
s
? Nikuradse made his experiments
by glueing grains of uniform size to pipe surfaces. In completely flat bed consisted of uniform
spheres the bed roughness k
s
would be the diameter of the grains. This cannot be found in nature,
where the bed material is composed of grains with different size and bottom itself is not flat but it
includes ripples or dunes (see section 3.4.3).
According to Liu (2001), the following k
s
values have been suggested based on different type of
experiments:
concrete bottom k
s
=0.001 - 0.01 m
flat sand bed k
s
= (1 - 10)d
50
bed with sand ripples k
s
=(0.5 - 1.0)H
r
: H
r
= ripple height [m]
Fig. 3-6. Summary of the velocity profiles in hydraulically smooth and hydraulically rough flow.
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3.3.5 Connection between bottom shear stress and Chzy coefficient
If one compares the well-known Chzy equation
RS C U (3-28)
and the equation for friction velocity u
*
,
gRS u
*
(3-15)
it is possible to derive a connection between C, u
*
and average velocity U.
g
u
U
C
*
(3-29)
In the next step it is necessary to calculate the average velocity from the logarithmic velocity profile
by integrating it from z
0
to h (Liu 2001).
)
e z
h
ln(
u
h
z
1 )
z
h
ln(
u
dz )
z
z
ln(
h
u
dz ) z ( u
h
1
U
0
* 0
0
*
h
0
z
0
* h
0
z
1
]
1
(3-30)
In this way it is possible to relate the Chezy coefficient, water depth h and roughness height/rough
flow and critical velocity u
*
as follows (Liu 2001):
'
,
_
,
_
70
k u
; flow rough lly Hydraulica
k
h 12
log 18
5
k u
; flow smooth lly Hydraulica
3 . 3
hu 12
log 18
)
e z
h
ln(
g
C
s *
s
10
s * * 10
0
(3-31)
where the equations for z
0
, (3-23) have been utilized.
3.3.6 Drag force
Flowing water moving past an object will exert a force called drag force
2
D D
AU C
2
1
F (3-32)
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where C
D
is the coefficient and A is the projected area of the object to the flow direction. Values of
C
D
are usually around 1.0..2.0 but experiments are needed for more accurate determination of the
values. Drag force comes partly from the skin friction when water moves around the object and
partly from the pressure the moving water exerts on the object.
Correspondingly to the drag force another force called lift force F
L
can be defined. It has the same
shape than the drag force:
2
L L
AU C
2
1
F (3-33)
where C
L
is the lift coefficient which also need to be determined experimentally.
3.3.7 Bottom friction coefficient f
Liu (2001) shows derivation of a dimensionless friction coefficient f which corresponds to the
Darcy-Weissbach friction coefficient originally derived for pipe flow. The derivation is based on
examining the forces acting on a grain resting on the bed. The drag force is slightly modified from
(3-32) by multiplying the depth averaged velocity U by an empirical coefficient to take into
account the fact that the true velocity near the grain on the bottom is somehow related to U. Then it
is possible to examine the shear stress
b
acting on the grain by saying that the horizontal force is
the drag force acting on A' which is the projected area of the grain to the horizontal plane:
2
D D
) U ( A C
2
1
F (3-34)
2 2 2
D
D
b
fU
2
1
U )
' A
A
C (
2
1
' A
F
(3-35)
where f is empirical friction coefficient corresponding the Darcy-Weissbach coefficient in pipe
flow.
)
' A
A
C ( f
2
D
(3-36)
Eq. (3-36) is not useful and therefore the following derivation is needed by utilising Eqs (3-35), (3-
15) and (3-28):
2
o
2
o
2
b
C
g 2
RS C
gRS 2
U
2
f
(3-37)
where it has been assumed that flow is uniform. Eq. (3-37) can finally be converted to hydraulically
smooth and rough flow conditions by utilising (3-31).
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'
1
]
1
,
_
1
]
1
,
_

70
k u
; flow rough lly Hydraulica
k
h 12
log
06 . 0
5
k u
; flow smooth lly Hydraulica
3 . 3
hu 12
log
06 . 0
C
g 2
f
s *
2
s
10
s *
2
* 10
2
(3-38)
Friction coefficient equation (3-38) together with Eq. (3-35) provide in some cases a useful way to
calculate the bottom shear stress
b
.
3.4 Calculation of sediment transport in open channels
3.4.1 Sediment transport types
The total transport of sediments, q
s,T
can be divided to (e.g. Liu 2001)
Bed load transport, q
s,b
(see section 3.4.4)
suspended load, q
s,s
(see section 3.4.5)
wash load, q
s,w
Bed load transport is the part of the total load which is more or less continuously in contact with the
bed. The bed load is in close relation to the effective shear stress (section 3.4.3) which acts directly
to the grain surface.
Suspended load is the part of total load which is moving without continuous contact with the bed.
The appearance of ripples will increase bed shear stress and thus the suspended load is related to the
total bed shear stress.
Wash load is composed of very fine particles transported by water but they are not originated from
the bed. The calculation of wash load is not discussed here.
The sum bed load transport, q
s,b
and suspended load, q
s,s
is called bed-material load. They are
moving in different layers in the water. If the bottom is completely flat, which usually is not the
case, the thickness of the layer is typically some grain diameters. E.g. Einstein (1950) suggested
that the thickness of the bed load layer is 2d
50
. When the bed is rippled, the thickness of the bed
load transport layer is often suggested to be the on the order of the ripple height H
r
or the bed
roughness k
s
(Bijker 1971).
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Fig. 3-7. Ripples and dunes (adapted from Liu 2001).
The transport formulas have been developed assuming that the lateral transport in the river is very
difficult to forecast and therefore the unit is m
3
(m s)
-1
, i.e. cubic meters per second per meter width.
Sediment transport is calculated in terms of volume of sediment and if it is necessary to take into
account river aggradation/degradation, then sand porosity must be taken into account (see Section
3.5).
Before giving the equations used in the calculation, a brief theory of settling velocity and threshold
of sediments is needed.
3.4.2 Settling velocity and threshold of sediments, Shields diagram
The first step is to develop equation for calculation of settling velocity of a grain in still water. The
forces acting on a grain in still water moving downwards at constant velocity v
s
are the downward
submerged weight of the grain and drag force acting upwards. Drag force acting upwards
2
s
2
D
2
D D
v
4
d
C
2
1
AU C
2
1
F

(3-39)
and submerged weight acting downwards
6
d
g ) (
3
s

(3-40)
and by equating these
6
d
g ) ( v
4
d
C
2
1
3
s
2
s
2
D

(3-41)
the settling velocity can be solved from Eq. (3-42)
s
D
s
s ;
C 3
gd ) 1 s ( 4
v (3-42)
The drag coefficient C
D
of a grain can be calculated based on the Reynolds number
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Re
36
4 . 1 C
D
+ (3-43a)
d v
Re
s
(3-43b)
If Eq. (3-43a) is substituted to (3-42), the settling velocity v
s
can be calculated from
8 . 2
d
36
gd ) 1 s ( 5 . 7
d
36
v
2
s
,
_

(3-44)
The next step is to consider threshold of sediments in steady flow. The forces acting on a grain
lying on the bottom are given in Fig. 3-8. The driving force is the drag force exerted on the grain the
resistant force is the friction force.
Fig. 3-8. Vertical and horizontal forces acting on a grain resting on the bed (adapted from Liu
2001).
The drag force is calculated from (3-45) assuming that the velocity used in the drag force equation
is the friction velocity u
*
close to the bottom multiplied by an empirical coefficient .
2
*
2
D
2
D D
) u (
4
d
C
2
1
AU C
2
1
F
(3-45)
The resisting force is the friction force=friction coefficient f multiplied by the difference between
the downward acting submerged weight W' and upward acting lift force F
L
(see Fig. 3-8).
2
*
2
L L
) u (
4
d
C
2
1
F
(3-46a)
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6
d
g ) ( ' W ); F ' W ( f
3
s L

(3-46b)
The next step is to define a critical friction velocity u
*,c
, i.e. the situation when the forces are in
balance and the grain is just starting to move.
,
_
2
c *,
2
L
3
s
2
c *,
2
D
) u (
4
d
C
2
1
6
d
g ) ( f ) u (
4
d
C
2
1
(3-47)
By re-arranging (3-48) it is possible to obtain a form
2
L
2
D
2
2
c *,
3
4
C f C
f
gd ) 1 s (
u
+
(3-48)
where the parameter is defined as the Shields parameter
gd ) 1 s (
u
2
*
(3-49)
Now it is possible to define three different conditions when sediments start to move:
gd ) 1 s (
u
parameter Shields critical or
u stress shear bottom critical or
u velocity friction critical u u
2
c *,
c c
2
c *, c , b c , b b
c *, c *, *
>
>
>
(3-50)
How to determine the critical Shields parameters
c
? Originally it was taken from the Shields
diagram giving
c
as a function of the grain Reynolds number Re=d
g
u
*
/, where d
g
is a
characteristic grain diameter. The Shields diagram (not shown here) is inconvenient because friction
velocity u
*
is both in the x-axis in Re and y-axis which is calculated from Eq. (3-49). Madsen et al.
(1976) converted the Shields diagram in to the diagram shown in Fig. 3-9 giving the relationship
between the critical Shields parameter
c
and a so called sediment-fluid parameter S
*
4
gd ) 1 s ( d
S
*
(3-51)
The modified Shields diagram is shown below in Eq. (3-52) in the form that can be used e.g. in
Excel-calculations without the need to look the critical Shields parameter
c
from the graph.
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+ +
4
gd ) 1 s ( d
S and ) S log( x where
03167 . 1 x 636397 . 0 x 054252 . 0 x 20307 . 0 x 06043 . 0 x 002235 . 0 ) log(
* *
10
2 3 4 5
c
10
(3-52)
How to use Eq. (3-52) or the diagram? Calculate first the sediment-fluid parameter S
*
and then from
Eq. (3-52) (or from the graph 3-9) the critical Shields parameter
c
, which in turn can be used in Eq.
(3-50) to calculate the critical friction velocity u
*,c
and the critical bottom shear stress
b,c
.
Fig. 3-9. The modified Shields diagram giving critical Shields parameter
c
as a function of the
sediment-fluid parameter S
*
. The diagram is also given as a fifth order polynomial.
3.4.3 Effective shear stress
Various types of bedforms were shown in Fig. 3-7. According to laboratory experiments the
sequence of bedforms with increasing flow intensity is (Liu 2001):
Flat bed
Ripples
Dunes
High stage flat bed
Antidunes
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Ripples are formed at relatively weak flow intensity and are linked with fine material, with d
50
less
than 0.7 mm. The size of ripples is primarily controlled by grain size as follows
50 r 50 r
d 1000 L ; d * 100 H (3-53)
where H
r
is the ripple height (m) and L
r
is the length of ripples. At low flow intensity the ripples
have fairly regular form with upstream slope 6 and downstream slope 32.
The dunes have the smaller shape than ripples but they are much larger and they linked with d
50
bigger than 0.6 mm. Antidunes are formed when flow is supercritical (Froude number greater than
1.0).
Bed roughness k
s
was briefly discussed in section 3.3.4 for different kind of surfaces.
'
bed rippled d 100

bed flat d ) 10 .. 1 (
k
50
50
s
(3-54)
Bed roughness is thus related to the absence/presence of ripples.
In the presence of ripples, the total shear stress
b
consists of two parts:
Effective shear stress
b
' originating from the skin friction (grain surface friction)
Shear stress due to the form pressure of the ripples
b
''
' '
b
'
b
b
+ (3-55)
Effective shear stress
b
' is important since it is acting on the single grains and therefore it is crucial
for estimating the bed load transport as will be shown in the section 3.4.4.
In the case of flat bed
b
'' is zero and bed roughness is taken as k
s
=2.5d
50
and the effective shear
stress is calculated as (see Eqs (3-35) and (3-38)):
2
2
50
10
2 '
b
U
)
d 5 . 2
h 12
log(
06 . 0
2
1
fU
2
1
,
_
(3-56)
where h is water depth and U is average velocity. In the case of rippled bed,
b
' is as given above
but the total stress is larger due to ripples
2
2
r
10
2
b
U
)
H
h 12
log(
06 . 0
2
1
fU
2
1
,
_
(3-57)
where it has been assumed that bed roughness k
s
equals the height of the ripples H
r
.
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3.4.4 Calculation of bed load transport
In bed load transport it is essential to take into account both the bottom shear stress
b
and the
effective shear stress
b
' acting on single sediment (skin friction).
In many methods bed load transport is expressed in the form (e.g. Liu 2001).
gd ) 1 s ( d
q
b , s
B
or gd ) 1 s ( d q
B b , s
(3-58)
Therefore, the difference between the methods is in many cases the way to calculate the
dimensionless function
B
. Unless specified, assume that d=d
50
in bedload transport equations.
Meyer-Peter formula
Meyer-Peter (1948) formula is also based on large amount of experimental data and it based on the
critical Shields parameter calculated using Eq. (3-52)
5 . 1
c B
) ' ( 8 (3-59)
where ' is effective Shields parameter calculated as
gd ) 1 s (
/
'
'
b

(3-60)
Einstein-Brown formula
According to Liu (2001): The principle of Einstein's analysis is as follows: the number of deposited
grains in a unit area depends on the number of grains in motion and the probability that the
hydrodynamic forces permit the grains to deposit. The number of eroded grains in the same unit
area depends on the number of grains in that area and the probability that the hydrodynamic forces
are strong enough to move them. For equilibrium conditions the number of grains deposited must
be equal to the number of grains eroded, which, together with experimental data fitting gives
3
50
2
3
50
2
3
B
gd ) 1 s (
36
gd ) 1 s (
36
3
2
K
) ' ( K 40
+

(3-61)
where ' is effective Shields parameter calculated as previously.
Kalinske-Frijlink formula
Kalinske-Frijlink (1952) formula is based on curve fitting of all the data available at that time. It
does not use the dimensionless function
B
.
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,
_
'
b
50 b
50 b , s
g d ) 1 s ( 27 . 0
exp d 2 q (3-62)
3.4.5 Suspended load transport
The calculation of suspended load transport is more complicated than that of bed load transport. The
formulation shown in this text is based on steady flow conditions. It is assumed that turbulent
fluctuations keep the sediment in suspension. Both the vertical sediment concentration distribution
c(z) and velocity distribution u(z) have to be estimated.
The estimation of the velocity distribution has been given in sections 3.3.2 and 3.3.3. In turbulent
layer the velocity distribution is calculated from Eqs (3-22) and (3-23) and in the viscous sublayer
from Eq. (3-26).
The derivation of the concentration distribution is based on the following assumptions:
concentration c(h) = 0, i.e. at water surface concentration is zero
the bed load transport is assumed to take place in a layer with thickness a in Fig. 3-10 and
suspended load takes place in the layer from z = a to z = h
the reference concentration c
a
needed is calculated assuming constant concentration in the bed
load transport layer
the total suspended load can be calculated by integrating the c(z) multiplied by u(z) from z = a
to z = h (see Fig. 3-10.)
Based on the assumptions given above it is possible to derive equation for the concentration
distribution c(z) (Liu 2001).
)
*
u
s
v
(
a
a h
a
z
z h
c ) z ( c

,
_
(3-63)
It is assumed that the thickness of the bed load transport layer is equal to the bed roughness k
s
and
in this layer there is a constant sediment concentration c
a
.
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Fig. 3-10. Illustration of vertical distribution of c(z) and u(z) (adapted from Liu 2001).
The depth averaged velocity in the bed load transport layer U
b
is calculated assuming that close to
the bottom there is a viscous sublayer with linear velocity distribution and above that a turbulent
logarithmic velocity profile. This leads to an equation which can be used to calculate average
velocity in the bed load transport layer.
*
s
k
e
0
z
0
*
0
*
s
b
u 34 . 6 dz )
z
z
ln(
u
e z
u
2
1
k
1
U
,
_
(3-64)
and in this way the bed load transport can be given as
a s b b , s
c k U q (3-65)
which finally gives the average sediment concentration in the bed load transport layer.
s *
b , s
s b
b , s
a
k u 34 . 6
q
k U
q
c (3-66)
Now the concentration profile c(z) in Eq. (3-63) can be calculated and the suspended load can be
calculated by two different methods.
Method 1
Method 1 is based on direct numerical integration of c(z) multiplied with u(z)
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h
a
s , s
dz ) z ( c ) z ( u q (3-67)
The idea is to calculate both c(z) and u(z) from z=a to z=h and use e.g. discretisation small enough
(e.g. 0.005..0.01 m) to calculate the integral numerically.
Method 2
Method 2 given by Liu (2001) is based on quasi-analytical solution of the integral as shown in Eq.
(3-68). The Einstein integrals I
1
and I
2
needed in (3-68) have to be evaluated by integrating
numerically Eqs (3-69). Since numerical integration is needed also in the method 2 it seems
preferable to use method 1 and integrate numerically only one equation.
,
_
,
_
,
_
2
s
1 a *
h
a
)
*
u
s
v
(
a
0
*
h
a
s , s
I )
k 033 . 0
h
ln( I a c u 6 . 11
dz
a h
a
z
z h
c )
z
z
ln(
u
dz ) z ( c ) z ( u q
(3-68)

,
_

,
_
1
A
*
z
*
z
) 1
*
z (
2
1
A
*
z
*
z
) 1
*
z (
1
dB ) B ln(
B
B 1
) A 1 (
A
216 . 0 I
dB
B
B 1
) A 1 (
A
216 . 0 I
(3-69)
*
s
*
s
u
v
z ;
h
z
B ;
h
k
A
(3-70)
By combining Eqs (3-68) and (3-66) the final equation used in the method 2 is obtained:
,
_
+
2
s
1 b , s s , s
I )
k 033 . 0
h
ln( I q 83 . 1 q (3-71)
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3.4.6 Total sediment transport
The total sediment transport is the sum of the bed load transport and suspended load transport.
Bijker's method is based on summing the bed load transport from Eq. (3-58) and suspended load
transport either from numerical integration of (3-67) or from (3-71).
,
_
,
_
+ + +
2
s
1 b , s s , s b , s T , s
I )
k 033 . 0
h
ln( I 83 . 1 1 q q q q (3-72)
Engelund's method is based on one single equation
g ) 1 s (
d
gd ) (
U * 05 . 0 q
50
5 . 1
50 s
b 2
T , s
,
_
(3-73)
3.4.7 Examples of sediment transport equations
[sedim_bed_suspended.xls]
3.4.7.1 Numerical integration
In suspended sediment transport it is necessary to integrate numerically either the integral
h
a
s , s
dz ) z ( c ) z ( u q (3-67)
or the Einstein integrals I
1
and I
2
.

,
_

,
_
1
A
*
z
*
z
) 1
*
z (
2
1
A
*
z
*
z
) 1
*
z (
1
dB ) B ln(
B
B 1
) A 1 (
A
216 . 0 I
dB
B
B 1
) A 1 (
A
216 . 0 I
(3-69)
*
s
*
s
u
v
z ;
h
z
B ;
h
k
A
(3-70)
Integration means simply calculation of area between the integration lower and upper limit
restricted by the function to be integrated. Numerical integration is based on dividing the integration
interval into small trapezoids and integral is the sum of area of these trapezoids.
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A convenient way is to use Excel to numerical integration and the best way to illustrate the method
is to take an integral with known analytical solution and then compare the numerical solution with
the analytical one.
Example 3-1. Calculate numerically the integral

2
0
2
2
0
dx ) 2 x ( dx ) x ( f (3-74)
using interval length x=0.01, i.e. N=200 intervals. Here f(x)=x
2
+2. The exact solution can be
easily found in this case to be 20/36.666667. The numerical integration is done in such a way that
the function value f(x) in Eq. (3-74) is calculated for all values starting from integration lower limit
(x
1
=0 here) up to and including the integration upper limit (x
N+1
=2 here). The numerical
approximation of the integral I
num
can then be calculated as follows:
[ x ) x ( f 5 . 0 .. ) x ( f ) x ( f ) x ( f 5 . 0 I
1 N 3 2 1 num
+ + + +
+
(3-75)
where the first and last function values f(x
1
) and f(x
N+1
) have the weight 0.5 since these values are
included only in one trapezoid whereas all the other function values are included in the calculation
of the area of two small trapezoids.
The results of the integral are shown in Fig. 3-11. The result is a very good approximation as shown
below, i.e. numerical value is 6.6667 compared to exact=20/3. The Sum shown in the graph is
calculated by taking the first and last value with weight 0.5 as shown in Eq. (3-75).
Fig. 3-11. Numerical integration example.
Example S-1.: Numerical integration
delx 0.01
i x f(x)
1 0 2
2 0.01 2.0001
3 0.02 2.0004
4 0.03 2.0009
. . .
. . .
197 1.96 5.8416
198 1.97 5.8809
199 1.98 5.9204
200 1.99 5.9601
201 2 6
Sum 666.67
Integral 6.6667
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3.4.7.2 Bed load transport
Example 3-2. Calculate bed load transport when input data is given in Fig. 3-12. The calculation of
bed load transport is relatively straightforward. The following input data are needed (Fig. 3-12).
The relative density s=
s
/ is also calculated.
Fig. 3-12. The input data needed for calculation of bed load transport.
The algorithm for calculating bed load transport can be summarised as follows.
1) Estimate the bed roughness k
s
and the ripple height H
r.
In the case that ripple height is not
measured, it can be assumed that H
r
=100d
50
. If the bottom is assumed to be flat, bed roughness
value k
s
is around 2.5d
50
. In the case of ripples it can be assumed that k
s
=(0.75..1.0)H
r
. In the
examples calculated below it is assumed that k
s
=H
r
.
2) Calculate bottom friction factor f needed in the calculation of bottom shear stress
b
in Eq. (3-
35). Eq. (3-38) can be used to calculate f. The checking of the form of flow (rough or smooth)
has to be done when friction velocity u
*
is known.
3) The critical Shields parameter
c
needed in many bed load transport equations is calculated from
Eq. (3-52) or taken from Fig. 3-8 as a function of the sediment-fluid parameter S
*
.
4) Bottom shear stress
b
and effective shear stress
b
'
have to be calculated in the next step from
Eqs (3-35) and (3-56).
5) Effective Shields parameter ' can also be calculated at this stage from Eq. (3-60).
The summary of the variables calculated using the input data given in Fig. 3-12 is given in Fig. 3-
13.
Fig. 3-13. Calculated variables needed in bed load transport calculations.
All the necessary variables are now available for calculating the bed load transport using the Eqs
given in (3-58)..(3-62). The results are shown for Meyer-Peter, Einstein-Brown and Kalinske-
Frijlink equations in Fig. 3-14. It can be seen that there is a quite big difference between the results
given by different methods indicating how difficult (and stochastic as nature) the problem is.
Input data
visc 1.00E-06 Viscosity (m^2/s)
d50_g 2.50E-04 d50 (m)
hhh 1.5 Water depth (h)
UUU 1 Average velocity (m/s)
Karman 4.00E-01 Von Karman constant
roow 1010.0 Density of water (kg/m^3)
roos 2650.0 Density of sediment (kg/m^3)
sss 2.624 s=roos/roow
Calculated variables needed in Bed load transport Eqs.
Hr 0.0250 Hr=Ripple height =Hr=100*d50 (here)
ks 0.0250 Bed roughness =ks = Hr (here)
fff 0.007349024 friction coefficient f
Sstar 3.944080428 Sediment-fluid parameter Sx
Shields 0.044041829 Critical Shields parameter c
Tau 3.711257324 Bottom shear stress b(N/m^2)
Tau_eff 1.523671109 Effective shear stress b'
Sh_eff 0.37882477 Effective Shields parameter '
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Fig. 3-14. Bed load transport in units m
3
(m s)
-1
.
Warning! With "suitable" input data (e.g. d
50
=50 m, h=2 m and U=0.3 m s
-1
) it is possible that the
calculated value for the effective Shields parameter ' will be smaller than the critical Shields
parameter
c
leading to a case that the power in Meyer-Peter equation (3-59) cannot be calculated
('-
c
will be negative). This type of situation can be found when d
50
and U are both quite small. In
these cases e.g. the Einstein-Brown formula works properly.
3.4.7.3 Calculation of suspended load transport
Example 3-3. Calculate suspended load transport when input data is given in Fig. 3-12.
In the calculation of the suspended load transport it is necessary to follow the procedure:
1) Calculate the settling velocity v
s
from Eq. (3-42)
2) Calculate the friction velocity u
*
from bottom shear stress using Eq. (3-15).
3) The thickness of the viscous sublayer is calculated, but for rough flow this value is not
necessarily needed in the calculation of the velocity distribution u(z).
4) Check that flow is hydraulically rough from (3-18).
5) In the calculation of the velocity distribution u(z) the elevation z
0
corresponding to zero
velocity has to be calculated from Eq. (3-23) (see Fig. 3-6).
6) The average concentration c
a
in the bed load transport layer is needed in the concentration
distribution function c(z). In calculating c
a
from Eq. (3-66) it is necessary to choose some
bed load equation. Meyer-Peter was chosen in the results given in Fig. 3-15. Einstein-Brown
might be better to ensure that the problem with Meyer-Peter (warning in 3.4.7.2) does not
prevent the calculation.
7) In the Method 1 given in Eq. (3-67) it is necessary to numerically integrate c(z)u(z) from
z=a to z=h. The integration interval was in this case divided to 200 trapezoids and z can
then be calculated as z = (h-a)/200 where a is assumed to be equal to the bed roughness k
s
(see Fig. 3-10).
8) In Method 2 it is necessary to calculate numerically the Einstein integrals I
1
and I
2
, which
are needed in Eq. (3-71). Therefore it is necessary to calculate the auxiliary variables A and
z
*
from Eq. (3-70).
Fig. 3-15. Variables needed in the calculation of suspended load transport.
Bed load transport (m^3/(m*s)
Meyer 2.44479E-05 Meyer-Peter bed load
K 0.520409322 coeff K in Einstein formula
Einst 1.78536E-05 Einstein-Brown bed load
Kalinske 1.48606E-05 Kalinske-Frijlink
Variables needed in suspended load calculations
wss 0.028911172 Settling velocity (m/s)
uss 0.060617755 Friction velocity ux (m/s)
Thick_v 0.000191363 Thickness of the viscous sublayer (m)
u*ks/Visc 1515.443871 Test if flow hydraulically rough>70
z0 0.000825 Elevation corresponding to zero velocity
ca 0.002544554 Max. concentration at z=a=ks
delz 0.007375 Interval in numerical integration (200 points)
AAA 0.016666667 A in Einstein integrals
Zstar 1.192355778 zx in Einstein integrals
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Finally, it is possible to calculate the suspended load transport either by numerically integrating (3-
67) (Method 1) or by calculating numerically the Einstein integrals and then applying (3-71) by
selecting some bed load transport equation (Method 2, Meyer-Peter chosen for q
s,b
in the results
given below).
Fig. 3-16. Results from the two methods to calculate suspended load transport.
As shown in Fig. 3-16, the results of methods 1 and 2 differ slightly. It is likely that Method 1 is
more accurate if the integration interval is small enough. In Method 2 the problems are related to
several approximations done in deriving Eq. (3-71) and in the Einstein integrals which also need to
be estimated numerically. Moreover, in Method 2 q
s,b
is needed and the choice of the formula
influences the suspended load result. In Method 1, q
s,b
is also needed when c
a
is calculated but
otherwise q
s,s
from Method 1 is independent from the choice of the equation used to calculate q
s,b
.
3.4.7.4 Calculation of total sediment transport
Example 3-4. Calculate total sediment transport, i.e. the sum of the bed load transport and
suspended load transport.
The two methods, Bijker's method (using Meyer-Peter) and Engelund's method give the results
shown in Fig. 3-17.
Fig. 3-17. Total sediment transport and the fraction of suspended load transport from total sediment
transport.
The results show quite big difference between the two methods. Moreover, a very useful result is
the fraction of suspended load transport from the total transport. In this case about 80 % from the
total transport is in suspended form. In this example d
50
= 0.25 mm (2.5x10
-4
m). As shown in the
following example, the results are quite different when d
50
is smaller.
Example 3-5. Calculate bed load transport, suspended load transport and total load transport when
input data is shown in Fig. 3-18.
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Fig. 3-18. Input data for sediment transport case when d
50
= 60 m and velocity U=0.4 m s
-1
.
Calculated variables needed in the equations are shown also.
The results for bed load transport, suspended load transport and total sediment transport are shown
in Fig. 3-19. Due to the fact that d
50
is much smaller than in Examples 3-2..3-4, the bed load
transport is very small compared to suspended load transport. In this case 99 % of the total load is
transported in suspended form.
Note that in this case the Meyer-Peter equation does not work if velocity would be e.g. only 0.3 m s
-
1
. It would lead to a situation that the calculated value for the effective Shields parameter ' would
be smaller than the critical Shields parameter
c
. In this case Einstein-Brown should be used.
Input data
visc 1.00E-06 Viscosity (m^2/s)
d50_g 6.00E-05 d50 (m)
hhh 2 Water depth (h)
UUU 0.4 Average velocity (m/s)
Karman 4.00E-01 Von Karman constant
roow 1010.0 Density of water (kg/m^3)
roos 2650.0 Density of sediment (kg/m^3)
sss 2.624 s=roos/roow
Calculated variables needed in Bed load transport Eqs.
Hr 0.0060 Hr=Ripple height =Hr=100*d50 (here)
ks 0.0060 Bed roughness =ks = Hr (here)
fff 0.004624336 friction coefficient f
Sstar 0.463727259 Sediment-fluid parameter Sx
Shields 0.150818517 Critical Shields parameter c
Tau 0.373646336 Bottom shear stress b(N/m^2)
Tau_eff 0.179006174 Effective shear stress b'
Sh_eff 0.185440207 Effective Shields parameter '
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Fig. 3-19. Bed load transport, suspended load transport and total sediment transport for the case
when d
50
= 60 m and velocity U=0.4 m s
-1
.
3.5 River aggradation and degradation models (movable bed models)
3.5.1 Introduction
Sediment transport in rivers is a very special problem in fluvial hydraulics. Transported sediments
may render nearly any man-made structure useless. By 1973, 33 % of the U.S. reservoirs built
before 1935 had lost from 25 % to 50 % of their original capacity while another 14% of these
reservoirs had had their capacity reduced between 25 % and 50 %. One out of ten reservoirs lost all
usable storage (ASCE, 1975). Other problems due to sediment transport are structural or
morphological deterioration due to degradation below dams, deterioration of water intake entrance
conditions, filling up of irrigation channels, and shifting of stream alignment, not to mention
pollution and ecological consequences. The essential difficulty of dealing with the situation is the
present human incapacity to obtain a satisfactory quantitative description of sediment transport
phenomena (Cunge 1980).
Existing mathematical models are nearly all based upon the idea that it should be possible to
simulate hydrological flow conditions and the concomitant change in longitudinal profile of a river
over a period of 20-50 years, using a chosen sediment transport formula. The mathematical models
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described in this chapter are one dimensional, representing only longitudinal bed profiles,
longitudinal free surface profiles and sediment transport as a function of time and hydraulic flow
conditions. Nevertheless they can be used to solve numerous problems associated with river bed
evolution in response either to natural conditions or to man-made developments.
The following natural phenomena are examples of what has been or can be successfully simulated
with such models (Cunge 1980):
Bed variations during floods in the lower reaches of rivers flowing into the sea (Perdreau and
Cunge, 1971; Bouvard, Chollet and Cunge, 1977; Chollet, 1977).
Delta formation at river mouths, alluvial fan formation below foothills (Chang and Hill, 1977).
Bed variations during floods in the vicinity of gorges (Blanchet, 1971) or at river crossings (de
Vries, 1973a).
Bed variations downstream of tributaries or at bifurcations (de Vries, 1973b).
Long term natural evolution of a river bed (Chen and Simons, 1975).
Some of the river improvement problems which may be studied with the help of such mathematical
models are:
Modifications of water flow and sediment transport due to dam construction (Chollet and
Cunge, 1979).
Establishment of long term operating rules for dams in order to preserve useful reservoir volume
by flushing operations; determination of necessary reservoir volume (Lugiez, 1976; Chollet and
Cunge, 1979).
Modifications of river morphology in response to river training works, cutoffs or alignment
changes (Verdet, 1975).
Deposition of materials, and dredging operations (Verdet, 1975).
Modifications to river morphology due to the withdrawal of water for irrigation, industrial use,
etc. (de Vries, 1973a).
3.5.2 Modelling river degradation and aggradation
The sediment transport equation developed in section 3.4 can be applied in so called river
aggradation/degradation models. The partial differential equations to be solved are shown in Eqs (3-
76):
3 / 10
2 2
f
tot , s tot , s
f
2 2
h
q n
S
0
x
q
q
h q
z ) p 1 (
t
0 ghS
x
z
gh
2
gh
h
q
x t
q
0
x
q
t
h
,
_
,
_
(3-76)
where t is time [s], x is distance in the horizontal direction [m] h is water depth [m], q is discharge
in cubic meters per meter width unit width [m
2
s
-1
], z is the bottom elevation the channel, S
f
is
http://civil.tkk.fi
friction slope calculated e.g. using the Manning equation, p is porosity of the bed material, q
s,tot
is
the total sediment transport calculated as the sum of bed load transport and suspended load transport
according the methods described in sections 3.3.3-3.3.5.
The first two equations of (3-76) are the "standard" Saint Venant equations applied in a form that
assumes a wide channel and transport of water and sediments are calculated per meter width due to
the fact that in long channel the methods cannot predict transversal transport of sediments and
therefore it is practical to consider a one meter wide "tube".
The third equation is capable of taking into account the fact that sediment transport changes the
morphology of the river. E.g. sediment can be eroded (=degradation) from a certain section of the
river and will be settled down when velocity decreases (aggradation).
Examples of river bottom degradation and aggradation
Some illustrative computer simulations are shown as animated images. The simulations have been
carried out with a computer program AGG_DEG.EXE that solves simultaneously the three partial
differential equations (3-74): continuity equation for water and sediment and momentum equation
for water. The model calculates the changes in the channel bottom level as influenced by changes in
sediment transport in the channel.
The initial situation is that uniform flow conditions are prevailing in a 5000 m long channel:
discharge is 4.83 m
3
/s per meter width
flow is uniform and surface slope equals the bottom slope S
o
=0.0015 and water depth is 1.73 m
Manning coefficient n is very small = 0.02
sediment discharge is constant in the whole channel and elevation of the river bottom does not
change
A) The only change is that sediment inflow from upstream is increased by 50 %. The result
of increase in sediment inflow is aggradation of the sediment starting from the upstream
end of the channel. [sed_ani3.gif]
B) A dam is built at downstream end and water depth behind the dam is 5.0 m. i.e. increase
from 1.73 to 5.0 m. The result is decreased velocity above the dam and sediment
aggradation that slowly starts to fill the reservoir decreasing the useful storage volume.
[sed_ani2.gif]
C) The dam has been built at downstream end and sediment inflow from upstream is
increased by 50 %. Increase in sediment inflow from upstream and the dam at
downstream end together have the effect that bottom elevation of the channel is
increased along the whole channel section. [sed_ani4.gif]
D) The dam has been built and there is an upstream sedimentation reservoir that decreases
the sediment inflow from upstream by 50 %. The result of decreased sediment inflow is
a gradual degradation at the upstream end and aggradation at downstream end due to the
influence of the dam. [sed_ani5.gif]
E) The dam is at downstream end and upstream sedimentation reservoir cuts the sediment
inflow from upstream. Due to the fact that sediment inflow is negligible from upstream,
the river bed degrades heavily at the upstream end and the degraded material is
aggradated above the dam. [sed_ani1.gif]
In the animated images the brown line is the original bottom elevation and the yellow line shows
the new bottom elevation as influenced by changes in sediment transport in the channel.

3 Sediment Transport in Rivers

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3 Sediment Transport in Rivers

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Last update 18.12.2009. Original material by Tuomo Karvonen, 2002.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Helsinki University of Technology

: shear stress in laminar flow (viscous shear stress) [N m

flow al transition lly hydraulica ; 70

bed rippled d 100

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