Fluvial Sediment Transport

Provides guidance on selected techniques for the measurement of particles moving in the fluvial environment. The potential user is directed in the selection of an appropriate technique through the presentation of operating principles, application guidelines and estimated costs.

After publishing the famous “Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology” in the early 1960s, the work of Luna Leopold, Gordon Wolman, and John Miller became a key for opening the door to understanding rivers and streams. They first illustrated the problem to geomorphologists and geographers. Later, Chang, in his “Fluvial Processes in River Engineering”, provided a basis for engineers, showing this group of professionals how to deal with rivers and how to understand them. Since then, more informative studies have been published. Many of the authors started to combine fluvial geomorphology knowledge and river engineering needs, such as “Tools in Fluvial Geomorphology” by G. Mathias Kondolf and Hervé Piégay, or focused more on river engineering tasks, such as “Stream Restoration in Dynamic Fluvial Systems: Scientific Approaches” by Andrew Simon, Sean Bennett, and Janine Castro. Finally, Luna Leopold summarized river and stream morphologies in the beautiful “A view of the river”. It appears that we continue to explore this subject in the right direction. We better understand rivers and streams, and as engineers and fluvial geomorphologists, we can establish tools to help bring rivers alive. However, there is still a hunger for more scientific tools that we could use to further understand rivers and to support the development of healthy streams and rivers with high biodiversity in the present world, which has started to face water scarcity.

Sediment transport data are often used for the evaluation of land surface erosion, reservoir sedimentation, ecological habitat quality and coastal sediment budgets. Sediment transport by rivers is usually considered to occur in two major ways: (1) in the flow as a suspended load and (2) along the bed as a bed load. This publication provides guidance on selected techniques for the measurement of particles moving in both modes in the fluvial environment. The relative importance of the transport mode is variable and depends on the hydraulic and sedimentary conditions. The potential user is direct.

The state-of-the-art in fluvial hydrodynamics can be examined only through a careful exploration of the theoretical development and applied engineering technology. The book is primarily focused, since most up-to-date research findings in the field are presented, on the research aspects that involve a comprehensive knowledge of sediment dynamics in turbulent flows. It begins with the fundamentals of hydrodynamics and particle motion followed by turbulence characteristics related to sediment motion. Then, the sediment dynamics is analysed from a classical perspective by applying the mean bed shear approach and additionally incorporating a statistical description for the role of turbulence. The work finally examines the local scour problems at hydraulic structures and scale models. It is intended to design as a course textbook in graduate / research level and a guide for the field engineers as well, keeping up with modern technological developments. Therefore, as a simple prerequisite, the background of the readers should have a basic knowledge in hydraulics in undergraduate level and an understanding of fundamentals of calculus.

Concise, recent textbook emphasisng sedimentary processes in alluvial channels Comprehensive treatment of flow-bed-sediment transport interactions Description and explaination of turbulent flow phenomena as well as flow and sediment dynamics at channel confluences Chapter on river channels, aquatic habitats and the hyporheic zone