Observation method to predict meander migration and vertical degradation of rivers.

Details

• Creators:
  Briaud, Jean-Louis ; Montalvo-Bartolomei, Axel
• Corporate Creators:
  Texas A&M Transportation Institute
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Degradation (Hydrology) Erosion Control Field Studies Forecasting Hydrographs Meanders Rivers Scour Streambeds
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/TX-13/0-6724-2
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Texas
• Corporate Publisher:
  Texas. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Technology Implementation Office
• Abstract:
  Meander migration and vertical degradation of river bed are processes that have been studied for years.
  
  Different methods have been proposed to make predictions of the behavior of rivers with respect to these
  
  processes. These two erosion controlled processes consist of the gradual change of the geometry of the river
  
  due to the flow of water eroding the soil. This erosion may cause a shift that could be a threat to existing
  
  bridges, highways and useful lands. Therefore, there is need for a method that can accurately predict the
  
  amount of erosion that may occur in rivers.
  
  Six different sites in Texas were selected for this project. Four of the selected rivers have meander migration
  
  problems and two have vertical degradation problems. Each river has shown erosion problems that have been
  
  a threat to the bridges, roads or farm lands. Aerial photos and maps from different years were obtained from
  
  different sources to study the change of the geometry of the rivers. River hydrographs were obtained from
  
  the U.S. Geological Survey to estimate the river velocity. Soil samples from each site were obtained for
  
  laboratory testing, using the Erosion Function Apparatus.
  
  A method to predict meander migration and vertical degradation was developed by using the three main
  
  factors: geometry, water flow and soil erodibility. A code was written in MATLAB and Excel to predict the
  
  future movement of the meander or the vertical degradation by using a model based on the erosion function
  
  obtained from the erosion tests of the soil at each site and the average daily velocity of each river. Because
  
  this method is based on observed data, it was called the Observation Method.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  Project 0-6724
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:6779e691334d294f34c253d3441e9161b815a5912a88a5d68cff4d5f4a149cb6
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/27749/dot_27749_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.71 MB ]