Scour and Erosion Cheng, Draper & An (Eds)

2015 Taylor & Francis Group, London, 978-1-138-02732-9

Erosion and sedimentation near the renovated weir lock complex

of Asper in Belgium
K. Verelst, W. Vandenbruwaene & P. Peeters
Flanders Hydraulics Research, Antwerp, Belgium

M. Heredia Gomez
Antea Group, Ghent, Belgium

T. De Mulder
Hydraulics Laboratory, Civil Engineering Department, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

ABSTRACT: In the weir lock complex of Asper along the river Scheldt in Belgium, two tainter gate weirs
were constructed in a new bypass channel, which came into operation in 2009. After the flood wave event of
November 2010 a bathymetric survey around the weir lock complex revealed several locations with erosion
and sedimentation. The origin and evolution of this erosion and sedimentation was investigated by analysing
the regular bathymetric monitoring data, computing the equilibrium profile for the new bypass channel and
numerical modelling of the flow patterns around the weir lock complex. The analysis of the available bathymetric
data indicates that the scour hole at the downstream junction of the bypass channel and the river channel migrates
towards upstream and towards the right bank. Above this scour hole, the numerical modelling reveals the presence
of a helical flow pattern, influenced by the unequal bed level and increased due to the presence of the scour hole.

INTRODUCTION

The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France,

western Belgium and the south western part of the
Netherlands. Downstream of the city of Ghent (Belgium), the river has a tidal regime. The non-tidal river
upstream of Ghent is referred to as the Upper Scheldt.
To improve the navigability, the Upper Scheldt has
been canalized in the second half of the nineteenth
century. To ensure the navigability also river weirs
were built. Almost all weir lock complexes were reconstructed after World War I. Each complex consisted of
one navigation lock and, next to it a single movable
weir of the vertical lift type (Figure 1).
At the end of the twentieth century, it was decided to
renovate the weir lock complexes on the Upper Scheldt
of Asper, Oudenaarde en Kerkhove in order to increase
the safety level and to upgrade the river to modern
inland vessels of increased size. In a first phase, a set
of two movable weirs of the tainter gate type would be
constructed in a new bypass channel, allowing the old
weir to be decommissioned. In a later phase - which
will not be further discussed in this paper - a larger
navigation lock will be constructed at the location of
the old weir.
This paper will focus on one of the weir lock complexes on the Upper Scheldt river, namely the complex
of Asper, for which the first phase of the renovation
was accomplished in 2009.

Figure 1. Schematic representation of a weir lock complex

prior to renovation.

After the flood wave event of November 2010,

bank erosion was noticed at the upstream extremity
of the bypass channel. Moreover, it was reported that
a shoal, hindering the navigation, had developed in the
downstream reach of the river, more specifically downstream of the confluence between the bypass channel
and the river. Consequently, a bathymetric survey has
been carried out. This bathymetric survey revealed that
several locations in the bypass channel are being subjected to scour. Since then, bathymetric surveys have
been repeated at several intervals in time, in order to
monitor the occurring erosion and sedimentation.
In order to better understand (and possibly mitigate)
the on-going phenomena, numerical model simulations have been carried out and the equilibrium profile
for the downstream section of the new bypass channel
is computed.
This paper presents an overview of the research
efforts made so far, mainly focussing on the

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Figure 2. The weir lock complex of Asper.

downstream confluence area of the new bypass channel and the river channel.
In section 2, the renovated weir lock complex of
Asper will be described. The outcome of the bathymetric surveys, the computation of the equilibrium profile
for the downstream section of the new bypass channel
and the numerical modelling efforts will be discussed
in section 3, 4 and 5, respectively. Conclusions are
given in section 6.

2 WEIR LOCK COMPLEX ASPER

The weir lock complex of Asper is situated on the
Upper Scheldt river, upstream of Ghent. Figure 2
situates the weir lock complex. In 2009 two tainter gate weirs with a width of 12.5 m were built in
a new bypass channel, after which the old weir was
decommissioned.
The design profile of the new bypass channel is
a trapezoidal cross-section, with a bottom width of
25 m and an angle of the banks equal to 26.5 . With
a water depth of 3.5 m in the downstream section
and 4.5 m in the upstream section, the width of the
new bypass channel at the water level is 40 m for the
downstream section and almost 45 m for the upstream
section. In the upstream bifurcation area the river width
is approximately 112 m (see Figure 2) diminishing into
the upstream direction to a width of 57 m. The river
width in the confluence area is approximately 90 m,
diminishing in the downstream direction to a width of
45 m. Consequently the ratio of the width of the bypass
channel to the width of the river varies in the bifurcation area between 0.40 and 0.78 and in the confluence
area between 0.44 and 0.88. Both upstream as well
as downstream of the weir lock complex a river bend
is present. This curved river channel makes the angle
between the new bypass channel and the river equal to
approximately 20 .
Figure 3 presents a comparison of the as built
bottom level of the new bypass channel and the river
channel along three cross-sections in the confluence
area.
The downstream part of the bypass channel was constructed with a bottom level of TAW + 2.1 m (TAW
being the chart datum in Belgium). The bottom level

Figure 3. As built bottom level in the river channel and

the new bypass channel.

of the river channel varies between TAW + 0.5 m

and TAW + 1.1 m. Consequently, a confluence with
unequal bottom depth (or discordant beds) was
achieved when the new bypass channel was constructed. Note that a smooth transition between the
bottom level of the new bypass channel and the bottom level of the river channel was introduced when
constructing the new bypass channel.
Before the construction of the new bypass channel several borings and cone penetration tests were
carried out. From the borings followed that the soil
of the new bypass channel, both downstream as well
as upstream of the new weirs, consists of very fine
graded sand, locally clayey/silty with glauconite and
shell fragments. This very fine graded sand is characterized by a median grain size of 70 m and 110 m
for the sections downstream and upstream of the new
weirs, respectively.
To protect the bed of the bypass channel against erosion, (immediately) downstream and upstream of the
new weirs a bottom protection of Open Stone Asphalt
mattresses with a thickness of 0.35 m was installed
when constructing the new bypass channel. The length
of this bottom protection is 60 m downstream and
25 m upstream of the new weirs. No bed protection
was present in the remaining parts of the new bypass
channel. The banks of the new bypass channel are protected against erosion using Open Stone Asphalt with
a thickness of 0.20 m.
3

BATHYMETRIC MEASUREMENTS

3.1 General
After the flood wave event of November 2010, the
water agency regularly monitored the bottom level
in the vicinity of the renovated weir lock complex
of Asper. When the construction of the new weirs

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Figure 4. Erosion and sedimentation downstream of the weir lock complex between 4 July 2009 and 16 January 2013; White
lines indicate the location of the longitudinal and transversal profile.

was finished, a first bathymetric survey took place

on 4 July 2009. Between this date and 27 August
2013, 15 bathymetric surveys were carried out. Most
of them were multibeam measurements. Also some
single beam measurements were carried out. Figure 4
provides an overview of the measured erosion and sedimentation around the weir lock complex of Asper
between 4 July 2009 and 16 January 2013, being a
period of almost 3.5 years.
At the downstream confluence of the bypass channel and the river channel, a scour hole was formed with
a length between 50 m and 100 m. This scour hole is
situated approximately 50 m downstream of the end of
the bypass channel. Within almost 3.5 years the bottom of the scour hole eroded up to 3.5 m. Downstream
of the scour hole a shoal with a height of 2.0 m in an
area of about 100 m length was noticed.
The downstream section of the bypass channel
mainly eroded near the left bank of the bypass channel.
Downstream of the new weirs also the bottom protection, consisting of Open Stone Asphalt matresses, was
eroded, resulting into a scour hole with a depth of 3.5 m
and a length of 25 m. Note that only the first 25 m
of the bottom protection was eroded. This scour hole
was repaired in 2011 using armourstone penetrated
with hydroconcrete. Consequently, this scour hole is
not present any more in Figure 4.
The upstream section of the bypass channel shows
two areas where the full section of the bypass channel
eroded. Immediately upstream of the bottom protection a scour hole with a length of 150 m and a

maximum depth of 2.5 m is formed. At the extremity of

the upstream section of the new bypass channel, near
the bifurcation, a scour hole with a length of almost
200 m and a maximum depth of 5 m was formed. In
between these two scour holes in the upstream section
of the new bypass channel, an area is present characterised by harder bottom material, resulting into less
erosion.
In the bifurcation area of the river channel and
the new bypass channel, an area with sedimentation
of almost 2.0 m in height is noticed. Only at the
bifurcation itself, the bottom is eroded.
A study of the results of the available cone penetration tests, did not reveal the presence of soil material
that could either explain the formation of the scour hole
in the confluence area or the erosion with almost 5 m
at the upstream extremity of the new bypass channel.

3.2

Evolution of the scour hole at the confluence of

bypass channel and river channel

To investigate the time evolution of the scour hole at the

confluence of the bypass channel and the river channel,
the available bathymetric measurements were compared for a longitudinal and a transversal profile. The
location of this longitudinal and transversal profile is
indicated in Figure 4 using white lines. Figure 5 compares the available bathymetric measurements along
this longitudinal and transversal profile. This figure
also compares the instances of time the bathymetric

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Figure 5. Comparison bathymetric measurements for the longitudinal profile (figure above) and the transversal profile
(middle figure). Figure below: Time variation of water level and river discharge and instance of time of bathymetric
measurements.

measurements were carried out with the time variation of the water level upstream and downstream of
the weir lock complex and with the time variation of
the river discharge.
Note that the upstream water level, the downstream
water level and the river discharges are smoothed using
a moving average with a time frame of 12 hours in
order to remove water level fluctuations due to the
levelling of the lock. Also note that for the sake of
clarity Figure 5 displays only the most important of
the 15 available bathymetric measurements.
After the construction of the new weirs and the
bypass channel, a first bathymetric measurement was
carried out (indicated with T0 in Figure 5). The
second bathymetric survey (T1) took place after
the flood wave event of November 2010, almost one
year and three months later. During this period the
bottom level in the confluence area increased with
approximately 1 m. Approximately 550 m downstream
of the new weirs a scour hole was formed with a
length of 50 m and a depth of 1 m. Significant enlargement of this scour hole is noticed between T4 and T5
and between T9 and T11. During these periods the
upstream extremity of the scour hole eroded towards
the bypass channel. Consequently the length of the
scour hole increased from 50 m at T1 to 75 m at T5
and finally to almost 100 m at T13. Together with the
increasing length, the depth of the scour hole increases
from 1 m at T1, to a depth between 1.5 m and 2 m at
T5 and a finally to a depth of almost 3.5 m at T13.
The transversal profile shows initially a sedimentation at the right bank of almost 1 m and also a
sedimentation in the river channel. At T1 the scour
hole with a width of 10 m and a depth of almost
0.7 m is situated around X = 95 m. Between T4 and
T5 further erosion causes a growth of the scour hole
towards the right bank until a width of approximately
15 m. Because the location of the transversal profile

near the downstream end of the scour hole, after T5

a sedimentation of the downstream tip of the scour
hole is noticed. The sedimentation in the river channel, next to the scour hole, caused an important shift of
the talweg of the river channel towards the left bank.
Comparing the time intervals with substantial erosion and sedimentation of the scour hole with the measured river discharges yields the conclusion that the
initiation and the growth of the scour hole occurs during periods with a river discharge higher than 100 m3 /s.
The discharge limit of 100 m3 /s is considered, because
the River Information System in Belgium defines an
important flood wave for the Upper Scheldt river when
the discharge at the border between the Flemish and
Walloon regions increases 100 m3 /s. Note that Figure 5
presents the discharge measured downstream of the
weir lock complex of Asper, being approximately 23%
higher than the discharge at the aforementioned border.
Nevertheless, the discharge of 100 m3 /s is considered
for the definition of an important flood wave event.
The analysis of the available bathymetric surveys
yields that a scour hole in the confluence area is
formed and grows in flood periods with a river discharge higher than 100 m3 /s. During these periods the
scour hole erodes at the upstream extremity towards
the bypass channel and towards the left bank. Consequently the length of the scour hole increased from
initially 50 m until approximately 100 m and the depth
increased from an initial value of 1 m to almost 3.5 m.
For comparison, at river confluences with unequal discharges for both branches, Baranya et al. (2010) also
reports the formation of scour holes in the confluence
area.
4

EQUILIBRIUM PROFILE BYPASS CHANNEL

Figure 6 compares the bottom level for three transects

situated in the downstream section of the new bypass

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Figure 7. Definition parameters for computation of the

equilibrium profile according to Bakker (1999).

Figure 6. Comparison computed equilibrium profiles with

bottom level for transects D3, D4, D5 at point in time T12.

channel at instance of time T12 (16 January 2013) with

the design profile of the bypass channel. Within the
period of almost 3.5 years between T12 and the first
bathymetric measurement (aforementioned as T0), the
two most downstream profiles D3 and D4 show that
almost no erosion of the profile took place. Only for
transect D5 an erosion of 1.5 m is noticed near the left
bank of the bypass channel. This yields that the downstream section of the bypass channel could possibly
have reached an equilibrium state. To investigate this,
the equilibrium profile for the downstream section of
the new bypass channel is computed for a discharge
of 300 m3 /s, being the maximum discharge during the
flood wave of November 2010.
Koechlin (1926) describes the sinusoidal equilibrium profile for a straight river section using the
following formula:

where y = transversal coordinate (m); z = vertical

coordinate (m); hmax = maximum water depth (m);
B = width transect (m)
Using the discharge of 300 m3 /s, the maximum
water depth hmax in formula (1) is calculated for the
new bypass channel, supposing that the normal depth is
present in the bypass channel. To calculate the normal
depth in the bypass channel, two values of the Manning roughness are used, 0.017 m1/3 s as lower bound
(smooth bottom) and 0.033 m1/3 s as upper bound
(rough bottom). This first method will be referred to
as method 1.
Another method to calculate the equilibrium profile, taking into account the characteristics of the
bottom material, is found in Bakker (1999) (see also
Figure 7).

where bhor = bottom width (m); xm = width river bank

(m); Ac = wetted section (m2 ); h = water depth (m);
n = angle of internal friction bottom material ( );
Q = discharge (=300 m3 /s); umax = max. permissible
velocity bottom material (m/s).
To calculate the equilibrium profile according to
formula (2), (3) and (4), a maximum velocity of
0.40 m/s is considered for the very fine graded sand
in the new bypass channel. Because of the presence
of bank protection, the banks of the bypass channel
are not supposed to erode. Consequently the angle of
the bank, being 26.5 , is considered for the angle of
internal friction of the bottom material. Note that this
adopted angle is slightly lower than the angle of internal friction of sand (30 40 ). The computation of the
equilibrium profile using this calculation method will
be referred to as method 2.
The calculated equilibrium profiles using both the
above mentioned methods are compared in Figure 6
with the bathymetric measurements for the transects
in the downstream section of the new bypass channel.
First, it can be stated that the computed equilibrium
profile depends on the method it is computed with
and for method 1 also on the value of the Manning
roughness coefficient considered.
Both equilibrium profiles computed with method 1
are in fact an upper and a lower bound for the appearing
equilibrium profile. Consequently using both methods
equilibrium profiles are computed being lower than the
measured bottom profiles, indicating that the equilibrium state is not reached yet. Note that the use of the
discharge of 300 m3 /s from the flood wave event of
November 2010 for the computation of the equilibrium
profiles results into an overestimation of the computed
equilibrium profile, because of the low frequency of
this discharge for the Upper Scheldt river.

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Figure 8. Comparison of bottom level for the simulated scenarios along a longitudinal transect (middle left panel) and two
transversal transects (middle right panel and right panel). Top left panel: location of transects.

5
5.1

NUMERICAL MODEL SIMULATIONS

Numerical model

The analysis of the available bathymetric surveys

showed the formation and the growth of a scour hole
at the confluence of the new bypass channel and
the river channel. Also in the bifurcation area of the
new bypass channel and the river channel, important
sedimentation and erosion was observed.
Since no field measurements of velocities are available so far, numerical model simulations were carried
out to assess the occurring flow fields and to possibly
explain the formation and growth of the scour hole,
as well as to investigate possible mitigation measures.
Note that exactly hind casting a specific event was not
the aim of the numerical modelling.
The numerical modelling was carried out using
Delft3D FLOW (from the software suite developed
by Deltares). Delft3D FLOW solves the unsteady
shallow water equations in two or three dimensions.
The equations are formulated in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates. In a 3D model the vertical grid is
defined using the sigma layer coordinate system. For
this research 3D simulations were carried out based on
a hydrostatic version of the software, which is known to
have limitations to reliably model complex 3D flows,
see e.g. van Sabben (2010). Though no field measurements are available yet to validate the predicted
flow patterns, it is expected that the simulations are
able to (qualitatively) reveal the presence of some flow
features like e.g. secondary flows.
The computational domain extends from 7 km
upstream to 3 km downstream of the weir lock complex. A curvilinear grid was generated with 3911
streamwise cells and 25 spanwise cells. The dimension
of the cells is between 1.5 m and 4 m in the streamwise
direction and between 1.5 m and 10 m in the spanwise
direction. The bypass channel was represented by 12
grid cells over the channel width of 40 m. Both tainter
gate weirs, each with a width of 12.5 m, were represented by 4 grid cells only (since the model is not
intended to resolve the flow details in this area). Vertically, 10 sigma layers were used and refined towards
the bottom, resulting into a layer thickness of 2% of

the water depth at the bottom and a layer thickness of

20% of the water depth near the surface. The turbulent
exchange of momentum is modelled by the standard
k- model in the vertical direction whereas a constant
(grid size dependent) eddy viscosity is used in the horizontal direction. The bathymetry for the base scenario
during numerical modelling was built with the data of
the bathymetric survey of 3 March 2011 (bathymetry
T7).
The results of a 1D numerical model for the flood
wave event of November 2010 (aforementioned as
T1) with a discharge of 300 m3 /s were used to generate the initial and boundary conditions for the applied
3D numerical model. As mentioned above, the aim
of the numerical model was understanding the occurring flow field during flood wave events. Consequently
only steady state simulations were carried out and only
this discharge, with a low frequency, was used for the
numerical modelling. Note that in fact a hypothetical situation was modelled, combining the bathymetric
data of a certain date with boundary conditions of an
earlier date. During a flood wave event with discharges
of 300 m3 /s, the tainter gate weirs are lifted and only
underflow is possible. Therefore the tainter gate weirs
were schematically modelled by lifting (vertical) gates
in the numerical model.
For this research, only hydrodynamic simulations
were carried out. The morphological evolution of
the bottom was not taken into account during the
simulations.
5.2 Simulated scenarios
As base scenario (indicated with base scenario) the
numerical model was considered, using the bathymetry
of March 2011 (bathymetry T7). The scour hole at
the downstream confluence of the new bypass channel
and the river channel and also the other areas with
erosion and sedimentation near the weir lock complex
are present in this base scenario.
For this reason a second scenario is defined, using
the bathymetry, measured after the construction of the
new weirs (dd. 4 July 2009, aforementioned as T0).
This scenario is indicated with as built-bathymetry and

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Figure 9. Comparison velocity (in m/s) parallel to transect for the base scenario (top right figure), the as built-bathymetry
scenario (bottom left figure) and the as built-bathymetry scenario with concordant beds (bottom right figure). Top left figure:
Depth averaged flow velocity (in m/s) for the base scenario and location of transect.

represents the situation before the formation of the

scour hole and other sedimentation and erosion areas.
As mentioned in section 2 the bottom level of the
bypass channel is higher than the bottom level of
the river channel. For river confluences, it is known
that unequal (or discordant) bed levels influence the
scour hole depth at the confluence. To understand the
flow pattern differences between discordant and concordant beds (equal bed level), a scenario is defined
with equal bottom levels for the downstream end of
the bypass channel and the river channel. It should be
noted that only the bottom level of the downstream
extremity of the bypass channel is decreased. The bottom level immediately downstream of the new weirs
remains the same. This scenario is indicated as as
built-bathymetry with concordant beds. To illustrate
the difference between these three scenarios, Figure 8
compares the bed level along a longitudinal transect and two transversal transects in the area of the
confluence.
All three scenarios are simulated using the same
initial water level upstream and downstream of the new
weirs and the same boundary conditions.

5.3

Results

The aim of the numerical modelling is to understand

the occurring flow pattern and to explain the initiation
and the growth of the scour hole at the confluence of
the new bypass channel and the river channel. Therefore for the three scenarios the flow pattern along a
transect above the scour hole is compared in Figure 9.
Also the depth averaged flow velocity in the confluence area for the base scenario is visualised in this
figure.
The panel with the depth averaged flow velocity in
Figure 9 shows that the main current is flowing from
the new bypass channel to the river channel.At the confluence the width of the flow from the bypass channel
is still the same as the width of the bypass channel
(40 m), gradually increasing to the width of the river
downstream (45 m). Because of the absence of any
current in the river channel, an eddy is created in the
separation zone. A similar flow pattern was simulated
by Raiford and Khan (2007) for a dam lock complex.
In the base scenario the transversal velocity component along the transect shows the presence of a helical

541

Figure 10. Comparison of velocity component parallel to transect (in m/s) for the base scenario (top right panel) and for the
scenario with the as built-bathymetry (bottom panel); Depth averaged flow velocity (in m/s) for the base scenario and location
of transect (top left panel).

flow pattern above the scour hole. At the right bank the
current is directed towards the surface, at the surface
continuing in the direction of the left bank and finally
above the scour hole being directed towards the bottom. This way a first recirculation cell is described. A
second analogue recirculation cell is formed between
the middle of the river channel and the scour hole.
At the bottom of the scour hole higher current velocities are computed by the numerical model at the right
border then at the left border of the scour hole.
This explains the growth of the scour hole towards
the right bank of the river, as concluded from the
analysis of the bathymetric measurements (section 3).
For comparison purposes, the numerical modelling of
Baranya et al. (2010) also show the presence of a helical flow pattern for a river confluence with unequal
bed levels.
Also in the as built-scenario, whit absence of the
scour hole, the numerical model computes at the surface a velocity directed towards the middle of the river
and at the bottom a velocity directed towards the right
bank. Compared with the base scenario, much lower
transversal velocity components are computed. Consequently it yields that once a scour hole is formed, the

flow pattern changes in a way enhancing the growth

of the scour hole.
The transversal flow pattern for the scenario with
the as built-bathymetry and concordant beds is similar to the transversal flow pattern computed for the
scenario with the as built-bathymetry (and unequal or
discordant bed levels). Above the scour hole at the
bottom lower velocities are computed then for the
scenario with the as built-bathymetry, providing an
indication that for this scenario less erosion can be
expected.
In the bifurcation area, at the extremity of the
upstream section of the new bypass channel also a
helical flow pattern is computed. Figure 10 presents
the computed flow pattern along a transect at the
upstream extremity of the new bypass channel as well
as for the base scenario as for the scenario with the as
built-bathymetry.
In the base scenario, at the water surface a transversal velocity component of 0.2 m/s directed from the
left bank to the right bank is computed. At the right
bank the flow velocity is directed towards the bottom, explaining the deepening of the scour hole in the
bypass channel towards the right bank.

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Figure 11. Comparison computed bed shear stress (in N/m2 ) for the base scenario (top left panel), the scenario with as
built-bathymetry (top right panel) and the scenario with as built-bathymetry and discordant beds (bottom panel).

The flow pattern for the scenario with the as builtbathymetry shows at the water surface a transversal
velocity component directed towards the right bank.
Also for this scenario the flow near the right bank is
directed towards the bottom with higher velocities then
in the middle of the channel, explaining the erosion of
the right bank of the new bypass channel, noticed after
the flood wave event of November 2010.
A parameter to indicate the possibility for erosion
and sedimentation is the bed shear stress. Figure 11
compares for the three considered scenarios the value
of the computed bed shear stress parameter in the area
of the downstream confluence.
Note that in Figure 11 for the base scenario low
values of the bed shear stress are computed at the
upstream extremity of the scour hole and high values downstream of the scour hole. Section 3, however,
concluded that during flood wave events the scour hole
erodes towards the upstream end. Downstream of the
scour hole, sedimentation takes place (see Figure 4).
These contradictory differences between numerical
model and measurements can be explained by the
computational method of the bed shear stress parameter in the numerical model. The numerical model

computes high values of the bed shear stress for

locations with high bottom level (and consequently
higher velocities) and lower values of the bed shear
stress for locations with lower bottom depth (and
consequently lower velocities). Consequently, care
should be taken when interpreting the absolute values of the computed bed shear stress. Therefore only
a qualitative comparison of the different scenarios is
carried out.
The scenario with the as built-bathymetry shows at
the location of the scour hole higher values for the
bed shear stress than the base scenario, indicating a
possible location for erosion. The scenario with the
as built-bathymetry and concordant beds shows in the
confluence area lower values of the bed shear stress
than the scenario with the as built-bathymetry (and
unequal, discordant bed levels), indicating possibly
lower erosion at this location.
Generally speaking, the numerical modelling shows
in the confluence area and at the extremity of the
upstream section of the bypass channel in the bifurcation area a helical flow pattern. In the confluence area, the intensity of the helical current pattern increases after the formation of the scour hole,

543

influenced by the unequal bed level of the bypass

channel and the river channel. The origin of the
scour hole, however, cannot be explained by the
computed bed shear stress values. The origin of the
scour hole in the confluence area is possibly due
to a combination of the helical current pattern, the
discordant level between bypass channel and river
channel and the turbulence effect of the exchange at
the confluence between the flow in the bypass channel and the stagnant flow region in the fore bay of
the lock.

CONCLUSIONS

In order to better understand (and possibly mitigate)

the erosion and sedimentation near the weir lock complex of Asper, an analysis of the available bathymetric
surveys was carried out, together with numerical
model simulations and the computation of the equilibrium profile for the downstream section of the new
bypass channel.
The analysis of the bathymetric measurements
revealed, amongst others, that a scour hole was formed
at the confluence of the new bypass channel and the
river channel. During periods with flood have events
higher than 100 m3 /s this scour hole erodes at the
upstream extremity towards the bypass channel and
also towards the right bank. Also at the extremity of
the upstream section of the new bypass channel, near
the bifurcation, a scour hole was formed.
The equilibrium profile for the downstream section
of the new bypass channel depends strongly on the
specific computational method and also on the value
of the considered bed roughness coefficient. The computed equilibrium profiles are lower than the measured

bottom profiles, indicating that the equilibrium state

is not reached yet for the downstream section of the
new bypass channel.
Numerical modelling of the flow pattern in the
vicinity of the weir lock complex shows that a helical flow pattern is formed in the confluence area, as
well as at the extremity of the upstream bypass channel
near the bifurcation area. Once a scour hole is formed
in the confluence area, the intensity of the helical flow
velocities increases, also influenced by the unequal
bed level of the bypass channel and the river channel.
The origin of the scour hole in the confluence area
is possibly due to a combination of the helical current pattern, the discordant bed level between bypass
channel and river channel and the turbulence effect of
the exchange at the confluence between the flow in the
bypass channel and the stagnant flow region in the fore
bay of the lock.
REFERENCES
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