CEH 433

Water Resources Engineering

6 River Systems
and Engineering
Prof. Melvin Blanco Solomon
Associate, Civil Engineering Department
FEU Institute of Technology
 River Channel Processes
Landforms, Flood, and Management

1. River processes
2. Deposition and sedimentation
3. Velocity and Discharge
4. Patterns of flow
5. Channel types
6. Channel landforms
7. Flood (causes, impact, and management)
River Processes

Three river processes:

1. Transportation
2. Deposition
3. Erosion
River Transportation
The load is transported by 4 ways:

Saltation: when pebbles, sand and gravel

(bedload) are lifted up by current and bounced
along the bed in a hopping motion.

Traction: when largest boulders and cobbles

(bedload) roll or slide along the bed.

traction saltation
River Transportation
Suspension: very fine particle such as clay and silt
(suspended load) are dislodged and carried by
turbulence in a fast flowing river.

Solution: water flowing within a river channel

contains acids (e.g. carbonic acid from precipitation)
dissolve the load such as limestone in running water
and removed in solution.

solution suspension
River Deposition
Deposition: when velocity begins to fall, it has less energy
and no longer had competence and capacity to carry all its
load so largest particles, materials begins to be deposited.

When occur?
1. Low discharge during period of low precipitation
2. Less velocity when river enter sea or lake.
3. Shallow water occurs on inside of a meander.
4. The load suddenly increase (debris from landslide)
5. River overflow its bank so velocity outside channel is
reduced. (resulting in floodplain)
River Erosion
Erosion wearing away of river bed and bank.

There are four main process of erosion:

a. Corrasion: occurs when the river picks up materials and rubs it
along its bed and banks, wearing them away by abrasion, effective
during flood. Major method by which river erodes both vertically
and horizontally.

turbulent eddies in the current

can swirl pebbles around to
form potholes that are hollows
in river bed and pebbles are
likely to become trapped
potholes
River Erosion
b. Attrition: as bedload moved downstream, boulders
collide with other material and the impact may break
the rock into smaller pieces.

c. Hydraulic action: The sheer force of the water as the

turbulent current hits banks (outside of meander)
pushes water into cracks. The air in cracks compressed,
pressure increased and in time bank will collapse.

d. Solution/corrosion: This process in independent of

river discharge and velocity related to chemical
composition of water (e.g. concentration of carbonic
acid)
River Processes: Summary
Hjulstrom Curve
Hjulstrom Curve

The Hjulstrm curve is a graph used by

hydrologists to determine whether a river
will: erode, transport or deposit sediments.

The graph takes sediment size and channel

velocity into account.
Hjulstrom Curve
Velocity and Discharge
Discharge: is the amount of water originating
as precipitation which reaches the channel by
surface runoff, throughflow and baseflow.

Q=AXV
Q: discharge
A: cross-section area
V: velocity
Velocity and Discharge

1. Velocity: speed of a river (m/s)

2. Velocity of a river is influence by 3 factors:
Channel shape in cross-section.
Roughness of the channels bed and banks.
Channel slope.
Patterns of Flow
As water flows downhills under gravity, velocity decreases.
This is not only due to friction found along river bed and
banks, but also internal friction of water and air resistance
on the surface.

Two patterns of flow:

1. Laminar flow : horizontal
movement of water

2. Turbulent: a series of erratic

eddies, both vertical and
horizontal, in a downstream
direction.
Patterns of Flow

Helicoidal flow: a corkscrew movement,

in a meander.

It is responsible for
moving material from
the outside of one
meander bend and
depositing on the
inside of the next
bend.
Channel Types
Sinuosity
Entrenchment Ratio
Straight Channels
 Braided Channel
A braided stream has islands/eyots of deposited material
within the channel.

occurs when the

load contain high
proportion of
coarser sands
and gravel
especially in
semi-arid
environment
Meander Channel
Meander have bends in course of a river channel.

Begin when a river approaches its middle course & gradient channel
is less steep.
Meander Channel
Meandering Parameter

River straightening
River Classification

Physical form or
Morphology

Channel and Bed

Composition
Rosgen River Classification
Rosgen River Classification
Rosgen River & Watershed
Rosgen River & Watershed

River channels have hydraulic models using

HEC-HMS (for Discharges) and
HEC-RAS (for Channels)
HEC-HMS
HEC-RAS
HEC-RAS
Riffle and Pools
Riffles deposition of a coarse material that create areas
of shallow water.
Pools areas of deeper water between riffles.
Water Fall

A waterfall form
when a river, after
flowing over
relatively hard rock
meets a band of
less resistant rock
flow over the edge
of a plateau. Over
a period of years,
the edges of this
shelf will gradually
break away and
the waterfall will
steadily retreat
upstream, creating
a gorge of
recession
Floodplains
Delta

Arcuate delta e.g. River Nile.

Cuspate delta e.g. Tiber.

Birds foot e.g.Mississippi river.

Flood Bulletin Board
CAUSES (Human and physical factors)
A. PHYSICAL FACTORS:
When does flooding occur?
Water overflows river banks onto surrounding area.
Occur when water available is more than infiltration capacity.
When does water overflow?
1. Intense precipitation
2. Prolong rainfall in saturated soil
3. Sudden increase in temperature: snow?

B. HUMAN FACTORS:
1. Dam burst
2. Land use: drainage system, digging ditch
3. Urbanization: land made impermeable in road building
4. Deforestation.
Lets Go Natural !!!
Hydropower

Flow in LPS and

Elevation in meters
Dam
Determine potential
Headrace Hydropower of in kW:
a. Blue Line with
Forebay 70% dependable
flow?

b. Orange line with

Powerhouse 80% dependable
Penstock flow?

Powerhouse
 Stormwater and Drainage
2km 3km 2km

a C In Ilocos Norte,
1km

2.5km 1km
1 2.5km across all points in
the river labelled as
b 2 1.5km 4 2.5km 1-7, determine the
3km
1km

peak discharge and

7 river-cross section
3 area (design velocity
1km

2.5km 2km is 2m/s):

3.5km 5
c
C=0.8 (runoff
6 2.5km coefficient)
1km

5.5km
d
Slope= 0.006
For travel time estimation, use Kravens table for river flow
and time of concentration for sheet flow Solid: riverflow
Dashed: sheetflow
Irrigation
Determine the daily irrigation supply
and downstream river discharge from
the illustration for Day 6.

Everyday ET=4mm/day

Rainfall mm/day
Day 1: 0
Day 2: 3
Day 3: 4
Day 4: 0
Day 5: 10
Day 6: 6
Day 7: 5