Bed morphology in vegetated estuarine river with mild-curved meander bend

ABSTRACT

In this study, the effect of single and double row piles for reducing scouring in a mild-curved river meander was studied experimentally. The experimental study focused on the effect of vegetation on bed topography in a mild-curved meander bend. The experimental tests were conducted in a laboratory flume under clear water flow conditions. A series of experimental tests were carried out with a fixed bed and non-vegetated and vegetated moveable beds with different vegetation patterns. Analysis of the flow characteristics indicated that when the bed was mobile with vegetation on the inner bank, the core of maximum streamwise velocity shifted towards the centreline of the bend. Additionally, the cross-sectional kinetic energy increased from 0.05% for the fixed-bed test to 4.30% for the test with a double row of vegetation. Furthermore, the presence of vegetation was found to increase the uniformity of the distribution of turbulence intensity and to reduce the Reynolds shear stress along the test section. Also, the mass fluxes increased from the outer bank to the inner bank and from the upstream towards the downstream of the bend. Finally, comparison of bed topography in vegetated and non-vegetated channels showed that the maximum scour depth at the bend apex was reduced by 77% and 62% for the cases with one row and two rows of vegetation, respectively. The results of this study were compared with previously proposed models for predicting the vertical distribution of the streamwise velocity at the bend apex. It was found that Johannesson and Parker’s model (JPM) gave the lowest value of standard error. The above findings are useful in river training works and, in particular, for restoration of meandering rivers.

Editor D. M.C. Acreman; Associate editor C. Cudennec