Recent Advances in Sedimentation and River Mechanics

This article describes some of the recent and on-going research developments of the author at Colorado State University. Advances in the field of sedimentation and river mechanics include basic research and computer modeling on several topics. Only a few selected topics are considered here: (1) analytical determination of velocity profiles, shear stress and sediment concentration profiles in smooth open channels; (2) experiments on bedload particle velocity in smooth and rough channels; (3) field measurements of sediment transport by size fractions in curved flumes. In terms of computer modeling, significant advances have been achieved in: (1) flashflood simulation with raster-based GIOS and radar precipitation data; and (2) physically-based computer modeling of sediment transport at the watershed scale with CASC2D-SED. Field applications, measurements and analysis of hydraulic geometry and sediment transport has been applied to: (1) gravel-bed transport measurements in a cobble-bed stream at Little Granite Creek, Wyoming; (2) sand and gravel transport by size fraction in the sharp meander bends of Fall River, Colorado; (3) changes in sand dune geometry and resistance to flow during major floods of the Rhine River in the Netherlands; (4) changes in hydraulic geometry of the Rio Grande downstream of Cochiti Dam, New Mexico; and (5) analysis of the influence of water temperature and the Coriolis force on flow velocity and sediment transport of the Lower Mississippi River in Louisiana. Recent developments also include two textbooks on "Erosion and Sedimentation" and "River Mechanics" by the author and state-of-the-art papers in the ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering.