• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.450-457
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• 2019

Sedimentation is a common problem for river ports. But its intensity depends on the rate of sedimentation, channel shape and size, hydrodynamic behavior of the river and the importance of the port. High sedimentation rate in Yangon River has become one major issue for Myanmar as her largest port is located on the Yangon riverbank. As a result of the high sedimentation rate, shallow water area near the confluence of Yangon River, Pazundaung Creek, and Bago River keeps blocking the navigation channel to the Yangon Port, which also limits the size of vessel calling to Yangon Port. Therefore, studies to understand sediment transport process in Yangon River are required because the economic development of Myanmar highly relies on the Yangon Port. This paper aims to calculate the sediment transport and to predict the riverbed elevation changes in Yangon River by using Bagnold (1966) theory. Calculation result shows that huge difference can be found in the bed load transport between the rainy season and dry season in Yangon River, and thus the sedimentation problem would become more severe in the dry season when the transported sediments are reduced. The estimated sedimentation rate in dry season indicates that the rate of riverbed level rise near the Yangon Port area is about 0.063 m per year, which would lead to approximately 3.15 m rise in the riverbed level in next 50 yrs, considering the same workload of dredging to maintain the navigation channel.