Sediment Mechanics

(CEng 7063)

Berhane Grum (PhD)

EiT-M, School of Civil Engineering
May 2020
 Chapter 4
Sediment samplers and sampling
Contents:
▪ Introduction
▪ Bed load sampling
▪ Suspended load sampling
▪ Bed material sampling
▪ Processing of sediment transport data
Introduction
▪ Bottom sediments consist of particles that have been
transported by water, air or glaciers from the sites of their
origin in a terrestrial environment and have been deposited on
the floor of a river, lake, or ocean.
▪ Natural processes responsible for the formation of bottom
sediments can be altered by anthropogenic activities.
▪ Many man-made materials have entered bodies of water
through atmospheric deposition, runoff from land, or direct
discharge into the water.
▪ Most hydrophobic organic contaminants, metal compounds,
and nutrients, which enter the water become associated with
particulate matter.
Introduction
▪ Sediment data needs are of practical concern for the following
categories:
✓ The evaluation of sediment yield with respect to different natural
environmental conditions: geology, soils, climate, runoff,
topography, ground cover, and size of drainage area
✓ The evaluation of sediment yield with respect to different kinds
of land use
✓ The time distribution of sediment concentration and transport
rate in streams
✓ The evaluation of erosion and deposition in channel systems
✓ The amount and size characteristics of sediment delivered to a
body of water
✓ The relations between sediment chemistry and water quality
Introduction
▪ In many reports on the investigations of sediments, a detailed
description of sampling techniques is often overlooked.
▪ Sampling procedures often vary depending on the objectives of the
monitoring, method of analysis and the need of the analyst.
▪ An important phase prior to the actual field survey is the selection of
the most appropriate instruments from a wide range of instruments.
▪ The selection of instruments is primarily dependent on variables to
be measured, available facilities, required accuracy.
▪ The development of adequate measurement equipment and
techniques is dependent on a thorough understanding of the erosion,
transportation, and deposition phenomena.
General sampling strategy
▪ Selecting sampling sites
✓ The overall sampling protocol must include the sampling
locations and all of the equipment and information needed for the
samples.
✓ Data sources such as bathymetric and topographic maps, aerial
photographs, and land-use maps should be carefully examined to
infer these processes and related bottom characteristics.
▪ Navigation
✓ The selection of navigation is based on the spatial scale of the
study, the presence of fixed objects in the study area (such as
islands, or bridges), and the navigational tools available.
▪ Sampling approaches
✓ Generally three different approaches are adopted for sample
collection: judgmental, systematic and random.
Bed-load sampling
▪ Bed load can be measured by trapping the sediment moving along
the bed in an instrument which is placed on the river bed for a fixed
period.
▪ Either the volume or mass of the material collected is measured.
▪ It is, however, known from experience that the amount of sediment
trapped in the sampler varies considerably.
▪ This is due to the stochastic nature of the transport phenomenon as
well as to accidental circumstances related to the position of the
sampler on the river bed.
▪ Many efforts have been made to improve instruments and methods
in order to arrive at a more accurate estimation of the true bed load.
Bed-load sampling
▪ Measurement site need to be selected based on two conditions:
✓ A stable river reach has to be selected in order to avoid non-
steady bed conditions during measurements.
✓ Reliable measurements of the hydraulic conditions (e.g. depth
and flow velocity) have to be possible.
▪ Bed load transport should be measured in a number of verticals in a
cross-section.
▪ In each of these verticals a good estimate of bed load is necessary.
▪ Two methods are available to measure the bed-load transport rate
✓ Simple mechanical trap-type samplers
✓ Recording (echo-sounding) of longitudinal bed profiles as a
function of time (bed-form tracking).
Bed-load sampling
a. Trap sampling
▪ The basic principle of mechanical trap-type bed-load samplers is the
interception of the sediment particles which are in transport close to
the bed
▪ The bed load transport measured by a trap sampler is dependent on:
✓ Efficiency (instrumental errors)
✓ Location with respect to the bed-form geometry (spatial
variability)
✓ Near-bed turbulence of structure (temporal variability)
Bed-load sampling
a. Trap sampling
▪ The efficiency of the bed load sampler depends on:
o The hydraulic coefficient, the percentage of width of the sampler
o Nozzle in contact with the bed during sampling and
o Sampling disturbances generated at the beginning and the end of
the sampling period.
▪ The hydraulic coefficient, defined as the ratio of the inflow velocity
and the ambient flow velocity, depends on the geometry and
construction of the sampler nozzle, on the position of the nozzle at the
bed, on the percentage of filling of the bag with sand particles.
▪ Thus, the problems of bed-load transport measurements are related to
the instrument design and the physical process involved.
Bed-load sampling
a. Trap sampling
▪ Typical instrumental problems of a (bag-type) bed-load sampler
are:
✓ The initial effect: sand particles of the bed may be stirred up
and trapped when the instrument is placed on the bed (over
sampling).
✓ The bag effect: a gap between the bed and the sampler mouth
may be present initially or generated at a later stage under the
mouth of the sampler due to migrating ripples of erosion
processes (under sampling).
Bed-load sampling
a. Trap sampling
▪ Typical instrumental problems of a (bag-type) bed-load sampler
are:
✓ The blocking effect: blocking of the bag material by sand, silt
clay particles and organic materials will reduce the hydraulic
coefficient and thus the sampling efficiency (under sampling).
✓ The Scooping effect: the instrument may drift downstream
from the survey boat during lowering to the bed and it may be
pulled forward (scoop) over the bed when it is raised again
(over sampling).
Bed-load sampling
a. Trap sampling
▪ Typical sampling problems related to the variability of the
physical processes of bed-load transport are:

✓ The number of measurement locations along a bed form

✓ The number of measurements at each location
✓ The sampling duration of each measurement
✓ The number of locations in the cross-section
Bed-load samplers
Bed-load transport meter Arnhem (BTMA)
▪ The instrument is based on the collection of sediment
particles by means of a basket-type sampler
▪ The basket consisting of fine wire mesh and mounted in
frame, is pressed (by means of a leaf spring) on the channel
bed after lowering of the frame.
▪ The sampler can collect particles coarser than 0.3 mm
(mesh size basket) but finer than 50 mm (opening height).
Bed-load samplers
Bed-load transport meter Arnhem (BTMA)
Bed-load samplers
Bed-load transport meter Arnhem (BTMA)
The bed load transport, gsb (in kg/s/m) can be determined as:

where:
α = calibration factor (= 2 for BTMA)
p = porosity factor ( 0.4)
ρs = density of sediment particles ( 2650 kg/m3)
Vs = immersed volume of sediment catch (m3)
Gs= dry mass of sediment catch (kg)
b = width of intake opening (= 0.085 m for BMTA)
T = sampling period (s)
Bed-load samplers
Helly Smith Sampler (HSS)
▪ The Helley-Smith sampler consists of a nozzle, sample bag and
frame
▪ Several different versions of the sampler have been used for various
field conditions
▪ Large nozzles are generally used to sample larger sediment sizes
and heavier samplers become necessary as deeper and faster rivers
are sampled
▪ An important advantage of the Helley-Smith sampler is the extensive
calibration (based on about 10,000 samples) and its simple
operation.
▪ The Helley-Smith sampler is the most widely-used bed-load
transport measurement.
Bed-load samplers
Helly Smith Sampler (HSS)
Bed-load samplers
Helly Smith Sampler (HSS)
The bed load transport, gsb (in kg/s/m) can be determined as:

where:
α = calibration factor = 0.5 for particles of 0.25 to 0.50 mm
= 1.0 for particles of 0.50 to 16 mm
= 1.5 for particles of 16 to 32 mm
p = porosity factor ( 0.4)
ρs = density of sediment particles ( 2650 kg/m3)
Vs = immersed volume of sediment catch (m3)
Gs= dry mass of sediment catch (kg)
b = width of intake opening (= 0.00762 m)
T = sampling period (s)
Bed-load samplers
Delft Nile Sampler (DNS)
▪ The instrument consists of a bed-load sampler (and a suspended-load
sampler) attached to a supporting frame
▪ The suspended-load sampler consists of 7 intake nozzles (inner
diameter = 0.003 m) which are connected to plastic hoses and
operated by pumps
▪ The instrument was developed for the bed-load measurements in the
Nile river
Bed-load samplers
Delft Nile Sampler (DNS)
Bed-load samplers
Delft Nile Sampler (DNS)
The bed-load transport (in kg/s/m) is determined as:

where:
α = calibration factor (1 to 1.5)
Gs = dry mass of sediment catch (kg)
Go = dry mass of sediment catch related initial and scooping effect (kg)
b = width of intake opening
T = sampling period (s)
Bed-load sampling
b. Bed-form tracking
▪ The basic principle is the computation of the bed-load transport from
bed-form profiles measured at successive time intervals under similar
flow conditions
▪ Assuming steady flow conditions and undisturbed bed-form
migration, the bed-load transport rate can be computed as
𝑔𝑠𝑏 = 𝛼𝑠 1 − 𝑝 𝜌𝑠 𝑎 ∆
gsb= bed-load transport (kg/s/m)
𝛼𝑠 = shape factor (≈ 0.5 – 0.6)
p = porosity factor (≈ 0.4)
𝜌𝑠 = density of sediment particles (≈ 2650 kg/m3)
a = average migration velocity (m/s)
Δ = average bed-form height (m)
Bed-load sampling
b. Bed-form tracking
Suspended load sampling
▪ The determination of suspended load in a cross-section of a stream is
based on measurements in a number of verticals and with this
information integration over the cross-section.
▪ The data for the verticals can be obtained in two ways:
✓ depth integration over the vertical, and
✓ point integration in a number of points in each vertical and
integration over the vertical.
▪ Most samplers are used as point-integrating samplers which means
that the relevant parameters are measured in a specific point above
the bed as a function of time.
▪ Some instruments are used as depth-integrating samplers, which
means continuous sampling over the depth by lowering and raising
the instrument at a constant rate.
Suspended load sampling
▪ Samplers for the suspended sediment transport were developed in the
past according to two different principles: the direct and the indirect
measuring of the sediment transport.
▪ The direct method is based on the direct measurement of the time-
averaged sediment transport in a certain point (point-integrating) or
over a certain depth range (depth-integrating).
▪ The indirect method is based on the simultaneous but separate
measurement of the time-averaged fluid velocity and the time-
averaged sediment concentration, which are multiplied to obtain the
time-averaged sediment transport.
▪ The trap and bottle-type instruments can only be used in steady flow
conditions.
▪ The other samplers can also be used in oscillatory flow conditions
Suspended load sampling
Suspended load Point-integrating Depth-integrating
samplers

✓ Direct method • Delft-Bottle sampler

• Acoustic sampler

• Trap sampler • USD-49 sampler

• Bottle sampler • Collapsible-Bag
✓ Indirect method • USP-61 sampler sampler
• Pump sampler
• Optical sampler
• Impact sampler
• Nuclear sampler
Suspended load samplers
Suspended load samplers

Delft bottle sampler

Bed-material sampling
▪ The selection of sampler as well as sampling method has to be
based on the actual circumstances.

▪ Instruments which have to be forced by hand into the stream

bed can only be used in a shallow water.

▪ In deep water either the free-fall principle can be applied or

an instrument can be selected based on its weight and shape.

▪ Two main categories of samplers :

✓ Filled by dragging them along the bed
✓ Grabbing or digging, like the grab bucket sampler
Bed-material sampling
Grab bucket sampler
▪ The grab bucket sampler consists of cupped jaws which close to trap
a sample of bed material
▪ Suitable when bed material does not exceed 300 µm.
Bed-material sampling
US BM-54 sampler
▪ Another bed material sampler is US BM-54, which has a 50 kg designed to
be suspended from a cable and take a sample of bed material
▪ It is used to collect sand and gravel samples from the bed of a stream, lake,
or a reservoir.
Processing of sediment transport data
▪ The kind of processing of sediment transport measuring data
depends on the use of the sediment measuring data.
▪ In some cases, the processing is immediately clear from the
objectives of the measuring campaign.
▪ When the data is however collected on a routine basis, as part of
the hydrological data collection, the processing of the data is not
obvious.
Processing of sediment transport data
▪ There are three different reasons for doing sediment transport
measurements:
✓ To get information on sediment concentration in a river,
e.g., for design of diversion structures.
✓ To determine annual sediment load in a river, e.g., for
assessment of sedimentation in reservoirs or floodplains.
✓ To derive a sediment transport predictor applicable for
the river under study, e.g., for mathematical studies as part
of an environmental impact study or for the derivation of
design boundary conditions for river training works, weirs,
barrages, etc.
 Processing of sediment transport data
Sediment measuring considerations:
• Sediment loads consist of distinct properties of bed-materials load and
wash load. For example, bed-material deposits in reservoirs affects
storage curve and often wash load is deposited in the dead storage of the
reservoir.

• Sediment load in a river varies throughout the year. Usually, sediment

transports are only measured at certain intervals (2-weekly, monthly. Hence
interpolation is needed.

• The use of regular intervals between measurements also cause that often
floods are missed in the sampling.

• It would be better to measure sediment transport in particular during floods

rather than with a certain interval. Often, automatic sampling is
appropriate.
Processing of sediment transport data
Types of processing of sediment data
✓ Sediment concentration (c) or sediment loads (Qs) as
function of time
✓ Sediment concentration (c) or sediment loads (Qs) as
function of water discharge Q.
✓ Sediment transport qs as function of balance between the
driving and the resisting force (e.g. shields parameter 𝜃 ) or
of the stream power w .
Processing of sediment transport data
Checking quality of data
▪ Processing of data only makes sense when the quality of the data is assured.
▪ Quality checking is a continuous process that should be done in all stages
of data collection and processing.
▪ A number of simple but important rules should be followed:
✓ The first elaboration of field data should be done by field person,
always doing these measurements
✓ Regular checks on the methods and instruments used in the field should
be made
✓ Results of measurements should be plotted in simple graphs (e.g.
sediment hydrographs, sediment transport versus stage)
✓ Data should be used in conjunction with older data and with data from
other neighboring basins.
✓ If inconsistencies are found, they should be discussed soon with field
personnel
Processing of sediment transport data
From measured concentrations to sediment loads
▪ Sediment transport is measured in a limited number of verticals and
a few points in the vertical can be sampled.
▪ To compute the total sediment load, the measuring data have to be
extrapolated to vertical and points with no samples.
▪ Extrapolation should be done taking into account the physical
behavior of sediment (e.g. distinction between bed material and
wash load).
▪ For the wash load, it is assumed that it is uniformly distributed over
the cross-section.
▪ Hence, the average value of measured suspended load can
determined by:
𝑞𝑠𝑤 = 𝑞 × 𝑐𝑤
Processing of sediment transport data
Sediment hydrographs
▪ Sediment hydrographs are plots of the sediment load as time
series.
▪ In such a graph the bed-load, the suspended bed-material and
the wash load can be presented separately.
▪ When plotted in conjunction with the flood hydrograph the
behavior of the river and the catchment in-terms of sediment
supply can be studied.
Processing of sediment transport data
Sediment hydrographs
▪ Often the highest loads are found even
before the peak of the flood wave.
▪ Such graph can give a clue to sediment
management when reservoirs have to be
filled.
▪ Hence, it is often advantageous to fill
reservoir only during the recession of the
flood wave.
▪ This is of course only possible when the
volume is small compared to the flood
wave
Processing of sediment transport data
Sediment rating curves
▪ Often sediment rating curves are prepared, more or less in line
with discharge rating curves.
▪ Sediment rating curves are plots of the measured sediment
transport as a function of the discharge.
▪ Sediment rating curves are usually expressed as exponential
equations:
𝒒𝒔 =𝑨 × 𝒒𝑩
Where: qs is sediment transport (m3/s), q is discharge (m3/s),
and A and B are parameters which have to determined
empirically.
Processing of sediment transport data
Sediment rating curves
▪ Sediment rating curves can be determined either by a regression analysis
or from a graph with the data points (discharge, sediment transport) on a
logarithmic scale.
▪ Sediment rating curves are widely used to estimate the sediment
concentration or the sediment transport for periods where discharge data
are available.
Processing of sediment transport data
Sediment rating curves
▪ Preparation of sediment rating curves is a normal practice.
Processing of sediment transport data
Sediment rating curves
Processing of sediment transport data
Sediment rating curves
Thank You!!