Chapter 1

Hydraulic Structures II

River Morphology & Training

By : Tarekegn Zeleke (M.Sc.)

 1.1 Introduction to River Hydraulics
 Rivers – occupied a prominent place in every stage of human life.

 Rivers – strategic areas of national development

 Rivers are sources of water for industries, water supply, irrigation,

energy, etc.

 Ethiopia has immense resources in water with a total annual surface

flow from 12 major river basins amounts to 122BM3.

 Yet utilized at present is only a tiny fraction of the total resources of

our country.
 1.1 Introduction to River Hydraulics
 Rivers, particularly at the tail reaches, are mostly alluvial in
nature and therefore, very unstable – resulting in floods.

 To put river waters to greater use, major control of the river flows
through engineering construction works have to be undertaken –
River Engineering
 1.1 Introduction to River Hydraulics (Cont..d)
Two principal objectives are sought in the control of rivers:

1. Prevention of loss of life and damage to property by floods and

2. Providing water for municipal supplies, irrigation, power

generation, and navigation.

To understand the work of controlling the rivers for various purposes

or training them for local protection against erosion, etc., it is
essential first to know the types of rivers and their behavior.
 1.2 Classification of Rivers

 Rivers can be classified according to different criteria:

Classification based on variation of discharge

1. Perennial River: adequate discharge throughout the year.

2. Non-perennial rivers: their flow is quite high during and after

rainy seasons and reduces significantly during dry seasons.

3. Flashy rivers: in these rivers, there is a sudden increases in

discharge. The river stage rises and falls in a very short period.

4. Virgin rivers: these are those rivers which get completely dried
up before joining another river and sea.
 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)
 Stages of rivers

As the river flows from its origin in a mountain to a sea, it passes

through various stages. A river generally has the following 4 stages:

1. Rocky stages

hilly or mountainous stage or the incised stage.

degradation and cutting.

2. Boulder stage

 large boulders, gravels and shingles.

 The bed slope is quite steep

Most of the diversion head works are constructed in this

 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)

3. Alluvial stage

 flows in a zig- zag manner known as meandering.

 Cross section of the river is made up of alluvial sand and silt.

 The materials get eroded form the concave side (the outer side)
of the bend and get deposited on the convex side (inner side) of
the bend.

 The bed slope is flat and consequently the velocity is small.

 The behavior of the river in this stage depends up on the silt

charge and the flood discharge.

 River training works are required in the alluvial stage.

1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)
 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)

4. Deltaic stage:

 the last stage of the river just before it discharge into the sea.

 It drops its sediments and gets divided into channels on either

side of the deposited sediment and form the delta.
 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)

Types of alluvial rivers

Rivers in flood plains (alluvial stage) is sub divide into the following
classification:

1. Aggrading

 Silting river : due to - heavy sediment load, construction of an

obstruction across a river, sudden intrusion of sediment from a
tributary etc.

2. Degrading

 Constantly getting scoured, to reduce and dissipate available

excess land slope
 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)

3. Stable deltaic

 no silting or scouring, it is called a stable river

 A river that does not change its alignment, slope and its regime
significant

4. Deltaic

 Is the last stage of the river just before it discharge into the sea.

 The river is unable to carry its sediment load.

 As a result, It drops its sediments and gets divided into channels

on either side of the deposited sediment and form the delta.
 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)
 Rivers are mainly classified according to the topography of the
river basins as:

 Upper reaches – rivers in the hilly regions

 Middle reaches – rivers in flood plains

 End reaches – tidal rivers

 Rivers may also be classified according to their morphological

processes.

 Zone I – similar to the upper reaches

 Zone II – the rivers at gentle slope

 Zone III – the flood plains and tail reach of the rivers.
 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)
• Upper reaches – could be:

• Incised or rocky rivers:

 The channel generally formed by the process of degradation (erosion).

 The bed and the banks are usually highly resistant to erosion.

 The sediment load is different from the bed material.

 No regular pattern of meanders because varying resistance of bed and banks

to erosion.

• Boulder rivers:
 The beds consist of a mixture of boulders, gravels, shingle and sand.

 Tend to have straighter courses with wide shallow beds and interlaced
channels.
 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)
• Middle reaches (rivers in flood plains)–

 Characterized by the zigzag fashion it flows – meandering

 While meandering, carry sediment similar to the bed material

 Material constantly carried from the concave bank and

deposited on the convex side or between two successive
bends.

 It is this reaches that requires training due to unbalance of

flow in the river.
 1.2 Classification of Rivers (Cont..d)

• End reaches (tidal /deltaic rivers)–

 just before joining sea, a river divided into branches and

forms delta shape.

 The velocity gets reduced as it approaches the sea and water

level rises as a result. It is also affected by the tidal wave of
sea water. This leads to spills of flow and formation of many
new channels.
1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers
 1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers
• Natural streams/river are essentially open hydraulic systems in
equilibrium.

• The variables in a river system are those that govern discharge

 channel width

 boundary roughness

 size and concentration of sediment load

 depth and slope

 A change in any one of these interdependent variables must be

compensated for by a change in the others.

 The variables are constantly changing (from day to day) – brings

a change in the river morphology
 1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers

 River morphology is the field of science dealing with changes of

river platform and cross-section shape due to sedimentation and
erosion processes.

 River morphology is used to describe the shapes of river channels

and how they change over time.
Some of process River morphological includes:
 Sediment Transport
 Bed Level Changes
 Bank Erosion- process leading to the removal of material from
the river bank
 1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers

 Bank Accretion- movement of the bank line farther from the

channel centerline as a result of bank erosion
 Flow And Bed Topography In River
 Bends
 1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers
• As water moves its way downstream, energy is expended on the
transportation and rearrangement of materials in the river channel
and on the flood plain.

Meanders can migrate,

banks may erode,

new channels may form and

old ones cut off creating backwaters.

Schumm (1977) assigned three zones to the land-water

interactions within fluvial hydro systems:
 1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers

• Mountain head water streams flow • Low elevation streams merge

swiftly down steep slopes and cut a and flow down gentler slopes.
deep V-shaped valley. • The valley broadens and the
• Rapids and water falls are common river begins to meander.

• At an even lower elevation a river

wanders and meanders slowly
across a broad, nearly flat valley.
• At its mouth it may divide into many
separate channels as it flows across
a delta built up of river- borne
sediments and into the sea.
 1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers

• There are three zones to the land-water interactions within fluvial

hydro-systems:-

ZONE 1 : Sediment supply zone

 The upper zone within the catchment.

 This zone is characterised by valley slopes impinging almost

directly onto the channel.

 There are coarse channel sediments and these arise from bank
and slope erosion inputs.
 1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers
ZONE 2 : Sediment transfer zone
 Comprises mainly the lowland reaches of the river where the
channel is often bordered by a wide floodplain.
 In this zone the rivers redistributes sediment derived from
upstream and bank and bed erosion.
 Sediment varies from cobble and gravel- sized material in the
upper reaches to silt, clay and alluvium in the lower reaches.
 Meander bends migrate laterally and fine sediments can be
stored on the floodplain after a flood
 1.3 Fluvial processes and the shaping of rivers

ZONE 3 : Depositional zone

 Sediment is deposited in estuary.
 The range of substrates found within the ‘production’ and
‘transfer’ zones together with their hydrological regime,
determine the habitat characteristics of the river.
 In a natural/unmodified river it is the range of natural habitat
features, and it is this that may be degraded or altered by river
engineering works.
 1.4 Morphology of natural channels

• The plan geometry of rivers/ pattern includes:

 Straight,

 Meandering and

 Braided.
 1.4 Morphology of natural channels

Meandering
Channel

Straight
Channel

Braided channel
 1.4 Morphology of natural channels
Straight channels
 Alluvial rivers having narrow and deep cross section and flat
slope are usually not straight over long distances.

 When the river section is wide, shallow and having steep slope,
it can be straight over a long reach.

 The velocity of water flow is higher in the middle of the

channel cross-section; making the surface level water lower in
the middle.

 This velocity gradient from edges to middle develops rotary

currents.
1.4 Morphology of natural channels
 1.4 Morphology of natural channels
Meandering channels
 Straight rivers are rare in nature. This is in part linked to the
fact that velocity at a river cross section is unevenly
distributed.

 As a consequence, convergent and divergent patterns of

downstream flow result in the development of a longitudinal
sequence of pools and riffles.
1.4 Morphology of natural channels
 1.3 Morphology of natural channels

 Meandering channels are single channels that are sinuous in plan.

 The bed of a meandering stream includes pools at or slightly

downstream of the bends and riffles between the bends.

 Meandering is characteristic of lowland rivers with slack slopes,

 Meandering channels are efficient equilibrium features that

represent the channel plan geometry, where single channels
deviate from straightness.

 This deviation is related in part to the cohesiveness of channel

banks and the abundance and bulk of midstream bars.
 1.4 Morphology of natural channels
Meander Parameters:

 Meander length, L - the axial length of one meander.

 Meander Belt, B – the outer edges of clockwise or anti-clockwise

loops of the meander.

 Meander ratio/sinuosity index – a measure of deviation

SI = the ratio of the meander belt to meander length, i.e. = B/L.

 Crossings – the short straight reaches of the river connecting two

consecutive loops.

 There are a number of equations showing the relationship between

the parameters, and with discharge. For example: L = 46Q0.39
 1.4 Morphology of natural channels

Braided channels

• In streams having highly variable discharge and easily eroded banks,

sediment gets deposited to form bars and islands that are exposed
during periods of low discharge.

• Braided channels are subdivided at normal flows by midstream bars

of sand or gravel. At high water, many or all bars are submerged.

• A single meandering channel may convert to braiding where one or

more bars are formed.
 1.4 Morphology of natural channels

Braided channels

• Each of the subdivided channels is less efficient, being smaller than

the original single channel and this is often compensated for by an
increase in slope (i.e., by down cutting).
1.4 Morphology of natural channels
 1.5 River training
 River training – all engineering works constructed on a river to
guide and confine the flow to the river channel and to control and
regulate the river bed configuration for effective and safe movement
of floods and river sediment.

 River training aims at controlling and stabilizing a river along a

desired course for one or more of the following purposes.
 flood protection/ training for discharge
 Maintaining a safe and good navigable channel/training for depth
 Sediment control/ training for sediment
 Stabilizing the river channel for prevention of bank erosion.
 Directing the flow in a defined stretch of the river. E.g. guide
banks
 1.5 River training

 Most rivers show, in their natural state, a condition of equilibrium

characterized by the stability of their alignment and slopes, as well
as regime. The regime may change within a year but shows little
variation from year to year.

• In river training the chief aim is to attain this stability with the aid
of training measures.

• On the contrary, aggrading and degrading types of rivers are not

equally amenable to river training on account of their inherent
instability. Thus, for stability complementary measures are
undertaken.
 1.5 River training

• For example, on aggrading river, bank protection works may either

be destroyed by severe erosion or get buried under deposition.

• Soil conservation on the upper reaches supplemented with check

dams on the tributaries are probably the most effective answer to
problems of training and control of aggrading rivers.

• Training works on degrading rivers on the other hand may be

destroyed by undermining due to bed scour.

• Gradient control by building dams and weirs is a prerequisite to

attempting any other modifications in the river.
 1.5 River training
 Training measures should be planned with due regard to the
limitations imposed by the type of river, therefore.

• Training measures are so diverse and serve equally diverse

purposes that laying down rigid rules is impracticable.

• Usually river training is contemplated where the alignment of the

river section is abnormal. i.e. splitting of the river into several
branches, dev’t of sharp bends, and formation of wide and shallow
shoals.

• It may also be necessary for specific purposes; guiding the flow

through a weir by constructing guide banks, diversion of flow by
groynes to avoid bank erosion, etc.
 1.5 River training

• Closing of river branches may be effected by constructing

embankments across them at their upper ends;

• Sills may be used for preventing erosion; etc.

Note:

 The planning and design of training works is done largely by

empirical methods and reliance has to be placed on the intuition and
judgment of experienced engineers.

 However, in a majority of river training problems, the effect of the

training is undergone tests on small scale physical models,
otherwise based on only a mathematical analysis is not reliable.
 1.5 River training

What are River Training Structures?

River training structures are manmade or naturally occurring

structures that are placed or developed in a river reach to modify the
hydraulic flow and sediment response of the river.

 Guide bank system

 Groynes or spurs

 Levees or embankments

 dikes, etc.
 1.5 River training
 Dikes: Dikes are wall-like structures placed in a river, extending
from one bank into, but not across a river.

• They are built at a depth that is normally covered by the water, but
may be exposed at extremely low stages.

• Uses: Dikes are used to divert the flow of water and to manage
sediment distribution, usually to improve a navigation channel.
 1.4 River training
 Levee: Structures that run roughly parallel to a river, that restrict the
river from expanding onto the flood plain during flooding, or an
increase in river elevation or stage to the point where it rises above
and outside its normal high water bank.

• This is expensive and is normally only done where land values dictate
this as a more cost-effective way.

Uses: levees prevent flood waters from

inundating valuable agricultural land,
residential and business property as well
as infrastructure.