STUDENT 39

Name: Tampipi, Jan Dave G. Date: October 13, 2020

CE 350 (Water Resource Engineering) Prof.: Engr. Showna Lee T. Sales
Topic: River Engineering (cont.)

River Engineering

Rivers are complex and dynamic systems. It often adjusts its roughness, velocity, slope, depth,
width, and plan form in response to human activities and perhaps changing climatic, geologic, and
hydrologic regimes. These adjustments may be rapid or slow depending upon the sources .
The study of river engineering is traditionally deals with all hydraulic engineering works
undertaken for the purposes of river straightening, flood protection, channelizing natural
watercourses, diverting water from its natural water course for different use, and improving
navigability.
River hydraulics includes the evaluation of flow characteristics and geomorphic (physical)
behavior of river and changes in these due to natural or manmade conditions. The analyses of river
hydraulics are essential components of river projects, and the results from these analyses are often
critical for project formulation, design, construction, and operation throughout project’s life.
A river system is composed of the main stream and many tributaries. A drainage pattern is plan
of river system. Rivers have always played an important role in human development and in shaping
civilizations.

The primary function of a river is the conveyance of water and sediment. In addition rivers have many
functions, which include the following:

 Social/economic/cultural functions: River is used as: sources of water for water supply,
irrigation, hydropower, transportation and recreation; and means of waste disposal.
 Ecological functions: River is also used as habitats for aquatic plants and animals.
Classifications of rivers

Rivers can be classified according to various criteria:

 Based on variation of discharge in river:
a. Perennial Rivers. Perennial rivers have adequate discharge throughout the year. These rivers
obtain their supply from the melting of snow and from precipitation.

b. Non-perennial rivers. Non-perennial rivers don’t have adequate discharge throughout the
year. The flow is quite high during and after rainy season but they carry little flow in non-
rainy season.

c. Flashy rivers. If the flood rise and fall in a river is sudden, then it is called a flashy river.
Therefore, the flood flows occur suddenly, and rise and fall of water level is very quick. The flood
hydrographs are very steep, indicating sudden floods.
 d. Virgin rivers. In arid zones (deserts), a river water may completely dry before it joins another
river or the ocean. Such a river is called a virgin river.

 Based on stability of river: Stable Rivers, Aggrading Rivers, and Degrading Rivers.

a. Aggrading rivers. If the river is collecting sediment and is building up its bed, it is called an
aggrading or an accreting type. An aggrading river is a silting river . Such a river increases its bed
slope, which is called building up of slope. The silting may be due to various reasons such as heavy
sediment load; construction of obstruction across the river, such as a dam or a weir;
 b. Degrading rivers. If the river bed is constantly getting scoured (eroded) to produce and
dissipate available excess land slope, then the river is known as a degrading river.

c. Stable River. A river which does not change its alignment, slope and its regime significantly is
called a stable river.

 Based on the location of river:

a. Mountainous rivers. The rivers that flow in hilly and mountainous regions.

b. Rivers in flood plains. After the boulder stage, a river enters the flood plains having alluvial soil.
The bed and banks of the rivers in flood plains are made up of sand and silt.
 c. Delta Rivers. When river enters a deltaic plain, it splits into a number of small branches due to
very flat slopes. There is shoal formation and braiding of the channels in the delta rivers.

d. Tidal rivers. Just before joining a sea or an ocean, the river becomes a tidal river. In a tidal river,
there are periodic changes in water levels due to tides. The river receives the sea water during flood
tides, but during outgoing tides, it delivers water back to the sea.

Sediment and Morphological processes

A river develops various landforms through channel (river morphological) processes. The main
channel processes or fluvial processes are erosion, transportation and sedimentation. Erosion
predominates in the upper reach area of a drainage basin, and valleys composed of channels and
slopes are formed. Sediment load is deposited to form an alluvial plain.
Some of the reasons why good understanding of sediment transport process is important are:

 Morphological boundary conditions for design of hydraulics structures and river

training works: For the design of such engineering structures boundary conditions have to be
specified. These are the discharge, maximum and minimum water levels, current velocities, the
lowest bed levels that may occur in the river and the future changes in the morphological
characteristics of the river near the structure.
 Sediment problems at Intakes: Many canals of irrigation projects suffer from excessive
sedimentation, which is entering through the head works. This is because of:

 The sediment transport in the river was not properly assessed and appears to be much
higher than anticipated;
 The morphological changes have taken place after construction of the intake structures.


Behaviors of Rivers

The main factors which is responsible for moldering the behavior of rivers is silt and sediment that
flows in the river. The sediment carried by river poses numerous problems, such as; increasing of
flood levels, silting of reservoirs, silting up of a river into a number of interrelated channels, etc.
Therefore, the behavior of river can results in the variation of the shape of river cross section and/or
its plan form.

Reference:

Haileab. (2017, February 23). [PDF] River Engineering - Free Download PDF. Docuri.
https://docuri.com/download/river-engineering_59c1e387f581710b286ab9fd_pdf