 Bank erosion is the wearing away of the banks of a

stream or river. This is distinguished from erosion of

the bed of the watercourse, which is referred to as
scour.
 The roots of trees growing by a stream are undercut
by such erosion. As the roots bind the soil tightly,
they form abutments which jut out over the water.
These have a significant effect upon the rate and
progress of the erosion.
There are two primary mechanisms of
stream bank erosion:
i) Fluvial erosion and
ii) Mass failure.
i) Fluvial Erosion: Fluvial erosion is the direct
removal of soil particles by flowing water. The rate of
fluvial erosion is determined both by the force of the
flowing water (e.g. faster flow equals more force)
and the resistance of the bank material to erosion
(e.g. clay is generally more resistant to erosion than
sand).
ii) Mass Failure: Mass failure occurs when the weight
of a stream bank is greater than the strength of the
soil, causing the bank to collapse. This process is
dependent upon a number of factors including the
internal strength of the soil (e.g. clay vs. sand), soil-
water content, and vegetation. These two erosion
processes are linked as fluvial erosion of the bottom
of the bank creates a steeper bank angle or
overhanging soil blocks which are more unstable
and likely to collapse.
Other erosion processes include cycles of wetting
and drying or freezing and thawing which weakens
the bank soil and makes it more susceptible to
erosion. An additional form of erosion is termed
seepage erosion. This occurs when groundwater
flows out of a stream bank with enough force to
erode the bank material. If concentrated, seepage
erosion can be called piping because a “pipe” of soil
is eroded.
Vegetation can have a significant impact on bank
erosion. Generally, banks with vegetation erode
more slowly than those without. Dense vegetation
growing on the bank face can deflect flowing water
and prevent fluvial erosion. Roots generally increase
the strength of bank material, making a bank less
prone to mass failure. However, trees can also add
significant weight to the tops of stream banks and
may actually decrease stability.
River Bank erosion has several causes
with even more factors that can accelerate
it. The major causes are flooding, land use,
stream management, over-clearing of
catchment and stream bank vegetation,
and poorly managed sand and gravel
extraction
 Flood: Bangladesh is a riverine country. About 700
rivers including tributaries flow through
Bangladesh constituting a good waterway of total
length around 24,140 kilometers. Most of the
country’s land is formed through silt brought by the
rivers. In our country, every year the people are
affected by floods, especially for the rainy reason.
This is the most crucial reason for riverbank
erosion.
Deforestation: Deforestation refers to the
cutting down trees and makes a forest non-
forest. Trees can hold on the soil aggregates.
But when the trees are cut down, the soil
particles become loose and for this reason, the
soil of the river bank can be eroded gradually.
Heavy Rainfall: We are in monsoon climate
zone. We face heavy rainfall in the rainy
season. This extreme rainfall is also an
important cause of riverbank erosion. Where
there is no well-constructed levee of a river,
the soil can be eroded because of heavy
rainfall at that time.
Strong Current of the River: Another
responsible factor of erosion strong current of
the river. The major rivers of our country are
Padma, Meghna, Jamuna etc. There are some
specific zones of these rivers where the current
of the river water is very much high than the
other places. Those places are affected by
riverbank erosion badly.
Silt Deposition: Deforestation, landslide and other
unplanned embankment and destruction of hills for
road construction which carried a huge amount of
silt in the river beneath by the tributaries of the
rivers of Bangladesh. Which result accumulation of
silt. This produces the water holding capacity of the
rivers. The direction of the river is changed and thus
the bank of the rivers is eroded.
Stream bed lowering or in fill
Flooding of bank soils followed by rapid drops in flow
Saturation of banks from off-stream source
Redirection and acceleration of flow within the channel
Poor Soil Drainage
Wave Action
Excessive Sand/Gravel Extraction
Intense Water from Rainfall
Bank erosion is a natural process: without it, rivers would not meander
and change course. However, land management patterns that change
the hydrograph and/or vegetation cover can act to increase or
decrease channel migration rates. In many places, whether or not the
banks are unstable due to human activities, people try to keep a river
in a single place. This can be done for environmental reclamation or to
prevent a river from changing course into the land that is being used
by people. One way that this is done is by placing riprap or gabions
along the bank. A common natural method to reduce bank erosion is
the re-introduction of native plant species in the area. The expansive
root systems of these plants provide support within the soil and
prevent erosion due to rain runoff.
Displacement of people from one place to another.
Affect in public health
Educational structure is also negatively changed
Affect in occupation of the affected people
Unemployment Problems can be increased
Poverty in society
Affect in transport system
Agricultural demotion
Losses crops
Shortage of cropland
Increase landless labor
Salinity of land increases
Isolation from the geographically of eroded areas
Acquisition of and by government
Low investment
Hinder of capital formation
Affect productivity in eroded Soils
Division of Joint Family
According to the Bangladesh Water
Development Board the most erosion prone
districts are Bogra, Sirajganj, Kurigram,
Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Rangpur in the
country’s north, and Chadpur, Manikgonj,
Rajbari, Shariatpur and Faridpur in Dhaka zone
with Tangail and Jamalpur in Mymensingh zone
and the coastal areas of Patuakhali.
Govt. role in the protection of bank erosion

The Water Development Board are responsible for protecting the

river banks erosion using following measures:

a) Building embankments for flood protection.

B) Maintaining sluice gates and culverts for irrigation.
C) Creating systems of flood warnings.
D) Providing free food, and free treatment.
e) Providing them shelter.
f) Creating public awareness.
Riverbank Erosion is an endemic and recurrent natural hazard in
Bangladesh. When rivers enter the mature stage (as in the case of the
three mighty rivers, the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna) they
become sluggish and meander or braid. These oscillations cause
massive riverbank erosion. Every year, millions of people are
affected by erosion that destroys standing crops, farmland and
homestead land. It is estimated that about 5% of the total floodplain of
Bangladesh is directly affected by erosion. Some researchers have
reported that bank erosion is taking place in about 94 out of 489
Upazilas of the country. A few other researchers have identified 56
Upazilas with the incidence of erosion. At present, bank erosion
and flood hazards in nearly 100 Upazilas have become almost a regular
feature. Of these, 35 are severely affected.
Some rivers cause erosion on a large scale and high frequency due to
their unstable character. These rivers assume a braided pattern
consisting of several channels separated by small islands in their
courses. During the last 200 years or so, the channels have been
swinging between the main valley walls. During the monsoon,
extensive overbank spills, bank erosion, and banking shifts are typical.
The gradual migration or shifting of channels of the major rivers in
Bangladesh amount to anywhere between 60m to 1,600m annually. In a
typical year, about 2,400 km of the bank line experiences major
erosion. The unpredictable shifting behavior of the rivers and their
encroachments not only affect the rural floodplain population but also
urban growth centers and infrastructures
The Jamuna is a braided river with bank materials that are highly
susceptible to erosion. Since the Brahmaputra switched to the course
of the Jamuna at the western side of the Madhupur tract, the average
width of the river has fluctuated substantially. The recorded minimum
average width of the Jamuna was 5.6 km in 1914. Locally, the maximum
width has often exceeded 15 km, while the recorded local minimum
width was about 1.1km. The rate of widening of the river within the
period 1973 to 2000 is 128m/year (68m for the left bank and 60m for
the right bank). The annual rate of widening has been as high as 184m
during 1984-92, of which 100m occurred along the left and 84m along
the right bank. In this period, the average width of the river increased
from 9.7 to 11.2 km. The maximum bank erosion during 1984-92
occurred at the left bank, just upstream of Aricha. Both rotation and
extension bank erosion mechanisms do occur.
In recent years, human interventions in the Jamuna are
growing. Construction of the Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge,
and bank protection structures at Sirajganj, Sariakandi and
Bahadurabad will doubtless have some influence on the
changes of the width of the river. These types of structures
are reducing the freedom of the river to widen through bank
erosion.
The simplest definition of sediment transport
is the transport of granular particles by
fluids. The main agents by which sedimentary
materials are moved include gravity (gravity
transport), river and stream flow, ice, wind, and
estuarine and ocean currents.
 Sediment budget has increased in recent past due to climate
change. Some results are blocking of reservoirs (hydro
power plants), irrigations schemes etc.
 Design of channels (width, depth and slope) depends on
allowable sediment transport rates.
 Bed deformation (morphology) is evaluated based on
volume/rate.
 Water quality is affected by transport rates.
 Sediment transport rate influences ecosystems etc.
Three different modes of sediment transport can occur:-

1. Bed Load - particles roll & slide along the bed with occasional jumps into main
stream.

2. Saltation Load - particles bounce or hop along the bed and are moved by impact of
bouncing particles.

3. Suspended Load - particles move into suspension of fluid and are kept there by
turbulent velocity fluctuations. The wash load is part of the suspended load which is
composed of particle sizes finer than those found in appreciable quantities on the
stream bed.
1. Bed Load Formula
The most commonly used Bed load formula is an empirical equation by Meyer-Peter and Műller
(1948), based on an earlier equation by Meyer-Peter. It takes the form:

q sb = D gDs  1  8( Fs  0.047) 3 / 2
where qsb = bed load transport rate in m3/s per unit width
A river of width 40.0 m, depth 4.0 m and bed
slope 0.00028 carries a discharge of 400 m3/s.
If the river boundary has a typical grain
diameter, D50 = 10.0 mm (s = 2650 kg/m3),
assuming a rectangular cross-section, estimate
the sediment transport rate using Meyer-Peter
and Muller formula.
A river has the following characteristics: width
10.0 m; bed slope 1:3000; discharge 87.0 m3/s
(assumed to be constant); depth 5.0 m. The river
boundary is alluvial (D50 = 0.3 mm, s = 2650
kg/m3). Estimate the sediment transport rate
using Meyer-Peter and Muller formula.