Assessing the Kelaniya

river branch;
Yantiyanthota
By Rhia, Thehan, Khaya, Rayan and Esheli
Information about the location
● The tributaries of the Kelani river in
Yatiyanthota were at the lower course of the river

● Yatiyanthota is a town in Kegalle District, in

Sabaragamuwa Province.

● The distance between the location and Colombo

is 63.4 km (1 hour and 44 minutes away)
 Enquiry Question: 

To asses the processes and river form of the

Kelaniya River tributary in the middle and
lower course.
How and why did we choose this specific
location?
● While choosing the location to conduct our fieldwork, we had to take multiple factors
into consideration.

● Firstly, we had to keep in mind the time taken to travel to the location of the fieldwork
and how convenient it is.
● We also had to keep in mind the cost of the whole trip and if it was within our budget.
● Mainly, we had to pay attention to the safety of the location. Was it safe for a Form 4
class to wander around? Was there a safe route to reach the location?
How and why did we choose
these specific sites?
● Once we reached the location, each group was allowed to pick three different sites to
carry out their measurements in.
● Some points we considered while choosing our three sights are:

-Safety. Was it a safe section of the tributary?

-The distance and difference between each site. We didn't want sites that were too
similar to each other or too different to each other.

-If the size of the site was appropriate compared to the other two sites.
How could we refine our techniques?

Admittedly, it was not a perfect investigation.

Why?
● We did not use sampling methods when
choosing the sites
● The team was disorganised and was unsure
of how to conduct the investigation properly
How and what measurements were taken?

In our investigation, we measured and explored

the 4 main aspects of a river.

● Width and depth

● Velocity
● Gradient
● Sediment shape and size
 Width and depth
In order to measure the width and depth, the tool
we used was a meter stick.

We measured 3 points of the river and calculated

a mean value of the depth by placing the ruler
vertically on the river bed.

We used the meter ruler to measure the river

horizontally from one river bank to another 

Problems: The river bed was soft and the ruler

plunged into it
 Velocity
In order to measure the velocity, the tools we
used were a stop watch and bottle cap

We floated the bottle cap between 2 points on

the river. We did this at 3 areas of the river and
measured the time it took for the bottle cap to
reach from 1 point to another

Problems: Only the surface velocity was

measured
 Gradient
In order to measure the gradient, the tools we
used were two poles and a clinometer.

We adjusted the clinometer at a lower point of

the pole and looked through it to the same point
on the other pole

Then, we measured the angle of the thread

against the protractor

Problems: The clinometer was homemade and

may have made some inaccuracies
 Sediment shape and size
In order to measure the sediment shape and size,
the tools we used were a vernier calliper and a
sediment shape diagram.

We picked up sediments from 3 places in the

river and measured them in a vernier calliper to
calculate a mean value

We compared it against a sediment shape

diagram (angularity & sphericity) and
categorised it with other sediments

Problems: The vernier calliper was not

calibrated 
Width And Depth Measurements:
Measurement Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

Channel Width 1.5 2.3 1.2

(meters)

Channel Depth (1)7.1 (1)10  (1)2.5

(measured (2)6.3 (2)7 (2)10.5
every 20 cm) (3)3.4 (3)7.5 (3)15.5
(4)2.3 (4)4.4 (4)14.3
(5)7.8 (5)5.1 (5)7.2
Mean Depth  5.38 6.8 10
(cm)

Cross Sectional 7.8 15.64 11.76

area (cm)
 Gradient measurements

Measurement Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

Gradient 5 16 30
(Degrees)
Sediment Measurements
Measurement Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

Sediment Size 2.24  1.9 3.2

And Shape  (Angular) (Sub-Angular) (Sub-Angular)
(cm)

2.12 1.6 1.8

(Angular) (Angular) (Angular)
2.06 1.3 0.6
(Well-rounded (Well-rounded (Rounded)
Angular) Angular)
Velocity Measurements:
Measurement Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

Velocity  0.027 0.152 0.202

(m/s)

0.162 0.028 0.303

0.034 0.106 0.266

Discharge 0.5798 1.5223 2.999

(Cross sectional
area*Velocity)
Conclusion
● In conclusion, we came across difficulties
such as: 
     -  the inaccuracy of the homemade
clinometer 
     -  it was only possible to measure the surface
velocity
     -  the sampling methods weren't used

● On average, the channel width was 1.6m and

the average depth of the river was 7.39cm.