t Introduction

Two centuriesiie betweenthe publicationof Euler's'Principesgdndrauxdu ntouve,

ment desfluides'and the wide-spread
applicationof nlathenaticalmodels.Dudng
this time. enginee$- who had in the courseof more than a thousandyears
,.
acquireda largepracticalknow-howandlearnedto designby rulesof experience
graduallybeganto appreciate
the theoriesintroducedby mathemaricians.
IJand
in hand with this abstracttreatmentof watermovement.a needarosefor seriesof
systematicexperiments.
Thisneedwassatisfiedby the work of many scientists.
As well asadaptingtheoriesfor practicalpurposesand makingluli useof the
tools at fus disposal,
the engineeris facedby another,new challenge:that of
executingmodernworksof advanced
technologyfor an increasingly
criticajsociety
ponderoverissueswhich havepreviously
in which scientists
of many disciplines
beenthe uncontested
territoriesof the engineer.The authorsof this book recognizethis challengebecause
eachof tiem hasparticipatedin mulddisciplinary
projectteams,createdad hoc to solva particuiarset of problems.They havenot,
however,goneinto questionsofan interdisciplinary
naturetthey haverestricted
thenrelvesto the compilationof designtools which havenot yet beenpresented
in a comprehensive
manner.
The authorshavetried to presentthe currentstateof affain on the transportof
sedimentand the morphological
implicationsthereofand to indicatedre applic,
abilit),of thesetheoriesfor the riverengineer,In additionit was felt that Lnsitu
measurements
and the processing
of thesemeasurements
were indispensable
tools
which requirednew presentation.
Mathematical
modeisand scalemodels(sometimescalledphysicalmodels)havealsobeentreated.Finally,the practicalrivef
engineerwho hasto usemodelsfor specilicprojectswill hnd solutionsto a nunrber
in the last part of this book.
s t a r eo f a r i v e ra n dl h e u s et h a t i s r o b e m a d eo f r r a t es e l d o nirn
harmony,the more so whenadvanced
societyincreases
its demandson nature.As
a resultriverworksarecar ed out to changethe variousaspectsof a riverso that
more benefit- or lessdamage- canbe achieved.
The workscausechangesin the
nver bed i^clucjJlg the banks,changesin the dischargeor changesin the waler
level.T\esethreemain groupsof riverworksare treatedin Part 5, precededby
theoreticalconsiderations
in the other palts of this book.
Changes
to the riverbed areinvariablymadeto help solveerosionor sedimentation problemsin particularareas.Theseproblemsmay concernlengthsof a few
metersor hundredsof kilometers.The plocessoferosionor siltationmay take
houls to take effect or it may take centudesto reachan equillbrium.The areamay
concerna river bank or bridgepier to be protectedagainsterosion,a channelro be
deepened
for navigation,a bifurcationto be alteredto gjvea differentdjstribution
of wateroverlts channels,
the degadationof an entireriver behinda large
reservoir,etc. All theseproblen"rs
are concernedwith the morphoiogyof the river
with their solution- if they can be
bed. The riverworksthat areassociated
solved* canbe split into temporaryor repeatedworks and permanentw(xks. An
examplewill iilustratethe distinction.Supposethat the depth in a particular
Dredgingmay solvetire problem.However,
sectionof a riverhasto be increased.

'1,

NTRODUCTION ]

aftera few montts or maybea year,the areawili probablyhavesiltedup again

and the remedialmeasurewill have to be repeated.On the other hand the bed
could be confined by goynes to achievea permanentdeepeningof the channel.Ir'
this casea new equilib um - at other widths and depthsthan before the measure
wascarded out - will be reachedbetweenthe confined river stretch and the
unchangedupstreamparts, whereasin tlte former casethe differencein sediment
tlansport capacitiesbetweenthe dredgedsection - where the sedimenttransport
becauseof the larger profile - and the upstreamdvr means
capacity decreases
eventually
will
revert to its original state. Both for repeatedoperathat the river
permanent
work
it is necessaryto know the amount of sediment
tions and for
tlle
river,
the
transport
capaoityin variousprofiles and the time it
tuanspodedby
is
to know to what distance,and by
to
occur.
It
also
important
for
a
change
takes
what time, the disturbarcecausedby the temporaryor permanentwork will travel
in the upstreamand/orin the downstreamdirection.
haveto be answeredfor the othertwo goups of river
Much the samequestions
or in waterlevel.Both groupsof
worls: thoseconcemingthe changesin discharge
of the riverwaterson rainfall.
haveto dealwith the naturaldependence
measures
Becausethe patterls of rainfall and runoff seldomcoincidewith human require'
of regulationare devised,for example:the controlof floodsby
ments,systerns
temporary storagein reseruoirs;the increaseof water depthsby construction of a
and/or water
seriesof wein, The immediateeffects of theseworks on discharges
not only in the vicinity
levelsare apparent,but the morphologicalconsequences,
of the works, but also further upstreamor downstream,must alsobe appreciated
and quantified.
In addition to thesethree goups of works the river engineeris increasingly
confronted with quality aspectsof the water, and sometimesof t}le sediment.
Thereis little he can do when confronted with the actual situation at a particular
river section ur esshe can take measuresat the sourceof the pollution: sewage
a.ndother wastes.For a generalunderstandingof pollution problemsand the
mechanicsof water-bomeorganismsMth respectto substancescarriedby water,
relevantsectionshavebeenincludedat variousplacesin the book. They are,how'
the book is p marilyconcemedwith the
ever,restrictedin sizeand depthbecause
threetypesof riyerworksmentionedabove.
lce problemsarenot treatedin this book and the readeris referredto IAHRPIANC (1974),I-aszioffy(1956) and C. P. Williams(1959, 1970).Vegetationor
suddproblems- of which someaspectsaresimilarto ice problems- are not dis'
cussedeither.
Tlrc usesor purposesof a river and the messuresneededto achievethis usage,
in Table i i'1.
or an improvementfor an existingusage,havebeensummarized
'use' nor in 'measure',its main purposebeing
The table is not exhaustive,neither in
treatedin this book.
to introducethe rcaderto vadousaspectsof riveJengineedng
As shown in the table, th'ereis sometimesmo6lhan one measutewhich can be
arealsoof
usedto achievea particularpurposeor palt of it. Sotrlemeasures
(labelled3)
secondaryimportanceto the purpose(labelled2) a0d,somemeasures
on the table follow:
asa resultof the operation.A fewrcomments
may be necessary
'uses'of a river in a strict sense,
(i) Defensivemeasuresagainstfloods are not
but the meaningwill be undentood.It is obviousthat one eitherhasto build a
levee- which must be protectedagainstscour and/or do somethingabout the
flood height.
(ii) Rectificationof the channelincludesthe cuttingof meanders;
rectification
capacity
flow
plain
storage
and/or
measures
to
increase
includes
in the flood
areshown They vary in
(iii) For navigationquite a numberof improvement5
and
cost.
degee of effectiveness
preferablyin
(iv) Hydropowerrequiresthe avaitabilityof sufficientdischarge,
quantitieswhich canbe adjusted,and the creationofhead.
(v) Irrigalion and water supply withdraw water frorn the river; part of it may
usuallychangedin quality. For largeamounts,largein compariretum elsewhere,
A weir may also
discharge
controlmay be necessary.
son with the riverdischarges,
be requiredat the point of withdrawal.The point of withdrawalitself must be
4

I N T B O D U C TB
OY M A T T E R S

Tablel.l-l

Riverusesand measures
to achievethem
I Measure
to achievethe requireduse
2 Measure
of secondaryimportancefor the use
3 Measurewhich might be necessary
asresultofthe operation
Dschargeand water
levelregulation

Bedregulation
o
5

g =
a

j _

- o
2
i

- 3
> i
a.:

L
E

L\e of iver
Floodcontrol
\ari gaiion
Hl dropower
lrrjgationand watersupply
Wasredischarge
Bankprotection
Coolingwater
Commercialsanddredging
Rrvercrossings
Controlof seawaterintrusions

, V ;

9
u
6-o

5 s : :
-

o d

= ,
:
6
;

: i ,
d o
.E:

=
, i_
' o x
E'!

Quality
controi

E & s
o 26
'

E X a
E * :
E 5 e ; ;
5

o
E

F
E
5

i
E

3
3
3

A E

= 6
3 a
':c

: 9
! ;

o_

1'
l
l
T

l
i
2

I
2
3

stableand bank pratectionmay be necessary.

Sedimentproblemsin the riverirself
(suddendecrease
of sedimenttransportcapacitybecause
of water withdrawal,
and/or after the vrithdrawalpqint (sandtrapsmay be necessary)
haveto be solved.
(vi) CooLingwaterand someother usesmentionedhereafterhavebeenljsred
separatly,
mainly to showthat tllerearemore usesthan the four big onesmentioned
above-Temperature
problems,which areexpectedgraduallyto becomeserious1n
someri!rs,are,ofcoune, a particulartype of wastedischarge
problem.
(vii) A peculiarriveruseis large-scale
commercialsanddredgingwhich occurs
in somecountdes- asfar apartasthe Netheriands
and Japan to the extent that
remedialmeasures
haveto be taken.
(viii) For bddgepien anti-erosion
measures
areusuallyrequired.They fall under
the headingrivercrossings,
to which pipelinesacrossa riverchannelalsobelong.
For pipelineconstructionit is usefulto know how long (in time) a dredgedtrench
perpendicular
to the riveraxiswill last.
(ix) With the increasing
usemadeof freshwater,the intrusionof seawaterinto
estuaries
becomesa problemwhich is sometimes
aggravated
by channeldeepenjng
for navigationpurposes.
Remedialmeasures
againstintrusionareoften b)-products
of other riverworkssuchasdischarge
controi worksand/or water levelcontrol
works.It usuallyhappensthat more than one purposeis served,particularlywhen
discharge
control or waterlevelcontrol worksarecarriedout. However,not all
usesrequirecompiementary
and sometimesa choicebetweenconflictins
measures
interestshasto be made.
In orderto describethe necessary'measures'and
flnd an engineering
solutionit
is necessary
to know the behaviourof both waterand sedjment.The engineerused
to rely on rule ofthumb andlater on on experimentallawsbasedon the statistical
evaluationof numerousobsewations.
To a largeextent the expedmentallawsare
still his main tools.This book, however,tdes ro point our the physicalbasisol
water and sedimentbehaviourin Part2; this is translatedinto mathematical
descriptionswhich are furtherelaboratedin Part 4.

INTRODUCTION