Measurement of Coarse Gravel and Cobble Transport Using Portable Bedload Traps
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Volume 130, Issue 9
Abstract
Portable bedload traps (0.3 by 0.2 m opening) were developed for sampling coarse bedload transport in mountain gravel-bed rivers during wadable high flows. The 0.9 m long trailing net can capture about 20 kg of gravel and cobbles. Traps are positioned on ground plates anchored in the streambed to minimize disturbance of the streambed during sampling. This design permits sampling times of up to 1 h, overcoming short-term temporal variability issues. Bedload traps were tested in two streams and appear to collect representative samples of gravel bedload transport. Bedload rating and flow competence curves are well-defined and steeper than those obtained by a Helley–Smith sampler. Rating curves from both samplers differ most at low flow but approach each other near bankfull flow. Critical flow determined from bedload traps is similar using the largest grain and the small transport rate method, suggesting suitability of bedload trap data for incipient motion studies.
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Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 130 • Issue 9 • September 2004
Pages: 879 - 893
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Copyright © 2004 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Aug 26, 2002
Accepted: Mar 2, 2004
Published online: Aug 16, 2004
Published in print: Sep 2004
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