Critical Review of Sediment Transport Experiments

Empirical formulas dealing with sediment transport and based on limited flue data can result in errors when extrapolated to practical engineering conditions. The available body of experimental data is limited in several areas in comparison to the range of possible field conditions. Many individual collections of data are extremely narrow in scope. Further knowledge is required with experiments conducted for values of average depth of flow (h) divided by the particle size for which 50% of sediment by weight (D₅₀) is finer exceeding 1,000 up to a level of about 100,000. To determine the applicability of such formulas the available collections of experimental data are examined and recommendations are made for future experimental work.