Sedimentation of River Navigation Channels

The sedimentation of navigation channels due to leveling of side slopes is investigated. This leveling is caused by the deviation of the particle path from the direction of bed shear on a bed with transverse slope because of the action of gravity. In the first part of the paper the variation in the rate of bed load with depth is neglected, and a simple solution of the problem (an error-function) has been obtained. This solution has been compared with experiments, and the agreement between theory and experiments is satisfactory. Taking into account a weak variation in the bed load with water depth, a second-order solution is presented, which describes in a more detailed manner the development in the form of the slope (U-formed); also this is experimentally verified.