Critique of the Regime Theory for Alluvial Channels
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 113, Issue 11
Abstract
In 1930, Lacey formulated Lindley's ideas on regime canals employing three sets of data, none of which were complete. In the next 55 years, the formulas have undergone scrutiny but are used today in a form quite similar to the original. We have compared Lacey's and subsequent regime equations to the equations of conservation of mass and Newton's laws for water and sediment. The conclusions are that: for almost all canals in regime; is a measure of the concentration of sand being transported provided the transport is vanishingly small; and are uniquely related in all channels, rigid and alluvial, in which the kinematic wave number, is one; and Lacey's roughness factor is heavily biased towards gravel and boulder channels. These findings do not detract from the geomorphic value of Lacey's regime. For engineering, however, a reformulation employing the conservation laws and Newton's laws is in order.
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Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 113 • Issue 11 • November 1987
Pages: 1359 - 1380
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Copyright © 1987 ASCE.
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Published online: Nov 1, 1987
Published in print: Nov 1987
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