3D Flow and Sediment Dynamics in a Laboratory Channel Bend with and without Stream Barbs
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 2
Abstract
A series of laboratory flume experiments were performed to study the effect of stream barbs on flow field dynamics and sediment erosion in a 135° mobile-bed channel bend. Stream barbs (also known as spur dikes or submerged groynes) are low-profile linear rock features that redirect high velocity flow away from the outer bank of channel bends. Unlike emergent groynes, the submerged nature of these structures creates a unique combination of horizontal shear (plunging type flow) and vertical shear (at the groyne tip). Spatially dense, high frequency velocity data were collected and analyzed to describe the pattern and magnitude of three-dimensional (3D) velocity throughout the bend and in the vicinity of the stream barbs. This paper demonstrates that the outer bank region (particularly between barbs) may still be at risk of erosion (or even increased erosion greater than the same case without barbs) if stream barbs generate excessive secondary velocities (because of their size and layout) that are opposing the primary secondary flow naturally occurring in channel bends. Characterizing the role of flow field dynamics on the pattern of deposition and erosion through experimental measurements provided valuable data about how such flow features contribute to local scour, and about the performance of these structures.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Stéphanie Renous, Geneviève Téphaine, and Amélie Rondot for their assistance during data collection. This work was supported in part by grants from the Green Municipal Fund (Canada), the City of Ottawa, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Government’s Ontario Graduate Scholarship program.
References
Bathurst, J. C., Thorne, C. R., and Hey, R. D. (1977). “Direct measurements of secondary currents in river bends.” Nat., 269, 504–506.
Bhuiyan, F., Hey, R. D., and Wormleaton, P. R. (2009). “Effects of vanes and w-weir on sediment transport in meandering channels.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 135(5), 339–349.
Bhuiyan, F., Hey, R. D., and Wormleaton, P. R. (2010). “Bank-attached vanes for bank erosion control and restoration of river meanders.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 136(9), 583–596.
Biron, P. M., Robson, C., Lapointe, M. F., and Gaskin, S. J. (2004). “Deflector designs for fish habitat restoration.” Environ. Manage., 33(1), 25–35.
Blanckaert, K. (2010). “Topographic steering, flow recirculation, velocity redistribution, and bed topography in sharp meander bends.” Water Resour. Res., 46, W09506.
Blanckaert, K., and Wijbenga, J. H. A. (2008). “Redistribution of velocity and bed shear stress in straight and curved open channels by means of a bubble screen: Laboratory experiments.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 134(2), 184–195.
Blanckaert, K., and de Vriend, H. J. (2004). “Secondary flow in sharp one-channel bends.” J. Fluid Mech., 498, 353–380.
Blanckaert, K., Duarte, A., and Schleiss, A. J. (2010). “Influence of shallowness, bank inclination and bank roughtness on the variability of flow patterns and boundary shear stress due to secondary currents in straight open-channels.” Adv. Water Resour., 33, 1062–1074.
Blanckaert, K., and Graf, W. H. (2001). “Mean flow and turbulence in open-channel bends.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 127(10), 835–847.
Dietrich, W. E., and Whiting, P. J. (1989). “Boundary shear stress and sediment transport in river meanders of sand and gravel.” River meandering, water resources monograph series, Vol. 12, S. Ikeda and G. Parker, eds., American Geophysical Union (AGU), Washington, DC, 1–50.
Espinosa, F. A., Rhodes, J. J., and McCullough, D. A. (1997). “The failure of existing plans to protect salmon habitat in the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho.” J. Environ. Manage., 49, 205–230.
Fox, J. F., Papanicolaou, A. N., Hobbs, B., Kramer, C., and Kjos, L. (2005a). “Fluid-sediment dynamics around a barb: An experimental case study of a hydraulic structure for the Pacific Northwest.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 32, 853–867.
Fox, J. F., Papanicolaou, A. N., and Kjos, L. (2005b). “Eddy taxonomy methodology around submerged barb obstacle within a fixed rough bed.” J. Eng. Mech., 131(10), 1082–1100.
Garde, R. J., Subramanya, K., and Nambudaripad, K. D. (1961). “Study of scour around spur dikes.” J. Hydraul. Div., 87(6), 23–27.
Gill, M. A. (1972). “Erosion of sand beds around spur dikes.” J. Hydraul. Div., 98(9), 1587–1602.
Jamieson, E. C., Post, G., and Rennie, C. D. (2010). “Spatial variability of three-dimensional Reynolds stresses in a developing channel bend.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms, 35, 1029–1043.
Jia, Y., Scott, S., Xu, Y., Huang, S., and Wang, S. S. Y. (2005). “Three-dimensional numerical simulation and analysis of flows around a submerged weir in a channel bendway.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 131(8), 682–693.
Johnson, P. A., Hey, R. D., Tessier, M., and Rosgen, D. L. (2001). “Use of vanes for control of scour at vertical wall abutments.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 127(9), 772–778.
Koken, M., and Constantinescu, G. (2008a). “An investigation of the flow and scour mechanisms around isolated spur dikes in a shallow open channel: 1. Conditions corresponding to the initiation of the erosion and deposition process.” Water Resour. Res., 44, W08406,.
Koken, M., and Constantinescu, G. (2008b). “An investigation of the flow and scour mechanisms around isolated spur dikes in a shallow open channel: 2. Conditions corresponding to the final stages of the erosion and deposition process.” Water Resour. Res., 44, W08407,.
Kuhnle, R. A., Alonso, C. V., and Shields, F. D., Jr. (1999). “Geometry of scour holes associated with 90° spur dikes.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 125(9), 972–978.
Kuhnle, R. A., Alonso, C. V., and Shields, F. D., Jr. (2002). “Local scour associated with angled spur dikes.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 128(12), 1087–1093.
Kuhnle, R. A., Jia, K., and Alonso, C. V. (2008). “Measured and simulated flow near a submerged spur dike.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 134(7), 916–924.
Lim, S. Y. (1997). “Equilibrium clear-water scour around and abutments.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 123(3), 237–243.
Matsuura, T. (2004). “Stream-bank protection in narrow channel bends using ‘barbs’—A laboratory study.” M.A.Sc thesis, Univ. of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Matsuura, T., and Townsend, R. (2004). “Stream-barb installations for narrow channel bends—A laboratory study.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 31(3), 478–486.
McCoy, A., Constantinescu, G., and Weber, L. J. (2008). “Numerical investigation of flow hydrodynamics in a channel with a series of groynes.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 134(2), 157–172.
Melville, B. W. (1992). “Local scour at bridge abutments.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 118(4), 615–630.
Minor, B., Jamieson, E., Rennie, C. D., and Townsend, R. D. (2007a). “Three-dimensional flow in a barb field.” WIT Trans. Ecol. Environ., 104, 371–380.
Minor, B., Rennie, C. D., and Townsend, R. D. (2007b). “’Barbs’ for river bend bank protection: Application of a three-dimensional numerical model.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 34(9), 1087–1095.
Nanson, G. C., and Hickin, E. J. (1986). “A statistical analysis of bank erosion and channel migration in western Canada.” Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 97(4), 497–504.
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). (2006). “Riprap design criteria, recommended specifications, and quality control.”, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
Nikora, V. I., and Goring, D. G. (1998). “ADV measurements of turbulence: Can we improve their interpretation?” J. Hydraul. Eng., 124(6), 630–634.
Piper, K. L., Hoag, J. C., Allen, H. H., Durham, G., Fischenich, J. C., and Anderson, R. O. (2001). “Bioengineering as a tool for restoring ecological integrity to the Carson River.” WRAP Technical Notes Collection ERDC TN-WRAP-01-05; Water Quality Technical Notes Collection (ERDC WQTN-CS-03), U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS.
Roca, M., Martin-Vide, J. P., and Blanckaert, K. (2007). “Reduction of bend scour by an outer bank footing: Footing design and bed topography.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 133(2), 139–147.
Sekely, A. C., Mulla, D. J., and Bauer, D. W. (2002). “Streambank slumping and its contribution to the phosphorus and suspended sediment loads of the blue earth river, Minnesota.” J. Soil Water Conserv., 57(5), 243–250.
Shields, F. D., Knight, S. S., and Cooper, C. M. (1998). “Addition of spurs to stone toe protection for warmwater fish habitat rehabilitation.” J. Am. Water Res. Assoc., 34, 1427–1436.
Shields, F. D., Knight, S. S., and Cooper, C. M. (2000). “Warmwater stream bank protection and fish habitat: A comparative study.” Environ. Manage., 26(3), 317–328.
Sukhodolov, A., Uijttewaal, W. S. J., and Engelhardt, C. (2002). “On the correspondence between morphological and hydrodynamic patterns in groyne fields.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms, 27(3), 289–305.
Termini, D. (2009). “Experimental observations of flow and bed processes in large-amplitude meandering flume.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 135(7), 575–587.
Termini, D., and Piraino., M. (2011). “Experimental analysis of cross-sectional flow motion in a large amplitude meandering bend.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms. 36, 244–256,.
Uijttewaal, W. S. J. (2005). “Effects of groyne layout on the flow in groyne fields: Laboratory experiments.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 131(9), 782–791.
Uijttewaal, W. S. J., Lehmann, D., and van Mazijk, A. (2001). “Exchange processes between a river and its groyne fields: Model experiments.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 127(11), 928–936.
USDA. (2005). Engineering Technical Note No. 23: Design of Stream Barbs (Version 2.0), Natural Resources Conservation Service, Portland, OR.
Weitbrecht, V., Kühn, G., and Jirka, G. H. (2002). “Large scale PIV-measurements at the surface of shallow water flows.” Flow Meas. Instrum., 13(5–6), 237–245.
Zeng, J., Constantinescu, G., Blanckaert, K., and Weber, L. (2008). “Flow and bathymetry in sharp open-channel bends: Experiments and predictions.” Water Resour. Res., 44, W09401.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 2 • February 2013
Pages: 154 - 166
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 3, 2010
Accepted: Jun 27, 2012
Published online: Jan 15, 2013
Published in print: Feb 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.