Technical Papers
Aug 14, 2015

Design of Sediment Traps with Open Check Dams. II: Woody Debris

Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 2

Abstract

Sediment traps with open check dams are widely used structures in flood hazard mitigation. This paper and its companion review the literature on their design. The companion paper examines hydraulic and deposition processes associated with sediment transport. However, field feedback has shown that open check dam behaviors during floods are dramatically influenced by the presence or absence of driftwood. To better assess large woody debris hazards and influences, this paper first reports the methods available to estimate driftwood production in terms of volume and dimensions. Information is given on their recruitment and transfer in the catchment. The presence of driftwood and the relevance of trapping them strongly influence the choice of the suitable shape and type of the open check dam. The performance of the different open check dam shapes in terms of driftwood management is detailed. Design criteria to estimate clogging probabilities, trapping efficiencies, volume capacities to trap driftwood, and hydraulic head losses due to driftwood accumulations are detailed. A step-by-step design procedure is proposed and finally suggestions to complete today’s knowledge are outlined.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by Irstea, the INTEREG-ALCOTRA European RISBA project, and the ALPINE SPACE European SEDALP project. The authors would like to thank Yoichi Ito, Markus Moser, and Sebastian Schwindt for their help with Japanese and German papers; Thanos Papanicolaou for his editorial work; Ségolène Mejean and two anonymous reviewers who contributed to this paper by providing helpful reviews of an earlier version of this manuscript. In addition, Johannes Hübl, Bruno Mazzorana, Andreas Rimböck, and more especially Daniela Lange-Nussle and Gian Reto Bezzola were of great assistance through their past works and kindly accepted that their meaningful figures be used to illustrate this paper.

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Go to Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 142Issue 2February 2016

History

Received: Sep 15, 2014
Accepted: Apr 6, 2015
Published online: Aug 14, 2015
Discussion open until: Jan 14, 2016
Published in print: Feb 1, 2016

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Guillaume Piton [email protected]
Ph.D. Student, Irstea, UR ETGR St Martin d’Héres, France; and Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38041 Grenoble, France (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
Alain Recking [email protected]
Researcher, Irstea, UR ETGR St Martin d’Héres, France; and Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38041 Grenoble, France. E-mail: [email protected]

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