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Numerical modeling of gravel bed river response to meander straightening: The coupling between the evolution of bed pavement and long profile
Author(s) -
Talbot Tracey,
Lapointe Michel
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2001wr000330
Subject(s) - meander (mathematics) , rectification , geology , channel (broadcasting) , sediment transport , aggradation , channelized , geotechnical engineering , hydrology (agriculture) , watershed , hydraulics , sediment , degradation (telecommunications) , geomorphology , engineering , fluvial , geometry , mathematics , telecommunications , electrical engineering , structural basin , voltage , machine learning , aerospace engineering , computer science
Artificial meander straightening (rectification) was conducted in the early 1960s along the Sainte‐Marguerite River, Canada, in order to facilitate highway construction along the valley. Previous studies [ Talbot and Lapointe , 2002] confirm that vertical reprofiling, coupled with pavement coarsening in the degrading reach, were the main responses counteracting the disequilibrium in gravel transport rates triggered at rectification of this system. Numerical simulations, using SEDROUT2.0, a one‐dimensional hydraulic and sediment transport model, and validated against the observed channel response, show the important role played by an advancing wave of pavement coarsening down the rectified reach in modulating the bed degradation response. Simulations extending into the future reveal an asymptotically slowing approach to equilibrium in the middle of the 21st century, with a response half‐time of the order of 10 years. In near‐threshold gravel bed systems like the Sainte‐Marguerite River, pavement coarsening after rectification buffers the system against extreme degradation. Most significantly for watershed management, this also appears to severely limit the extent of propagation of degradation upstream of the rectification.