Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
The structure and form of rivers including planforms, channel geometry (crosssectional shape of
river), bed form, and profile characteristics together
form what is termed river morphology.
The morphology of river changes considerably on
account of natural causes.
River training works are constructed for a variety of
reasons, but the fundamental objective is to
restrict horizontal movement of the river
channel.
Training works can also be used to improve
navigation by restricting the width of the
channel.
Training works are installed where local
infrastructure or agricultural land needs to be
protected from the damage which would result from
Classification of River
Rivers can be classified as follows:
(i) Based on variation of discharge in river, as
(a) Perennial rivers,
(b) Non-perennial rivers,
(c) Flashy rivers, and
(d) Virgin rivers.
(ii) Based on stability of river, as
(a) Stable rivers,
(b) Aggrading rivers, and
(c) Degrading rivers.
(iii) Based on the location of reach of river, as
(a) Mountainous rivers,
(b) Rivers in flood plains,
(c) Delta rivers, and
(d) Tidal rivers.
Classification of River
Guide Banks
The flow path does not change through the
waterway at the river crossing structure like bridge
site, and also that the approach road embankment is
not endangered due to the smaller waterway
provided.
For this purpose, earthen embankments are
provided on one or both sides of the river at the
bridge site.
These embankments are known as guide banks (or
guide bunds).
Guide banks are artificial embankments meant for
guiding the river flow past a bridge (or other
hydraulic structures such as weirs or barrages)
without causing damage to the bridge and its
approaches.
Guide banks are built along the flow direction both
upstream and downstream of the structure on one or
Guide Banks
The design criteria of guide banks are based on the works
of Spring and Gales.
The first step is the estimation of high flood discharge and
also a safe waterway.
The overall waterway between the guide banks is obtained
by adding the thickness of piers to the clear waterway.
Obviously, a smaller waterway would cause a large afflux
resulting in danger of outflanking.
Thickness of pitching
The thickness of pitching for spurs
T = 0.06 Q1/3
where Q is the design discharge in cumecs.
Guide Banks
In plan, the guide bank can be either parallel,
converging upstream or diverging upstream.
Spurs
Spurs (also known as groynes, spur dikes, or transverse
dikes) are structures constructed in a river transverse to the
river flow, extending from the bank into the river.
Spurs guide the river flow, promote scour and deposition
of the sediment where desired, and trap the sediment load
to build up new river banks.
Spurs are generally made from locally available earth.
The nose (or head) and the sloping faces of the spurs
must be protected against wave action
Stone apron is provided to prevent the failure of spurs
due to excessive scour at the nose and sides.
Spurs
Spurs are probably the most widely used river training
structures and serve the following function in river regulation:
Spurs
Spurs
Bank Protection
Banks caving due to wave action or erosive action of river
flow can lead to river breach causing large amount of
losses in terms of human life, property, agriculture, and
other utilities.
Bank protection measures are, therefore, important to
prevent bank failures.
These can be either direct or indirect type.
Direct bank protection measures, such as revetment,
riprap, etc. are constructed on the bank itself.
For providing direct bank protection, all irregularities on the
bank surface are removed, and the bank is graded to an
acceptable slope.
A layer (several centimetres thick) of coarse material, such
as gravel or broken stone is spread on this slope and the
chosen revetment is laid on this layer.
Bank Protection
Revetments are structures aligned parallel to the current
and used to protect eroding banks.
A riprap paving with a toe trench is preferable to other
types of revetments at sites where stone is cheap and
available in plenty.
Riprap of hard angular rock fragments laid on a thick layer
of rubble or quarry chips is considered most durable.
Concrete blocks can also be used when rocks are not
available at reasonable costs.
Triangular and tetrahedral types of concrete blocks are
more suitable to resist the displacement by flowing water.
Another way of providing bank protection is by means of
flexible brick pitching.
Bank Protection
The bank revetment and launching apron, considered so
useful measures for protection of banks of the alluvial
streams.
In case of boulder streams, the bed does not scour much
and, therefore, the apron would not be able to launch itself.
In such cases, A RC retaining wall near the toe of the bank
may be provided from below the anticipated scour bed to
about one metre above HFL.
The RC retaining wall would be designed for earth
pressure, hydrostatic and earthquake forces, and the
forces due to boulder impact.
Pitched Islands
A pitched island is an artificially created island in
the river bed.
It is protected by stone pitching on all sides.
A pitched island is constructed with sand core and
boulder lining. To protect it from scouring, a
launching apron is also provided. The location, size,
A pitched
island
causes
and
shape of
pitched
islands are usually decided on
scour
around
it and,
the
basis
of model
studies.
Thus, redistributes the
discharge on its two
sides.
Pitched islands
upstream of barrages
and weirs have been
found to be quite
effective.
Rigid armour
Rigid armour is an erosion-resistant material which has
little or no flexibility to conform to bank irregularities
occurring after construction.
Typically, the armour is placed directly on the bank slope in
a fluid or chemically reactive state, then hardens.
The most common rigid armours are:
Asphalt
Concrete
Grouted riprap (or other grouted armour material), and
Soil-cement
The main advantages for a rigid armour are:
Rigid armours will withstand high velocities,
have low hydraulic roughness,
and prevent infiltration of water into the channel bank.
Cut-offs
Cut-offs as river training works are to be carefully planned
and executed in meandering rivers.
The cut-off is artificially induced with a pilot channel to
divert the river from a curved flow which may be
endangering valuable land or property or to straighten its
approach to a work or for any other purpose.
As the cut-off shortens the length of the river, it is likely to
cause disturbance of regime upstream and downstream
till readjustment is made.
A pilot cut spreads out the period of readjustment and
makes the process gradual.
Model tests come in handy in finalising this form of river
training works wherever needed.