Sediment Sampling

in Sand-bed Rivers
Methods & Instruments
Jean J. Peters, Brussels, Belgium
Consulting engineer
Prof. VUB & UCL
 Content
• Importance of sediment data in rivers
• General principles and some criticisms
• Development of sediment measuring devices
• Measurement in sand-bed rivers with Delft
Bottle and BTMA: experiences and how to
have the feed-back from the practitioners to
manufacturers
• Conclusions and recommendations
 Why to get sediment data?
• We do not have yet sufficient understanding
of sediment transport processes, especially
in morphologically dynamic sand-bed rivers
• Worldwide, there is a pressing need for
solving engineering questions (modelling?)
• Modelling requires, besides good input data,
also the best possible understanding of the
processes
 Content
• Importance of sediment data in rivers
• General principles and some criticisms
• Development of sediment measuring devices
• Measurement in sand-bed rivers with Delft
Bottle and BTMA: experiences and how to
have the feed-back from the practitioners to
manufacturers
• Conclusions and recommendations
 About principles
• The traditionally accepted theories about
sediment transport distinguish only between
bed load and suspended load, though adding
sometimes “saltation”
• Most research in sediment transport was
organised with artificial sediment, single
diameter and uniform specific weight
• Sediment transport in rivers is much more
complicated …
Sediment transport modes (ISO)
 About principles
• Suspended sediment transport is usually
determined by multiplying a measured
sediment concentration with the local
velocity (of the flow), which is not really
the determination of the transport rate
• Bed load transport is seldom measured,
because its measurement is said to be too
difficult and too uncertain
 Content
• Importance of sediment data in rivers
• General principles and some criticisms
• Development of sediment measuring devices
• Measurement in sand-bed rivers with Delft
Bottle and BTMA: experiences and how to
have the feed-back from the practitioners to
manufacturers
• Conclusions and recommendations
Development of sediment devices
• Direct measurement requires sampling
• Sediment samplers were developed mainly
during the first half of the 20th century
• Indirect measurement of sand transport has
not been quite successful, yet (ADCP ?)
• The demand for samplers is very limited
and manufacturing is often by official
organisations (FISP, Nanjing Automation)
 Content
• Importance of sediment data in rivers
• General principles and some criticisms
• Development of sediment measuring devices
• Measurement in sand-bed rivers with Delft
Bottle and BTMA: experiences and how to
have the feed-back from the practitioners to
manufacturers
• Conclusions and recommendations
 Delft Bottle & BTMA
• Samplers designed in The Netherlands for
studying sand and gravel transport in Dutch
rivers having limited depths and velocities
• Shape and efficiency of samplers were
studied in laboratory (Delft and Zurich)
• Design changed by successive manufacturers
for manufacturing reasons, not because of
feed-back by users
 Delft Bottle suspended mode
• The design of the
body remained
almost the same;
however the
technology for
making the body
has been adapted
• The original
suspension mode
was modified
 Delft Bottle suspended mode
• Original design of
Delft Bottle, used in
Congo river (sampler
procured in 1959,
photo from 1971)
• Next slide is the
present design, taken
over by Eijkelkamp
from Van Essen so
that same body can
be used on a frame
Delft Bottle suspended mode
 Delft Bottle mounted on frame
• The design was
completely
modified,
especially the
system to fix the
bottle to the frame
• For different
reasons, the
nozzle elevation
above the river
bed may be
wrong, inducing
large errors
 Delft Bottle mounted on frame
• The picture (Bangladesh,
1994, Brahmapoutra River)
shows the small front plates
on which the sampler rests
on the bottom, instead of
the “skis” from the original
design
• The sampler on frame has
become much taller,
requiring larger davits
 Bedload Transport Meter Arnhem
• The design of this
bedload sampler was
modified, some changes
were improvements,
other not
• The sampler is much
more secure than the
Helley-Smith which
was derived from it (see
slide further)
Bedload Transport Meter Arnhem
• Original design, 1971,
Congo River; although
the sampler was not
conceived for very
large streams, it could
be used successfully in
water depths of up to
30 meters and
velocities of more than
2 m/s
• The frame was loaded
with lead strips
Bedload Transport Meter Arnhem
Bedload Transport Meter Arnhem
Bedload Meter Helley-Smith
 Experiences with DG & BTMA
Jamuna river - Bahadurabad 28/05/94

1000
900
Elevation above bed (cm)

800
700
Vert 1
600
Vert 2
500
Vert 3
400
Vert 4
300
200
100
0
0 50 100 150
Sediment transport rate (m³/m.day)
 Experiences with DG & BTMA
Jamuna river - Bahadurabad 28/05/94

1000
900
Elevation above bed (cm)

800
700
Vert 1
600
Vert 2
500
Vert 3
400
Vert 4
300
200
100
0
0 100 200 300 400
Sediment particle size D50(µm)
Experiences with DG & BTMA
Jamuna river - Vertical 3

1000
900
Elevation above bed (cm)

800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Sand transport rate (m3/m.day)
Experiences with DG & BTMA
Jamuna river - Vertical 3

1000
900
Elevation above bed (cm)

800
700
600 D35
500 D50
400 D65
300
200
100
0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Sediment particle size (µm)
Experiences with DG & BTMA
Jamuna river - Vertical 3

50.0
Elevation above bed (cm)

40.0

30.0 D35
D50
20.0 D65

10.0

0.0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Sediment particle size (µm)
Collapsing bag sampler
Collapsing bag sampler
Collapsing bag sampler
 Content
• Importance of sediment data in rivers
• General principles and some criticisms
• Development of sediment measuring devices
• Measurement in sand-bed rivers with Delft
Bottle and BTMA: experiences and how to
have the feed-back from the practitioners to
manufacturers
• Conclusions and recommendations
 Conclusions & Recommendations
• Direct sampling can be done with traditional
instruments such as Delft Bottle and BTMA
• Direct sampling is needed to measure both the
transport rate and the sediment size distribution
in the water column, especially near the bed
• More data are needed to check the existing
theories about sediment transport processes and
combing direct and indirect measurement may
help tremendously
 Conclusions & Recommendations
• There is a need for closer collaboration between
the users and the manufacturers of equipment
• Manufacturers need to give the correct and
detailed information about the instruments and
their use
• Organisations such as IAHR and WMO can
help the users by organising comparison
between different instruments and by editing
manuals and guidelines that must be specific to
the various river environments