Stabilization and Rectification of Rivers

KNS4403 River and Coastal
Engineering
Stabilization and
Rectifications of Rivers
KNS4403 River and Coastal Engineering
Fundamental Principles
To shape river into a single channel, following a

path of easy bends of reserve curvature and to
fix it permanently on that alignment.
Two primary reasons:
a) To prevent bank erosion and subsequent loss
of land that threaten lives and property.
b) To improve stream alignment, cross-sectional
shape and depth to reduce flood stage and to
improve navigation conditions.
River Bank Erosion

Stabilization and Rectification

 To be successful, stabilization and rectification works
must control river by guiding it along a natural alignment
with channel cross sections that accommodate the
river’s water and sediment regime, rather than forcing it
into unnatural conditions.
Stabilization and Rectification

 3 broad types of structures:
1. Revetments - structures parallel to the current to
stabilize concave banks.
2. Dikes – at an angle to the current and used for: direct
flow from one bend to another; fair out sharp bends to a
larger radius of curvature; close off secondary channels;
concentrate flow in limited width.
3. Cutoffs – are constructed channels used to cut off sharp

bends to improve channel alignment and reduce
potential bank erosion.
Alignment
 To minimize attack by the stream, river is shaped to an
alignment consisting of a series of easy bends, with flow
directed from one bend into next bend downstream.
 Straight reaches and very flat curvature should be

avoided because there is a tendency for flows to shift
from side to side.
Fixed Points
 Construction should start at a stable, fixed point on the
bank and continue downstream to another stable
location or some point which the river can safely be left
uncontrolled.
 Construction of relatively short isolated stabilization work

has often proved unsuccessful because eventual
changes in the direction of flow inherent in bank caving
in the upstream uncontrolled reach will set up a direct
attack against the isolated protective work and severely
damage or destroy it or will shift the attack to some other
nearby reach of bank.
Trace Width
 Design trace widths for a rectified channel (for both
bends and crossings) should be based on examination
of widths characteristic of naturally stable sections of the
river, and the design should be sufficiently flexible to
permit modification of the controlled width in the future of
required.
 In general, a satisfactory crossing lengths is two to four

times the crossing width.
Smooth Alignment
 Revetments should be constructed on a smooth
alignment, with no irregularities in order to avoid eddies
set up by such disturbances to the flow that can lead to
local scour and subsequent undermining of the
revetment.
Radius of Curvature
 The shorter the radius of curvature of a bend, the deeper
the channel will be adjacent to the concave bank.
 Deeper channel has greater possibility of undermining
bank protection work in the bend and the greater the
cost of maintaining the structure.
 Sharp curvature of bends should be avoided to obtain
the most economical control of the river.
Control Lines
 Design and construction of stabilization and rectification
work must be referenced to horizontal and vertical
control lines.
 The horizontal control line is termed “structure azimuth
line (SAL)”.
 The vertical control line is termed “construction reference
plane (CRP)”.
Revetment
 Revetments are structures aligned parallel to the
current and used to protect eroding banks and to form a
smooth bank line, as for example along the riverward
ends of a dike field of spur dikes or across an old
bendway that has been cut off.
Design Consideration for Revetments

 The stream bank should be graded to a slope of 1V:2H
to 1V:4H to ensure stability.
 Protective blankets on the bank should be porous so that
the bank drains through the blanket without pore
pressure build up.
 A filter should be put under the blanket where bank
material is likely to leach out.
 To protect the toe of the bank where excess material
(usually stone) should be placed along the toe of the
bank in such manner as to slide into the developing
scour hole.
Riprap Revetment
 The use of large stones that are not easily removed from
the banks.
 Flexible and is neither impaired nor weakened by slight
movement of the bank resulting from settlement or other
minor adjustment.
Riprap Stability
 Riprap stability on a sideslope is a function of:
1. The magnitude and the direction of the flow velocity or
shear stress in the vicinity of the streambank.
2. The sideslope angle
3. The properties of the rock including the size, density
and angularity.
Example
Particle Stability Analysis

Particle Stability Analysis

Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Standard Revetment with Mattress
 The mattress is placed on the underwater bank and
extends from the water’s edge at low water out onto the
streambed beyond the toe of the bank.
 Principal fabricated types of revetment used in the past
were the willow fascine mattress, the woven willow
mattress, the framed willow mattress, the lumber
mattress, the reinforced asphalt mattress, and the
articulated concrete mattress.
Woven Wooden Mattress
 The mattress is constructed by weaving boards 1 in.
thick and 4 in. wide at right angles approximately 4 in.
apart on similar boards (weavers) spaced about 4 ft
apart.
 The woven mattress is mounted on and attached to a
framework of lumber that provides strength and stability
and forms cribs to hold the rock ballast required to sink
the mattress.
 The mattress is floated from a barge and then sunk into
place by placing rock ballast in the cribs.
 Ballast of 1 to 6 tons per square (100 sq ft) is used,
depending on the radius of curvature of the bend.
Woven Wooden Mattress
Articulated Concrete Mattress
 The mattress is formed by connecting the squares to each other
transversely and longitudinally (with corrosion-resistant fastenings)
and to the launching cables.
 The mattress sections are placed riverward from the water’s edge at
low water to just beyond the toe of the underwater bank slope and in
an upstream direction.
 Since there is no space between each block and each square and
connections are flexible, the mattress is flexible and adjusts to
irregularities in the bed and bank.
Articulated Concrete Mattress
Standard Trench-Fill Revetment
 Trench-fill revetment includes paving the graded riverbank with a
stone blanket, or riprap (generally about 1.5 ft thick), and providing a
large mass of stone in a trench at the riverward edge of the
revetment.
Dikes
 Dikes are training structures that extend out from the
bank into the flow.
 They are aligned either at an angle or perpendicular to
the flow.
Dikes
 Dikes are used for such purposes as to:
- Cut off side channels and chutes

- Concentrate a braided river into a single channel
- Constrict a channel to increase depth
- Realign a river reach
- Prevent bank erosion and protect structures along the
bank and bridge and utility crossings.
Dikes
 The crown of stone-fill in pile dikes and of stone-fill dikes
is sometimes placed at a constant elevation from bank
to river end and sometimes sloped up from the river end
of the structure to the bank to reduce the velocities near
the bank as flow increases and to help force all flow into
the low-water channel.
Stone Fill-in Pile Dikes
 Normally of two-row clump, three-row clump, or two-row or three-
row single pile construction.
 Stone is placed to protect the base of the piling from scour and add
structural support to the piling.
Stone Fill-in Pile Dikes
Stone-Fill Dikes
 They are constructed of quarry-run stone with fines, well
graded from large to small sizes so that larger voids are
filled.
Gabions
 Gabions are patented rectangular wire boxes (or
baskets) filled with relatively small-size stone, usually
less than 8 in. diameter.
 Where flow velocities are such that small stone would
not be stable if used in a riprap blanket, the wire boxes
provide an effective restraint.
Gabions
 Gabions act as a large heavy porous mass having some
flexibility.
 The basket are commercially available in a range of
standard sizes and are made of heavy galvanized wire
(coated when used in a corrosive environment).
 The basket are normally 0.5 m deep by 1 m by 2 m and
are set on a graded bank for revetments.
Reinforced Earth
 Is soil constructed with artificial reinforcing.
 Reinforcement placed in horizontal layers throughout the
height of the wall provides the tensile strength to hold the
soil together.
 Originally long steel strips 50 to 120 mm wide were used
as reinforcement. Several types of geosynthetics can be
used including geogrids and geotextiles.
Reinforced Earth
Reinforced Earth
Rehabilitated River
Rehabilitated River
Rehabilitated River
Constructed Meandering River
Constructed Meandering River
Dry floodplain
Inundated floodplain
What is a Good River?

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KNS4403 River and Coastal

To shape river into a single channel, following a

River Bank Erosion

Stabilization and Rectification

Stabilization and Rectification

3. Cutoffs – are constructed channels used to cut off sharp

 Straight reaches and very flat curvature should be

 Construction of relatively short isolated stabilization work

 In general, a satisfactory crossing lengths is two to four

Design Consideration for Revetments

Particle Stability Analysis

Particle Stability Analysis

- Cut off side channels and chutes

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