Mathematical modelling of riverbed dynamics – a Canadian case study
A new mobile-bed mathematical model for simulating sediment transport in river networks under unsteady flow conditions is presented. The new model, ONE-D-SED, is an extended version of the extensively validated fixed-bed, one-dimensional hydrodynamic model ONE-D. This paper reports the results of an application of ONE-D-SED to simulate bed profile development along a 43-km-long tidal channel network of the Lower Fraser River in British Columbia. The sand-bed study reach has been undergoing degradation caused by navigational dredging and river training works in lower channel reaches and by borrow dredging within the study reach itself, ONE-D-SED was used to simulate bed degradation in the study reach during the 1979–1984 period. The simulated annual change in bed elevation at the downstream end of the study reach showed good agreement with that observed during 1968, the data year used to calibrate the model. The predicted cumulative change in bed profile from 1979 to 1984 also compared favourably with the overall degradation pattern observed during that same period. Key words: mathematical model, simulation, sediment transport, river network, finite difference, model validation.