Generalization of a Sediment Transport Formula Incorporating River Hydraulic Conditions-Karun River

Estimation of the sediment loads in a stream flow is one of the well-discussed topics in the sediment hydraulics literature. In almost the entire river engineering projects addressing issues such as river morphology, river bed changes, estimation of the annual sediment deposition at the river intakes, banks protection, dredging of the water channels, etc are of prime importance. The amount of sediment transported through a river cross-section may be under a mix of various influences from flow depths and widths, energy slope, temperature and fluid characteristics, flow turbulence and a wide range of their sizes, forms, densities, sediment particle concentrations, and other physical and hydraulic properties. The variety of formulae applied in sediment transport and estimation calculations also the paucity of information and data on the performance of such formulae makes the selection of the suitable ones for different specific conditions an extremely difficult task. Any choice in this regard should incorporate the evaluation and analysis of river hydraulics. In the present paper, several sediment estimation formulae examined for Greater Karun River along Mollasani-Farsiat reach with the purpose of proposing the best sediment transport relation to be applied in later researches. Results showed flow-based energy-based methods are better suited for the Karoon River.