Abstract
Abstract Application of the block ramp technique in steep gradient streams for energy dissipation as well as to maintain river stability finds increasing favor amongst researchers and practitioners in river engineering. This paper dwells on a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of flow resistance, energy dissipation, flow characteristics, stability, and drag force on block ramps by various investigators in the past. The forms and equations for each type are thoroughly discussed with the objective of finding the grey areas and gaps. More research is warranted further to improve the equations, which are essential for design analysis. Block ramps can be a promising simple technique to achieve reasonable attenuation of devastating fluvial forces unleashed in gravel-bed streams during cloud bursts.
Highlights
A block ramp is a short section of steep channel that produces large scale roughness in the form of a boulder, which allows passing flow from a higher elevation to lower elevation by dissipating energy (Aberle & Smart ; Pagliara & Chiavaccini a; Ahmad et al )
They are used in mountain rivers and are made of blocks with mean diameters ranging between 0.3 m and 1.5 m, disposed on a steep bed
Though Equation (19), proposed by Ahmad et al ( ), is the outcome of a staggered arrangement of hemispherical boulders on a ramp, but in nature, we mostly find irregular shapes of boulder
Summary
A block ramp is a short section of steep channel that produces large scale roughness in the form of a boulder, which allows passing flow from a higher elevation to lower elevation by dissipating energy (Aberle & Smart ; Pagliara & Chiavaccini a; Ahmad et al ). Pagliara & Chiavaccini ( a, b, c) proposed flow resistance and energy dissipation equations for block ramps.
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