Impact of bed surface arrangement on bedload rate: comparisons between loose, armored and water-worked beds

Abstract

Existing formulas for predicting bedload rate may be not adapted for mountain rivers with poorly sorted sediments, partly because they were often established using laboratory data with conditions far from those found in such rivers. Natural bed arrangement is particularly difficult to reproduce in flumes, although recent studies highlighted its importance on bedload dynamics. This study aims to quantify bed arrangement impact on bedload rate using original laboratory tests and to improve existing bedload formulas. Three types of bed composed with the same material but having different bed arrangements were studied: loose beds were installed manually in the flume and the others, packed and water-worked beds, were created using water power. Packed beds were assimilated to flat beds composed of a static armor layer whereas water-worked beds exhibited stronger bed organization, including large-scale bed forms. Laser-scanner surveys were used to characterize differences in bed morphology. Similar unsteady hydraulic conditions were applied over these beds. Results showed that bedload dynamics varies significantly depending on the initial arrangement. Compared to loose bed, bedload was enhanced over water-worked bed and reduced over packed bed. Bed surface indicators are thus important parameters to take into account when predicting gravel transport.