Chute Cutoff Research Articles

How do gravel-bed rivers braid?

Sedimentary processes and bed forms leading to the onset of braiding were observed in small-scale hydraulic models of gravel-bed streams. The laboratory streams had a variety of combinations of (constant) discharge and slope but identical bed-material particle-size distributions. From initially straight channels, braiding occurred by four different processes: deposition and accumulation of a central bar, chute cutoff of point bars, conversion of single transverse unit bars to mid-channel braid bars, and dissection of multiple bars. In these experiments the chute cutoff mechanism was the most common, but the predominant braiding mechanism depends upon sediment mobility (excess bed shear stress) and the bed-form regime. At very low excess bed shear stress the central bar process dominates, but at higher excess bed shear stress slip-face unit bars are more common, bed scour at confluences is more pronounced, and propogation of alternate convergence (scour) and divergence (deposition) is more likely; thus chute cutoffs and bar conversion dominate. The multiple bar mechanism is restricted to channels with very high width/depth ratio. All of these processes, along with avulsion, are significant for maintenance of an established braided channel.The direct physical sedimentary cause of primary braiding is essentially the same in all these processes: local aggradation (often by stalling of bed-load sheets) and loss of competence in a lateral flow expansion. The chute cutoff process occurs in a morphologically distinctive setting and may be aided by other factors, but it is usually triggered by the local thalweg shoaling that is the fundamental physical mechanism causing the onset of braiding by the other processes. Local short-term pulses in bed-load supply are often the trigger for the initiation and maintenance of braiding, regardless of the exact braiding process.

Sedimentology and morphology of a low‐sinuosity river: Calamus River, Nebraska Sand Hills

ABSTRACTA study reach of the Calamus River, Nebraska Sand Hills, has a low sinuosity (less than 1.3) and braiding parameter (less than 1). Depending on sinuosity, the channel is occupied by alternate bars and point bars, the emergent parts of which form nuclei for midstream bars (islands). Channel migration occurs by bend expansion and translation, downstream and lateral growth of islands, and by chute cutoff.Channel‐bed sediment is mainly medium‐grained sand, but gravel and coarser sand sizes occur in thalweg areas adjacent to cutbanks and upstream parts of bars and islands, and finer sands occur on the downstream parts of bars and filling channels. Curved‐crested dunes cover most of the channel bed at most flow stages, with ripples restricted to shallow areas near banks. Bed material is mostly large‐scale cross‐stratified, with small‐scale cross‐strata interbedded with plant debris occurring in topographically high areas near banks.Vibracores through channel bars show a basal erosion surface overlain by large‐scale cross‐stratified sands, in turn overlain by small‐scale cross‐stratified sand interbedded with plant debris. The overall sequence generally fines upwards, but the large‐scale cross‐stratified portion either fines upwards, coarsens upwards, or shows little grain size variation. Lithofacies distributions vary spatially within and between bars depending on position in the bar and local channel curvature/width, in a similar way to unbraided rivers elsewhere. Lithofacies of bar deposits are similar to those in the active channel, and the elevations of the basal erosion surface and adjacent channel thalweg correspond closely.Channels abandoned by chute cutoff are filled progressively from the upstream end, and comprise deposits similar to the downstream parts of bars (i.e. fining upwards). The downstream extremities of channel fills may contain large proportions of peat relative to sand, but little mud due to the paucity of such fine suspended load in the Calamus.

An Investigation of the Gravity Flow of Noncohesive Granular Materials Through Discharge Chutes

The flow of granular materials through curved or straight discharge chutes is classified as either “fast” or “slow.” Fast flow is the more efficient and occurs when the material flows in contact with the chute bottom and side walls, but does not make contact with the top. On the other hand, slow flow occurs when the material is in contact with all four faces of the chute. Under fast flow conditions, the grain stream thickness varies along the chute with the minimum thickness occurring near the point where the mean stream velocity is a maximum. The paper investigates the conditions governing fast flow and presents an approximate analysis to account for the grain stream thickness variation. The analysis, based on the assumption of steady flow, involves the solution of nonlinear differential equations. An equivalent friction coefficient is introduced to account for the frictional drag on the chute bottom and side walls; this friction coefficient is not constant but is found to vary with the changing stream thickness. Results of experimental investigations performed on chutes of known geometric shape are correlated with the analytical solutions. High-speed cine photography is used to determine the actual velocities and paths of individual grains in the moving stream, thus enabling the velocity profiles to be determined at different points along the stream. The paper presents data and recommendations for optimum chute design. These data include suggestions relating to the best chute shape to meet a given set of conditions and information concerning the optimum chute cutoff angles to avoid flow obstructions.