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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pendleton, Oregon » Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #113490
Title: MEANDER SHAPE AND DESIGN OF STABLE MEANDERS

Author
item HAGERMAN, JAMES - TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORIT
item Williams, John

Submitted to: American Water Resources Association Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/8/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: When natural stream channels are relocated or restored, meander designs are frequently calculated from empirical relationships between channel size or discharge, degree of sinuosity, and meander plan-form descriptors. Because these parameters are interdependent, arbitrary parameters are chosen as independent variables, and trial and error is necessary to produce a final design. Theoretical models of meander plan form provide insights into the nature of stable meanders, but the use of these models for design has been limited. A methodology that makes the interdependency of parameters explicit would simplify and improve channel design exercises for rehabilitation projects. The sine-generated curve model proposed by Langbein and Leopold (1966) provides a complete description of stable meander plan form, in which meander shape is a function of sinuosity and a scale factor. We applied this model to propose a design procedure that reduces the number of independent design variables and the need for iterative solutions.

Technical Abstract: When natural stream channels are relocated or restored, meander designs are frequently calculated from empirical relationships between channel size or discharge, degree of sinuosity, and meander plan-form descriptors. Because these parameters are interdependent, arbitrary parameters are chosen as independent variables, and trial and error is necessary to produce a final design. Theoretical models of meander plan form provide insights into the nature of stable meanders, but the use of these models for design has been limited. A methodology that makes the interdependency of parameters explicit would simplify and improve channel design exercises for rehabilitation projects. The sine-generated curve model proposed by Langbein and Leopold (1966) provides a complete description of stable meander plan form, in which meander shape is a function of sinuosity and a scale factor. We applied this model to propose a design procedure that reduces the number of independent design variables and the need for iterative solutions.