Research on River Engineering

Dear Colleagues,

River engineering is one of the most important subjects in hydraulic engineering. The main scientific fields that are necessary for understanding the basic principles of river engineering include hydrology, hydraulics, and geomorphology. Using hydrologic rainfall-runoff models, the river inflows originating from rainfall-induced overland flow can be calculated. We must route river floods during intense storms. Flood routing can be calculated using both hydrologic and hydraulic models. Hydraulic models are based on water mass and momentum conservation equations, which are hyperbolic-type partial differential equations that are solved using numeric methods (e.g., finite difference schemes). Soil erosion products from the surrounding basins are transported by the overland flow into the rivers, and constitute the so-called wash load. The river bed can be eroded by the river flow, or suspended sediment can be deposited onto the river bed. So, the geomorphology of the river bed is strongly affected by sediment transport. Numerous computational models for the bed load and total load have been developed in the past. In order to account for sediment transport in rivers, the sediment continuity equation should be added to the water mass and momentum conservation equations. Sediment transport is mainly influenced by unsteady turbulent flows, which are normal physical condition in rivers. The vegetation on river banks also influences the river flow. The hydraulic and geomorphologic conditions in reservoirs and lakes are different from those in rivers. Generally, hydraulic structures (e.g., dams) modify the hydraulic and geomorphologic regimes in rivers.

Prof. Dr. Vlassios Hrissanthou
Dr. Mike Spiliotis
Dr. Konstantinos Kaffas
Topic Editors