Hydrological Analysis of Sediment Transport in a Turbulent Flow

The sustainable development in an estuarine environment, aquatics health and environmental management requires explicit knowledge on the three-dimensional mean flow field and the resulting turbulence. The mean-flow field and the turbulence in an oval tank developed by the hydraulics and hydrology department of Vrije Universiteit Brussels were explicitly studied. First, a limited series of experiments were conducted in the laboratory to test the feasibility of the project. Further improvement on the settings is contemplated for higher precision and accuracy. Two sets of field data taken from Lippenbroek and Kruibeke were analysed. The Lippenbroek field data were taken at both summer and winter period. The bulk settling velocity in this study ranges between 1.4 - 4.8 m/s which is in full agreement of other studies on Scheldt estuary. The two extremes values were obtained from Lippenbroek and the highest value obtained during winter. The higher discharge during winter at Lippenbroek increase the bulk settling velocity thrice more than the value recorded in summer.