Modelling bathymetry changes within a waterway versus a laboratory experiment

A three-layer theoretical model for transport of graded sediments was used in our analysis of the silting-up of waterways tested under laboratory conditions. The experiment was conducted in a laboratory basin, in which waves and a current were generated. The current interacted with the waves propagating perpendicularly to the direction in which it was flowing. It was assumed in the calculations that the sediment was entrained from the bed and suspended due to the impact of waves on the bed, after which it was transported by the current along the cross-shore profile of the navigation channel. Thus, it was assumed that the bathymetry changes occur only as a result of changes in the suspended load transport rate. The bed topographic modifications modelling results are in good agreement to the laboratory experimental results, including the rate of silting up the waterway and the bed reconfiguration. The key factor in the calculations concerning the waterway bed reconfiguration proved to be the inclusion of the effect of sediment size sorting on predicting the rate and character of bathymetry changes.