MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESS AND FLOW CHARACTERISTICS IN ALLUVIAL CHANNEL UNDER SEDIMENT MINING

Abstract

Sediment is a substance that occurs in nature and is broken down by weathering and erosion processes. It is commonly transported by water through fluvial processes, ice through glacial processes, and air through aeolian processes. Fluvial transport and deposition are illustrated by the deposits in river channels and floodplains, but sediment also frequently settles out of still or slowly flowing water in lakes and seas. Sediment mining is the extraction of construction material, such as sand, aggregate, and gravel, from the river beds, banks, and flood plains, which causes a significant impact on the river plan. These impacts of sediment mining on the river ecosystem can cause the loss of river strata, river flora and fauna, dam, headwork, and hydraulic structures within the river system. The sediment mining process also impacts the catchments located at the upstream section of the mining area due to the elevation differences between the two locations and the increasing sediment demand at the mining site. Sediment particles are excavated and extracted in any type and form to their maximum capacity and amount of sediment from the river to fulfill the demands of construction industries. Many studies conducted on sediment mining in active and non-active rivers beds and banks and flood plains are mostly physical studies that only considered the qualitative perspective of the morphological processes in the vicinity of the mining locations. Many studies also consider the environmental impacts of the sediment mining aspects. The variety of experimental studies that have been carried out to date demonstrates that, despite extensive research on the effects and process of sediment mining, there has been less attention paid to the hydrodynamics, morphological, and flow characteristics near the sediment mining pits. The experimental research on sediment mining so far has primarily been concerned with the physical aspects of the mining pit and has not adequately explained the flow characteristics, geomorphological, and hydrodynamics characteristics near the mining pit. The thoroughly reviewed primary literature on the various aspects of sediment mining indicates that further research is needed to understand how sediment mining affectsrivers' hydrodynamic, morphological, and flow characteristics. The present study focused on the morphological process and flow characteristics in alluvial rivers under sediment mining. The main objectives of this research are to study the morphological process and flow characteristics in the vicinity of the trapezoidal sediment mining pit constructed of cohesionless bed material under the inflow of clear water conditions in open channel flow.