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Quantification of continuous sand flux time-series downstream of a dam during a flushing event

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Abstract

Sand dynamics is an important issue in harnessed gravel-bed rivers where sand deposits can locally impact river management for ecological or safety purposes. However, sand flux is very complex to evaluate continuously in such rivers because of the strong spatial and temporal variability of the sand concentration throughout a river cross-section and along the river, and also because of the supply-limited aspect of sand. Sand transport capacity formulas are not applicable for such rivers. This paper introduces some methods easy to apply and based on the concentration index, i.e. assuming a possible relationship between the sand concentration at a specific position of a river cross-section and the section averaged concentration. These methods that use regular pump samplings and turbidity measurements are applied on the Lower-Isère, France, downstream of a series of dams during a flushing event. During this 2 week-event, we estimated a sand flux between 1.3 and 1.7 Mt depending on the method and site used. The concentration index method appeared robust and so very useful for a continuous evaluation of sand fluxes but the index concentration must be measured at a location where the turbulence intensity is high enough so that sand suspension can be observed and it must validated with regular sand gaugings. Eventually, we showed that the sand supply allowed the system to reach its sand transport capacity for approximately 3 days after a delay of 2 days after dam openings.

Article highlights

  • Several concentration index methods based on pumped water samples or turbidity monitoring are introduced;

  • The sand flux time series computed for the Isère River during a dam flushing event are consistent;

  • Such results are meaningful to understand the sediment processes in harnessed gravel-bed rivers.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted within the Rhône Sediment Observatory (OSR), a multi-partner research program funded through the Plan Rhône by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Agence de l’Eau RMC, CNR, EDF and three regional councils (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, PACA and Occitanie). This work has been supported by INRAE, CNR, EDF-CIH, and the French National Research Agency (ANR) under the grant ANR-18-CE01-0019-01 (DEAR project). We would like to acknowledge all the persons involved in the field experiments (M. Bouche, F. Thollet, A. Bonnefoy, M. Lagouy, T. Fretaud et P. Nunes) and laboratory analyses (J. Stepanian).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRAE, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Grenoble, 5 rue de la Doua, CS20244, 69625, Villeurbanne, France

    Benoît Camenen, Guillaume Dramais, Jessica Laible & Jérôme Le Coz

  2. CNR, DCOS-CACOH, 4 rue de Chalon-sur-Saône, 69007, Lyon, France

    Gilles Pierrefeu & Thierry Fretaud

  3. EDF, Hydro-DTG, 134 rue de l’Etang, 38950, Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux, France

    François Lauters

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  1. Benoît Camenen
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Contributions

The authors confirm their contribution to the paper as follows: Study conception and design: BC, GP, and FL; Field measurements: GD, BC, GP, and FL; Analysis and interpretation of results: BC, GD, JL, GP, and FL; draft manuscript preparation: BC, GD, JL, and JLC; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Benoît Camenen.

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Camenen, B., Dramais, G., Laible, J. et al. Quantification of continuous sand flux time-series downstream of a dam during a flushing event. Environ Fluid Mech (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-023-09955-9

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