Sediment Transport in Vegetated Rivers.

The paper addresses the problem of sediment transport in mobile bed vegetated rivers. In order to study the effect of vegetation on sediment transport a series of tests were conduced in a 15 m long flume in the Hydraulic Laboratory of the University of Trento. Plants were modelled by rigid cylindrical elements arranged in staggered configurations. The aim of the research was to develop a rational theory with which to predict the sediment transport rate in a vegetated channel. For this purpose, we adopted an approach derived from the Einstein theory. The Einstein approach was revisited and modified to account for two effects: the reduction of the active area of the flume bed due to the presence of vegetation, and the modification of the turbulent structure induced by vegetation. This new approach to the problem appears to be suitable for different configurations of vegetation and different hydrodynamic and sediment conditions.