Chapter four

River training structures

 Cont’d...

River training structures, in its wider aspects, covers all those engineering
works which are constructed on a river, so as
• to guide and confine the flow to the river channel
• to control and regulate the river bed configuration, and
• ensuring safe and effective disposal of floods and sediment loads.
The main objectives of river training are:
• To provide a safe passage of flood discharge without overflowing the banks
for protection of developed or inhabited area
• To prevent the river from changing its course and to avoid outflanking of
structures like bridges, weirs, aqueducts, etc.
• To protect the banks from erosion and improve the alignment by stabilizing
the river channel
• To provide minimum depth of flow and a good course for navigation
• To transport efficiently the suspended and bed sediment loads

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 Cont’d...

Classification of River training

Depending on the purpose for which a river training program is undertaken, the
river training works may be classified as:
1. Training for high water or flood discharge
2. Training for depth or low water training
3. Training for sediment or mean water training

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 Cont’d...

1. High water training:

• is undertaken with the purpose of providing safe disposal of maximum floods
and thus provide protection against damage due to floods. Thus high water
training can also be called Training for Discharge
2. Training for Depth or Low Flow:
• to provide sufficient water depth in navigable channels during low water
periods and to maintain aquatic life.
• it may be accomplished by concentrating and enhancing the flow in the
desired channel by closing other channels by the process of bandalling, by
contracting the width of the channel with the help of groynes, etc.
3. Mean Water Training or Training for Sediment:
• Aims at efficient disposal of suspended and bed load, and thus, to preserve the
channel in good shape.

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 Methods of River training

The following are the generally adopted methods for training rivers:
• Guide bunks
• Embankments or levees
• Groynes or Spurs
• Riprap, Pitching of banks and provision of launching aprons.
• Artificial cut-offs.
• Miscellaneous methods, such as sills, bandalling etc.

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Guide Banks (or Guide Bunds)

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 Cont’d...

Guide banks
• are an structures constructed across a river to confine the flow of the water within a
reasonable waterway.
• they extend both upstream and downstream of the abutments of the structure.
• they are generally provided in pairs symmetrical in plan.
• upstream curved head is provided to have a bell-mouth entry and the downstream
curved head to have smooth exit.
• The remaining portion of the river on either side of the guide banks up to the edges or
banks of the flood plain is covered by embankments known as approach banks.
• The guide banks guide the river flow past the bridge or any other hydraulic structure
without causing damage to work and its approaches.

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 Design Criteria for Guide Banks

Typical layout of Guide bank 8

 Cont’d...

1. Length of Clear Waterway:

• is the actual width from which the water has to flow after river is constructed.
• to be provided between the guide banks or the abutments of the work is given
by Lacey’s equation:
𝑷 = 𝟒. 𝟕𝟓 𝑸
where P = Lacey’s Regime perimeter (m).
Q = maximum discharge (m³/s).
• The length, L, of the overall waterway (or length of the work or the structure)
between the guide banks or the abutments of the work is obtained by adding
the thickness of the piers (in case of bridges) to P.
• Generally,
L≈ 1.1 to 1.25 P

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 Cont’d...

2. Top level:
• the top level of the guide banks in kept equal to the upstream total energy
level plus adequate free board.
• The upstream total energy level is equal to the high flood level before
construction plus afflux and velocity head.
• Thus,
Top level of bank = HFL before construction + Afflux + v2/2g + Free board.

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 Cont’d...

• The afflux is rise in water on the upstream of the structure.

• The afflux is maximum near the structure and gradually decrease as the
distance from the structure increase in the upstream direction. This gradual
decrease is due to backwater effect.
• The amount of afflux, in case of weirs or barrages founded on alluvial soils, is
generally limited to 1 to 1.2m, or more commonly as 1m.
• In steep reaches of the river with boulder or rocky bed and flashy rivers, a higher
value of afflux has to be taken.
• In case, a bridge is founded on a river, in which full bed scour develops before
high floods, a negligible value of afflux may be taken.
• A free board of 1.25m to 1.50m above the maximum anticipated upstream high
flood level is usually provided for guide banks.

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 Cont’d...

3. Length of Guide Bank:

• According to Spring, length of guide banks on the upstream side from the axis of
the work should be equal to 1.1L and downstream side from the axis of the work
0.1L to 0.2L.
• Other formulas (e.g. Gales) depending on the discharge are also recommended:
Discharge (m3/s) Length of upstream Convergence towards
guide banks structure
Less than 21,000 1.25L 1 in 20
21000 – 42,500 1.25L to 1.5L 1 in 20 to 1 in 40
> 42,500 1.5L 1 in 40

• The length of the d/s guide is recommended as 0.25L for all discharge.
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 Cont’d...

4. Radius of curved head of the Guide banks

a) Upstream curved heads
• Sweep angle of 120° to 145°; R = 0.45L
• However, Spring suggested a value of R equal to 180 to 250 meter for rivers having
velocity between 2.4 to 3.1 m/sec.
• Gales, on the other suggested a value of R to 250 m for rivers having high flood
discharge between 7000 to 20000 m3/sec.
• R = 580, for Q = 40,000 to 70000 m3/sec
• For intermediate discharge, the value of R may be obtained by interpolation.
b) Downstream curved heads
• Sweep angle of 45° to 60° and half radius of upstream curved head; R1 = ½ R

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 Cont’d...

5. Cross section of Guide Banks:

• Top width not less than 3 m
• Constructed of locally available material, usually sand (earthen, soil)
• Side slopes not steeper than 2:1 (H:V)
• Free board of 1.25 to 1.5 m above anticipated flood level

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 Cont’d...

6. Slope protection for Guide Banks:

• Water face protected by stone pitching (each stone weighing 40 to 50 kg).
• Rear face slope provided with vegetal cover to protect it against wind & rain
erosion.
• At both curved ends the pitching is done on both front and rear faces.
• The pitching must extend up to 1 m above the maximum flood level.
• The pitching as recommended by Inglis is given by:
𝑡 = 0.06𝑄1/3
Where: t is the thickness of stone pitching (m)
Q is discharge (m3/sec)
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 Cont’d...

7. Launching apron:
• The slope of the guide bank may be damaged due to scour, which may occur at
the toe of the bank with consequent undermining and collapse of the stone
pitching.
• In order to protect the slope against such damage a stone cover known as
launching apron is laid from the toe of the bank on the horizontal river bed.

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 Cont’d...

• The apron then launches to cover the face of the scour with stones forming a
continuous carpet below the slope of the guide bank.
• In order to ensure complete protection of the whole of the scoured face,
adequate quantity of stone should be provided in the launching apron.
• The launching apron is generally laid in a width equal to 1.5 times the depth of
scour (D) below the original bed.
• The total scour below HFL is taken as xR,
𝑄 1
Where: R is the Lacey’s normal scoured depth given by : 𝑅 = 0.47( 𝑓 ) Τ3
Where: Q = maximum discharge (m³/s)
f = silt factor and 𝑓 = 1.75 𝑑
d = mean size of bed material (mm)

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 Cont’d...

• The value of ‘x’ are tabulated for different places in table below:
No. Location Value of x D = xR – water
depth above bed
1 Noses of guide 2.25 2.25R - y
banks
2 Transitions from 1.5 1.5R -y
noses to straight
portions
3 Straight reaches 1.25 1.25R - y
of guide bunds
• The thickness of launching apron can be determined by: T = 1.9t

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 Example

#1. The following hydraulic data pertains to a bridge site of a river.

• Maximum discharge = 6000 m3/s
• Highest flood level = 104 m
• River bed level = 100 m
• Average diameter of river bed material = 0.1 mm
Design and sketch guide banks including the launching apron to train the river.
Assume plentiful availability of boulders near the site.

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 Cont’d...

Solution
1. Clear water way
• The Lacey’s regime water way:
𝑃 = 4.75 𝑄 = 368 m
• Considering bridge piers obstruction, the net spacing between two bunds:
L= 1.2P = 440 m.
2. The length of guide bunks
• The length of the guide bank at u/s of bridge = 1.25L = 550 m
• The length of the guide bank at d/s of bridge = 0.25L = 110 m.
3. Radius of curved head
• Radius of the curved head (upstream portion) = 0.45L = say 194m.
• The u/s end of guide bunk may therefore, be curved by 1300 (between 120 to 1450 )
with a radius of 194m.

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 Cont’d...

• The d/s end of the guide bunk may, therefore, be curved in such a way as to
make an angle of 600 with R2 = R1/2 = 194/2 = 87 m.

Fig. a) plan of guide banks

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 Cont’d...

4. Top level of guide banks

• The given HFL at bridge site = 104 m
• Assuming a free- board of 1.5m and nil value of afflux and ignoring velocity
head, the top level of guide bunk = 104 + 1.5 = 105.5 m.
• To be more safe, let us adopt the top level of bunk as 106 m.
• Now, height of the bunk above river bed level = 106 – 100 = 6 m.

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 Cont’d...

6. Slope protection (stone pitching)

• The thickness of the stone pitching on the side:
𝑡 = 0.06𝑄1/3 = 1.09 m; say 1.1m
7. Launching apron
• The thickness of the apron: 𝑇 = 1.9𝑡 = 2.09 m; say 2.1 m.
• The Lacey’s silt factor: 𝑓 = 1.76 𝑑 = 0.556
𝑄
• The Lacey’s normal scoured depth: 𝑅 = 0.47( 𝑓 )1/3 = 10.36 m.
• Depth of water above river bed level: 104 – 100 = 4 m.

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 Cont’d...

• The depth of scour at the straight reaches of the guide bank:

𝐷 = 1.25𝑅 − 𝑦 = 9 m.
• The length of apron at the straight reaches of the guide bank:
𝐿𝑎𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑛 = 1.5𝐷 = 13.5 m.
• For the curvilinear transition portions of the guide bank :
𝐷 = 1.5𝑅 − 𝑦 = 11.54; say 12 m.
• The length of apron in the curved portions:
𝐿𝑎𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑛 = 1.5𝐷 = 18 m.
Assuming the top width of the bunk as 5m and side slopes as 2 : 1, we have the
required sections of the banks as shown below;

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 Cont’d...

Fig. (b) cross section (A-A) of the straight reach of guide bank.

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 Cont’d...

• Pitching and apron in these curved portions shall be provided on both sides, as
shown below;

Fig. (c): Cross section (B-B) of the curved portions of the guide bank.

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 Assignment

#1. Make a note on the following river training structures:

a) Groynes or spurs
b) Embankment or levees
c) Riprap revetment

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