Depth‐Integrated Suspended‐Load Calculations

Abstract

The net transport of sediment by suspension is calculated by integrating the product of the sediment concentration and velocity over the water depth. For many flows, accurate calculations must include effects of density stratification by suspended sediment, as well as effects due to bed forms and a mixture of sediment sizes. Each of these effects can cause differences of up to two orders of magnitude for some cases and therefore often must be included for reasonable accuracy. However, even though stratification and bed forms tend to decrease the entrainment capacity of a flow, and treating the sediment as a single size usually underpredicts the actual sediment concentration, the interactions among these processes are complex and it is nearly impossible to generalize the net effect. Results are presented for the depth‐integrated product of sediment concentration and velocity for a wide range of flow and sediment conditions. Plots arc provided so that more accurate predictions of net transport of suspended sediment can be made.