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Concept

Siltation

Related publications (28)

Enhancing Flood Resilience: Sediment Management in Le Bez Torrent

Giovanni De Cesare, Azin Amini, Romain Nathan Hippolyte Merlin Van Mol

In the canton of Bern, Switzerland, the “Le Bez” torrent is known for its flash floods, causing sediment and wood debris buildup in Villeret village settled on the alluvial fan. To mitigate this issue, a sediment/wood trap system is being implemented upstr ...

Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT)2023

Reduction of riverbed clogging related to sediment flushing

Giovanni De Cesare, Romain Maxime Dubuis

The ecological effects of dams on sediment and river flow have been subject to an increasing attention, leading to the implementation of mitigation measures such as environmental flow release and sediment replenishment. However, fine sediment dynamics have ...

CRC Press/Balkema2023

Experimental modeling of fine sediment routing: SEDMIX device with thrusters

Giovanni De Cesare, Azin Amini, Montana Marshall

Reservoir sedimentation is a key challenge for storage sustainability because it causes volume loss, affecting hydropower production capacity, dam safety, and flood management. A preliminary EPFL study proposed and studied an innovative device (called SEDM ...

CRC Press/Balkema2023

Characterization of Thruster-Induced Turbulence for Fine Sediment Suspension

Giovanni De Cesare, Azin Amini, Montana Marshall

2023

Impact of substrate clogging on vertical connectivity

Giovanni De Cesare, Robin Schroff, Romain Maxime Dubuis

Connectivity between the hyporheic zone and the flow is essential for the development of benthos and the reproductive success of spawning fish. The infiltration of fine sediment leads to clogging of the riverbed, reducing porosity and vertical water exchan ...

2023

Influence of channel geomorphic units on bedload transport and river morphology during low‐magnitude bed‐forming floods coupled with sediment augmentation

Giovanni De Cesare, Severin Stähly, Christian Mörtl, Robin Schroff

In this study, we map different types of channel geomorphic units in a sediment-starved, residual-flow reach before and after an artificial flood. Bedload particles of a previous sediment augmentation measure are tracked with passive integrated transponder ...

2023

Clogging of riverbed substrates by fine sediment

Romain Maxime Dubuis

Riverbeds represent the habitat of numerous aquatic species. Exchanges between the groundwater, the hyporheic zone and the surface flow are also essential for river ecosystems. Fine sediment transported by rivers deposits inside or on top of the bed and mo ...

EPFL2023

Hydromorphological assessment of sediment augmentation measures in gravel-bed rivers

Christian Mörtl

In the riverine environment, the riverscape, sediment and flow regime are essential drivers for natural habitat dynamics. Today, most water courses in Europe are regulated, and their natural dynamics are impaired. Flood releases coupled with the artificial ...

EPFL2023

The clogging of riverbeds: A review of the physical processes

Giovanni De Cesare, Romain Maxime Dubuis

Fine sediment represents an important part of the solid flux of rivers. Due to the size of these particles, they are often transported as suspended load. They gradually fill the pores of the substrate forming the hyporheic zone or cover the substrate by se ...

2023

p Spatio-temporal deposition profile of an experimentally produced turbidity current with a continuous suspension supply

Giovanni De Cesare

A turbidity current is a turbulent, particle-laden gravity current that is driven by density differences resulting from the presence of suspended sediment particles. The current travels downslope, bearing a large amount of sediment over a great distance, a ...

2022

Numerical simulation of sediment dynamics with free surface flows

Arwa Mrad

We present a numerical model for the simulation of 3D mono-dispersed sediment dynamics in a Newtonian flow with free surfaces. The physical model is a macroscopic model for the transport of sediment based on a sediment concentration with a single momentum ...

EPFL2021

Effects of Anthropogenic Discharge and Hydraulic Deposition on the Distribution and Accumulation of Microplastics in Surface Sediments of a Typical Seagoing River: The Haihe River

Florian Frédéric Vincent Breider

Microplastics pollution in river systems has generated great concern; however, few studies have focused on the contributions of multiple influencing factors to microplastics in river systems. In the current study, we utilized data on microplastics in surfa ...

2020

Numerical Simulations of an Innovative Water Stirring Device for Fine Sediment Release: The Case Study of the Future Trift Reservoir

Pedro Filipe De Almeida Manso, Azin Amini

Reservoir sedimentation and consequently lack of storage volume and perturbation of the operation of intakes and bottom outlet is a key challenge affecting both hydropower production as well as dam safety and flood management. In the framework of a peer-re ...

Springer2020

Quasi-stationary flow structure in turbidity currents

Giovanni De Cesare

A turbidity current is a particle-laden current driven by density differences due to suspended sediment particles. Turbidity currents can transport large amounts of sediment down slopes over great distances, and play a significant role in fluvial, lake and ...

IRTCES2020

Innovative methods to release fine sediments from reservoirs developed at EPFL, Switzerland

Anton Schleiss, Giovanni De Cesare, Pedro Filipe De Almeida Manso, Azin Amini, Sabine Chamoun

Electricity generation, water supply, flood protection, flow regulation and navigation are amongst the main services provided by reservoirs. Sedimentation affects the sustainability of reservoirs, by reducing their storage capacity, and increases the negat ...

2019

Erosion processes of a novel configuration of sediment replenishment during an artificial flood

Anton Schleiss, Mário Jorge Rodrigues Pereira Da Franca, Severin Stähly

Floodplains downstream of dams with constant residual flow discharge often lack sediment supply and periodic inundation due to the absence of flood events. At the Sarine floodplain in Fribourg, western Switzerland, an artificial flood was released from Ros ...

2019

Sediment replenishment as a measure to enhance river habitats in a residual flow reach downstream of a dam

Anton Schleiss, Mário Jorge Rodrigues Pereira Da Franca, Severin Stähly

Floodplains downstream of a dam, where the natural flow regime is replaced by a constant residual flow discharge, often lack sediment supply and periodic inundation due to the absence of natural flood events. In this study, a flood with a one-year return p ...

Canadian Dam Association2019

Hydraulic-morphological habitat assessment in rivers considering residual flow, sediment replenishment and artificial flood events

Severin Stähly

Dams store water and trap sediment in their reservoirs. Downstream river segments, hence, are affected by a limited sediment dynamics. This becomes obvious by river bed incision, limited geomorphological variability and depletion of hydraulic habitats for ...

EPFL2019

Ecosystem engineers: Biofilms and the ontogeny of glacier floodplain ecosystems

Tom Ian Battin, Jade Brandani

The term “ecosystem engineering” emerged in the 1990s and is commonly used to refer to the activities of larger organisms like beavers and trees in rivers and streams. The focus on larger organisms may be motivated by their more visible effects on the envi ...

2019

Sediment replenishment combined with an artificial flood improves river habitats downstream of a dam

Anton Schleiss, Mário Jorge Rodrigues Pereira Da Franca, Severin Stähly

River reaches downstream dams where a constant residual flow discharge is imposed, often lack sediment supply and periodic inundation due to the absence of natural flood events. In this study, a two-year return flood was released from an upstream reservoir ...

Nature Research2019