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 Editors

Fukuoka
Nakagawa
Sumi
Zhang

Advances in River Sediment Research

Sediments, which constitute the surface of the Earth, start their journey to rivers
with the energy obtained from rainfalls, floods and other natural processes. Due
to transport of sediments, rivers develop with various appearances and functions,
and play a crucial role in the activities of human beings and the life cycles of other
species. River sediment, as a conventional topic for river management, has been
the topic of continuing research since ancient times, and since then significant
progresses in river sediment research has been made. Nowadays, river sediment
is much more connected to the activities of mankind and other species, following
the increasing awareness of the co-existence of humans and nature.

Advances in River Sediment Research comprises the proceedings of the 12th

International Symposium on River Sedimentation (ISRS2013, Kyoto, Japan, 2-5
September 2013). The book contains two keynote papers and 274 peer-reviewed
regular contributions from all over the world, and covers recent accomplishments
in theoretical developments, numerical simulations, laboratory experiments, field

Advances in River Sediment Research

investigations and management methodologies of river sediment related issues.
The book may serve as a reference book for graduate students, researchers,
engineers and practitioners in disciplines of hydraulic, environmental, agricultural
and geological engineering.

Editors: S. Fukuoka, H. Nakagawa, T. Sumi & H. Zhang

an informa business
 ADVANCES IN RIVER SEDIMENT RESEARCH

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This page intentionally left blank
 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 12TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON RIVER SEDIMENTATION, ISRS
2013, KYOTO, JAPAN, 2–5 SEPTEMBER 2013

Advances in River Sediment Research

Editors
Shoji Fukuoka
Center for Research and Development Initiatives, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan

Hajime Nakagawa
Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Tetsuya Sumi
Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Hao Zhang
Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

ZHANG.indb iii 7/22/2013 2:28:50 PM

 CRC Press/Balkema is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK

Typeset by V Publishing Solutions Pvt Ltd., Chennai, India

Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, by pho-
tocopying, recording or otherwise, without written prior permission from the publisher.

Although all care is taken to ensure integrity and the quality of this publication and the information
herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers nor the author for any damage to the property or
persons as a result of operation or use of this publication and/or the information contained herein.

Published by: CRC Press/Balkema

P.O. Box 11320, 2301 EH Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: [email protected]
www.crcpress.com – www.taylorandfrancis.com

ISBN: 978-1-138-00062-9 (Hbk + CD-ROM)

ISBN: 978-1-315-85658-2 (eBook)

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 Advances in River Sediment Research – Fukuoka et al. (eds)
© 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-00062-9

Table of contents

Preface xxi
Organizing committees xxv
Sponsors and co-sponsors xxvii

Keynote lectures
A reverse flow system for the sediment flushing from large reservoirs 3
T. Takahashi
Mechanism and prediction of bank failure 21
Y.T. Li, F. Wang, J.W. Tang & L.L. Zhu

Technical papers
Sediment yield
Sediment source: A key parameter of catchment sediment yield 37
D.E. Walling
Area method in landslide depth estimation for slate and shale hillslopes 37
C.C. Wu & P.H. Wang
Sedimentation study of Putah South Canal, California, USA 38
A. Shvidchenko, R. MacArthur, T. Hanes & A. Rabidoux
Using 210Pbex measurements and the SEdiment Delivery Distributed (SEDD) model
to estimate erosion rates in a small agricultural catchment in southern Italy 38
P. Porto, D.E. Walling, A. Capra & C. La Spada
Numerical modeling of soil erosion on DEM-based systems 39
Y.H. Hsu, K.T. Lee, R. Kaur & S.Y. Cao
Experimental analysis for fine-grained and large-grained soils involved in debris flow
at the solid-fluid transition 39
A.M. Pellegrino & L. Schippa
Simulation of suspended sediment load using data-driven models: A comparative study 40
S. Heng & T. Suetsugi
Study on multi-stages landslide due to rainfall 40
R.K. Regmi, K. Jung, H. Nakagawa & T. Ide
A study on mechanism of large-scale landslides and the prediction 41
C.Y. Chen, S. Ikkanda, M. Fujita & D. Tsutsumi
Numerical simulation of debris flows induced by deep-seated catastrophic landslides 41
Y. Nishiguchi, T. Uchida, T. Ishizuka, Y. Satofuka & K. Nakatani
Case study on 2006 flash flood disaster in Putih River of Jember, East Java, Indonesia 42
A.P. Rahardjo, D. Legono, Istiarto, Y.T. Kurniawan & S. Hardjosuwarno

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 The changes of annual mean suspended load at up reach of Changjiang River after
the Wenchuan earthquake 42
Y.J. Zhou, S.M. Yao, H.T. Xu & J. Wang
Depositional process of wood-sediment-water mixture flows at an open type of check dam 43
K. Hashimura, H. Hashimoto, S. Ikematsu, M.I. Rusyda & T. Miyoshi

Sediment transport
Development mechanism of sand bars in anabranching rivers 47
Z.W. Li, Z.Y. Wang & G.A. Yu
Linear stability analysis of meander formation originating from alternate bars 47
R. Shimada, Y. Shimizu, K. Hasegawa & H. Iga
Study on method to determinate the gravel shoal regulation water level in the straight
transition section of the upper reaches of the Changjiang River 48
Y. Liu, Z.Z. Xie, X.Q. Hu, S.F. Yang & H.H. Liu
Study on morphological process in gravel-bed river driven by vegetation 48
Y. Shimizu & S. Iwami
An explicit finite-volume depth-averaged 2-D model of morphodynamic processes
near marsh edges and vegetation patches 49
W. Wu
Bed morphological changes near a finite submerged patch of vegetation in open channel flows 49
H.S. Kim, I. Kimura & Y. Shimizu
Simple 1-D model for dune development in a closed conduit under the previous
experimental conditions 50
T. Hosoda, M. Langhi & T. Kimura
Effect of oblique dunes on flow field and sediment transport 50
D. Weij, M. Nabi, J. Sieben & S. Giri
Quasi 3D numerical simulation for flow and bed variation with various sand waves 51
T. Uchida & S. Fukuoka
Bedload transport direction induced by bed form orientation: Large scale modelling 51
S. Giri, Q. Ye, A. Talmon, D. Weij & A. Sieben
Growing and decaying processes and resistance of sand waves in the vicinity of the
Tone River mouth 52
S. Okamura & S. Fukuoka
Numerical study of dissipation and regeneration of fluvial sand dunes
under variable discharges 52
M. Nabi, I. Kimura, Y. Shimizu & S. Giri
Analysis on trends of runoff and sediment load of the Yellow River 53
H.L. Shi, C.H. Hu, Y.G. Wang & Q.Q. Tian
Suppression of alternate bar migration in a straight river due to vegetation enlargement 53
H. Ikeda & K. Iimura
Problems for the long-term use of the Three Gorges Project 54
J.Y. Lu & Y. Huang
Study on the sedimentation and operating level in the Three Gorges Reservoir 54
J.X. Mao & J.M. Xie
Human impact on morphology and sediment budget in the Tedori River, Japan 55
M.H. Dang, S. Umeda & M. Yuhi
Influence of Jamuna Bridge on river morphology 55
A. Yorozuya, Md.S. Islam, M. Kamoto & S. Egashira

vi

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 Hydro-morpho-bio-dynamic interactions in river modelling 56
G.D. Silvio & M. Nones
Numerical simulation of the natural processes of river meandering over realistic time scales 56
K. Asahi, Y. Yoshida, Y. Shimizu, J. Nelson & G. Parker
Three-dimensional gravel motions in numerical movable bed channel with particles of
various shapes and sizes 57
T. Fukuda, S. Fukuoka & T. Uchida
Pre- and post-construction geomorphological studies of the partially closed Ackerman’s
Cut near RM 614, the Mississippi River 57
T. Nakato & K. Toda
Variational data assimilation for parameters estimation of suspended sediment transport 58
R.X. Lai, F.X. Zhang, M. Wang & X.Y. Xu
Assessment of pollutant routing method for quantification of trapped sediment in a reservoir 58
A.Z. Abdul Razad, H. Sakeh & T.A. Mohamed
Simulation and prediction of morphological changes of the All American Canal 59
C.T. Yang & J. Ahn
Analysis and research on riverbed evolution and morphological relationships of Guan He River 59
X.Y. Gao, M.C. Zhu & Z.R. Gao
Case study: Movable-bed model scaling for bed load sediment supply in the Old
Rhine (France) 60
K. El kadi Abderrezzak, F. Lebert, M. Chavatte, D. Aelbrecht & A. Clutier
On the flow resistance and bed variations during Hii River flood 60
Y. Okada, S. Fukuoka & K. Tachi
Correlation between flow-sediment regime and mainstream planform of Jingjiang reach 61
Y. Liu, S.Yao, C. Huang & L. Zheng
Equilibrium state of river bed with three grain size groups of sediment 61
M. Sekine, Y. Hiramatsu & Y. Kadoi
Response of reach-scale bankfull channel geometry to discharge and sediment load in the LYR 62
X.J. Li, J.Q. Xia, Y.P. Wang & T. Li
The changing relationship of the Jingjiang River and Dongting Lake after operation of the
Three Gorges Project 62
X.H. Guo, Y.H. Zhu, G. Qu & Y. Liu
Erosion-deposit variation of the river channel in Wuhan reach after the operation of
Three Gorges Project 63
Z.F. Cui & X. Zhang
On the modelling of sediment saltation mechanism under unidirectional turbulent flows 63
M. Nabi, Y. Shimizu, I. Kimura & S. Giri
Large eddy simulation for vertical sorting of graded sediment in sheet-flow regime 64
E. Harada, H. Gotoh & N. Tsuruta
River sedimentation research by integrated modeling 64
S. Wang, Y. Jia, M. Altinakar & T. Zhu
Numerical simulation of river channel processes with bank erosion in steep slope curved
channel using unstructured grid system 65
T. Arimitsu, T. Deguchi & I. Fujita
Hydrodynamic forces on saltating particles in turbulent channel flow 65
C. Ji, A. Munjiza, E. Avital & J.J.R. Williams
Bar instability accompanied by bank erosion 66
M.J. Uddin, N. Izumi & K. Hasegawa

vii

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 Experimental and numerical study of long term sedimentation in a secondary channel:
Example of the Beurre island on the Rhône River, France 66
B. Camenen, E. Andries, J.-B. Faure, M. de Linares, F. Gandilhon & G. Raccasi
Loess step-pools in an ephemeral Gully in Loess Plateau, Northwest China—morphologic
features and possible development mechanism 67
G.A. Yu, Z.Y. Wang, J.S. Yang & H.Q. Huang
Effect of cross slope behind stream-wise groins on the ship wave and sediment transportation 67
J. Yagisawa & N. Tanaka
Soil erosion process and hydraulic characteristics in sloped grass plots 68
P.Q. Xiao, H.B. Liu & C.G. Wang
Investigation of sediment effects on the velocity contours in the curved open channel with
rigid and mobile bed 68
H. Bonakdari, S. Baghalian, A. Cheraqi & M. Fazli
Bankfull discharge prediction in the lower Wei River 69
L.Y. Li, J.S. Wang, X.Y. Hu, H.Q. Cao, M.H. Chu & B.S. Wu
How the river improvement works have been conducted in the Lower Tone River and how
effective they are 69
N. Iwaya & S. Fukuoka
The fluvial evolution characteristics and its influence on deep water channel regulations in
Tongzhou Shoal river reach of Yangtze estuary 70
H. Xu, D.W. Wu,Y.F. Xia, D.J. Du, Y.C. Wen & S.Z. Zhang
Study on representative tide type in lower Yangtze River 70
Y.C. Wen, Y.F. Xia, S.Z. Zhang, X.J. Wang & H. Xu
Study on recent evolution and channel regulation schemes of Hechangzhou braided channel 71
F.L. Yang, H.H. Liu, Z.M. Fu, F. Chen, T. Han, K.C. Gao & Z.T. Xie
Cumulative sediment reduction to the Lower Mekong River from planned dams 71
G.M. Kondolf, Z.K. Rubin, C. Alford & J.T. Minear
A study on wave equation and solutions of shallow water on inclined channel 72
M. Arai & H. Nakagawa
Creation of meandering configuration in straight rivers by using groynes on either bank 72
A. Tominaga & H. Suetsugu
Sediment transfer in the extreme volcanic environment (case study of the Kamchatka peninsula) 73
S. Chalov, E. Belozerova, D. Shkolny, A. Romanchenko, A. Piotrovsky & G. Mouri
A numerical model for sediment transport and bed change in rivers with ice 73
I.M. Knack & H.T. Shen
The hump phenomenon and its formation mechanism in the Lower Yellow River 74
A.-J. Deng, Q.-C. Guo & J.-G. Chen
Study of flood flow and gravel riverbed variation analysis in the Satsunai river 74
K. Osada, S. Fukuoka & H. Ohgushi
Experimental study on sediment transport characteristics of dry dams 75
Y. Watanabe, Y. Yoshikawa, H. Hayakawa & Y. Kimura
Linear stability analysis of channel bifurcation by seepage erosion 75
A. Pornprommin, P. Kaewnon, R. Thaisiam, W. Thaisiam & N. Izumi
Interaction between waves of alluviation and incision in mixed bedrock-alluvial rivers 76
G. Parker, R. Fernández, E. Viparelli, C.P. Stark, L. Zhang, X. Fu, T. Inoue,
N. Izumi & Y. Shimizu
Estimation of critical discharge at the failure of loose rock chutes 76
Z. Ahmad & D.G. Khan

viii

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 Cyclic steps by bedrock incision 77
M. Yokokawa, A. Kotera, A. Kyogoku & N. Izumi
Research on channel improvement scheme of the Shipai reach by three-dimensional flow
mathematical model 77
X.X. Feng, P.Z. Hao & D.Y. Chen
Suspended sediment movements as 2D Poissonian models 78
G. Wilson Jr. & C.S.G. Monteiro
Morphological variations of different sections in Jingjiang river after TGR operation 78
G. Qu, X.H. Guo, Y.H. Zhu & F. Tang
Analysis on runoff and sediment changing of the Jialingjiang River basin 79
F.F. Li, G.J. Cao & G. Xiao
Characteristics of riverbed deformation along the estuary reach of Huaihe River 79
B.Y. Yu, J. Ni, P. Ben & J.Y. Sui
Experiment on channel formation process using wide width flume 80
E. Shima & Y. Watanabe
Experimental research on the sand waves variation of compound plastic sand of
physical model 80
X.Y. Hu, J.S. Wang, L.Y. Li & G.Y. Wei
Computational study of roll waves in shallow flow over erodible bed 81
K.Y. Li & J.Q. Zhao
Impacts of operation on navigation conditions in Middle and Lower Yangtze River (MLYR)
of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) 81
X.Y. You & J.W. Tang
Sediment resuspension distinction after dredging project due to wave 82
X. Shen & D.L. Hong
Changes of navigational channel and its regulative strategies on the middle Yangtze River after
the Three Gorges Project impoundment 82
Y. Huang, G.X. Li, K.C. Gao & Z.H. Li
Riverbed evolution trend of Laijiapu riverbend downstream from Three Gorges Project 83
H.H. Liu, L. Jiang, H.F. Chai & G.P. Zhang
Fluvial evolution causes and regulation of Dongliu braided reach 83
L. Zheng, H.H. Liu, M. Zhang, C.C. Zhou & Y.F. Chen
Analysis on bed evolution and channel regulation of Madangnan reach of the Yangtze River 84
B. Li, G.P. Lei, F.Y. Zhao & L. Tu
The diffusion coefficient of suspended sediments based on two-fluid model of two-phase flows 84
L. Zhang, D.Y. Zhong & B.S. Wu
Dynamic changes in water depth, velocity and resistance of flow during flood at steep
mountain stream 85
Y. Asano & T. Uchida
A field survey on the bathymetry and bed sediment in a multi-spur-dyke field 85
X.H. Zhang, W.L. Xu, P.Z. Lin, H. Zhang & H. Nakagawa
Suspended sediment transport in the Kiso River basin 86
Y. Sato, M. Honma, Y. Suzuki & Y. Michihiro
Low-flow channel variation due to sediment augmentation 86
H. Miwa
Study and application on diffusion character numerical model for the abandon
sediment emission during the construction of water-related project 87
J. Yuan, Q.X. Xu & W. Zhang

ix

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 Analysis on bottom tearing scour in Xiaobeiganliu in the Yellow River in July 1977 87
Q. Zhang, E.H. Jiang, Y. Zhang & Y.L. Liu
A case study—evolution mechanism on bending braided river of Wuhan Tianxingzhou reach
under the variable condition of incoming flow and sediment 88
B. Wang, S. Yao & H.Y. Yue
Influence of water level change of Yangtze River on storage process of Dongting Lake 88
D. Wang, Y.T. Li, J.Y. Deng & J.J. Fang
Numerical experiments on characteristics of braided streams observed in Satsunai River 89
S. Yamaguchi, T. Inoue, Y. Shimizu & E. Suzuki
Forced bars in a meandering channel with variable width 89
T. Inoue, T. Iwasaki & Y. Shimizu
Modeling of fluvial processes and waterway regulation for braided channel in the
middle Yangtze River, the Jianli reach 90
H. Ge, L.L. Zhu & X.B. Zhang
Fluvial process of braided channel in the middle Yangtze River after the impoundment
of Three Gorges Reservoir 90
L.L. Zhu, J. Wang & H. Ge
Application of 1D finite volume model of unsteady flow in Wubu-Tongguan Reach,
Middle Yellow River 91
L. He
Fluvial processes and regulation of the transitional reach in bifurcated rivers 91
Z.B. Huang, B. Li, C.S. Mao & L. Zheng

Local scour & erosion

Flow structure at downstream side of two sequential bridge piers 95
C.K. Shrestha, H. Khabbaz & A. Keshavarzi
Physical model study on scour hole near hydraulic structures 95
X. Jia, M. Liu, H.L. Wu, W.H. Li & X.M. Fan
Characteristics of bed deformation around submerged groins with various angle 96
M. Harada, H. Takaoka, T. Oishi, Y. Kayaba & Y. Fujita
Oscillating-tray experiments on local scour around piles 96
N. Scott & D. Liang
Mitigation of local scour hazard at the foot of single spur dike by using optimum footing 97
S.H. Sadat & A. Tominaga
Local scour and sediment sorting around an impermeable spur-dike with
different orientations 97
H. Mizutani, H. Nakagawa, K. Kawaike, H. Zhang & Q. Lejeune
Investigation of the formation of scour hole around groynes with different head shapes 98
A.R. Mansoori, H. Nakagawa, K. Kawaike & H. Zhang
Scour and deposition around spur dykes with head works 98
H. Hayashida, Y. Muto, S. Tazoe & T. Tamura
Application of steady flows for simulating the local scour depth under time varying flows 99
T. Esmaeili, T. Sumi, W.Y. Chang & A. Vakili
Temporal evolution of a scour hole upstream of a slit in a vertical wall 99
K. Ota & T. Sato
Study of circumfluence sediment deposition in downstream approach channel of Three Gorges Project 100
G.B. Li, H. Xu & Y.J. Gao

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 Translation of meander bends at a bridge site: A case study of the Old Brahmaputra River 100
Md. Munsur Rahman, A.K.M.S. Islam, S.K. Bala & Md. Mostadar Rahman
Soil composition and stability of riverbanks in the middle Yangtze River 101
Q.L. Zong, J.Q. Xia, Q.X. Xu & Y.M. Peng
Soil erosion risk potential with regards to rainfall erosivity 101
Z.A. Roslan & Y. Naimah
Comparative study of different calculation methods on measured amount of riverbed erosion
and deposition 102
G.L. Duan, Y.B. Peng & Z.M. Wu
Soil properties and erosion mechanisms of composite riverbanks in the Lower Jingjiang Reach 102
J.Q. Xia, Q.L. Zong, Q.X. Xu & Y.M. Peng
Study on density flow sediment deposition located inside the lower approach channel of
Three Gorges Project 103
H. Xu, Q.Q. Shang & Y.J. Gao
Secondary flow structure and its effect on bed variation at a small-angled confluence 103
I. Fujita & K. Kadotani
Characteristics of fluvial channel processes due to bank collapse in the upper Yellow River 104
A.P. Shu, J. Gao, F.H. Li & J.T. Sun
Characterization of seepage erosion from alluvial river banks 104
T. Karmaker & S. Dutta
Hydrodynamic relation between sedimentation and large-scale horizontal gyres in
side-cavity zone 105
M. Sanjou, I. Nezu, K. Toda & T. Okamoto
Levee breach observation at Chiyoda experimental flume 105
T. Kakinuma, D. Tobita, H. Yokoyama & A. Takeda
The side overflow through river levee crevasses 106
A. Tokugawa & N. Izumi
Modeling of sand/mud mixtures hindered settling 106
L.A. Van, M.U. Zapata & D.P.V. Bang
Scour depth during flow event 107
U.C.E. Zanke
Study of various arrangements of pile groups scouring due to waves 107
S. Ghazanfari Hashemi & T. Hiraishi
Evaluation of canal stability and sediment transport behavior: A case study of
New Fuleli Irrigation Canal in Sindh, Pakistan 108
B.K. Lashari
A new method for measuring and calculating flows and bed forms around river banks 108
M. Koshiishi, T. Uchida & S. Fukuoka
An investigation of coherent vortical structures of flow at a circular piled pier 109
W.Y. Chang, W.F. Tsai, H.C. Lien, G. Constantinescu, J.S. Lai & C.H. Loh
Study of stagnation point of water and sediment in north passage of Yangtze estuary 109
Y.P. Yang, Y.T. Li, Y.Y. Fan & D. Wang
Reduction of local scour around side-by-side piers using bed sill 110
N. Movahedi, A.A. Dehghani, A.R. Zahiri, M.J. Aarabi & T. Esmaeili
Turbulence dynamics and mass transfer in side-cavity zones aligned in streamwise direction 110
M. Sanjou, K. Sakitani, T. Okamoto, I. Nezu & K. Toda

xi

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 Numerical study on 3-D currents structure and coherent events in side-cavity zone for
prediction of scour and sedimentation process 111
M. Sanjou, I. Nezu, T. Okamoto & K. Toda
PIV measurements of coherent turbulent flow structure and bursting process
around a scour hole 111
A. Keshavarzi & J. Ball
Study of coherent turbulent flow over the ripples using Particle Image Velocimetry 112
A. Keshavarzi & J. Ball
Numerical simulation of landslide dam deformation caused by erosion 112
N. Harada, F. Akazawa, S. Hayami & Y. Satofuka
Numerical modeling of erosion of unsaturated river embankment due to overtopping flow 113
H. Nakagawa, H. Mizutani, K. Kawaike, H. Zhang, Y. Yoden & B.B. Shrestha

Reservoir sedimentation
A study on the density current at Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba hydropower stations in the
downstream of Jinsha River 117
Y. Yin, Y.C. Liu & R.D. An
Reservoir sedimentation and sediment management techniques in the Nile River
basin countries 117
S.A. Kantoush & T. Sumi
Sustainable management of sediment fluxes in reservoir by environmental friendly flushing:
The case study of the Genissiat Dam on the upper Rhone River (France) 118
C. Peteil, F. Fruchart, F. Abadie, S. Reynaud, B. Camenen & L. Guertault
Influence of reservoir sedimentation on power generation 118
H. Okumura & T. Sumi
Cost-benefit analysis of sediment management in Sutami Dam, East Java, Indonesia 119
D.A. Sugeng, S.E. Sartono & Setiyantono
Sedimentation and its mitigation strategies: A case study of the Ethiopian highlands 119
N. Haregeweyn, A. Tsunekawa, M. Tsubo, D. Meshesha & E. Adgo
Study on sedimentation in medium and small reservoirs and solutions to mitigate sedimentation
in Northern mountain of Vietnam 120
M.C. Vu
Importance of selection of processes for modeling long term reservoir sedimentation 120
G. Petkovsek & M. Roca
Numerical simulation of sediment supply from dam reservoirs to downstream by
the placed sediment 121
T. Sakurai & N. Hakoishi
Sediment management on the Arase Dam Removal Project 121
S. Fukuoka, T. Sumi & S. Horiuchi
Real-time sediment inflow prediction for sediment bypass operation at Miwa Dam in Japan 122
D. Nohara, T. Sumi & S.A. Kantoush
Sediment flushing operations of Pulangi Hydropower Plant IV Reservoir, Philippines 122
G.Q. Tabios III
Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modelling in 3D of turbulent suspended sediment
transport processes in reservoirs 123
O. Sawadogo & G.R. Basson
Simulating turbidity current in reservoirs with a layer-averaged 2D model 123
Y.G. Lai, V.J. Huang & K. Wu

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 Sediment relocation trial by Ejector Pump Dredger System (EPDS) in a dam reservoir 124
T. Temmyo, Y. Nakamura, Y. Yamagami, M. Kaku, T. Sumi & M.E.M. Shahmirzadi
Numerical study of flushing half-cone formation due to pressurized sediment flushing 124
W.J. Pringle, M.E.M. Shahmirzadi, N. Yoneyama, T. Sumi & S. Emamgholizadeh
Experimental study of driftwood sinking into turbid water 125
S.C. Tsung, J.H. Chen, J.S. Lai & S.Y. Wang
Sediment model verification of dam area of Three Gorges Project 125
H.T. Xu, B.L. Fan, J. Wang & J.C. Huang
The restriction of sedimentation on the advance impoundment of Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba
reservoirs in the flood recession period 126
J.Q. Zhao, X. Zhang, Y.T. Li, J.Y. Deng & D. Wang
The research on optimal operation of reservoir on account of reduction of upstream
sediment load 126
L. Chen, Z.Y. Li & P. Yan
Sediment flushing efficiency of empty storage—A case study for shaft spillway 127
C.N. Chen, Y.M. Wang & C.H. Tsai
Study of shape modeling of high alluvial flats and deep trench in Xiaolangdi Reservoir in
Yellow River 127
W.X. Li, C.H. An, J. Fu & H.B. Ma
Sediment delivery ratio on flood event scale in Three Gorges reservoir 128
R.Y. Huang & B.L. Fan

Sediment in estuarine & coastal area

Study on the characteristics of tidal flow and sediment transport of Hangzhou Bay and
numerical simulation analysis 131
Y.B. Shi, Z.C. Han & L. Gao
Current- and wave-induced non-equilibrium sediment transport model based on MACS algorithm 131
M.R. Soliman & S. Ushijima
The experimental analysis of evolution on Lingdingyang Beach after building the
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge 132
M.W. Wu, L. Yan, S.Y. Gao & G.Z. Liu
Topographic changes of tidal flats in the Ota River estuary by flood flows 132
T. Gotoh, S. Fukuoka & Y. Miyagawa
Identification of sediment sources and deposition characteristics in the Fitzroy River Estuary,
Queensland, Australia 133
G.B. Douglas, P. Ford, M. Palmer, L. Radke & J. Smith
Numerical and experimental investigation of velocity field of breaking waves 134
M.A.C. Niroshinie, T. Suzuki & J. Sasaki
Tidal river management: An innovative approach for terminating drainage congestion and
raising land through sedimentation in the Bhabodaho area, Bangladesh 134
A.M. Rezaie & U.K. Navera
Quasi-three dimensional analysis on the flushing mechanism of sandbar
at a river mouth 135
M. Tateyama, T. Uchida & S. Fukuoka
Sediment siltation analysis for a navigation channel project in Jiangsu Coast, China 135
C. Zhang, J.H. Zheng, Y. Zhang & K.F. Chen
Sandy beach development in association with fluvial sediment supply 136
R. Azuma, T. Hiraishi & H. Sekiguchi

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 Study on river mouth erosion process due to tsunami waves 136
M. Roh, M.B. Adityawan & H. Tanaka
A saving, economic and safe measurement on the dynamic state of urban river mouth 137
K. Uno & J. Arai
Estuary sedimentation control using a tidal reservoir 137
Y. Ogawa & K. Sawai
Assessment of the morphological changes at the Samegawa River mouth, Japan 138
M.B. Adityawan, H. Tanaka & H. Nagabayashi
Experimental study on sediment deposition and scouring in water intake pipelines of
power plant at macro-tidal estuary 138
X.D. Zhao, X.X. Li & J.Z. Wang
Water flow and sediment exchange model and its application in channel regulations about
shoals and flats in tidal and bifurcated river estuary 139
Y.F. Xia, H. Xu, D.W. Wu, G.P. Liu, Y.C. Wen, M.X. Cao & J. Su
Modeling of resuspension mechanism of deposited organic mud in the tidal estuary 140
S. Nakashita, N.R. Touch & T. Hibino
The monitoring of the evolutional processes of the sand bar in Modaomen Estuary with
remote sensing technique 140
S.C. Yu, X.Y. Ding, F.H. Yu & L.Z. Yang
Total sediment flux entering the sea from major Chinese rivers and rough estimation for
global land-ocean sediment flux 141
C. Liu, C.H. Hu & Y. He
Relation between sediment conditions of river basin and evolution of front sand islands
in Yangtze Estuary 141
M. Li, Y.P. Yang, Y.T. Li & Y.Y. Fan
Cross-shore bottom profile change during a decade in Joetsu-Ogata coast 142
Y. Baba & K. Uchiyama
Study on siltation and flood control for channel regulation project of Guan he Estuary 142
Y.F. Xia, S.Z. Zhang, D.W. Wu & H. Xu

Environmental & ecological aspects of sediment

Integrated sediment management along a river—lesson in the Yahagi River, Central Japan 145
T. Tsujimoto, K. Moriyasu & T. Sugita
Study on changes in fluvial geomorphology and riparian vegetation along a sand-bed river
after dam closure: Pre-dam stage 145
C-J. Lee, S-J. Jung, S-Y. Hwang & W. Kim
Vegetation encroachment on lower reach of a regulated river in an altered
sediment regime 146
T. Asaeda & M.H. Rashid
Channel response prediction for abandoned channel restoration and applicability analysis 146
H.K. Yeo, J.G. Kang, C.S. Kim & H.S. Woo
Deposition mechanisms for particulate organic matter and suspended sediment
in riparian vegetation 147
M. Obana, T. Uchida, T. Tsujimoto & T. Chibana
Missing link of coarse sediment augmentation to ecological functions in regulated rivers
below dams: Comparative approach in Nunome River, Japan and Trinity River,
California, US 147
G. Ock, G.M. Kondolf, Y. Takemon & T. Sumi

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 Numerical simulation of long-term trend of bar morphology and vegetation distribution with
consideration of interspecific competition and expansion of riparian vegetation 148
Y. Toda, N. Sakai & T. Tsujimoto
Analysis of the basin turbidity reduction effects on the reservoir and downstream river 148
K.Y. Han, H.G. Choi & D.I. Kim
Effect of basin geology on riverbed configurations formed upstream and downstream of a dam 149
T. Chibana, D. Harada, M. Obana & R. Sugawa
Need for analyzing spatiotemporal patterns of river-corridor habitat structure in
sediment management 149
M. Hyodo, Y. Takemon & T. Sumi
Habitat effect on scour hole around low drop structure types 150
H.K. Yeo, J.G. Kang, C.S. Kim & H.S. Woo
Characteristics of stabilized gravel bars and their determining factors focusing on riffle-pool
structures 150
D. Harada, T. Chibana & K. Yamashita
Transport characteristics of nourished sand in Song-do, Busan, South Korea 151
J.S. Yoon, M.K. Kim & D.C. Kim
Assessment of reservoir sedimentation using quasi two-dimensional model 151
S.U. Choi & H.W. Lee
Laboratory testing of nutrient adsorption on sediment and integrated modelling of nutrient
distributions in the Loughor Estuary, UK 152
X. Wang, B.N. Bockelmann-Evans, F. Abdulgawad, D. Liang & R.A. Falconer
Aquatic invertebrate monitoring in least developed areas in Myanmar—effect of shifting
cultivation on water quality 152
T. Fujino, H. Wityi & A. Nanda
Estimation of the detachment rate of algae due to sediment blasting using a spectral image analysis 153
S. Ishio, R. Tsubaki, Y. Kawahara & Y. Nakadoi
Study on sedimentation and turbulent flow structure in compound water channels with
vegetated floodplain 153
K. De Silva & N. Tanaka
Validation of a 1D computational model to predict biological flocculation sediment transport
in open channels 154
H.M. Zhao, H.W. Fang, Y.F. Zhang & W. Cheng
The environmental impacts of Aswan High Dam 154
K. Attia, A. Elsherbini & M. Ali
Effects of groin installation on gravel bed restoration in the Tedori River 155
S. Maeno, K. Yoshida, K. Kaseguma & A. Yamamura
Effect of flood impact on wash-out of vegetation and bed deformation in the Asahi River 155
K. Yoshida, S. Maeno, S. Matsuyama & N. Mishima
The assessment of effects of flush discharge and sediment replenishment focused on
growth types of periphytic algae and filamentous green algae 156
K. Tomita, T. Homma, S. Fukushima, I. Satou & K. Araragi
Development of the Kuzuha Embayment, the Yodo River 156
S. Aya, F. Nakanishi, T. Satoh & M. Enoki
Investigation of vegetation flow for prediction of sedimentation process 157
T. Okamoto, M. Sanjou & K. Toda
The Impact of sediment to the Xiangxi River algal bloom process of China 157
J. Li & Z.W. Jin

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 Roles of disturbance in structuring geomorphology for riverine animal communities 158
M.K. Choi, Y. Takemon & T. Sumi
Sediment discharge measurements in a dam reservoir by means of detailed bed
profile measurements 158
Y. Muto, H. Hayashida & T. Tamura
Estimation of increased stage in river restoration by vegetation freeboard equivalence 159
J.S. Lee & D.C. Lee
Long-term changes of riffles as habitat for benthic invertebrates in Kizu River, Japan 159
S. Kobayashi & Y. Takemon
Experimental studies on channel evolution due to dam removal in Taiwan 160
Y.C. Cheng, H.W. Wang, W.C. Kuo & C.Y. Lin
Flow structure and bed deformation around a group of spur dykes in a curved channel 160
H. Zhang, H. Nakagawa, K. Kawaike, Y. Saito & Y. Baba

Modeling & measurement techniques

Hydrophone observations of bedload transport in mountainous rivers of Japan 163
T. Uchida, A. Okamoto, S. Hayashi, T. Suzuki, A. Fukumoto, S. Yamashita & S. Tagata
Monitoring of suspended sediment—laboratory tests and case study in the Swiss Alps 163
D. Felix, I. Albayrak & R.M. Boes
Discussion on bedform data recording, post processing and analytical suitability 164
H. Friedrich & B.W. Melville
Bamboo forest estimation concerning land stability by ground temperature and water temperature 164
N. Ando
Study on changes of incoming runoff and sediment load of the Three Gorges Project and
influence of human activities 165
Y.G. Wang, C.H. Hu, X. Liu & H.L. Shi
User guide to gravelometric image analysis by BASEGRAIN 165
M. Detert & V. Weitbrecht
1-D numerical model of sediment transport for pumped storage power station 166
H.Y. Wei, Q.M. Xu & M.H. Yu
Three-dimensional numerical modeling of bed level in an open channel with 90° bends 166
H. Bonakdari, S. Baghalian, A. Cheraqi & M. Fazli
Numerical analysis of flood flows and bed variations at river confluences of the Go River 167
Y. Takemura & S. Fukuoka
Study on flow and sediment routing model system in flood diversion and storage area based on
Google Earth software 167
X. Zhang & B. Mao
Finite element simulation of sediment transport: Development, validation and application of
model to Potho minor of Jamrao West Branch, Sindh, Pakistan 168
A.L. Qureshi & A. Baloch
Dam break on a movable bed by elastoplastic particle method 168
H. Ikari & H. Gotoh
Evaluation of critical shear stresses of cohesive sediments by using PIV compared with
vane strength measurements 169
G. Harb, S. Haun & J. Schneider
The relationship between downstream channel siltation and diversion canal length 169
X.P. Dou & X.D. Zhao

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 Two dimension velocity distribution in straight open channel under the effect of
flow obstruction 170
Y. Raslan & K. Attia
Supercritical flow in sediment bypass tunnels 170
I. Albayrak, C. Auel & R.M. Boes
Survey on relationship between the river topography and water level fluctuation at
Kotogawa River 171
K. Nomura & K. Wananabe
Review of techniques for automatic measurement of suspended sediment concentration 171
M.B. Bishwakarma
Development and application of a 2D flow and sediment transport numerical model on
tidal reaches 172
B.J. Dong, J. Chen & J. Yuan
A large time step scheme for 2-D free surface shallow water equations on unstructured grids 172
R.Y. Xu, D.Y. Zhong & B.S. Wu
Solve one dimensional river networks flow by using directed graph 173
J.Z. Guan, C.M. Fang, J. Lu, X.L. Wang & Y. Fan
Physical model experimental investigation on riverbed evolution trend prediction with
different model sand 173
H.F. Chai, C.C. Zhou, W. Xia & Y.F. Chen
Application of two-dimensional mathematical model in the Yangtze River
waterway management 174
C. Huang, L. Zheng, M. Li & B. He
Numerical modeling of sediment erosion and deposition in the lower approach channel
on Pak Beng hydropower station 174
Y. Yuan & X.F. Zhang
Sediment transport from the Kiso River to Ise Bay using coupled river and ocean models 175
Y. Suzuki, Y. Sato, M. Honma, Y. Michihiro & S.M. Varlamov
Application of sediment mathematical model for plan and design of Dongzhuang Reservoir
in Jinghe River 175
J. Fu, C.X. Chen, Q.G. Li & S.T. Wei

Sediment related disasters

Study on the function of a closed-type Sabo dam with a flap for debris flow 179
Y. Kim, H. Nakagawa, K. Kawaike & H. Zhang
Characteristics of recent urban flood damage and its mitigation—examples in
Kyoto and Uji City area 179
T. Hiraishi, R. Azuma & S. Nakano
Study on flow and sediment balance of flood in Saba River occurred on July, 2009 180
K. Asai, A. Takasaki, H. Yorozu, K. Muraoka & T. Imazu
Characteristics of sediment disaster phenomena in Mimikawa River Basin 180
H. Yoshitake, T. Yoshimura, M. Kaku, H. Ikemi & Y. Mitani
A basic study on the snowmelt process by the pyroclastic flow and the discharge
estimation of the snowmelt-type mud flow 181
T. Abe, A. Itoh & A. Miura
Characteristics of woody debris deposition during the Yabe River Flood in Yame City, Japan:
Northern Kyushu Flood Disaster in July, 2012 181
M.I. Rusyda, H. Hashimoto, S. Ikematsu & K. Sakada

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 Experimental study on accumulation processes for non-homogeneous debris flow 182
A.P. Shu, X. Zhang & X.S. Liu
Calculation technique for evaluation of bed variation in mountain rivers: Effects of methods
describing erosion and deposition processes 182
S. Niwa, T. Uchida & A. Okamoto
Study on the width of rivers in valley bottom plains 183
T. Sakaguchi & S. Fukuoka
Levee breach and successive disaster depending on landscape management on floodplain 183
Md.S. Islam & T. Tsujimoto
Dangers of levee breach in river with higher relative river bed suggested by small-scale
laboratory experiments and numerical analysis 184
T. Tsujimoto, Md.S. Islam & T. Yoshiike
Jingjiang River and Dongting Lake relation modulating and its influence on flood situation 184
C.M. Fang & X.J. Chen
Influence of river bed evolution on inundation processes at Narayani River in Nepal 185
A. Yorozuya, K.P. Rajbanshi & S. Egashira
A theoretical treatise of drainage and seepage in bottom land areas adjacent to
incised channels: The J.J. van Deemter analysis 185
M.J.M. Römkens
Study the evolution of JianLi reach and the impact on stability of revetment in scouring situation 186
F. Tang, S.M. Yao, H.Y. Yue & G. Qu
Numerical study on the flow and the sedimentation during 2008 flood in the Koshi River in Nepal 186
T. Iwasaki, R. Akahori, S. Giri & Y. Shimizu
The impacts of climate and land use change on soil erosion risk in the Mae Nam Nan
Catchment, Thailand 187
P. Plangoen, M.S. Babel, R.S. Clemente & S. Shrestha
Wavelet analysis of the retrogressive erosion process of tailings dam-break 187
R. Miao, J. Qin, D. Zhong, H. Zhang & X. Li

Integrated sediment management

Water and sustainable development of Macau 191
X.M. Wu, W. He, R.H. Ye & Z.K. He
Utilization of the Yonmenkaigi system method for sand mining management of community
building at the local community level of Merapi Volcano, Indonesia 191
J. Na & N. Okada
Research on comprehensive harness of the river near the city based on harmonious idea 192
D.P. Sun, W.J. Dou, Y. Sun & M.X. Liu
Discussion of Yellow River water and sediment regulation and control system 192
C.H. An, Y. Wang & Z.W. Wan
Sediment budget of the scarce monitored transboundary Selenga river system 193
N. Alexeevsky, S. Chalov, N. Kasimov & E. Belozerova
Water scarcity and its impact on the social and economic national projects in Egypt 193
N.E. Sadek
Expected fluvial sand supply from a river for reforming a river mouth delta—an example of
the Sagami River 194
T. Uda, T. Ishikawa, J. Hosokawa, T. San-Nami, S. Miyahara & M. Serizawa

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 A complex sediment yield and transportation model for mountain area 194
Y.J. Tsai, Y.S. Chen, Y.J. Lin & C.L. Shieh
Technical consultation and exchange on sediment management of Korea Gyeong-in
Ara Waterway 195
Y.H. Dong, H.T. Xu & Y.J. Zhou
Importing and exporting sediment management strategies: Challenges and opportunities 195
R.H. Hotchkiss
Limitations of institutional management and socio-economic barriers of Tidal River
Management, a semi-natural process to save bhabodaho from water-logging problem 196
A.M. Rezaie, T. Islam & T. Rouf
Comprehensive sediment management model in Yahagi River basin based on
Yahagi Dam sediment Bypass project 197
K. Tomita, T. Sumi & T. Sugita
Study on the role of GuXian Reservoir in Yellow River management and development 197
Z.W. Wan, C.H. An & X.F. Liao

Author index 199

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 Advances in River Sediment Research – Fukuoka et al. (eds)
© 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-00062-9

Preface

Sediments, which constitute the surface of the Earth, start their journey to rivers with the energy obtained
from rainfalls, floods and other natural processes. Due to transport of sediments, rivers develop with vari-
ous appearances and functions, and play a crucial role in the activities of human beings and the life cycles
of other species. The intrinsic values of rivers include disaster mitigation, water resources and riverine
environment. Over the past century, a lot of engineering practices have been implemented to control
floods and other disasters related to rivers. Later on, efforts have been made to construct new hydrau-
lic structures and to seek more effective operation methods to satisfy the increasing demand on water
resources. Since this century, river managers have been increasingly turning from hard engineering solu-
tions to environmental restoration activities all over the world. To take the maximum benefits of rivers, the
management of river sediment is one of the most important considerations. On the other hand, sediments
carried by flood water may sometimes trigger catastrophic disasters. River sediment, as a conventional
topic for river management, has been the topic of continuing research since ancient times, and since then
significant progresses in river sediment research has been made. Nowadays, river sediment is much more
connected to the activities of mankind and other species, following the increasing awareness of the co-
existence of humans and nature. There are significant progresses in river sediment research from a wide
spectrum of professionals and disciplines, ranging from fundamental studies in laboratory experiments to
applied research in actual rivers, from specific methods to integrated approaches, from local problems to
global issues and from academic perspectives to policy implications.
Organized triennial from 1980 under the auspices of UNESCO-IRTCES (International Research and
Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation), the ISRS (International Symposium on River Sedi-
mentation) symposia have been successfully held in China, USA, Germany, India, Egypt, Hong Kong
(China), Russia and South Africa. The ISRS symposium series are an official event of WASER (World
Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research) and have become one of the most influential events
for the world’s sediment professionals and have provided an important forum for scientists, engineers,
practitioners and policy-makers to exchange ideas, shear information and make collaborations. As one of
the most active research/education centers in river sediment and the world well-known convention city,
Kyoto has the honor to hold the 12th International Symposium on River Sedimentation (ISRS2013) and
to welcome sediment professionals from all over the world to this ancient Japanese capital.
Japan is covered 70% by mountains and the remaining 30% by plains. High mountain ranges run
through the center of the Japanese island and only 5% of its land is suitable for human settlement. Due
to its unique natural, geological and topographical conditions, Japan is a country with high rainfalls
and steep-slope rivers. A significant amount of sediments are generated and transported during heavy
rainfalls, in terms of erosion in the mountains, incision of the valleys and deposition on the floodplains.
Rainfalls play an important role in the evolution of the Japanese land topography. Residential areas are
widely distributed from mountainous regions to floodplains, in particular, most of the populated urban
areas are laid on low lands. Consequently, there are lots of floods and sediment disasters in Japan. Under
these natural and social conditions, river sediment research has flourished a long time before and is a main
topic in river engineering. Hereafter, an overview of the Japanese research on river sediment is briefed.
Sediment yield and debris flow in mountainous areas triggered by heavy rainfalls are conventional
topics in Japanese sediment research. Recently, integrated approaches incorporating rainfall and runoff,
sediment yield, sediment transport, channel formation and bed evolution are investigated to predict the
movement of sediments, formation and evolution of landscapes. The results are furthermore considered to
be used as upstream sediment boundary conditions for rivers in the low land areas. Moreover, researches
are in progress on integrated sediment management methods to harmonize the disaster mitigation and
environment restoration in river basin scale as well as sediment transport and bed evolution of gravel bed
rivers focusing on the transport mechanism of bed materials dominated by boulders. The transport of
heterogeneous sediments is a great concern in the bed evolution process and research progresses are also

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 remarkable with laboratory experiments, field surveys and numerical simulations. Significant achieve-
ments are also made on the interaction between sediment transport and hydraulic structures such as the
failure process of river embankments and local scour around hydraulic obstacles. The associated mecha-
nisms and underlying processes are gradually understandable with the aid of the studies on fundamental
physics to large scale field experiments, the accumulation of a tremendous amount of valuable data as well
as the advancement in numerical simulation technologies.
The dimension of rivers is longitudinally dominant, which highly provoked the development of 1D
and 2D numerical models. Nevertheless, the plan forms and the longitudinal/transverse cross-sections of
rivers exhibit a diverse nature due to different topographic features of various scales and types. There is
a strong need to resolve the problem in a framework accounting for the equal importance of the longitu-
dinally dominant reach and the area dominated by local 3D flows. Quasi-3D numerical models have been
developed to simulate the flood propagation process and the local flow as well as the bed deformation
around river obstacles. The flood water is basically simulated with 2D shallow water equations, while in
the 3D flow dominant area, the near-bed velocity and non-hydrostatic pressure responsible for bed sedi-
ment transport are obtained without introducing the assumption of the shallow water. The models have
been successfully applied to simulate complex flow fields and bed deformations in laboratory flumes.
Attempts have also been made to simulate local flow phenomena in actual rivers and the results were
much encouraging. Efforts are still ongoing to enhance the model applicability in field situations with a
high accuracy. In the field of numerical simulation, the Euler-Lagrange formulation is emerging as a new
power in predicting sediment transport in river flows. In this formulation, the turbulent flow is described
in the Eulerian frame, while the movement of sediment particles of various properties are described fol-
lowing the basic mechanical laws in the Lagrangian frame. As a result, the detailed flow structure and the
behavior of individual particles are resolvable. As the mechanisms of bed changes and sediment move-
ments are not directly obtainable during the floods in rivers, the simulation results provide visible and
valuable information. It is expected that the advancements in this method adds new perspective to classic
sediment hydraulics and deepens our insight into the mystery of the river sediment.
Monitoring the longitudinal bed changes during flood events is very difficult. Hence, indirect measure-
ment techniques provide an alternative solution. As the temporal variations of water surface profiles are
influenced by the evolution of the channel bed, there is a possibility to estimate the bed changes based on
the information of the water surface profiles. As is known, the temporal variations of the water surface
profiles are readily obtainable with 2D and/or quasi-3D numerical models. If the predicted temporal vari-
ations of the water stages are tuned to be consistent with those of the observed data, the corresponding
bed elevations and bed changes become available. This method is now adopted in the management of
some rivers in Japan.
Sediment management in reservoirs is our challenging issue. In Japan, about 3,000 dams have been
constructed for irrigation, municipal water, hydro power and flood control, but the total reservoir storage
capacity is only 23 billion m3. In order to sustain limited storages and achieve sediment passage as much
as possible, advanced comprehensive management techniques such as sediment flushing, bypassing, sedi-
ment augmentation and hydro-suction sediment removal systems are under developing. These techniques
will greatly contribute to both sustainable water resources management and integrated management in
sediment routing system.
Research on the environmental and ecological implications of sediment is also a major branch in the
Japanese sediment community. Attentions are mostly paid to the sediment problems due to vegetation
and forestation, river restoration with neo-natural rehabilitation methods, changing characteristics of
bed morphology, substrate and ecosystem downstream of river-crossing structures such as dams, river
management methods to enhance environmental diversity and so on. In addition, research results have
been widely implemented in actual rivers. The monitoring and post-assessment research are also widely
published in the Japanese literatures.
It is noted that the research in Japan is conducted not only to solve problems from the viewpoint of aca-
demic advancements, but also to contribute to the management of actual rivers. The results will be inten-
sively presented during ISRS2013, which provides an opportunity for Japan to share its research results
and experiences with other parts of the world, and vice versa. The knowledge to be exchanged in the
symposium will be a property and contribute to the prosperousness of our river sediment community.
The Local Organizing Committee of ISRS2013 received 448 abstracts from 36 countries/regions, of
which 435 were asked to submit their full papers after the first-round of peer review by 50 members of the
Review Board. The full papers submitted to the symposium were then peer reviewed for the second round
by 185 experts from all over the world. Each paper received reviewing from three independent individuals.
Based on the comments of the reviewers, the Review Board finally selected 274 papers to be included in

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 this book. The accepted contributions, together with 2 keynote papers, cover a broad spectrum of river
sediment related issues such as sediment yield, sediment transport and morphology in rivers and lakes,
local scour and erosion, reservoir sedimentation and management, sediment in estuarine and coastal
area, environmental and ecological aspects of sediment, modeling and measurement techniques, sediment
related disasters and integrated sediment management. All papers included in this book are presented by
the corresponding authors during the 4-day symposium either in oral or in poster presentations.
A Workshop on International Sediment Advancements is launched on the second day of the sympo-
sium. The inter-organizational workshop, organized under the auspices of UNESCO-IHP-ISI, is devoted
to disseminate beyond the limits of each membership the most significant progresses attained by several
scientific associations operating in the field of sediment research and management. These associations
include WASER, IAHR (International Association for Hydro-environment Engineering and Research),
IAHS (International Association of Hydrological Sciences), ISI (International Sediment Initiative) and
ICOLD (International Commission on Large Dams). The workshop is proposed by Prof. Giampaolo Di
Silvio whose enthusiasm and effort are sincerely acknowledged.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our colleagues who submitted abstracts and papers
to ISRS2013, the paper reviewers who made in-depth reviewing amidst their busy schedule, the advisory,
scientific and local organizing committee members who significantly promoted this event and turned it
into reality, the secretariat members who were always kept busy in preparation and arrangement of all
kinds of detailed matters, and Léon Bijnsdorp, Lukas Goosen, Richard Gundel and other staff members
of our collaborating publisher, CRC Press / Balkema (Taylor & Francis Group) who made our proceed-
ings more visible and professional.

Editors
Kyoto, September, 2013

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 Advances in River Sediment Research – Fukuoka et al. (eds)
© 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-00062-9

Organizing committees

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Bruce Melville (New Zealand) Robert Boes (Switzerland)

Chih Ted Yang (USA) Rollin H. Hotchkiss (USA)
Desmond E. Walling (UK) Manfred Spreafico (Switzerland)
Gerrit Basson (South Africa) Pierre Julien (USA)
Giampaolo Di Silvio (Italy) Sam S.Y. Wang (USA)
Guangqian Wang (China) Shangfu Kuang (China)
Iehisa Nezu (Japan) Subhasish Dey (India)
Leo van Rijn (Netherlands) Ulrich C.E. Zanke (Germany)
M.J. M. Römkens (USA) Zhaoyin Wang (China)

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Adichai Pornprommin (Thailand) Kun-Yeun Han (Korea)

Anil Mishra (UNESCO) Md. Munsur Rahman (Bangladesh)
Chjeng-Lun Shieh (Taiwan) Mustafa Altinakar (USA)
Chunhong Hu (China) Nikolay Ivanovith Alexeevsky (Russia)
Djoko Legono (Indonesia) Robert Ettema (USA)
Gary Parker (USA) Silke Wieprecht (Germany)
Geraldo Wilson Júnior (Brazil) Su-Chin Chen (Taiwan)
G. Mathias Kondolf (USA) Takahisa Mizuyama (Japan)
Grant Douglas (Australia) Takashi Hosoda (Japan)
Guillermo Q. Tabios III (Philippines) Tetsuro Tsujimoto (Japan)
Hitoshi Tanaka (Japan) Vu Minh Cat (Vietnam)
Jim Bogen (Norway) Wim S.J. Uijttewaal (Netherlands)
Joseph H.W. Lee (Hong Kong, China) Yee Meng Chiew (Singapore)
Karima Attia (Egypt) Yee-Chung Jin (Canada)
Keiichi Toda (Japan) Yitian Li (China)

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Chairperson
Dr. Shoji Fukuoka, Chuo University

Secretary general
Dr. Hajime Nakagawa, Kyoto University

Deputy secretary general

Dr. Masaharu Fujita, Kyoto University
Dr. Tetsuya Sumi, Kyoto University

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 Members
Dr. Ryoukei Azuma, Kyoto University
Dr. Yasuyuki Baba, Kyoto University
Dr. Ichiro Fujita, Kobe University
Dr. Hitoshi Gotoh, Kyoto University
Dr. Tetsuya Hiraishi, Kyoto University
Dr. Toshitaka Kamai, Kyoto University
Dr. Kenji Kawaike, Kyoto University
Dr. Koji Michioku, Kobe University
Dr. Shusuke Miyata, Kyoto University
Dr. Yasunori Muto, University of Tokushima
Dr. Shuzo Nishida, Osaka University
Dr. Masahiro Oda, JFE Advantech Co., Ltd
Dr. Hideki Otsuki, Newjec Co., Ltd
Dr. Yoshifumi Satofuka, Ritsumeikan University
Dr. Masato Sekine, Waseda University
Dr. Yoshihiko Shimizu, Gunma University
Dr. Daizo Tsutsumi, Kyoto University
Dr. Hiroshi Takebayashi, Kyoto University
Dr. Yasuhiro Takemon, Kyoto University
Dr. Yasuharu Watanabe, Kitami Institute of Technology
Dr. Nozomu Yoneyama, Kyoto University
Mr. Hiromi Yuki, Tokyo Kensetsu Consultants Co., Ltd
Dr. Hao Zhang, Kyoto University

Secretariat
Ujigawa Open Laboratory,
Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University

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 Advances in River Sediment Research – Fukuoka et al. (eds)
© 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-00062-9

Sponsors and co-sponsors

SPONSORS

World Association for Sedimentation & Erosion Research

International Research & Training Center on Erosion & Sedimentation

CO-SPONSORS

United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organizations

International Sediment Initiative
International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering & Research
Japan Society of Civil Engineers
Japan Society of Erosion Control Engineering
Japan Society for Natural Disaster Science
Japan Society of Dam Engineers
Ecology & Civil Engineering Society
Japan River
Kyoto Prefectural Government
JFE Advantech Co., Ltd.
CTI Engineering Co., Ltd.
NEWJEC Inc.
Hydro-soft Technology Institute Co., Ltd.
Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.

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 Keynote lectures

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 Advances in River Sediment Research – Fukuoka et al. (eds)
© 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-00062-9

A reverse flow system for the sediment flushing from large reservoirs

T. Takahashi
Emeritus of Kyoto University, Japan

ABSTRACT: Reservoir sedimentation causes not only the progressive reduction of storage capacity
of the reservoir itself but also the sediment interception by the dam causes various adverse effects to the
downstream reach such as the riverbed degradation, local scouring, the dense tree growth on the stabilized
bars, dirty water stagnation, the aggravation of aquatic habitat and the beach erosion.
The hydraulic flushing that completely drains the reservoir and scours out sediment through the dam’s
bottom outlets is an effective method to restore the storage capacity. However, for a large reservoir that
locates at the uppermost area of the watershed, the securing of the water discharge necessary to flush
sediment and the recovery of water storage once after emptying are, in general, difficult. Therefore, the
orthodox hydraulic flushing method has not been applied to such a large reservoir.
Here, a reverse flow flushing system that is applicable for a large reservoir at the uppermost area of
the watershed is proposed, in which a pool for sedimentation is constructed inside the reservoir near its
upstream end by separating it from the main reservoir downstream with a submerged partition weir or
by the excavation of a part of the delta deposit that has already been formed in the upstream reach of
the main reservoir. The sediment that is newly deposited as a delta deposit in the sedimentation pool is
scoured out by the introduction of a reverse flow from the main reservoir and it is flushed through the
bypass tunnel whose inlet is set at the bottom of the pool. The numerical simulations confirm this method
is feasible.
The large particles mixed in the delta deposit within the sedimentation pool may impede the reverse
flow from scouring and flushing the deposited sediment and they may cause an undesirable invert abra-
sion of the bypass tunnel. Furthermore, they may be deposited in the downstream river causing an unex-
pected bed aggradation. The open-type check dams are installed upstream of the pool to exclude the
harmful large particles before they flow into the pool. The performance of such a check dam is examined
by numerical simulations.

1 INTRODUCTION interception by large dams and the massive gravel

mining caused the excessive riverbed degradation
The control of sediment runoff from an upstream in the middle and the downstream reaches, which
mountain watershed is crucially important for flood gives rise to the dangerous scouring of the founda-
control, water-utilization and the maintenance of tions of bridge piers, levees and other structures.
river environment. In Japan, before 1960s, the riv- The shortage of sediment supply from estuary
erbeds were generally high due to severe sediment caused the coastal erosion almost all over Japan.
runoff, and the flood and sediment disasters often Gravel mining has been prohibited in the
occurred. The enduring efforts to repress sediment reaches of severe riverbed degradation, and the
yield by the construction of check dams, affores- tendency to degrade is now moderated. However,
tation, and others had been made in many devas- because sediment supply is still intercepted by
tated watersheds. dams, the riverbeds downstream are armor-coated
The situation changed after the economic growth and a scarce amount of sediment is transported.
of 1960s’. The multi-purpose dams for flood con- This situation is harmful to aquatic habitat. Some
trol, electricity generation and water-usage and the rivers transformed their channel pattern from the
dams for the exclusive use for the power generation braided channels to the meandering channel which
were constructed in the upstream area of many resulted in the extreme local scouring of the foun-
watersheds. In the middle and the lower reaches of dations of bridge piers and levees. Reservoir opera-
the river, enormous gravel mining had been done tion reduces the discharge of flood flow. Thereby
to obtain concrete aggregate. In addition to the the stabilization of sandbars is caused. A stable
decreased sediment runoff due to afforestation and sandbar stimulates the tree growth on it, which
the deployment of the check dams, the sediment diminishes the flood conveying capacity of the river.

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 A stable sandbar, sometimes, hinders the exchange C. Increasing the reservoir volume by raising dam;
of water and the stagnant water becomes foul. D. Removal of deposited sediment; and
On the other hand, some upstream reservoirs E. Decommission and removal of dam.
are about to lose their functions due to severe
Herein, these strategies are briefly overviewed
sedimentation.
and some shortcomings of them are pointed out
To remedy these adverse effects of the reser-
to make clear what technology development is
voir sedimentation, some viable measures must be
needed.
implemented. These measures should release sedi-
ment from the reservoirs and, simultaneously, they
must keep sediment transportation downstream 2.1 Reduce sediment inflow
as far as to the coastal area in the manner with-
Technologies belonging to this category can be
out failure in any standpoint of the flood control,
divided into two categories:
water usage, and environment. Even though their
severity is different, similar situations occur world- 1. Reducing the sediment production on the
wide, and therefore, the technology development mountain slope or the sediment delivery via
that solves the problems is an urgent issue. In this channel network by the implementation of the
context, this keynote focusses on the problems of deliberate erosion control works, and
sediment flushing from a large reservoir which 2. Checking the runoff sediment at the upstream
locates in the uppermost reach of the river basin end of the reservoir by the construction of a
and proposes a promising method which enables sediment storage dam.
the flushing out of comparatively coarse sediment
In Japan, the erosion control works that are
with minimal water consumption, and thereby, the
exclusively aiming at the reduction of sediment
various hazards downstream caused by reservoir
inflow to a reservoir have never been implemented.
sedimentation will be dissolved.
However, recently, there is a trend to attach the
function of flood control even to a reservoir
that was constructed to use exclusively for power
2 EXISTING SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT
generation. Since keeping the effective storage
STRATEGIES AND THE NEED
capacity as large as possible is more important for
FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES
a reservoir aiming flood control than for a reser-
voir aiming to generate electricity, the governments
Existing reservoir sedimentation management
who are responsible for flood control have begun
techniques can be divided, as shown in Figure 1,
to plan the implementation of erosion control
into the following groups (Palmieri 2003):
works within such a reservoir basin.
A. Reduction of sediment inflow to the reservoir; The large and steep bare-slopes left after land-
B. Routing of sediment through or bypass the slides in a high mountain watershed are the main
reservoir; place of sediment production. Afforestation to

Figure 1. Reservoir sedimentation management options (Palmieri, A. 2003).

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 reduce sediment production on those slopes is, flow and it begins the full-scale sediment release
however, difficult. If check dams are constructed to stage. When the river flow discharge becomes less
store the transported sediment in the stream chan- than 30 m3/s, the tunnel’s gate is closed and sedi-
nel system, they can store only a small amount of mentation begins in the sedimentation pool that
sediment due to the steepness and narrowness of is upstream of the submerged weir. The major-
the channel. Therefore, in general, check dams can- ity component of discharged sediment is sand,
not be very effective measure to reduce sediment but considerable amount of gravels and stones
inflow to the reservoir for a long time. Thus, the are contained. The design discharge of the tunnel
main purpose to install check dams should be to was determined with insufficient hydrologic analy-
exclude large particles in the runoff sediment so as ses and the floods whose discharge is larger than
to make easier the handling of deposited sediment 1,000 m3/s sometimes occur. In such a case, the
in the reservoir. highly sediment loading flow overflows the weir
The sediment trapping at the upstream end of a and causes the sedimentation in the main reservoir
reservoir by a check dam and the excavation of the (Martini 2000).
trapped sediment after flood is a popular method. The Miwa dam reservoir is a multi-purpose
This method would be reliable and economical as reservoir of 29.95 million m3 in the total storage
long as a carrying out route of sediment is pro- capacity that is completed in 1959. In the period
vided and the sustainable demand for the utiliza- of 43 years after completion the sedimentation
tion of sediment is guaranteed. Otherwise, some volume reached about 20 million m3 and the func-
other methods should be implemented. tions of the reservoir were managed to maintain
by the dredging of about 7 million m3. Of the total
volume of the inflow sediment 3/4 is fine wash load.
2.2 Sediment routing
A countermeasure system based on such char-
This strategy contains the two methods: the sedi- acteristic sediment was completed in 2005. This
ment bypassing and the sediment passing through system comprises a coarse sediment trapping dam
the reservoir. (10.2 m high and 200 thousands m3 in sedimenta-
The most effective bypassing method would be tion capacity that is constructed just upstream of
the construction of an off-channel reservoir which the end of the reservoir), a flow branching weir
bypasses sediment laden flow and only sediment- (10.2 m high and 520 thousands m3 in sedimenta-
free water is taken into the reservoir and stored. tion capacity that is installed inside the reservoir)
But, this method is not practical for the large res- and a bypass tunnel (7.8 m wide, 7 m high, and
ervoirs in which even the heavily sediment-loading 4,308 m long that starts from the branching weir).
water cannot be wasted, and in a steep mountain- The sediment trapping dam stops the inflow of
ous area, it is difficult to find a suitable land for the coarse sediment and the branching weir diverts the
construction of the off-channel reservoir. flow up to 300 m3/s through the bypass tunnel. The
One of the practical and effective sediment flood having the return period of 100 years for this
bypassing methods catches the highly sediment reservoir is, however, 1,210 m3/s.
laden flood flow by a weir that is installed in the According to the records of the three floods
reservoir. Then, some parts of water and sediment in 2006 and 2007, of the 1.11 million m3 sedi-
caught by the weir are discharged through a tunnel ment inflow to the reservoir, 0.32 million m3 was
that is excavated from the immediately upstream bypassed downstream, and the two weirs trapped
of the weir to the downstream of the dam. These the total of 0.41 million m3. Thus, sedimentation
kinds of sediment excluding structures were con- was reduced to 0.38 million m3.
structed in the Palagnedra dam reservoir in Swiss The Asahi dam reservoir is the lower regulating
and in the Miwa dam reservoir in Japan. reservoir of a pure pumped-storage-type power
In the case of Palagnedra Dam, a bypass tunnel, plant. Because the storage of flood water is not
whose cross-sectional area is 31 m2, the slope gra- necessary, the flood flow whose discharge is larger
dient is 2% and the length is 1,800 m, is installed than 5 m3/s is diverted by a 13.5 m high weir con-
just upstream of a 8 m high submerged dam that is structed just upstream of the end of the reservoir
constructed in the upstream part of the reservoir. to the downstream of the dam via a bypass tunnel.
The gate of the bypass tunnel is gradually opened The conveyance capacity of the tunnel is 140 m3/s,
while in the climbing limb of the flood hydrograph so that if the flood discharge is less than 140 m3/s,
until the discharge attains the tunnel’s capacity of all the water and sediment are bypassed. The design
250 m3/s, and then the flow in the tunnel becomes flood discharge of the dam is, however, 1,200 m3/s.
a pipe flow. The velocity in the tunnel in this stage Therefore, in the case of a large-scale flood larger
is 8 m/s. In the recessing limb of the hydrograph, than 140 m3/s, some parts of flow overflow the
when the discharge in the tunnel decreases to less weir, and so not only the fine sediment that is
than 220 m3/s, the flow becomes an open channel transported as suspended load but also the coarse

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 sediment that is transported as bed load and in they can wait for the highly sediment loaded flood
excess of the volume checked by the diverting weir flows with lowered water stage. It may be economi-
will be deposited in the reservoir. cally feasible only if the ratio of reservoir storage
The sediment size distribution of the riverbed capacity to annual water inflow is less than 0.1 or
material at the upstream of the Asahi dam reservoir so and the sediment size is fine.
shows that the maximum grain size is about 30 cm, When the inflowing flood flow has a conspicu-
the median diameter is about 25 mm and the ratio ously larger density, by loading very highly con-
of particles smaller than 1 mm is about 10%. There centrated sediment, than the stored water in the
is no measured data of the bypassed sediment, but reservoir, the flow crawls forward as a density
the riverbed variation upstream the diversion weir current along the bed of the reservoir to the dam
is so small that almost all the particles having the as illustrated in Figure 1. The method of density
similar composition to that of the upstream river- current venting discharges the density current
bed should have been bypassed. through the lower outlet from just after its arrival
The Asahi dam bypass system was put into use at the dam. The Xiaolangdi Reservoir that locates
in 1998 and about 83,000 m3 of sediment was dis- 125 km downstream of the Sanmenxia Dam is a
charged via the tunnel in that year. Because the large multi-purpose dam whose storage capacity
coarse sediment is transported through the tunnel, is 12.6 billion m3 of which 7.5 billion m3 is allot-
considerable abrasion must be taken into account. ted to sedimentation. The fundamental manage-
The survey in 1998 revealed that the tunnel’s invert ment strategy of this reservoir is the same as those
concrete with the designed strength of 36 N/mm2 at Sanmenxia and Three Gorges, but Xiaolangdi
wore 46 mm a year and that part with 70 N/mm2 applies the density current venting. The material
wore 14 mm a year. that composes the density current in this reservoir
When we consider the feasibility of the bypass is the very fine silt of 0.004 to 0.008 mm in diam-
tunnel method, we must, of course, care the cost eter. A trial to produce an artificial density current
of tunnel excavation and that for the maintenance by stirring up the deposit in the reservoir with a
of the tunnel against the invert abrasion, but even high pressure water jet is implemented. The number
more important problems to be considered would of reservoirs which the density current venting is
be that how much discharge is allowed to bypass at effectively applicable is, however, limited.
what timing (A dam aiming at flood control can-
not release all the inflow without delay.) and, as in
2.3 Flushing
the case of Miwa Dam, how the sediment depos-
ited in the pond of the sediment trapping weir or The hydraulic flushing is a method to flush sedi-
that in the flow branching weir can be excavated or ment by completely draining the reservoir and
dredged and how such sediment is disposed. scouring out the sediment from a low-level outlet
The sediment sluicing and the density cur- using the action of the tractive force of restored
rent venting belong to the sediment pass-through riverine flow. If an adequate tractive force through-
methods. Sluicing is the method to discharge flood out the impound reach as well as the downstream
flow before its loading sediment is deposited in the of the dam can be produced, this method is appli-
reservoir. Therefore, the flow velocity in the reser- cable for even a coarse sediment and, in some cases,
voir must be considerably large, so that the draw- it is economical in comparison to the mechanical
ing down of the water-stage is necessary. However, sediment removal that necessitates high cost dredg-
if the sediment is very fine suspension, the draw- ing, the acquisition of sediment disposal area, land
down of the water stage in reservoir may not transportation and the associated engineering.
necessary be so large. The Sanmenxia Reservoir Attention should be paid to the possible very high
in China had accumulated far larger volume of sediment concentrations downstream that might
sediment than expected and the upstream riverbed cause several hazards.
aggraded as high as inducing flood disasters within The representative example of hydraulic flush-
very early time after the completion. A radical ing in Japan is the coordinated sediment flushing
improvement of the flood discharging gates and of at Dashidaira Dam and Unazuiki Dam in the
the strategies for reservoir operation so as to pass Kurobe River. This coordinated sediment flush-
through the highly sediment loading flood flows ing is made possible by their small reservoir index,
were implemented under the slogan ‘Storing the RI, that is the ratio of the storage capacity to the
clear and releasing the turbid’. The Three Gorges mean annual water inflow. Sumi (2000) gave a cri-
Reservoir in China also adopts this strategy. If terion for the feasibility of the hydraulic flushing
highly sediment loaded floods arise only in a com- as a function of RI and the dam’s life span that
paratively short period of a year and the quantity is defined as the ratio of the storage capacity to
of the flow-in water during the rest period of the the mean annual sediment inflow. According to
year is enough to fulfill the reservoir’s objectives, him, if the life span is 200 years RI should be less

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 than 0.08, and if the life span is 20 years RI should Moreover, there are many reservoirs whose
be less than 0.034. The RI of Dashidaira Dam is inflow sediment is too coarse to pass-through by
0.007 and that of Unazuki Dam is 0.014 and these the mere drawing-down of the lake water level so
values are well below the criterion. that the sediment sluicing is impossible, the peak
For many large-scale reservoirs that locate at the flood rate is too large to discharge all the water
most upstream part of the watershed RI values are and sediment via a bypass tunnel so that the Asahi
not rare to exceed 0.2 and in some cases it is more dam method is not applicable, and mechanically
than 1. In such a reservoir the hydraulic flushing removed sediment by excavation or dredging can-
cannot be applied, because once the reservoir is not be taken out due to various restrictions.
emptied the refilling of it needs very long time, Overviewing the above mentioned existing
during that period the functions of the reservoir methods to cope with the reservoir sedimentation,
are much deteriorated. Furthermore, the natural the lack of the method that is applicable to a large
inflow rate during the flushing operation is often reservoir with large RI value is clear. In particular,
too small to flush all the sediment that is accu- it is true for a reservoir that locates at the upper-
mulated in a long period. In this context, a new most part of the watershed and whose sediment is
effective method to discharge sediment in such a coarse. Here, I propose a new system that is appli-
reservoir is needed. cable to such a reservoir. The system is comprised
of the following facilities:
A sedimentation pool is constructed near the
3 THE IDEA OF THE SEDIMENT upstream end of the reservoir by installing a parti-
FLUSHING SYSTEM USING THE tion weir if the reservoir is newly constructed or by
REVERSE FLOW FROM THE the excavation of the delta deposit if sediment is
DOWNSTREAM RESERVOIR already accumulated considerably in the reservoir.
The crest height of the partition weir or that of
Generally, a reservoir is constructed to be able to the downstream bank of the excavated pool is set
carry out its purposes for at least a hundred years around the high water level of the reservoir. The
even under a severe sedimentation. In Japan, more sedimentation pool can store the sediment that
than 50 years have passed since the vigorous dam runoff within about a year or with some conspicu-
construction age began, and some of the reservoirs ous floods. This capacity is, of course, far less than
are about to filled-up by the sediment yield more the sedimentation capacity allotted to the entire
than that was expected. Many difficult problems reservoir, i.e. the sediment runoff volume in a hun-
caused by the reservoir sedimentation become dred year. Therefore, the hydraulic flushing from
obvious. Especially for a rock-fill-type dam the fill- such a sedimentation pool would be feasible if only
ing-up of the reservoir by sediment might cause the the sufficient water discharge to flush sediment
destruction of the dam and endangers the down- that is accumulated in the sedimentation pool can
stream reach, so leaving them to take their own be supplied. This may sound the similar system to
course is not allowed. Thus, the effective methods Palagnedra’s, but the source of the water supply is
to cope with the reservoir sedimentation problems different. The system herein uses the water that is
are urgently needed. stored in the main reservoir downstream. First, the
As mentioned earlier, the hydraulic sediment water stored in the sedimentation pool is drained
flushing can be an advantageous method if the using the bypass tunnel whose entrance is at the
reservoir is under a favorable condition because it upstream foot of the partition weir or the bank,
is applicable even for the coarse particle deposit. and the tunnel guides the flow to the designated
But, for a large reservoir with large RI value, emp- place downstream of the dam. Next, the reverse
tying the reservoir is not practical. The methods flow, from the reservoir to the sedimentation pool
to bypass the inflowing water and sediment by the in the opposite direction to the river flow, is intro-
installation of a partition weir (diversion weir) duced via a pipe line that is connected to an aque-
inside the reservoir are implemented in Palagnedra duct hanging on the side slope of the sedimentation
Reservoir and Miwa Reservoir, but they can bypass pool. The reverse flow overflows from the aque-
only a part of the naturally inflowing water and duct and erodes the delta deposit in the sedimen-
sediment and the considerable amount of sediment tation pool. Then, the reverse flow together with
is still accumulated at the downstream of the parti- the eroded sediment is drained via the bypass tun-
tion weir. The system at the Asahi dam reservoir nel. It is noticed that this system is devised for the
directly bypasses all the flow to the downstream of case that the majorities of inflowing sediment are
the dam if the inflow rate is less than the capac- coarse and the volume of fine material that over-
ity of the bypass tunnel but if the inflow rate sur- flows the partition weir (or the bank) and is depos-
passes the tunnel’s capacity the situation becomes ited in the main reservoir is small. A conceptual
similar to Palagnedra Reservoir. diagram of the system is given in Figure 2.

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 Figure 2. Concept of a reverse-flow sediment flushing system.

The key points of the idea are as follows:

5. It is desirable to use no power to introduce
1. For the sake of checking the inflow sediment, reverse flow into the sedimentation pool. To
a sedimentation pool is set near the upstream meet this requirement the crest height of the
end of the reservoir with the capacity to be partition weir (bank) is set equal to the high
able to store at least an annual sediment runoff water level of the main reservoir and the reverse
volume; flow is produced by the head difference between
2. The sedimentation pool is separated from the the main reservoir and the sedimentation pool.
main reservoir by a partition weir or a bank. Therefore, the water stored in the sedimenta-
A bypass tunnel is installed from the sedimenta- tion pool must be released and the pool must be
tion pool to the downstream of the main dam. nearly dry before the flushing operation. Mak-
If the deposited delta already proceeded well ing the pool dry before the introduction of the
inside of the main reservoir, the sedimentation reverse flow guarantees the full efficiency of the
pool and the partition bank may be constructed delta erosion by the reverse flow. If the water
by excavating the top-set bed part of the delta supply line to introduce reverse flow is left open
deposit; during the normal flow, the water stored in the
3. To store water as plenty as possible in the main sedimentation pool can be used as a single entity
reservoir, the entrance gate of the bypass tunnel with that stored in the main reservoir;
should be closed during the normal flow as well 6. Sediment flushing operation is desirable to
as amid the flood. Thus, sedimentation takes do in the last stage of flood because the high
place in the sedimentation pool under a high turbidity and large flow rate in the river flow
water stage and water overflows the partition downstream just before the flushing operation
weir (bank) when the water stage of the sedi- may moderate the adverse effects of sediment
mentation pool becomes higher than the crest flushing. However, as long as the quantity of
of the weir (bank); water in the main reservoir is sufficient, the tim-
4. The unsuitably coarse particles in the runoff ing and the flow rate for flushing can be chosen
sediment should be checked by the open-type freely considering the various circumstances of
check dams before flowing into the sedimenta- the downstream reach of the river. In the case
tion pool. Such particles’ size is determined by that the sediment concentration in the flushing
considering the ability of the reverse flow to flow exceeds the allowable level downstream,
erode delta deposit, the risk of the invert abra- additional flow should be released from the
sion of the bypass tunnel, and the sediment main reservoir or from the other reservoirs to
transporting capacity of the downstream river. dilute the sediment concentration in the river
When the check dam becomes filled-up, that flow downstream;
sediment must be mechanically removed and 7. The desultory introduction of reverse flow
disposed around the reservoir or crushed so as into the sedimentation pool cannot fulfill the
to be suitable to be dropped inside the pool and expected function. An aqueduct to guide reverse
then flushed via the bypass tunnel; flow is set near the bottom of the sedimentation

ZHANG.indb 8 7/22/2013 2:28:52 PM

 pool along the side bank diagonally to the direc- system is constructed by the excavation of this
tion of the delta motion. The delta deposit pro- compound fan.
ceeds downstream in the sedimentation pool
burying the aqueduct. When the reverse flow
4.1 Estimations of sediment graphs and particle
is introduced, it spills over the side wall of the
size distributions in the runoff sediment
aqueduct at the in-tersection with the front-set
slope of the delta deposit and spreads over the The sediment runoff volume data based on the
deposit to erode it forming a large horizontally sounding survey in yearly basis from the S water-
rotational flow that is swallowed down through shed exist since the beginning of water storage in
the bypass tunnel. Thus, a highly sediment the reservoir. The design of the sediment flushing
loaded flow is formed and discharged via the system and its operation plan, however, needs the
bypass tunnel. sediment runoff volumes and their particle size dis-
tributions for every conspicuous flood. Therefore,
at first, the method to predict the sediment runoff
in respect to both over a long time period and for a
4 PERFORMANCE OF THE REVERSE
single-event is explained. This method predicts not
FLOW SYSTEM
only the volume of sediment but also the temporal
changes in the particle size distributions in the flow
A reservoir that is located in the one of the severest
as well as on the riverbed.
sediment yielding watersheds in Japan was selected
Here, a recently developed sediment runoff
as the site of the performance study. Among the
model named SERMOW ver. 2 is used. This is
tributaries of the reservoir, S is the steepest and
the modification of SERMOW (Sediment Runoff
most actively sediment yielding watershed with the
from Mountainous Watershed) model (Takahashi
area of the bare-land slopes left after landslides
et al. 2001 Takahashi 2006). The SERMOW con-
amounts to 21% of the entire watershed area. In
siders the debris flows that possibly occur in the
winter, all the area is covered by snow and the sedi-
watershed are the typical stony debris flows or
ment production on the bare-slopes by the action
the typical turbulent muddy debris flows, and
of freezing and thawing cycles is extremely active
in the calculation the specific resistance formu-
and this is one of the main causes of extreme sedi-
lae applicable for stony-type mature debris flows
ment yield. Figure 3 shows a part of the reservoir’s
or immature debris flows and for turbulent-type
basin. As is evident in Figure 3, the A and B Ravines
debris flows are switched depending on the rela-
were the independent tributaries of the reservoir
tive depth (= flow depth/mean particle diameter
before the completion of the reservoir, but, due to
in the flow) and the coarse particle concentration
the severe sediment yield, the delta deposits of the
in the flow. However, the sediment compositions in
both tributaries are now unified to form a com-
the A and B Ravines are widely distributed from
pound alluvial fan, so the watersheds A and B are
large stones to silt size material in which the major-
now considered as the sub-watershed of S.
ity composition is sand, and the flow may change
Here, the performance of the reverse flow sys-
its mode from stony debris flow to individual parti-
tem is examined under the assumption that the
cle’s motion via the hybrid-type and the turbulent-
muddy-type debris flows during its motion down
the river channels successively depositing larger
particles. SERMOW ver. 2 changes its fundamen-
tal equations from those of SERMOW to that
for the generalized inertial debris flow (The iner-
tial debris flow is a general term indicating stony
debris flow, turbulent muddy debris flow, and the
flow that is intermediate between these two typical
type flows.), thereby no switching of the equations
is necessary throughout the mode changes during
the course of run down (Takahashi and Satofuka
2002 Takahashi 2007 Takahashi 2013) except the
switching from the inertial debris flow equation
to the equation of the individual particle motion.
In the SERMOW ver. 2 model, for the individual
particle motion that occurs after the stopping of
the debris flow or after the gradual phase change
due to the deposition of coarse particles, a Brown-
Figure 3. Some parts of S watershed. type total load formula is used considering that a

ZHANG.indb 9 7/22/2013 2:28:52 PM

 large amount of suspended sediment is contained
in the flow.
SERMOW and SERMOW ver. 2 calculate flood
runoff discharge hydrograph at an arbitrary site
in the stream channel system within a watershed
using the kinematic wave method by giving a time
series of rainfalls. The same rainfalls produce and
move sediment on the bare-slopes that are left after
landslides and the moved sediment is once depos-
ited on the taluses existing at the foot of the slopes.
The amount of sediment produced and moved on
the slope is assumed to be proportional to the rain-
fall intensity in excess of a threshold value, where
the threshold rainfall intensity is determined as a
decreasing function of an increasing cumulative
rainfall, so the larger the cumulative rainfall the
larger the supply of sediment to the talus becomes
under a certain rainfall intensity. Figure 4. Comparison of the calculated annual sedi-
ment yields with the measured data.
The flood flow that appears in a stream channel
increases its sediment concentration by eroding the
riverbed and the taluses on the way or decreases
its sediment concentration by depositing the load-
ing sediment on the riverbed. If the sediment con-
centration in the flow is less than the equilibrium
value, the flow erodes the channel bed and the
taluses, and on the contrary, if the sediment con-
centration in the flow is larger than the equilibrium
value, the excess sediment is deposited on the bed.
The equilibrium sediment concentrations in debris
flow and in bed material load flow are the func-
tions of channel slope and other hydraulic condi-
tions. After repeating such erosion and deposition
processes, sediment runs off the watershed. Figure 5. Hyetograph of a rainfall event selected to
Because the origin of sediment is limited to the estimate the hydrograph and sediment graph by the
bare-lands, the estimation of particle size distribu- SERMOW ver. 2 model.
tions in the talus deposit is crucially important in
getting reliable results in SERMOW or SERMOW
ver. 2 calculations. But, the field survey apt to yield was 0.8 million m3 that yielded with only one
estimate unreasonably large sizes because the fine large flood. The total runoff sediment volume in
particles sink deep in the talus or they are washed thirty years amounts to 9.27 million m3 and this
away in the process of accumulation on the talus. gives the annual mean sediment yield is about
Therefore, taking both the data obtained at the 0.31 million m3. The yearly variation is, however,
taluses by the field surveys and that obtained by significantly large and the largest annual sediment
the boring of the delta deposit at several points in yield was about 4.5 times larger than that of the
the reservoir into account, the representative size annual mean value. This fact should be taken into
distribution in the sediment deposited on the talus account in the design of the sedimentation pool.
is determined. As an example, the rainfall event of which hye-
Figure 4 compares the calculated annual sedi- tograph is shown in Figure 5 is chosen to show
ment yields from the S watershed with those the runoff hydrograph and sediment graph in the
obtained by sounding the delta deposit, in which A Ravine. This event has the 9th largest cumula-
the sediment volume is given in bulk volume. The tive rainfall amount and the strongest in the rain-
calculated results well reproduce the sediment fall intensity within one hour during these thirty
runoffs in the annual basis and the total volume years. Figure 6 shows the calculated hydrograph
in thirty years is calculated 106% of the meas- and sediment graph at the outlet of the basin
ured data. The largest annual sediment yield in (left-hand side) and the sediment graph for each
thirty years was 1.4 million m3 that was produced particle size group (right-hand side). The total
by the large-scale floods of five times a year. As of water plus sediment runoff volumes amount
opposed to this, the third largest annual sediment to 2.18 million m3 and the total sediment runoff

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 Figure 6. Calculated hydrograph and sediment graphs.

volume amounts to 0.325 m3 in the substantial These ledge-type dams check the particles of 10 cm
volume (about 0.52 million m3 in bulk volume). or larger in diameter.
The total sediment runoff volume from the B A grid-type dam can stop the debris flow front
Ravine by the same rainfall event is calculated as by checking the constituting particles larger than
0.247 million m3 (0.395 million m3 in bulk vol- 0.7 times of net space between the grid pipes
ume). This is the second largest annual sediment (Takahashi 2007), so the particles larger than
runoff in these thirty years, so it is seen from Fig- 70 cm are expected to be checked by the upstream
ure 4 that almost all sediment runoff in this year grid-type dam. When coarse particles are checked
was due to this rainfall event. at the grid face, the finer particles involved in
The particle size group written as d4 (15 cm) the succeeding flow are also checked forming a
in Figure 6 is that belongs from 7 cm to 24 cm rebounding deposit that goes upstream. That part
in diameter, and the results of calculation show consumes the storage capacity of the dam use-
that the particles larger than or equal to d4 group lessly, but by making the grid face perpendicular
occupy about 9.6% of the total runoff sediment. to the river channel (dam length) as wide as pos-
If very coarse particles are deposited in the sedi- sible than the width of the debris flow, the retro-
mentation pool, a large water discharge becomes gressive deposit would be mitigated since the wide
necessary to flush out such coarse particles and the river width allows the deflection of the successive
flushing may cause the severe abrasion of the invert flow which contains many particles that are pass-
of the bypass tunnel and, in addition, the sediment able through the grid. Thus, the majority of par-
transportation in the river downstream of the tun- ticles less than about 70 cm arrive at the face of
nel will be hampered. For the sake to exclude these the ledge-type dam, where the particles larger than
disadvantages, here, the installation of the open- 10 cm are checked and only the finer particles pass
type check dams upstream of the sedimentation through the dam to be deposited in the sedimenta-
pool is planned. These check dams should prevent tion pool. The retrogressive deposition of particles
the inflow of the particles of 10 cm or larger into finer than 10 cm may also be mitigated by making
the sedimentation pool. the ledge face as wide as possible.
Figure 7 shows the calculated sediment graphs
of all the particles and of the individual parti-
4.2 Checking harmful coarse particles
cle groups in the A Ravine for the rainfall event
by the open-type check dams
explained above. The left-hand side graph is the
To stop the debris flow front that is comprised of sediment graph of the inflow at 200 m upstream
coarse particles 1 m or larger in diameter, the grid- of the grid dam whose position is designated by
type 10 m high check dams whose spacing between a circle in Figure 3, the middle graph is that at
the grid pipes is 1 m are installed at the positions 10 m downstream of the grid dam, and the right-
a-a and c-c shown in Figure 3, respectively for the hand one is that at 10 m downstream of the ledge
A and B ravines. The ledge-type check dams are dam. The particles larger than d4 were completely
also installed at the downstream positions b-b checked by these two dams and the discharge
and d-d, respectively, whose net spacing between of the sediment that passed through the dams
the ledges is 10 cm and the dam height is 12 m. was also decreased by the storages upstream.

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 Figure 7. Sediment graphs at various points along the A Ravine.

Figure 8. Plan of the sedimentation basin.

4.3 Design of the sedimentation pool

Of the total sediment volume of 0.325 million
and the reverse flow channel
m3, 0.171 million m3 was stored upstream of the
check dams and 0.154 million m3 was stored in The downstream end of the A and B Ravines
the sedimentation pool. The mean diameter of forms a compound alluvial fan, where it was origi-
the deposited sediment in the sedimentation pool nally a part of the water surface of the reservoir.
except the wash load is about 2 mm. The technol- A sedimentation pool is made by excavating that
ogy development to decrease the deposit of par- fan as illustrated in Figure 8. The partition that
ticles less than 10 cm upstream the check dams separates the sedimentation pool from the reser-
is necessary. Anyway, particles larger than 10 cm voir is, as shown on Figure 8, a bank slope con-
must be disposed around the dam site or crushed structed by a slight reform of the present delta
into less than 10 cm to make them flushable via deposit. The crest height of the bank is at the High
the bypass tunnel. Water Level (HWL) of the reservoir. The bottom

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 of the sedimentation pool is tilted towards the sufficient to largely erode the delta deposit nor
entrance of the bypass tunnel so as to concentrate sufficient to flush the sediment out of the pool,
the flow on the tunnel, whose bottom elevation at some other considerable amounts of water flow
the entrance is 28 m below HWL. must be supplied from the significantly upstream
The entrance gate of the bypass tunnel is assumed parts of the deposit. There is no source of water
to be closed when a flood flows into the pool. The usable for this purpose except that of the main
water stage of the sedimentation pool will rise in reservoir. To make the water supply possible, a
harmony with the inflow of flood flow, and soon, reverse flow system that is composed of a con-
the flow gets over the partition bank. Therefore, duit and an aqueduct (reverse flow channel) is
some reinforcements of the surface of the separat- installed.
ing bank are necessary to prevent from the scouring The arrangement of the reverse flow system is
by the overflow. When the main reservoir controls shown by the fat solid lines and the fat broken lines
flood by using the surcharge capacity, the water on Figure 8; the two aqueducts are installed along
stages in the main reservoir and in the sedimenta- the both sides of the sedimentation pool and to the
tion pool become equal height and rise in harmony, respective aqueducts the conduits are connected to
thereby the separating bank is submerged. Mean- supply water from the main reservoir. The longi-
while, the delta deposits are formed within the tudinal profiles of the respective aqueducts and a
sedimentation pool by the sediment runoffs from representative cross-sectional shape of the aque-
the respective A and B Ravines that proceed down- duct are shown in Figure 9.
stream and are combined into one in due time. The reverse flow flushing is assumed to start at
Approaching the terminal stage of the flood or the time when the delta deposit is near at the posi-
by the beginning of a normal stage, the entrance tion shown by the broken lines in Figure 9. At first,
gate of the bypass tunnel is opened. Then, the by the opening of the entrance gate of the bypass
water stage in the sedimentation pool gradually tunnel, the water stored in the sedimentation pool
descends. At that time, because the water inflow is released together with the river flows coming
rates from the A and B Ravines are neither from the A and B Ravines. This release is not mere

Figure 9. Profiles and cross-section of aqueduct.

13

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 waste of water but effective for the flushing out of mean particle size of the deposit excluding the
the fine sediment that was deposited ahead of the wash load component is 2 mm. The algorithm for
delta deposit and for the preparatory actions of the the deposition and erosion analyses can be found
aquatic lives in the downstream river against the sed- elsewhere (Takahashi et al. 2002), in which, as the
iment flushing. After draining almost all the stored sediment transport equation the Brown-type total
water in the sedimentation pool, a reverse flow is load equation is used considering the fact that
introduced. Because the aqueduct is burrowed into much fine sediment is included. Figure 10 shows
the delta deposit as shown in Figure 9, the reverse thus made delta deposit just before the flushing
flow spills over at the intersection with the front-set operation, in which the relative surface elevations
slope of the delta deposit. Being the aqueduct set of the deposit measured from the tunnel base level
as oblique to the front-set slope of the delta, the are given by the different brightness in the grada-
high speed flow that spills over the aqueduct makes tional expression.
a curved flow with a large radius of curvature and it The flushing operation began with the sudden
violently scour the delta and entrains thus scoured supply of the steady 100 m3/s reverse flow to the
sediment into the flow to be finally flushed out of A ravine side aqueduct under the situation of no
the sedimentation pool via the bypass tunnel. The water in the pool. After six hours, the reverse flow
overflowing wall of the aqueduct is tapered down was shut down and, in turn, the steady reverse flow
towards the tip of the channel and so no overflow of 50 m3/s was given to the B ravine side aqueduct.
takes place upstream the intersection point. As time Figure 11 shows the topography of the sedimen-
goes by, the intersection point proceeds towards the tation pool after the twenty-four hours’ flushing
downstream of the aqueduct and the erosion of the operation. No river flow was given from either of
delta deposit proceeds. After a considerable degen- the ravines. Although the calculation was carried
eracy of the delta deposit becomes evident and out under the assumption of the uniform material
the efficiency of sediment flushing decreased, the of 2 mm, a separate consideration on the maxi-
reverse flow is stopped and the entrance gate of the mum transportable particle size in the sedimenta-
bypass tunnel is closed. tion pool revealed that all the particles smaller than
The maximum designed reverse flow discharge 10 cm could be transported. Thus, the sediment
for the A ravine side is, in this case, 100 m3/s, and having the same composition to the delta deposit
the aqueduct is 7 m in width, 200 m in length, 1.5% could be flushed out.
in slope, and the maximum designed reverse flow The sediment discharge and the cumulative vol-
for the B ravine side aqueduct is 50 m3/s, and the ume of sediment ejected from the bypass tunnel are
aqueduct is 3.5 m in width and 140 m in length. The shown in Figure 12. The sediment discharge pro-
highest and lowest levels of the B ravine side aque- duced by the A ravine side flow began to decrease
duct are the same to those for the A ravine side, after about three hours and it became about 60%
hence the longitudinal slope is 2.1%. The largest of the peak discharge after six hours. Although the
velocities in the aqueducts are 7.1 m/s and 7.0 m/s reverse flow supply was switched to the aqueduct
for the A ravine side and B ravine side, respectively. of the B ravine side, for some time, sediment dis-
The storage capacity of the sedimentation pool charge continued to decrease and after eight hours
below HWL is about 2.15 million m3 that is suf- it changed to increase. At about ten hours the sedi-
ficient volume capacity for the severest sediment ment discharge reached a peak again, then, it tended
yield in a year. to decrease. Therefore, in this operation, an effective
The effectiveness of the reverse flow system to flushing was accomplished in about twelve hours
flush sediment was confirmed by the previous fun- from the beginning. Notwithstanding the flow
damental experiments (Takahashi et al. 2002). rate from the B ravine side aqueduct was half of
that from the A ravine side, the sediment discharge
by the former was as large as that by the latter. This
4.4 Effectiveness examination of the reverse flow
was presumably due to the closeness of B ravine side
flushing system by numerical simulations
aqueduct to the deposited delta and due to steep-
The effectiveness of the designed reverse flow ness of the slope gradient to the bypass tunnel.
flushing system is numerically examined by the The total flushed out sediment volume in the
horizontally two-dimensional simulations, in which initial twelve hours was about 0.3 million m3 in
the initial condition of the delta deposit in the pool the substantial volume, so about 0.46 million m3
was formed by giving the steady flows of 10 m3/s in bulk volume. This value is well over the yearly
in water discharge and 0.07 in sediment concentra- average runoff volume of 0.31 million m3. The
tion from the respective A and B ravines. For the total water quantity that was necessary to flush
sake of simplicity, the existence of the check dams this volume of sediment was 3.24 million m3, so
was ignored except that they control the sediment the average sediment concentration was about 9%.
size to be less than 10 cm in diameter and so the The consumed water quantity was about 20% of

14

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 Figure 10. Initial delta deposit before flushing.

Figure 11. Delta deposit after 24 hours’ flushing.

15

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 Figure 12. Temporal variation of flushed out sediment discharge and volume.

the main reservoir’s effective storage capacity, and safely to the downstream river via the bypass
it is only 0.79% of the average yearly inflow. The tunnel. Because the inlet and the outlet altitudes
consumption of this amount of water may not be of the bypass tunnel are fixed, the slope gradient
a problem. In addition, the RI value for this reser- of the tunnel is given. For the above mentioned
voir is 0.18. This means that the sediment flushing case, the gradient of the tunnel bed is 0.029 and
by emptying the main reservoir is not feasible. In the alignment of the tunnel has to insert curves
comparison to this, the RI value of the sedimenta- due to the topographical restriction. Taking these
tion pool is as small as 0.005. conditions and the unstable oscillations of flow
The maximum sediment concentrations in the due to high Froude number into account the tun-
flushed out flow from the A ravine side and B ravine nel cross-section is set as a horseshoe-shape of 4 m
side are 9% and 18%, respectively. The concentra- in width and 4 m in height as shown in Figure 13.
tion of 18% is too dense from the restrictions of the The hydraulic analyses reveal that the ability of the
tunnel’s capacity for this particular case, so that the tunnel is given as shown in Figure 14. According to
dilution by the supply of 50 m3/s from the A ravine Figure 14, the ability to transport sediment under
side aqueduct after six hours is recommended. Thus, the flow rate of water that is equal to 100 m3/s is
the water consumption increases to 4.32 million m3 more than 17 m3/s, but for 50 m3/s it is about 8 m3/s,
but the maximum solids concentration decreases so that the peak sediment discharge of about 10 m3/s
to 9%. This value of solids concentration causes that will occur with the introduction of the reverse
no problem in the downstream river as far as the flow of 50 m3/s from only the B ravine side (see
physical capacity of sediment transportation is con- Fig. 12) cannot be sluiced. This is the reason why
cerned, but, in the ecological point of view, it may the dilution by keeping the water supply of 50 m3/s
cause some problems even though the suspended from the A ravine side even after the switching of
sediment concentration in the downstream river flow to B ravine side is recommended.
may become about half since the other particles are Although the capacity of the tunnel guarantees
transported as bed load. In this context, the highly the safe sluicing of the flushed water and sedi-
sediment loaded flow that is released from the tun- ment under normal condition, an abnormally large
nel outlet should be diluted so as to achieve the eco- amount of sediment might happen to inflow and
logically safe concentration. In this particular case, so the flow in the tunnel could not keep an open
there is another reservoir downstream whose stored channel flow; in the worst case the tunnel might
water could be used to fulfill such an object. be clogged. For the sake to avoid such a hazard-
ous situation the similar inlet structure to that of
the Asahi dam bypass system can be adopted. The
4.5 Design of the bypass tunnel
sketch of the inlet structure is given in Figure 13.
The sediment and water flushed from the sedi- Confronting abnormally extensive sediment inflow
mentation pool must be transported and released the conveyance ability of the tunnel is extremely

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ZHANG.indb 16 7/22/2013 2:28:55 PM

 Figure 13. Longitudinal profile of the entrance of the by-pass tunnel and the standard cross-section of the tunnel.

as the prolonged turbidity and eutrophication, and

so various countermeasures against such problems
have been implemented at many reservoirs. The
Asahi dam bypass tunnel system was first planned
as a countermeasure for the prolonged turbidity.
For the case of Asahi dam, if the inflow rate to
the reservoir is less than the tunnel capacity, the
entire flood flow is bypassed and no turbid water
flows into the reservoir. However, if the inflow rate
exceeds the tunnel capacity, highly turbid water
overflows the separation weir and goes into the
reservoir.
The reverse flow system herein proposed is
equipped with a comparatively large sedimenta-
tion pool that is able to store at least a normal
Figure 14. Flow depth, velocity and sediment discharge annual sediment runoff. It is not only able to store
versus the total discharges in the tunnel. all the coarse particles but is expected to reduce the
inflow of fine sediment to the main reservoir that
causes turbidity of the reservoir.
decreased, then the water stage just upstream Consider the sedimentation pool having the
of the inlet rises. When the water stage becomes scale given in Figure 8 as an example. Although
well higher than the opening of the curtain wall, this pool has a complicated form with two tribu-
the curtain wall forcibly produces an orifice flow taries, it is simplified as a rectangular basin with
and controls the amount of inflow to the tunnel. 200 m in width, 250 m in length and 20 m in aver-
Simultaneously, due to the rising of water stage age depth into which only one ravine pours.
upstream of the inlet, sediment inflow is decreased. When small—to medium-scale flood with
In due time, sediment accumulated on the bottom 15 m3/s in discharge flows into the pool and no
of the tunnel is naturally removed and the convey- density current is formed, the fine material (the
ance ability of the tunnel is automatically revived representative diameter d = 0.08 mm) that might
(Harada et al. 1997). cause turbidity in the main reservoir is transported
downstream with the mean velocity of 0.0038 m/s,
meanwhile it settles down with the velocity of
5 EFFECTS TO THE PROLONGED 1 cm/s. Because the time necessary for the fine
TURBIDITY particles to vertically fall 20 m is 0.56 hour while
the residence time for a particle within the pool is
The fine sediment that is involved in flood flow 18 hours. A back analysis to get the size of a parti-
causes some adverse effects to the reservoir such cle that falls 20 m within 18 hours gives 0.02 mm in

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ZHANG.indb 17 7/22/2013 2:28:55 PM

 diameter. Therefore, all the fine particles less than tunnel is 100 m3/s, the discharge in excess of the
about 0.02 mm are settled down onto the bottom tunnel capacity will overflow the separation bank
of the sedimentation pool in front of the front-set of the sedimentation pool even the tunnel’s gate
bed of the delta deposit. Thus deposited fine sedi- is kept open during the period of flood. The den-
ment together with the coarser sediment that forms sity current, here, is assumed to flow along the
the delta deposit is flushed out via the bypass tun- bottom of the sedimentation pool with the full
nel with the introduction of the reverse flow. width of the pool, i.e. 200 m. When it arrives at
When a large-scale flood flows in, the turbid water the neighborhood of the tunnel gate, some parts
within the flow becomes dense enough to generate a of it contract the width to be swallowed into the
density current in the sedimentation pool. Accord- tunnel but the other parts collide with the parti-
ing to the sediment runoff analyses of which results tion bank and deflect their direction vertical or
are given in Figure 6, the concentration of fine sedi- rebound upstream. The velocity of the density
ment in the interstitial fluid that behaves as a uni- current is, however, not so large and the height of
fied body with water (the representative diameter deflection or reflection should not be high enough
d = 0.08 mm) is about 0.045 in volume. Then, the to be able to overflow the bank. Thus, the rebound
interstitial fluid has the density ρ′ = 1.075 g/cm3. So, part gradually forms the horizontal density current
the density difference of this fluid with the ambi- bed in the vicinity of the partition bank and the
ent fluid is Δρ = 0.075 g/cm3. The effective grav- less turbid water overflows the bank. The density
ity g′ (= g Δρ/ρ) is, therefore, 0.733 m/s2. Previous current bed together with the coarse delta deposit
experiments and field measurements confirm that must be flushed out after the termination of flood
the flow depth at the plunging point approximately by introducing the reverse flow.
satisfies (Wan and Hu 2009): The discussion above is only a rough estimate
of the function of the reverse flow system to
q2 mitigate the turbidity of the reservoir. The phe-
= 0.6 (1) nomena in the sedimentation pool are highly com-
g ′ hp3
plicated and a detailed three dimensional analysis
is necessary.
where q is the discharge per unit width and hp is the
depth at the plunging point.
Although Figure 6 was obtained for the peak 6 CONCLUSION
discharges of 50 m3/s in the A Ravine and 30 m3/s in
the B Ravine, respectively, the same sediment con- Previously, there is no effective method to exclude
centration is assumed to be applicable for the total sediment from a large and coarse sediment stor-
inflow of 100 m3/s, so when a flood of 100 m3/s ing reservoir that locates at the most upstream part
flows into the sedimentation pool, q is equal to of the watershed. Thence, not only the lives of the
0.5 m2/s and hp is given as 0.83 m. The depth of reservoirs themselves are faced with a crisis but, by
the density current, hd, in the pool approximately the cutoff of sediment transport downstream, it
satisfies the conjugate depth relationship with the becomes evident that the rivers are going to have
depth at the plunging point: many problems in view of flood control, water uti-
lization and environment.

( 1 + 8F − 1)
hp 1 The reverse flow sediment flushing system,
= i
2 (2) which authors have invented, was proved, through
hd 2 the numerical simulation under an actual situation,
to be a method to return from the brink of death
where Fi2 = Ud2/(g′hd); and Ud is the velocity of the of reservoirs and downstream rivers.
density current. Then, after some trial calculations, The appropriate scale, form, deployment of the
Ud = 0.86 m/s, hd = 0.58 m, and the density current respective system’s facilities, operation method and
discharge Qd = 100 m3/s are obtained. Therefore, the timing to implement the flushing will be differ-
if the bypass tunnel’s gate is kept open during the ent case by case, so the specific design is necessary
flood, the water stage in the sedimentation pool for the specific cases. But, there should be many
is kept at the high water stage and the entire fine reservoirs suitable to apply this method.
sediment that causes the reservoir’s turbidity can
be bypassed.
If a much larger scale flood, say 500 m3/s, flows ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
into the sedimentation pool with the same fine
sediment concentration as the former example, The reverse flow sediment flushing method is an
we obtain hp = 2.42 m, hd = 1.7 m, Ud = 1.47 m/s, idea which the author has been nursing long and
and Qd = 500 m3/s. Since the capacity of the bypass some basic examinations have done occasionally.

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ZHANG.indb 18 7/22/2013 2:28:55 PM

 Recently, we had a chance to examine the feasibil- Takahashi, T., Inoue, M., Nakagawa, H. and Satofuka, Y.
ity of this method for an actual case. The author 2001. Prediction of sedimentation process in a res-
appreciates the collaboration of Profs. Yoshifumi ervoir using a sediment runoff model, Annual J. of
Satofuka and Motoyuki Inoue. Hydraulic Engineering, JSCE, Vol. 45 (in Japanese).
Takahashi, T. and Satofuka, Y. 2002. Generalized theory
of stony and turbulent muddy debris-flow and its
practical model, J. JSECE, 55(3) (in Japanese).
REFERENCES Takahashi, T. Nakagawa, H. and Satofuka, Y. 2002.
Sediment flushing from reservoirs using a reverse flow
Harada, M., Terada, M. and Kokubo, T. 1997. Planning system, Proc. Intern. Symposium on Hydraulic and
and hydraulic design of bypass tunnel for sluicing Hydrological Aspect of Reliability and Safety Assess-
sediment past Asahi Reservir, 19 Congress of Large ment of Hydraulic Structures, Sankt-Peterburg.
Dams, Florence. Takahashi, T. 2006. Sediment runoff phenomena and the
Martini, O. 2000. La galerie de derivation de Palagnedra, counter-measures for sediment hazards, Nagoya: Kin-
International Workshop and Symposium on Reservoir miraisha (in Japanese).
Sedimentation Management, Toyama. Takahashi, T. 2007. Debris flow; Mechanics, prediction
Palmieri, A. 2003. Social and economic aspects of reser- and countermeasures, London: Taylor & Francis.
voir conservation, Proc. of the Session ‘Challenges to Takahashi, T. 2013. Debris flow; Mechanics, prediction
the Sedimentation Management for Reservoir Sustain- and countermeasures (2nd ed.), London: Taylor &
ability’, The 3rd World Water Forum, Otsu, Japan. Francis.
Sumi, T. 2000. Issues on reservoir sedimentation manage- Wang, Z. and Hu, C. 2009. Strategies for managing res-
ment in a sediment transport system, Proc. 8th Semi- ervoir sedimentation, International J. of Sediment
nar of Japan Society of Dam Engineers (in Japanese). Research, 24(4).

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 Advances in River Sediment Research – Fukuoka et al. (eds)
© 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-00062-9

Mechanism and prediction of bank failure

Y.T. Li, F. Wang, J.W. Tang & L.L. Zhu

State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

ABSTRACT: In this paper, we introduce a new norm, stable slope, to make alluvial riverbank stability
assessment. The definition and calculation of stable slope is demonstrated, followed by the analysis
of stable slope variation with bank composition. Accordingly, a new bank stability model in terms of
stable slope is proposed. The primary advantage of this model is its independence on field data which is
required for calibrating some essential geotechnical parameters attached to most bank stability models.
Then this new model is incorporated into traditional flow-sediment models to simulate river evolution
with bank failure. The results indicate that the proposed model is capable of both making large-scale
riverbank failure prediction and simulating small-scale channel evolution with width adjustment subject
to bank collapse.

1 INTRODUCTION Langendoen & Simon 2008, Luppi et al. 2009,

Osman & Thorne 1988, Rinaldi et al. 2004, Simon
Bank failure typically happens in alluvial rivers, et al. 2000). At the same time, several complex
adversely affecting embankment safety, river regime mathematical models that combine bank stability
stability, function of hydraulic structures and nor- models and sediment-flow models are developed to
mal life of residents along the river. Furthermore, simulate the river evolution with bank erosion and
bank failure induced sediment loss also threatens show effective performance to some extend (Chen &
to local ecological environment. Therefore, effec- Duan 2008, Darby & Thorne 1996, Langendoen
tive prediction and prevention of bank failure is et al. 2009, Nagata et al. 2000, Wang et al. 2004).
urgent. However, most bank failure models require large
Bank collapse is triggered when the gravita- detailed field data to calibrate key parameters
tional forces that drive soil movement exceed the incorporated, especially geotechnical parameters
frictional and cohesive forces that resist soil move- to which these models are sensitive (Langendoen &
ment. At present, bank failure investigations are Simon 2008, Parker et al. 2011, Samadi et al. 2009,
mostly based on forces analysis of soil block above Samadi et al. 2011), and their application are con-
potential or prescribed failure surface, using the fined to local riverbanks where bank material prop-
safety factor that is the ratio of resisting forces to erties show not much spatially variability and can
the driving forces to assess bank stability (ASCE be generalized by situ investigation. Consequently,
Task Committee 1998a,b). The main factors that these models are incapable of predicting bank fail-
affect bank stability include riverbank geometry ure with respect to large-scale natural riverbanks
(Dapporto et al. 2003, Rinaldi et al. 2004), bank with both lack of field data and highly inherent
material properties (Simon et al. 2000), bank stratig- geotechnical variability. The traditional methods
raphy (Thorne & Tovey 1981), pore water pressure based on extreme hypothesis are able to predict
(Casagli et al. 1999, Rinaldi & Casagli 1999), water large-scale bank retreat, but they are merely appli-
stage fluctuation (Dapporto et al. 2003, Luppi cable to homogenous non-cohesive riverbanks
et al. 2009, Rinaldi et al. 2004), seepage (Chu-agor (Chang 1990). Furthermore, the extreme methods
et al. 2008, Fox et al. 2007, Shields & Simon 2009), only provide the overall retreat instead of the detail
riparian vegetation (Pullen et al. 2009, Simon distribution at left and right bank (ASCE Task
et al. 2006, Van-De-Wiel & Darby 2007, Hubble & Committee 1998b).
Rutherfurd 2010), tension cracks (Darby & Thorne According to the summaries of characteristics
1994, Taghavi et al. 2007). These factors have been and reasons of several alluvial riverbank failures,
taken into consideration in some available bank this paper points out it is the lower bank instabil-
stability models of which are capable of replay- ity due to slope steepening by flow scouring that
ing detailed collapse processes, such as collapse leads to bank failure. Then the stable slope of
time and shape of failed blocks (Darby et al. 2000, lower bank is conceptually introduced. Based on

21

ZHANG.indb 21 7/22/2013 2:28:57 PM

 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
Right in the heart of this forest there's a bunch of dead volcanoes
called the San Francisco peaks, lifting their frosty heads into the sky,
and round the skirts of lava at their feet lies broken country. Curly
showed good judgment in making camps, but hereabouts I thought
she had lost her wits, for she led me over broken lava flows, heart-
breaking ground for the horses, where we had to dismount and
climb. Then all of a sudden we dropped down, hid from all the
world, into a meadow walled around with lava. This tract had
escaped when the rest was overflowed; so happened there was
grass among the bull pines, and right at the head of the field a little
cave with space of floor for camping beside a bubbling spring. We
struck the place at noon and camped, my partner concluding to lie
over until she could make a night scout in search of news. She slept
through the afternoon while I stood guard outside.
Up to that time we had been scared to make a fire at night or show
a smoke by day, except for the minutes we needed boiling coffee.
Besides that, we could never camp within ten miles of a water-hole,
but had to ride on after drinking to win the nearest grass, this
country being all ate up around the pools. Here we had grass and
water, the cave to hide our fire, and certainty besides of not being
caught without warning. It was mighty fine to set around the fire
after supper.
"You Chalkeye"—Curly lit up a cigarette and broke into silence which
had lasted days—"what does it feel like, being safe?"
"We're safe enough here, lil' partner."
"Till I hit the trail for this scouting. But I mean, to live safe day after
day without nobody ever wanting to kill you. Ain't it some
monotonous?"
"Not to hurt."
"It must feel sort of—neglected. I read a book onced about folks in
England, which I kep' on readin' and readin' to see if anythin'
happened 'cept meals and go-to-bed and get-up-in-the-mawning.
The girl was a sure enough fool, and as to the boy—well, he wore
government socks, and didn't love the Lawd. Then he mar'ied a
widow by mistake, which she had a forked tongue, a bad eye, and
parted her ha'r on one side lookin' rather cute. That boy just aimed
to cut his throat for seventy-three pages, then didn't after all, which
was plumb discouraging. 'Stead of that he got a government job
inspectin' the clouds and drawin' salary. Then the widdy she talked
herself to death, and quit out. Afterwards that boy took sixty-one
pages to get a kiss from the heroine. Thar was a deanery in it and a
funny parrot—I reckon that's all the story."
"They mar'ied?"
"Sure, and nothin' happened ever afterwards, 'cept kids. Them
characters was awful safe from gettin' excited. Will it be that a-way
when I get tame enough to mar'y Jim?"
Feeling that said Jim was a lot unworthy of her, I strayed out to
study how much our camp was visible. It seemed like we couldn't be
attacked without our visitors cussing around first in the lava. They'd
bark their shins, and we'd hear gentle protests.
When I came back, Curly was brooding still about her Jim.
"He'll be a dook like the old patrone," says she, "and sure as I'm a
lady I'll be tired of life. Robes goes with that job, and a golden
crown such as the angels wear."
"I reckon that's only for Sunday best," I told her.
"To go to church? Wall, now, ain't that jest fine? And how my wolves
would laugh to see!" She stood up swaggering before the fire, her
hand on her revolver, her laugh ringing echoes round the cave. "Jest
you think," says she, "of me—a lady! Footman at the church door to
announce us 'Lord and Lady Balshannon!' and Jim and me goes
buttin' along to our pew. Then the preacher he rears up to talk his
sermon. 'My lord, my lady, and you common or'nary brethren.'
Cayn't you see Jim spit on his crown and give it a rub with his
sleeve, and me snarled up in my robe like a roped hawss? Then we
ride off home to the castle, and Jim says, 'Be-shrew thee! go to,
thou varlet, and wrastle the grub pile 'fore I shoot the cook!' Then
the valet says there's a deputy-marshal come to arrest us both for
stealin' cows, so Jim has him hung in the moat. Afterwards we put in
the hull afternoon shootin' foxes, and other British sports until it's
time for supper, then play stud poker beside the parlour stove.
You're to come and stop with us, Chalkeye."
"Sing to me, Curly," says I, because her voice was sweet enough to
gentle a grizzly bear, and it always smoothed my fur. It seems to me
I can see her now, her eyes green and flame in the firelight, her face
—I can't describe her face.

"Here's a moccasin track in the drifts,

It's no more than the length of me hand,
An' her instep—just see how it lifts—
If that ain't jest the best in the land!
For the maid ran as free as the wind,
And her foot was as light as the snow,
Why, as sure as I follow, I'll find
Me a kiss whar her red blushes grow.

"Here's two small little feet and a skirt,

Here's a soft little heart all aglow;
See me trail down the dear little flirt
By the sign which she left in the snow!
Did she run? 'Twas a hint to make haste,
An' why, bless her!—I'm sure she won't mind!
If she's got any kisses to waste,
Why, she knew that a man was behind!

"Did she run 'cause she's only afraid?

No, for sure 'twas to set me the pace!
And I've fallen in love with a maid
When I ain't had a sight of her face.
 There she is! And I knew she was near;
Will she pay me a kiss to be free?
Will she hate? will she love? will she fear?
Why, the darling! she's waiting to see!"
In all the thousands of camp fires dotted along the trail of my life,
that one is best to think of. Surely I believe that the Big Spirit sent
us poor little spirits loose on the earth to be kicked and educated,
not to have nice times. Looking around at present facts, we see how
Life is a cold, hard, business proposition, so we have to keep a
mighty sharp look-out for fear of being kicked off the premises. The
future glows with hope gay as a sunrise, the past is full of memories
shining glorious like the setting sun. Seems to me that in Eternity,
when the cold present is mixed up with all the rainbow colours of
Past and Future—why, then I'll hear Curly's voice come soft through
the pines, and see her face in the fire where I camp.
So in my poor way I dream in this lone camp where I sit at present.
Perhaps, says you, I'd better wake up right now and tend to my
story.
At midnight Curly rode into the town of Flagstaff. Afterwards,
following the Grand Cañon trail at daybreak, she happened by
accident on a stage-coach broken down with a load of tourists. The
driver chanced to be a retired robber, gone tame with rheumatism,
so she helped him to fix his linch pin which had snapped. As to the
tourists, they were plumb content to find a "real live cowboy" who
would talk to them. Most punchers steer shy of tourists, but Curly
enjoyed them. She was always curious as a young antelope at
anything unusual in the way of game, so she borrowed all their
newspapers "to read to her dying mother"—which was me. Then she
told them good advice about keeping alert at night to watch for
robbers. On that the teamster cheered them up by divulging how
robbers drink human blood to keep their courage boiling, and how
they like a baby when they are staled on pork. Curly imparted a few
particulars and rode away with a high tail.
I was still asleep when she came whirling into camp, whooping for
breakfast ravenous.
"Show a laig," says she, "and set out the grub pile swift while I go
wrangle the hawsses. We get a move on ourselves right after
breakfast!"
There was something unusual, I thought, about the way she talked,
a sort of high-strung excitement. As to her face, that was pale as
ashes. By the time I'd cooked bacon and slapjacks she had the
horses in, and fresh mounts saddled.
"How's Flagstaff?" I asked, while she washed herself at the spring.
"Ain't this just purty?" she said to the bubbling water. "Flagstaff?
Why, it sure is the craziest town I ever seen." Her laugh was harsh
to hear.
"You been showin yo' face in the street?"
"Wall partly, but I covered up half my complexion to look like the
toothache—so!" She stuffed a ball of a handkerchief into her near
cheek, bound the towel around her jaw, and looked most miserable.
"Oh, throw me a dentist!" she howled, then broke out laughing. "I
shorely did act pitiful."
"And why for is this town locoed?" I felt the girl was laughing so as
not to cry.
"Well," says she, "there's Joe Beef, the Utah sheriff, and a lot of lil'
no-account sheriffs, there's a fat United States Marshal with a chin
whisker and a heap of deputies, there's cowboys, scouts, and
trackers, reporters, ambulances, dawgs, pony-soldiers——"
"Has the Navajos broke out?"
"No, the pale-face has broke out; it's a hull epidemic, and there's an
outfit on the war trail in Utah, another on the San Juan in Colorado—
and they're going to eat up Robbers' Roost—and you, Chalkeye,
lookin' glum as a new-laid widow! Scat, you!"
"Has they gawn mad?" I asked. "The moment they make a break for
Robbers' Roost, McCalmont will kill this Ryan, scatter his wolves, and
vanish. This must be only the escort for Ryan's ransom."
"It's plumb ridiculous, but—there ain't no ransom."
"Yo're dreaming, Curly. This projeck of troops is sure death to Ryan.
They'd risk the killin' of a common or'nary man—but a millionaire!"
"That's where the joke comes—he ain't a millionaire!"
I saw her quit her breakfast all untasted.
"Cayn't you be serious, child, for once?" I asked, but it made me
ache to see her face that way.
"I daren't be serious, I daren't think, I daren't. Just you look at them
papers."
I snatched at the nearest paper, opened it, and thought I must have
been locoed. There were the headlines:—
"Ryan Combine Smashed. Collapse of the Trust."—"Panic on
'Change. The Kidnapped Millionaire, a Confessed Perjurer and
Corrupter of Witnesses, admits that He swore away the Life of an
Innocent Man."—"Behold thy Financial Gods, O Israel!"
I read on, dazed with the news. "Public Confidence at an
End."—"Investors jump from Under."—"Ryan Debentures a
Frost."—"Shares thrown on the Ash-heap."—"Petition in
Bankruptcy."—"Mrs. Ryan abandons all Hope of a
Ransom."—"Federal Government pledged to wipe out the
Bandits."—"Movement of Troops."—"Sheriff Joe Beef interviewed on
the Situation."—"Forces taking the Field."—"One of the Robbers
offers Himself as a Guide."
Curly was pulling my sleeve. "Come here," she said, and there was
surely something awful in her voice. "Look, see that dragon-fly," she
whispered, "and all them flowers usin' the spring for a mirror,
bendin' low. And hear the bull pines whisper, smell the great strong
scent, look thar at the blue sky, and the cloud herds grazin'. That's
like my home, ole Chalkeye—sech sounds, sech good smells, sech
woods, and sech a heaven overhead. The boys air gentlin' hawsses
in the big corral, or ridin' out to get a deer for supper. My fatheh sets
in the doorway strummin' hymns on his old guitar, his dawgs around
him, his lil' small cat pawin' around to help. And Jim is thar, my Jim—
cayn't I be serious? Don't I think? Ain't I seein' that, all blackened
ruins—bloody ground—daid corpses rotting down by the corrals—
shadows of black wings acrost the yard? Oh, God of Mercy, spare
'em, spare my wolves, my home, my fatheh! And Jim is thar!"
She turned against me raging. "What air you waiting for? Has you
jest got to stand round all day? Yo're scart—that's what's the matter
with you-all—afraid to even carry a warning! What d'ye want to pack
the kitchen for? I'm shut of you. Stay thar!"
She jumped to her horse, she sprang to the saddle, she lashed her
spurs for blood, and whirled away to the northward.
 CHAPTER XXVI
THE STRONGHOLD
My words are only crawling for lack of wings; my brain's like ashes
when it needs to be live fire. I have no brains or words to talk of
what I've seen, and I reckon I'm a lot incompetent. The men who
wrote the Bible ought to be turned loose on this earth again to make
another book. Then folks who have not seen might understand such
places as the Painted Desert, the Rock City, and the Grand Cañon of
the Colorado.
What with delays in packing and driving I had to track Curly for
maybe thirty miles before I caught her up at Clay Flat by the edge of
the forest. Her horse was dead, and she sat beside him, her stone-
white face set cold, staring straight ahead. Below us lay the Painted
Desert, so wide that the further edge was lost in mist. We rode
down to the trickle of water at the bottom, then up the further side,
and all the rock lay in belts red as flame, yellow as gold, purple as
violets, which seemed to shine of their own light, burning us. The
men who stop in that country mostly go mad, the which is natural.
Beyond we came out on a mesa of naked rock and sand-drifts,
where we found a pool between high cliffs, splashed through it, and
maybe a dozen miles beyond found after nightfall a few plants of
grass. We had covered a hundred and ten miles at a tearing pace
that day, changing horses, robber fashion, at every halt we made.
Next morning we met up with small bunches of Navajo Indians, a
strange breed of people, dressed up in their private brown skins,
with great plenty of turquoise necklace, silver harness, and a wisp of
breech clout, riding with bows and arrows to hunt rabbits. They
handed a few arrows after us; but their ponies could not run, so we
quit their company.
Then we came to the City of Rocks, flaming red, and high as
mountains; their thousand-foot walls sheer to the desert, all carved
in needle spires, towers, castles, palaces. The street was six miles
wide, I reckon, and we rode along it maybe fifty miles, like crawling
flies in the sand.
Beyond the city we curved around by a gap in the desert, a sort of
crack half a mile deep, with a river along the bottom. It swung about
like a snake, getting deeper and deeper; but we kept to the level
desert, until we reached a little side cañon, where there was feed
and water. We resaddled there, taking Curly's buckskin and my pet
horse Sam. The rest of our bunch we turned down into that pasture,
and left them, riding on along the rim rock.
Just after sundown we came abrupt to what looked like the end of
the world, a gulf so deep that we couldn't see to the bottom. That
mighty gash in the earth is six hundred miles in length, it's usually
ten miles wide; it's more than a sheer mile deep, and full of
mountain ranges all shaped like gigantic buildings. Dead weary as I
was from riding more than two hundred miles in forty-eight hours, I
forgot about being tired when I saw that place, the most
tremendous thing in the whole earth, the Grand Cañon of the
Colorado.
There was no rest for us, but seven miles of such a break-neck trail
as I'd never imagined possible, for it overhung black death from
start to finish, looping round the face of outrageous cliffs which
seemed to have no bottom. Midnight was past before we got to
camp beside the river, flung off the harness, turned the horses loose,
and dropped in our tracks to sleep.
A gunshot roused me, and starting broad awake I heard the echoes
crashing from wall to wall.
"It's only me," said Curly, "signalling."
Dark banks of fog were driving over our heads, and I shivered with
the dawn cold. Then I looked up, and more than a mile in the air
saw scarlet cliffs ablaze in the sunlight. The river rolled beside our
camp, wide as the Thames in London, grey water so thick that
splashes of it harden into mud. A gunshot answered from the further
bank, then Curly gave the cougar war-howl. The yelp of a wolf came
back.
"Both boats," said Curly, "are on this side of the river—something
gawn wrong. Cook breakfast while I cross."
She took a little crazy boat and towed it upstream, scrambling over
boulders a quarter-mile or so. From there she pulled the boat across
the great grey sluice, fetching the other bank after a half-mile drift
downstream. There was a strong backwater along that further bank,
and she pulled easy, drifting past the camp up to a rocky headland.
The man who had answered the signals was waiting there to throw
his saddle into the boat, and follow, leading two horses so they
could swim behind. By the time they crossed again I had our two
horses to camp, and breakfast waiting.
It was not until after he fed, and he laid in provisions generous, that
this robber—his name was Pieface—had a word to say. He took no
more notice of me than if I was dead, and when he talked with Curly
he sat close beside her whispering. I hearing nothing; but allow I
thought a heap, for this man's face was bad, the very look of him
was poison. My gun was plenty ready while I watched.
"Chalkeye," says Curly out aloud, but her eyes were set on this
ladrone all the while. "This Pieface says that ten of our boys were
sent down to wait for the ransom. They were camped at Clay Flat,
you remember?"
"I ain't much forgetful," says I, for this meant that all the cowards
had deserted! We had seen no men at Clay Flat.
"The chief," says Curly, "is right on his ear, and sends this Pieface to
find out what's wrong at Clay Flat."
When this Pieface person had hit the trail, we took both boats across
the river and swam our horses. From the far bank our way turned
sharp to the left into the side Cañon of Dirty Devil Creek. There we
rode along some miles in the water, so as to leave no trail; then,
quitting the bottom, turned sharp back up a ledge, threading the
face of the cliffs. The heat was blinding; it seemed as if we were
being baked alive, and even my tanned hide broke out in blisters.
Curly allowed this cliff was over six thousand feet high, and the trail
kept circling round red buttresses, flanks of broken rock, to one
sheer cape where nothing lay below us but blue space. Then we
swung into a little arroyo with trickling water, shady trees, and a
gentle glade until we reached the summit. At the rim rock a robber
halted us, until Curly pushed her hat-brim up, showing her face. She
answered for me, and we rode on through level pine woods. I
noticed horse tracks scattering everywhere, but no trail whatever;
and then even the horse-tracks petered out. I looked back, and
there was not a sign to show the way we had come. For the first
mile we headed towards where the sun would set, now we swung
around on a long curve until we pointed north-east. I might just as
well have been blindfold.
"Curly," I asked, "is this Main Street?"
"I reckon," she laughed. "Could you find the way back?"
Once before she had told me that no trails led to the stronghold.
Then away to the left I saw a big corral, with a dust of horses inside,
and men sitting round on the top rail, maybe a dozen of them.
Beyond it lay a streak of open water, and right in front loomed a
house, set in the standing woods, where one could hardly see a
hundred paces. It was a ranche house of the usual breed, log-built,
low-pitched, banked up around with earth as high as the loopholes,
and at each end against the gable stood a dry stone chimney. Two
or three men stood in the doorway smoking, and but for the fact
that they packed their guns when at home, they looked like the
usual cowboys. The dogs were plenty exuberant, but Curly might
have been out shooting rabbits for all the fuss that these men made
about her coming.
We unsaddled and set our horses loose.
"Wall, Curly," asked one of the robbers, "got any liquor along?"
"Nary a smell."
Then McCalmont came round the end of the house, dusty after some
argument with a broncho, trailing his rope while he coiled it.
"So, home at last," says he, shaking a paw with me right hearty.
"Wall, I'm sure pleased at you, Curly."
"Come to repawt," says Curly, mighty cool, but I saw that her eyes
were ranging around for Jim. An olla of water hung from the eave by
the door, and McCalmont passed the dipper to me first. Then while
Curly drank he introduced me to Crazy Hoss, Black Stanley, and his
brother Dave, who made out that they were glad to see me, though
their looks said different.
Then the Captain asked me in, and we followed Curly through the
mess-house door. The log walls were hung with antlers, skins lay on
the floor before the big hearth at the end, and down the middle,
with benches on either side, ran the long table with its oilcloth cover,
the tinware set out for supper, and netting to keep off flies. That cow
camp looked good to me, home-like and soothing. Off to the left of
the messroom opened a little lean-to house—McCalmont's den—with
a cubby hole beyond it for Curly. We found her sitting on the bunk,
gun and spurs unbuckled, and holding her legs out for the old man
to pull off her shaps. I unharnessed myself, and he fed me a cigar,
bidding me to settle in a cow-hide chair. I felt right to home then.
"Dad," says Curly abrupt, "whar's my Jim?"
"What, you ain't met him?" says McCalmont. "He's gone to look for
you."
Curly went pale under the tan, and gulped. "How long?" she asked.
"Oh, quite a time. Why, child, what's scart you? Perhaps he's with
my boys at Painted Desert."
"Daddy, I've brought bad news."
"I reckon"—McCalmont spoke very low—"I been thar before a few
times, and yet we've worried along. Lie down, so you'll get mo' rest."
He sat on the edge of the bunk, his hand on hers, as she lay loosing
out bit by bit the story of the ransom lost, the Federal Government
on the warpath, ten good men deserted. He was all crouched up
when she finished, the stub of a cigarette burning his fingers, and he
looked very old.
I went to get the newspapers which I'd kept in my warbags for him,
and when I came back he turned loose a volley of questions,
searching me to the bones until he had all the truth.
"Well, well," he said at last, with a queer smile, "these yere official
parties seem to be takin' quite an interest, eh? I thank you, seh, and
I'm full satisfied." Then he stood up. "You must be kinder hungry,
Misteh Davies. Spose you jest interview my cook. I think that you
and him has met before, and won't need introducin'. My son and I
will join you presently."
I strayed out through the messroom and found the kitchen beyond.
Sure enough the cook and I were acquainted, although I had not
expected to see this particular person in shirt and overalls, and his
bare arms white with flour. He was plenty absorbed too, dipping
balls of chopped meat into a pan full of mess.
"How air you, seh?"
He shied right off his feet and turned to face me, looking as guilty as
a caught fox.
"I guessed as much," he gasped; "all blackguards are bound to flock
together here."
"Glad to meet you, Mr. Ryan," says I.
Then he collected himself for war. "State your business, and get right
out of here. I'm engaged!"
"I'm engaged likewise"—I sat down on a box, and a dog came
fawning to me—"wharas this dog is polite, and sets an example. He's
plumb full of decorum and depawtment."
I hardly know what possessed me. Ryan's looks perhaps, or the way
he guarded those meat balls. I grabbed the nearest, and fed it to
the dog so quick that Ryan had only time enough to give himself
dead away.
"Leave that dawg alone!" says I. He quit resisting me then, backed
to the log wall, and stood glaring.
"I've noticed," says I, "in dawgs that the smaller the dawg, the
larger the bark. I knew one onced so small that he hadn't room to
hold his bark—and the recoil tharfrom threw him back three dawg
lengths. You seem to suffer a whole lot from yo' recoil, Mr. Ryan."
"I guess," he said in his harsh Yankee twang, "that you're a low-
down coward—torturing me because you know I'm helpless."
"That dawg," says I, "is acting sort of queer, eh? As to my being a
coward, Mr. Ryan, you'll remember the last time we met I came
buttin' along to yo' hotel in Grave City commenting on yo'
proceedings with a straight tongue, and guns to back the same."
"Come to the point," says he.
"Now this yere is what I'm trailin's up to, seh, that I bears neither
guns nor malice, calls no names, bridles my tongue severe, treats
you with plenty and gentle inquiries, whar do you keep yo'
manners?"
"Where you keep your honesty," says he, sort of sarcastic. "You
know I can't escape, so I've got to listen. Talk, my good man, and
when you're through you can go."
The town scout still had his office manners, a lot contemptuous. He
climbed up on top of his vanity—like a frog on a ladder—to call me
"my good man." And yet I had tamed him enough for business.
"I take notice," says I, "that on the shelf above yo' haid there's a tin
of rough-on-rats. This condiment is maybe unusual in meat balls,
and it seems to affect yo' dawg some poignant, with wiggles and
froth on the jaws. He's swelling up, too. I likewise remarks that
thar's enough of these high-flavored meat balls to go through
McCalmont and all his riders. May I politely ask how long you been
cook for this ranche?"
"Mind your own business."
"Which is to further test these same delicacies by trying a meat ball
on you."
He grabbed a long butcher-knife from the table.
"Try it," says he.
"Maybe I'd better call in Captain McCalmont. Shall I shout for him?"
Ryan dropped the knife.
"What do you want to know?"
"How long you have been cook?"
"Since yesterday. I've been helping a man named Pieface."
"Why did he quit?"
"Got a note by carrier pigeon. He was in charge of McCalmont's
pigeons."
"You found the note after he left?"
"Yes."
"Hand it over."
He said bad words.
"I notice," says I, "that the meat ball has finished with yo' dawg."
He took a slip of paper from his hip-pocket.
"No ransom," I read. "Warn the boys."
"Were the boys warned?"
"No."
"The news made you sort of desperate?"
"They'll kill me when they know!"
"So you took precautions first?"
"Why do you torture me?"
"Prefer a meat-ball?"
"Go on, sir."
"I might be induced to hide away these delicacies. Also this"—I
kicked the dog's carcass—"in fact to help you some. You could bury
the past, and resign yo' post as cook."
"The news will come out, and I'll be murdered anyway. What's the
good?"
"There being no ransom," says I, "the use for you here ain't much
conspicuous. As a cook you're precarious, too. Suppose I get you
turned loose?"
"I'll pay one hundred thousand dollars the day you set me free in the
nearest town."
How could I tell the poor brute that he had not a dollar left in the
whole world?
"Two hundred thousand," says he, "and that's my last word."
A man came to the door behind me, which opened on the yard.
There hung a long iron crowbar, bent up in the form of a triangle.
The man began to beat this with a horseshoe, and the sound would
carry maybe a quarter-mile.
"Name your own terms," says Ryan. "Come, name your price!"
"You does me too much honour," says I, for how could I tell him the
facts?
"What do I care for your honour?" Ryan had played like a sneaking
coyote before, but now he talked out like a man. "I've bought better
men than you with a hundred dollars, and now I'm going to insult
you with hard cash. Your price, you thief!"
The sound of the gong must have been a gathering signal, for men
were straying in from the corrals, and there was soon a tramping of
feet and buff of talk from the messroom at my back.
"D'ye think," says Ryan, "that I'd be under any obligations to such as
you? I ask no favours. I only try to make it worth your while to do
what's right for once. Come, have you any manhood in you? I appeal
to your manhood to save me. Oh, turn your back, you hound!"
I ran to my saddle in the yard, opened my warbags, grabbed out a
pad of paper and fountain-pen, then pushed my way through the
growing crowd about the messroom doors, until I won back to the
kitchen.
"Ryan," says I, "set down on that meat block, and write down what I
say in yo' own words."
"What new treachery is this?" he asked.
"If you want to live," I answered, "you'd best get a move on, and
write."
The row in the messroom made it hard for him to hear, so I drew up
close.
"Memorandum," says I, and he began to scribble; "date it 'Robbers'
Roost, Utah.'"
"But this is California!"
"Write what I say, 'October 13th, 1900.'"
Michael Ryan confessed on oath how he had aided and abetted
George Ryan in a plot to destroy Balshannon. He confessed to
perjury at the Ryan inquest, naming the witnesses and the amounts
he paid to each. He released the Holy Cross estate from all claims on
the ground of debt, restoring the same to Jim. He swore that Jim,
Curly, and I were not among the brigands who captured him, and he
believed all three of us to be innocent.
As to these facts, I had to convince him with a meat ball, but in the
end he signed.
Then I got in a brace of independent robbers to sign as witnesses,
so the thing looked mighty legal and satisfying. Meanwhile in the
messroom I could hear McCalmont calling his wolves to order, and
my witnesses went away to hear his talk.
"Ryan," says I, sitting down beside him, "you know the points of the
compass?"
"I guess."
"I'm going to explain the trail to the nearest settlement; see here."
So I began to scribble out a map showing the lie of the Cañons, the
route to where we had left the boats, the signs to guide him beyond.
"When you see this big butte towering high on the right——" I
looked up, and found he was not listening, for he pointed his ears to
the messroom where McCalmont talked.
"Yo're due to understand," the Captain was saying, "that this yere
Ryan made a letter which he sent to his wife. He showed me the
letter, and it was sure fine scholarship, telling her plain and clear
how to scare up his ransom at once, how to deliver the same, and
not make crooked plays to get us trapped. Mrs. Ryan she got the
letter all right, but then some low-lived swab stole it away from her,
and sold it to the N' York Megaphone."
Ryan let out a sudden cry.
"That's what's the matter," says McCalmont, "and all the private part
of the letter got into print; whar Ryan confesses how he acted foul
to pore young Jim du Chesnay. He confesses to perjury and bribing
witnesses, an' sech-like acts of rotten treachery, which the general
public havin' entrusted millions of money to this Ryan to hold and
invest the same, ain't pleased when they larns his private manners
and customs, or how his manhood proves itself up when tested. The
public thinks it's been too trustful in confiding big wealth to a felon
who is due to be gaoled for his sins and gathered into the
penitentiary."
"Escape," says I to Ryan, "or you ain't got five minutes to live."
"Escape!" says he—"to penitentiary! Oh, Kathleen, Kathleen!" He
covered his face with his hands, while McCalmont went on—
"So you see, boys, that the public closes down on this Ryan, and
grabs theyr money, and jumps from under sudden, stampeding
before the crash. This pore swab we got in the kitchen, which he
cayn't even cook, ain't a millionaire any mo', but a bankrupt, due to
get five years' grief for his acts, which is plumb felonious."
It seemed as if all the robbers were stunned with the news, for they
made no move or sound. Only poor Ryan groaned, and I felt sick,
because I knew it was too late for him even to run.
"Boys," says McCalmont, "this news is bad medicine for we-all,
'cause we done attracted too much attention, we made ourselves
plenty conspicuous, and the United States has awoke to a smell of
robbers. The nation has got a move on at last, and it's coming up
again on us on every side to put our fires out. Ten of our men has
deserted, and likewise the Pieface animal, so there'll be plenty
guides to lead the attack on this place. I reckon our trails are
blocked, our water-holes are held, our time is pretty near expired in
this world. I tharfore propose that we divide up what plunder we got
in store—the same being considerable—and all share alike, and after
that we scatter as best we can. Those of us who win out of this trap
is due to live, and those who don't will get a sure good fight."
I heard a voice call out, "Who brung this news?"
"The man who risked his life to bring this news is my friend Chalkeye
Davies."
At that I whirled right in through the crowd in the messroom and
won to McCalmont's side.
"I got to speak," says I.
The Captain grabbed my hand. "Boys, will you hear him?" he called.
"Spit it out!" says Crazy Hoss. "Yo're a sure enough man, and we'll
hear."
"Boys," says I, "if you hold it good to have this warning in time to
save yo' lives, I has to say that Curly McCalmont done it. He acted
faithful when ten men and a swab deserted you complete, and Curly
is shorely braver than any man I ever seen in this world. I speaks for
Curly and me, and for the Captain, when I says that it's a hull lot
pitiful to see the way this Ryan person has acted straight to own up
the wrong he done, and played his cyards honest in the matter of
ransom. We asks you to spare the life of this yere Ryan."
Crazy Hoss reared up swift to open war against me.
"I'll spare him!" he shouted. "I'll spare him a gunload of lead! What's
yo' game, stranger? Show down yo' hand, and let's see this hull
crooked lay-out. I stood at the loophole thar to watch yo' play, I
seen you workin over this yere prisoner until he's plumb subdued,
and offering bribes. You catch him with a can full of wolf-bait pizen,
preparin' the same for our supper; you feed his meat ball to his
dawg, which dies on the floor between you; you threatens to stuff
another down Ryan's throat; then you makes him good talk till he
signs a paper, and now you arises here to recite his virtues, playin'
to save his life. Show down yo' game!"
By this time I was facing a matter of twenty revolvers, all a-quiver to
drive holes through my poor old hide. Some yelled that Ryan had
bribed me, some that I was projecting the death of the whole gang
by Ryan's poison.
I threw up my hand, showing the peace sign quick.
"After you!" I called, always willing to oblige—"after you. Shoot first,
and hear me afterwards, eh? That's right, boys. You see, I pack no
gun, 'cause I'm yo' guest."
The guns were put away.
"You've heard," says I, "from Misteh Crazy Hoss how I subdued this
Ryan and got a quittance for Jim du Chesnay from the charge of
murder. I'm his guardian, boys. Furthermore, you heard from Misteh
Crazy Hoss a plumb truthful account of how I saved this whole
crowd from being wolf-bait fed to us for our supper—the same being
considered unwholesome. Now, as to this pore little felon, he put up
the only play he knew to save hisself from being murdered. He ain't
a lion to fight with teeth, or a man to distribute gunfire on his
enemies; but his back's to the wall and he puts up the best little
fight he knows about. He, bein' a sure snake, uses poison, whereat,
having drawn his fangs, I takes his side, and begs the critter's life. I
want to have him for a curio to put in my collection, and I offers ten
cents for the same—which is more'n he's worth."
"Boys," said McCalmont, "if this yere Chalkeye didn't allus take the
weaker side, he'd be a rich man still, instead of an outlaw herdin'
with our gang as his last refuge."
The robbers seemed to like me some better now, and a feeling of
popularity began to glow on my skin.
"But," says McCalmont, "in the matter of this yere snake, he acts
plumb erroneous. If the snake escapes to give evidence, he can
identify the entire gang, Chalkeye included. Go—kill that snake!"
Crazy Hoss rushed to the kitchen. "Gawn!" he yelled. "Escaped! So
this is yo' game, Mr. Chalkeye!"
"Kill him! kill him!"
"Halt!" McCalmont faced the rush against me—outroared the
shouting. "Back, or I fire! Back, you curs! Deal with this business
afterwards—we want the snake first! Whar's them smell-dawgs?
Here, Powder! Powder! Here, you Rip; come on, lil' dawg! Crazy
Hoss, you put on them dawgs to the scent, track down this Ryan,
and kill him. Then come back."
The dogs were put on Ryan's trail. "Go, get 'im, Rip! Sick 'im,
Powder! Tear 'im and eat 'im! Come along, boys!" So the whole
crowd poured away to track Ryan.
McCalmont grabbed me by the arm to hold me back.
"You fool," he hissed through his teeth, "come on—there's not a
moment to lose—or them wolves will get you! Curly! Curly, come
out, you, and fetch Chalkeye's gun. Chalkeye, you come quick."
Curly came running from the little hind room with our guns, while
McCalmont rushed me to the kitchen. "Here," he said, "hold this
sack for grub!"
"Not them meat balls," says I; "meat balls is out of season."
"All right," he laughed, pitching a half-sack of flour into the bag
which I held, then a side of bacon, and such other truck as was
handy. "Curly, you knows whar to take this man?"
"Come along," says Curly. And I followed tame, with the sack on my
shoulder until we gained the woods.
"Back!" says Curly sudden, and dodged for cover, while I dropped
flat behind a fallen tree. Looking from under, I saw Ryan come
surging past in front of us, screeching like all possessed, the smell-
dogs at his tail, and the robbers swarming close behind.
"A near thing that," says Curly, when they had passed; "creep
through under the log."
I crept through with my sack, and she followed.
"Lie low," she said; "we're hidden here from the ranche until we can
run some more. Get out yo' gun."
They say that we white men, using our right hands mostly, is
strongest on that side, and apt to bear to the left when we don't
take note how we run. Anyway, Ryan, instead of circling south, had
circled to the left and lost himself, then, when he found he was
hunted, went off his head complete. He was back in the yard now,
close beside the house, where McCalmont headed him off with a
shot from the door, while the robbers spread out half circling. They
laughed and shouted.
"My turn first!" says Crazy Hoss.
"Take his off ear, Crazy!"
The shot took Ryan's right ear; then Spotty fired, lopping off the left.
The poor brute tried to bolt, but a bullet swung him around. He
lifted his hands for mercy, but the next shot smashed his wrist. He
screamed, and a bullet caught his teeth. Curly was yelling now, but
nobody noticed, for Ryan was down on his knees, and his face was
being ripped to pieces. Then I saw McCalmont fire, and one of his
dogs dropped dead. He fired again, and killed the other hound. He
had saved me from being tracked.
"Quit firing!" he shouted, and the robbers threatened him. "Now," he
yelled at them, "who wants to talk war agin my friend Davies and
me?"
"Come away," says Curly; and I crept after her.
A man's legs are naturally forked to fit onto a horse, and mine have
never been broke to walking afoot. Fact is my legs act resentful
when I walk, making me waddle all the same as a duck; which it
humbles me to think of, because that Curly person loaded a sack on
my withers, and herded me along like a pack mule until I felt no
better than a spavined, groaning wreck. We must have gone afoot
more than two whole miles before we came out at last on the edge
of the Grand Cañon.
At this place, right in under the rim rock, there was a hidden cavern
—a fine big place when you got down there, but a scary climb to
reach. Half-way down the rock ladder I grabbed a root, which turned
out to be a young rattlesnake, and was so surprised that I pretty
near took flight. Curly saved me that time from being an angel—
which leads me to remark that there's lots of people better adapted
to that holy vocation than me.
It was dark when we got to the cavern, but next morning I saw that
it was a sure fine hiding-place, the floor being covered with a whole
village of old stone houses. There are thousands of cliff villages like
this in the cañon country, made by some breed of Indians long gone
dead, but this one had special conveniences, because you could spit
from the outer wall into sheer eternity. Seeing how the robbers were
warped in their judgments of me, and the authorities likewise
prejudiced, my health required plenty seclusion then. We stayed in
that hole for a week.
Curly was restive, quitting me at night to range the woods and visit
the ranche, collecting everything useful which was small enough and
loose enough to pull. She got four horses into a hidden pasture, with
saddles for the same, and chuck to feed us when we should hit the
trail. The plunder was good, but the news she brought smelt bad of
coming trouble, for the robbers stayed to quarrel over their shares of
past thievings. When they broke to scatter, the trails were all blocked
with troops, and then they were herded back into the ranche. On the
fourth day I had to make Curly prisoner, while from noon to dusk the
battle raged at the stronghold, and she wanted to go and die at her
father's side. All that night and the day that followed I kept the poor
girl quiet with my gun, then when the darkness came I let her free.
I don't like to think of what happened next, because I reckon that if
I wash my outside I ought likewise to keep my inside clean and tidy
with nice thoughts. Getting our horses, Curly and I rode back to
Robbers' Roost, pulling up at the edge of the clearing just as the
new moon lifted above the pines. The stench of death, black ruins,
white ashes, dark patches where blood had dried upon the dust,
everywhere broken corpses—coyotes creeping to cover, eagles
flapping heavily away—my soul felt small and humble in that place.
Black it was and silver under the moon, with something moving slow
from corpse to corpse in search—a live man counting the dead.
Something in the way he moved reminded me I must have known
that man, but the little partner called to him all at once—
"Jim!" Her voice went low and clear across the silence. "Jim!"
 CHAPTER XXVII
A SECOND-HAND ANGEL
Scouting cautious, and shying wide of settlements except when we
had to buy chuck, I herded my youngsters up the long trail north.
We took no count of the distance, we lost all tab of dates, but
camped where game was plenty, pushed on when the sun was
shining, holed up when the wind was too cold, and mostly lived by
hunting. So we rode the winter through and came to the spring
beyond, catching maybe more happiness than was good to have all
at once.
One day, the snow being gone, and the prairie one big garden of
spring flowers reaching away to the skyline, we happened to meet
up sudden with a pony-soldier which he was lying under the shadow
of his horse and playing tunes on a mouth-organ, heaps content
with himself. His coat was red, his harness all glittering fine, his
boots were shiny, his spurs had small cruel rowels. He said his chief
was His Imperial Majesty Edward VII., that his tribe was the North-
West Mounted Police, and his camp was called Medicine Hat, the
same being close adjacent. We sounded him on robbers, but he
seemed plumb ignorant, and said there was quite a few antelope if
we cared for hunting.
Telling the youngsters to camp, I went butting along into Medicine
Hat to prospect the same alone. It felt mighty strange to be in a
town again, see the people walking around who belonged there,
women and children especially, but the whisky I sampled felt right
natural, and for all my snuffing and snorting I smelt nothing
suspicious in the way of wolf-trap. So I traded with a lady who kept
store for woman's clothing, such as she used herself, enough to load
up my pack-horse. She certainly selected liberal to judge by the
money I paid.
When I got back to camp expecting supper, I found the kids had
been quarrelling, so that they weren't on speaking terms, and I had
to introduce them. Jim was special haughty, but Curly got heaps
interested in the clothes I'd bought, crowing and chuckling over
everything. Her favorite game was playing at being a lady, but now
she shied at committing herself.
"Shucks!" she flirted across to the far side of the fire. "I cayn't
oppress Jim in them things—I'd get so tame and weak he'd sit on
my haid!"
"You're due to get mar'ied," says I, "as sure as sunrise to-morrow."
"So! Jim ain't caught me yet!"
Jim started in to catch her, but she jumped the fire to clear him.
"Now!" she deified him complete; "don't you rush my corral with one
of yo' fool kisses, or I'll shorely bat yo' haid. I ain't laid down my
arms yet!"
So she swaggered with her little brown hand on her gun, the
firelight glowing on her leather clothes and gold bright hair, on the
flush of her sunburnt skin, on milk-white teeth, and laughing,
flashing eyes. Jim's heart was burning, I reckon, for he went down
on one knee and reached out his arms to her. There was only the
fire between them.
"Say you love me, Curly?"
"It cayn't be helped, Jim," she whispered, and her face went grave,
"but I shorely love you."
Riding the ranges of the world and grazing in life's pastures, I've got
to be plumb content with things present, which I can grab the same
with my teeth, instead of hungering after that heaven above which
seems a lot uncertain, and apt to prove disappointing. Here I've got
horses for sure, plenty cows, and Monte, one of my old riders, for
my partner. Bear Hole is the name of our new ranche, with the bull
pines of the coconino forest all around us, the hoary old volcanoes
towering above, and the lava-beds fencing our home pasture. Back
of the cabin is the spring where Curly used to splash me when she
washed, the cave where she sang to me beside our camp fire. The
bubble spring, the wind in the pines, the chatter of the birds, and
the meadow flowers remind me of her always. She has put away her
spurs and gun never to ride any more with free men on God's grass,
because, poor soul! she's only a lady now and gone respectable.
Last summer—it sure makes me sweat to think of that scary
business—I went to Ireland. First came civilisation—which I'd never
seen it before—cities all cluttered up with so various noises and
smells that I got lost complete. When you stop to study the trail you
get killed by a tramcar. Then there was the ocean, a sure great sight
and exciting to the stomach—mine got plumb dissolute, pitching and
bucking around like a mean horse, so that I was heaps glad to
dismount at Liverpool. That Old Country is plenty strange, too, for a
plain man to consider, for I seen women drunk and children starving,
and had to bat a white man's head for shining a nigger's shoes. It
beats me how such a tribe can ride herd on a bunch of empires as
easy as I drive cows, but if I proceed to unfold all I don't know, I'll
be apt to get plumb talkative.
When I came up against Balshannon Castle, I found it a sure enough
palace, which was no place for me, so I pawed around outside
inquiring. Her ladyship was to home, and I found her setting in a
fold-up chair on the terrace. It made me feel uplifted to see her
there nursing a small baby, crooning fool talk to the same, which she
patted and smacked and nuzzled all at once.
"Wall," says she, as I came looming up accidental, "ef it ain't ole
Chalkeye! Didn't I tell you awdehs to come long ago? Now don't you
talk, or you'll spoil my kid's morals, 'cause he ain't broke to hawss-
thieves. Yes, you may set on that stool."
"Curly," says I, feeling scared, "is that yo' kid?"
"Sort of. I traded for him. He's a second-hand angel. Now jest ain't
he cute?"
He was a sure cunning little person, and thought me great medicine
to play with.
"Whar is his lawdship?" says I.
"Jim's down to the pasture, breaking a fool colt, and Chalkeye—oh,
you ole felon, how I enjoy to see yo' homely face! I got good news.
Father's alive, yes, in New York. He writes to say he's got a job at a
theatre, giving shows of roping and shooting. He's the Cowboy
Champion, and"—her voice dropped to a whisper—"planning
enormous robberies. He'll steal New York, I reckon."
"Curly," says I, "spose I give you good news. May I hold that kid just
to try?"
"Now you tame yo'self, and don't get ra'ring up too proud. Then
maybe you shall—to-morrow. Tell me yo' news."
I handed her the documents, which the governor of Arizona had
made for me himself. Curly was pardoned, the charge against Jim
was withdrawn, and I was to come up for trial when called upon. I
shall not be called upon so long as I stay good.
I saw the tears in Curly's eyes as she read, and her lips went twisty
as if she were due to cry.
"Shorely," she said, "this comes of tellin' our prayers to God. So Jim
and me is free to go back to Holy Crawss?"
"You're free."
"Old friend," she whispered, "you must be first to tell Jim. Leave me
awhile."
I walked away into the house as if to look for Jim, then crept back
behind a curtain watching her. She looked away to the west, and I
knew she was longing for the desert. Then she kissed her baby on
the nose, and once again, as in the old days, I heard her singing:—

"Whar y'u from, little stranger—little boy?

Y'u was riding a cloud on that star-strewn plain,
But y'u fell from the skies like a drop of rain,
To this wo'ld of sorrow and long, long pain—
Will y'u care fo' yo' motheh, lillie boy?"

Far off I could hear the footfall of a horse.

"When y'u grows, little varmint, lillie boy,

Y'u'll be ridin' a hawss at yo' fatheh's side,
With you' gun and yo' spurs and yo' haidstrong pride:
Will y'u think of yo' home when the world rolls wide—
Will y'u wish fo' yo' motheh, lillie boy?"

The horse was coming nearer up the drive.

"When y'u love in yo' manhood, little boy,

When y'u dream of a girl who is angel fair,
When the stars are her eyes, and the winds her hair,
When the sun is her smile, and yo' heaven's there,
Will y'u care fo' yo' motheh, lillie boy?"

The horseman, brought up half-rearing, stepped from the saddle,

then threw his rein in the old range way, and Balshannon hurried to
his wife.
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY'S
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Intensely human, intellectually a masterpiece, and throughout
entertains.—Philadelphia Telegraph.
8. A DETACHED PIRATE. By Helen Milecete.
A charming young English woman is the self-styled pirate of this
book.—The Outlook.
9. KISMET. By Julia Fletcher (George Fleming).
It is so fresh and sweet and innocent and joyous, the dialogue is so
natural and bright, the characters so keenly edged, and the
descriptions so pathetic.—Extract from a letter.
10. A DAUGHTER OF NEW FRANCE. By Mary Catherine Crowley.
A strong, vivid romance, and has reproduced with rare skill the social
atmosphere of the time, as well as the spirit of adventure that was
in the air.—Brooklyn Eagle.
11. THE LOVE-LETTERS OF THE KING; or, The Life Romantic. By
Richard le Gallienne.
He possesses charm, sweetness, native poesy.—Chicago Evening
Post.
12. WITH FIRE AND SWORD. By Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated by
Jeremiah Curtin.
The only modern romance with which it can be compared for fire,
sprightliness, rapidity of action, swift changes, and absorbing
interest is "The Three Musketeers" of Dumas.—New York Tribune.
13. A MAID OF BAR HARBOR. By Henrietta G. Rowe.
Mrs. Rowe writes of the country life, character and traditions, and
dialect with the sure touch of the observer at first hand.—Providence
Journal.
14. UP AND DOWN THE SANDS OF GOLD. By Mary Devereux.
The story is one of sunshine and shade, of smiles and tears.—Boston
Transcript.
15. THE KING'S HENCHMAN. A Chronicle of the Sixteenth Century.
By William Henry Johnson.
Mr. Johnson has caught the spirit of the period, and has painted in
Henry of Navarre a truthful and memorable historical portrait.—The
Mail and Express, New York.
16. WHEN THE GATES LIFT UP THEIR HEADS. A Story of the South
in the Seventies. By Payne Erskine.
A very remarkable story of the South after the war.—Boston Budget.
17. A ROSE OF NORMANDY. By William R. A. Wilson.
Stirs the blood, warms the heart, and holds the interest in a firm grip
from beginning to end.—Chicago Tribune.
18. BARBARA, A WOMAN OF THE WEST. By John H. Whitson.
A story original in ideas, clever in construction, and interesting to the
last word.—New York World.
19. THE HEROINE OF THE STRAIT. By Mary Catherine Crowley.
A story of absorbing interest, told in a praiseworthy and skilful
manner.—Current Literature.
20. LOVE THRIVES IN WAR. By Mary Catherine Crowley.
The author is saturated with the atmosphere of the time, and has
told her story with zest and spirit. It is a picturesque, well-imagined
tale.—New York Times Saturday Review.
 21. A GIRL OF VIRGINIA. By Lucy M. Thruston.
The author has given us a picture of modern girlhood that goes
straight to the heart and stays there.—New York Globe.
22. PAINTED SHADOWS. By Richard le Gallienne.
Rich in poetic interpretation.—Boston Transcript.
23. THE VIKING'S SKULL. By John R. Carling.
A capital tale of mystery and detection of crime. The ingenuity with
which its intricacies are threaded is really wonderful.—New York
Times.
24. SARAH TULDON. By Orme Agnus.
A remarkable study of an English peasant girl of strong character
who was developed into a fine, noble hearted, and generous
woman.—Chicago Record-Herald.
25. THE SIEGE OF YOUTH. By Frances Charles.
Of uncommon power. There is much bright and epigrammatic
conversation. Among the notable good books of the year.—Argonaut,
San Francisco.
26. HASSAN, A FELLAH. A Romance of Palestine. By Henry Gillman.
It is romance of the strongest type. Many pages fairly glow with
color.—Public Opinion.
27. THE WOLVERINE. By Albert L. Lawrence.
An uncommonly vivid and well sustained story of pioneer days in
Michigan.—New York Globe.
28. CURLY. A Tale of the Arizona Desert. By Roger Pocock.
The best cowboy story since "The Virginian."—The Outlook.
29. JUSTIN WINGATE, Ranchman. By John H. Whitson.
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