Estimation of Superelevation in Mountainous River Bends

Abstract

In a river bend the water surface is inclined by the centrifugal force toward the transverse section. If channel slope and flow rate increase, the gradient is rising generally. There are lots of the flood damage at the bends of mountain river because the flood water levels have exceeded frequently the levee levels which are added a free board to the design flood water level. Therefore the superelevation should be considered in designing the mountainous river bend. In present study it was proposed to estimate the superelevation at the bend of mountain river and the superelevation coefficient defined from multiplying the sub-factors. The values of the influence factors for the superelevation coefficient were suggested from analyzing the superelevation measured at the bends in Yangyangnamdae river and the hydraulic experiments in gravel-bed channel with a 90°bend. The applicability of these methods to estimate the superelevation at the bends in mountain river was verified by the superelevation measured at the bend in Naerin river.