Study of the Streambank Erosion Using BSTEM Model in a reach of the Bashar River

Abstract

The vital need for river management and prediction of bank erosion processes is obvious. Riverbank erosion is one of the major sources of sediment for many rivers across the world. In this research, a combination of morphology methods, satellite imagery and BSTEM model were used for stability analysis of Bashar River. Comparison of the results of the BSTEM model indicated that the averages of maximum lateral retreat in cross sections of 1 to 5 were 128, 210, 200, 37 and 65 cm; the average of total eroded area were 2.01, 4.1, 5 36, 0.7 and 2.65 m2; the failure width were 1.73, 3.12, 2.32, 8.56 and 2.65 m, and the factor of safety were 0.34, 0.33, 0.27, 1.07 and 0.79, respectively, indicating the instability of the studied cross sections. On average, the maximum lateral retreat and the minimum factor of safety occurred in the floods peaking at the 537 and 912 m3/s, respectively. The results of the application of the BSTEM model in the selected reach indicated the instability of this reach of the river.

Keywords

• instability
• rainstorm
• river engineering
• safety factor
• toe erosion