An investigation of the flow characteristics and sediment transport processes has been carried out in a two-stage meandering channel. Three phases of experiments have been conducted with various floodplain roughnesses. The dimensions of the flume are 13m long and 2.4m wide with a fixed valley slope of 11500. The meandering main channel has a sinuosity of 1.384 with top width of 0.4m. In each phase of the experiment, hydraulic data pertaining to stage-discharge, bed topography and sediment transport rate were measured at various overbank flow depths. Several flow depths were chosen to measure the three-dimensional velocities by means of Laser Doppler Anemometer and the morphological bedforms were recorded using the Photogrammetric technique. The boundary shear stresses were also measured by means of a Preston Tube and Vane Indicator. The experimental results showed that the presence of the energy losses due to momentum exchange and turbulence, bedforms roughness and floodplain roughness induced additional flow resistance to the main channel flow, particularly for shallow overbank flows. The combination of these losses affected a significant reduction in velocity and boundary shear stress in the main channel which, subsequently led to the reduction of sediment discharge at low relative depth for most tested cases. The reduction was more pronounced when the floodplain roughness increased. The examination of the three-dimensional velocity indicated that the formation of bedforms in the main channel is significantly affected by the flow structures, especially the secondary flow. A new method for predicting velocity and sediment transport rate has been introduced based on the two-dimensional equation (Spooner's) coupled with the self-calibrated empirical transport formula. The proposed method gave accurate prediction for depthaveraged velocity and sediment transport rate for two-stage meandering channel.

Laboratory experiments concerning stage-discharge, flow resistance, bedforms, sediment transport and flow structures have been carried out in a meandering channel with simulated non-vegetated and vegetated floodplains for overbank flow. The effect of placing solid blocks in different arrangements as a model of rigid, unsubmerged floodplain vegetation on a floodplain adjacent to a meandering channel is considered. The aim was to investigate how density and arrangements of floodplain vegetation influence stage-discharge, flow resistance, sediment transport and flow behaviours. Stage-discharge curves, Manning's n and drag force FD are determined over 165 test runs. The results from the laboratory model tests show that the placing of solid blocks along some part of the bend sections has a significant effect on stage-discharge characteristics. The change in stage-discharge by the blocks is compared using different arrangements, including the non-vegetated floodplains case. The experimental results show that the presence of energy losses due to momentum exchange between the main channel and the floodplain as well as the different densities of the blocks on a floodplain induce additional flow resistance to the main channel flow, particularly for shallow overbank flows. In general, the results show that the density and arrangement of blocks on the floodplains are very important for stage-discharge determination and, in some cases, for sediment transport rates, especially for a mobile main channel. Also, the correction parameter, a is introduced in order to understand the effects of blocks and bedforms on the force balance equation. By applied the correction factor c; a stagedischarge rating curve can be estimated when the avalue is calibrated well. Telemac 2D and 3D were applied to predict mean velocity, secondary flow and turbulent kinetic energy. Telemac computations for non-vegetated and vegetated floodplain cases in a meandering channel generally give reasonably good predictions when compared with the measured data for both velocity and boundary shear stress in the main channel. Detailed analyses of the. predicted flow variables were therefore carried out in order to understand mean flow mechanisms and secondary flow structures in compound meandering channels. The non-vegetated and two different cases of vegetated floodplain for different relative depths were considered. For the arrangement on a non-vegetated floodplain shows how the shearing of the main channel flow as the floodplain flow plunges into and over the main channel influences the mean and turbulent flow structures, particularly in the cross-over region. While applying vegetated floodplain along a cross-over section confirmed that the minimum/reduction shearing of the main channel flow by the floodplain flow plunging into and over the main channel is observed from the cross-sectional distributions of the streamwise velocity (U), lateral velocity (V), and secondary flow vectors. In addition to that, the vegetated floödplain along the apex bend region shows a small velocity gradient within the bend apex region. However, strong secondary flow in the cross-over section suggested that the flow interaction was quite similar to the non vegetation case in the cross-over section region.

Altered flow regimes following river regulation can result in significant changes in river bed geomorphology and subsequent negative ecological impacts caused by re-suspended sediments deposited on the riverbed. This study aimed to evaluate the consequences of implementing an ecological flow regime on sediments accumulated within the regulated river Juktån. Sediments were sampled and analysed for particle size distribution to estimate sediment stability. Flow alteration following the ecological flow regime was analysed with HEC-RAS unsteady flow simulation serving as a basis for calculations of forces acting to erode or retain deposited sediments. Additional analyses regarding critical flow were made with HEC-RAS steady flow simulation. Results show that 4 out of 15 cross-sections analysed would have the potential to erode and re-suspend sediments. The estimated average critical flow for when sediments become unstable with potential to re-suspend is 17 m3/s. The total sediment inventory of the studied reach is ~25000 ton, with ~3000-ton sediments potentially eroding into re-suspension. This is approximately 3% of river Umeälvens annual 100 000 ton suspended sediments before being regulated. Results indicate that river bed heterogeneity in river Juktån could benefit from implementing the ecological flow regime while not mobilizing such amounts of fine sediments that would cause clogging effects downstream the site of interest. The study also introduces the erosion rate equation which compares the annual erosion between two different flow regimes.