Investigation of cohesive-bed erodibility and water quality in semi-alluvial rivers

Rivers in much of eastern Canada flow through regions comprised of cohesive glacial sediments, including glaciomarine clays and glacial tills. Given the glacial history of Canada, many if not most of its rivers can be characterized as semi-alluvial.
Management of these rivers in terms of sediment load is a difficult challenge, because relatively little is known about their stable channel geometry. The proposed research plans to improve and evaluate both laboratory and field techniques to estimate critical shear stress of cohesive river bed sediments and monitor suspended solids concentration in correlation with observed erosion in semi-alluvial rivers in Eastern Canada.
The proposed research will strategically improve techniques to estimate critical shear stress of cohesive river bed sediments. Both laboratory and field techniques to measure these parameters will be developed, tested, and utilized by the intern and partner organization.

Faculty Supervisor:

Colin Rennie

Student:

Carlo Zaro Custodio

Partner:

AATech Scientific Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Natural resources

University:

University of Ottawa