6 River Training

The structure and form of rivers including planforms, channel geometry (crosssectional shape of
river), bed form, and profile characteristics together
form what is termed river morphology.
The morphology of river changes considerably on
account of natural causes.
River training works are constructed for a variety of
reasons, but the fundamental objective is to
restrict horizontal movement of the river
channel.
Training works can also be used to improve
navigation by restricting the width of the
channel.
Training works are installed where local
infrastructure or agricultural land needs to be
protected from the damage which would result from

Classification of River
Rivers can be classified as follows:
(i) Based on variation of discharge in river, as
(a) Perennial rivers,
(b) Non-perennial rivers,
(c) Flashy rivers, and
(d) Virgin rivers.
(ii) Based on stability of river, as
(a) Stable rivers,
(b) Aggrading rivers, and
(c) Degrading rivers.
(iii) Based on the location of reach of river, as
(a) Mountainous rivers,
(b) Rivers in flood plains,
(c) Delta rivers, and
(d) Tidal rivers.

Classification of River

(iv) Based on the plan-form

of river, as
(a) Straight rivers,
(b) Meandering rivers, and
(c) Braided rivers.
River training includes all such measures as are taken for
controlling and regulating river flow and river configuration.
River training works are constructed either across a river, or
along it.
River training structures include levees or embankments built
along the river to contain floods, and spurs and guide banks
are constructed for altering the local flow conditions and
guiding the flow.
Bank protection measures are also included in river training
methods.

Objectives of River Training

River training measures aim at achieving one or more of the
following objectives:
(i) Flood Protection
(ii) Navigation
(iii) Sediment Control
(iv) Guiding the Flow
.
(v) Stabilisation of River Channel

River Training Methods

The planning and design of river training structures is
accomplished by using empirical methods and judgement of
experienced engineers.
Model investigations are also resorted to for finalising the
plans and design of river training structures.
Commonly used methods of river training have been briefly
described in the following.
Types of river training works
Marginal Banks (levees)
Guide banks ( or Bells bunds)
Groynes ( Spurs)
Artificial Cutoff
Bank Protection
Pitch Islands

River Training Methods

Marginal Banks (levees)

A levee (also known as an embankment,

bund, marginal bunds or dike) is an
embankment running parallel (or nearly so)
to the river and is constructed to protect the
area on one side of it from flooding.
The method of constructing levees on one
or both sides of a river to contain the flood
within the levees portion is the oldest and
The levees
should have
the method
general curvature
of the river
most
commonly
used
of flood
so that the river does not attack the levees.
control.
The design of a levee is similar to that of an earth dam.
The top width of a levee is generally kept between 3 to 8
m or more depending upon the levee height.
The levee height is decided, flood of a reasonable return
period of, say about 500 years .

River Training Methods

Marginal Banks (levees)
A freeboard of 1-2 m is added to the flood stage to obtain
the elevation of the top of the levee.
The probable settlement of levee after its construction
should also be accounted for while determining the levee
height.
The side slopes of levees vary from 1V : 2H to 1V : 6H. In
case of high levees, berms are also provided on the landside slope.
One of the major effects on regime of river due to levee
construction is the reduction in the river width and, hence,
increase in velocity of flow.

Marginal Banks (levees)

Failure of levees can be due to one or more of the
following causes:
Overtopping,
Erosion of riverside slope by river current,
Caving in of the banks,
Infiltration through the foundation,
Infiltration through the embankment,
Leaks as a result of holes dug by rats, crabs, and
white ants, or from rotten roots and cracks due to
shrinkage of soil,
Loosening of the embankment by wind action on
large trees planted on it, and
Human action.
The method of flood control by levees is fairly simple
and economical as it uses locally available material and
labour for its construction.

Guide Banks
The flow path does not change through the
waterway at the river crossing structure like bridge
site, and also that the approach road embankment is
not endangered due to the smaller waterway
provided.
For this purpose, earthen embankments are
provided on one or both sides of the river at the
bridge site.
These embankments are known as guide banks (or
guide bunds).
Guide banks are artificial embankments meant for
guiding the river flow past a bridge (or other
hydraulic structures such as weirs or barrages)
without causing damage to the bridge and its
approaches.
Guide banks are built along the flow direction both
upstream and downstream of the structure on one or

Guide Banks
The design criteria of guide banks are based on the works
of Spring and Gales.
The first step is the estimation of high flood discharge and
also a safe waterway.
The overall waterway between the guide banks is obtained
by adding the thickness of piers to the clear waterway.
Obviously, a smaller waterway would cause a large afflux
resulting in danger of outflanking.
Thickness of pitching
The thickness of pitching for spurs
T = 0.06 Q1/3
where Q is the design discharge in cumecs.

Guide Banks
In plan, the guide bank can be either parallel,
converging upstream or diverging upstream.

Spurs
Spurs (also known as groynes, spur dikes, or transverse
dikes) are structures constructed in a river transverse to the
river flow, extending from the bank into the river.
Spurs guide the river flow, promote scour and deposition
of the sediment where desired, and trap the sediment load
to build up new river banks.
Spurs are generally made from locally available earth.
The nose (or head) and the sloping faces of the spurs
must be protected against wave action
Stone apron is provided to prevent the failure of spurs
due to excessive scour at the nose and sides.

Spurs
Spurs are probably the most widely used river training
structures and serve the following function in river regulation:

Training a river along the desired course

by attracting, deflecting or repelling the
flow in the river channel,
Creating a slack flow with the object of
silting up the area in the vicinity of spur,
Protecting the river bank by keeping the
flow away from it, and
Contracting a wide river channel for the
improvement of depth for navigation.
Spurs can be used either singly or in series or
in combination with other river training

Spurs

The design of spur depends on the following:

River discharge,
Angle of attack,
Sediment load,
Meander length,
Curvature of the river, and
Upstream and downstream river training
measures.
Spurs can be classified as follows:
Classification based on the methods and material
of construction : permeable and impermeable.

Spurs

Spurs can be classified as follows:

Classification based on the height of the spur with
respect to high flood level :
Submerged and non-submerged.
Classification based on the functions : attracting,
deflecting, repelling and sedimenting, and
Special types : Denehys T-headed groynes,
hockey type, etc.

Spur length is usually restricted to less than 20% of the

river width or 1.5 to 2 times the depth of flow.
The spacing of spurs in a wide river is larger than that in a
narrower river for similar conditions.
A larger spacing can be satisfactory for convex banks and a
smaller spacing is desirable at concave banks.
At crossings (i.e., the straight reach between two
consecutive bends of a river), an intermediate spacing can
be adopted.
Spacing between adjacent spurs is generally kept between
2 and 2.5 times the spur length.
Maintenance of the nose of longer spurs during floods
would generally be difficult.
Moreover, a longer spur would result in relatively higher
afflux on the upstream side of the spur

The top width of a spur would be between 3 and 6 m

and a freeboard of 1 to 1.5 m above HFL should always
be provided in case of non-submerged spurs.
Slopes on the upstream shank and nose should be 1V :
2H and the slope on the downstream face may be 1V :
1.5H to 1V : 2H.
Stone pitching on the slopes of a spur is placed manually
as per the standard practice.
A graded filter 20 to 30 cm in thickness, satisfying the
standard filter criteria should be provided below the
pitching.
A launching apron should also be provided to protect the
stone pitching.

Bank Protection
Banks caving due to wave action or erosive action of river
flow can lead to river breach causing large amount of
losses in terms of human life, property, agriculture, and
other utilities.
Bank protection measures are, therefore, important to
prevent bank failures.
These can be either direct or indirect type.
Direct bank protection measures, such as revetment,
riprap, etc. are constructed on the bank itself.
For providing direct bank protection, all irregularities on the
bank surface are removed, and the bank is graded to an
acceptable slope.
A layer (several centimetres thick) of coarse material, such
as gravel or broken stone is spread on this slope and the
chosen revetment is laid on this layer.

Bank Protection
Revetments are structures aligned parallel to the current
and used to protect eroding banks.
A riprap paving with a toe trench is preferable to other
types of revetments at sites where stone is cheap and
available in plenty.
Riprap of hard angular rock fragments laid on a thick layer
of rubble or quarry chips is considered most durable.
Concrete blocks can also be used when rocks are not
available at reasonable costs.
Triangular and tetrahedral types of concrete blocks are
more suitable to resist the displacement by flowing water.
Another way of providing bank protection is by means of
flexible brick pitching.

Bank Protection
The bank revetment and launching apron, considered so
useful measures for protection of banks of the alluvial
streams.
In case of boulder streams, the bed does not scour much
and, therefore, the apron would not be able to launch itself.
In such cases, A RC retaining wall near the toe of the bank
may be provided from below the anticipated scour bed to
about one metre above HFL.
The RC retaining wall would be designed for earth
pressure, hydrostatic and earthquake forces, and the
forces due to boulder impact.

Pitched Islands
A pitched island is an artificially created island in
the river bed.
It is protected by stone pitching on all sides.
A pitched island is constructed with sand core and
boulder lining. To protect it from scouring, a
launching apron is also provided. The location, size,
A pitched
island
causes
and
shape of
pitched
islands are usually decided on
scour
around
it and,
the
basis
of model
studies.
Thus, redistributes the
discharge on its two
sides.
Pitched islands
upstream of barrages
and weirs have been
found to be quite
effective.

Rigid armour
Rigid armour is an erosion-resistant material which has
little or no flexibility to conform to bank irregularities
occurring after construction.
Typically, the armour is placed directly on the bank slope in
a fluid or chemically reactive state, then hardens.
The most common rigid armours are:
Asphalt
Concrete
Grouted riprap (or other grouted armour material), and
Soil-cement
The main advantages for a rigid armour are:
Rigid armours will withstand high velocities,
have low hydraulic roughness,
and prevent infiltration of water into the channel bank.

Cut-offs
Cut-offs as river training works are to be carefully planned
and executed in meandering rivers.
The cut-off is artificially induced with a pilot channel to
divert the river from a curved flow which may be
endangering valuable land or property or to straighten its
approach to a work or for any other purpose.
As the cut-off shortens the length of the river, it is likely to
cause disturbance of regime upstream and downstream
till readjustment is made.
A pilot cut spreads out the period of readjustment and
makes the process gradual.
Model tests come in handy in finalising this form of river
training works wherever needed.