River Catchment Geomorphology, Cornwall
An understanding of the sediment regime within streams and rivers provides valuable information for the successful management of ‘upstream’ land practices, such as farming and construction activities. The deposition of large quantities of sediments in water courses, either by dumping or field and bank erosion, may lead to smothering of downstream sensitive habitats, infilling of navigation channels in estuaries and reduction of fish spawning grounds.
Partrac provided a complete solution to monitor and quantify the flux of sedimentary material transported down a river catchment in Cornwall UK, using a range of hydrological and sediment analysis techniques. Partrac instrumented four rivers that flowed into an estuary to monitor suspended sediment concentration, water levels and river velocity over a 2-year period. To complement this, bathymetric change analysis was undertaken in a sophisticated 4-D geographical information system to assess long term erosion and deposition patterns in the estuary.
Partrac provided a focussed, cost effective long-term monitoring programme which identified the temporal nature of sediment delivery to the estuary, providing planners, decision makers and users with the data required to inform land management and dredge operation practices.
This will ultimately result in a cost saving on future dredging operations.
Projects
Contact Address
Partrac Ltd
141 St James Road
Glasgow, G4 0LT
United Kingdom
+ 44 (0) 141 303 8255
+ 44 (0) 141 552 3886
