Applied Fluvial Geomorphology for River Engineering and Management

Thisinvaluableoverviewoffluvialgeomorphologyprovidesriverengineersandmanagers,whomaylackspecialisttraining,withusefulinsightsinto,andunderstandingof,naturalchannelformsandfluvialprocesses.Suchinformationisapre-requisiteforcarryingoutenvironmentalimpactassessmentsandfordevelopingenvironmentallysensitivedesignandmanagementprocedurestopreserveriverineenvironmentsandrestoredegradedones.Designingwithnatureispreferabletoimposinghardengineeringsolutionsasitsustainsnaturalbiodiversityandminimisescosts.Thisbookwillalsobeaveryusefulteachingaidforstudents,bothunder-andpost-graduate,studyingcivilengineering,environmentalmanagementorsciences,orgeographywhoarelookingtohaveawiderknowledgeofnewapproachestothesubject.Geomorphologyrequiresthecollectionandconsiderationofawiderangeofdata,mostlyfieldbasedbutalsoincludinghistoricalinformationsuchasarchivedocumentsandmaps,whichareoutsidetheexperienceofmostriverengineersandmanagers.Thesedataenablethecurrentconditionoftherivertobeexplained,bothlocallyandwithinthecatchment,andestablishhistoricalchangesandfuturetrends.Inaddition,processstudieshavenowidentifiedmanyofthemechanismscontrollingrivermoprhologywhichunderpinthedevelopmentofsoft,bio-engineering,designprocedures.Thebookincorporatesmaterialonmethodsandtechniquesofdatacollection,analysisandinterpretation,makingextensiveuseofcasestudiesthroughout.Thustheexperiencedauthorsgosomewaytowardsdemystifyingappliedfluvialgeomorphologybydemonstratingthat,whilethereisstillanelementofjudgement,majorcontributionstogeomorphicunderstandingusuallycomefromthecarefulassemblageandobjectiveanalysisofallavailabledataandinformation.