Testing stability of sediment at the riverbed

Testing Stability of Sediment at the Riverbed

Status: Completed

Supervisors

• Henning Mohr
• Scott Draper
• David White

Project Description

The movement of sediment at the seabed in the vicinity of a subsea structure can lead to local scour, which may result in undermining, settlement and self-burial of the structure. To predict scour using formulas from literature, accurate measurements of the erosion properties of the underlying sediment the field are needed. 

The focus of this project is the trial of a new in-situ flume, developed at UWA as part of a Joint Industry Project on 'Remote Intelligent Geotechnical Seabed Survey'. This flume was placed on the seabed and could simulate current flows while measuring the sediment transport properties. In this way, it enabled improved scour prediction and reduce the project risk of any subsea developments. Trials were  undertaken within the Swan River to prove the performance of the flume.