Determination of Resistance Coefficient in Gravel Bed Rivers (case study: Urmia Shahr-Chay River)

Applying the studies of resistance to flow in open channels and rivers with specific properties in order to manage them is necessary. An optimum and proper foresight of resistance to flow has a direct impact on the estimation of flow rate, which is important factors in decision about hydro-project developments. This research work tries to identify items which are influencing on the flow resistance by handling properties of the river in specific intervals. In this study, the best Manning’s coefficient of “Shahar-Chay” river by means of hydraulic characteristics and aggregation of river bed has been estimated. Manning’s coefficient by using several methods and using pictures and properties of a river reach with a specific Manning’s coefficient, by comparing to the river conditions with relative pictures and estimating approximate range of the Manning roughness coefficient has been verified. By preparing 3D drawings from region using Arc-GIS and creating lateral sections using Hec-GeoRas, geometric specifications of “Shahar-Chay” river used as input in order to complete hydraulic simulation of HEC-RAS model. By running the software for different values of Manning’s coefficient and hydraulic specifications output from modeling compared to the hydraulic specifications collected from the river reach area. It is found that the most proper value for the Manning coefficient at “Keshtiban” reach is about 0.032. The results of the present research work reveals that three methods, namely “Chaw”, “Coawn” and “comparison of pictures” are more accurate for estimating Manning’s roughness coefficient in rivers, because of introducing several factors taking into account.