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management using hydraulic roughness. Modern river <br />engineers do not habitually minimize hydraulic roughness, <br />they effectively use it as a design tool. Rough points created <br />by designed structures or designed vegetation direct flow <br />away from vulnerable areas. Strategic use of hydraulic <br />roughness also dissipates energy and generally lowers the <br />stress on bed and banks. This simple and useful insight is <br />one compelling reason why old style "hard armor" has such <br />a limited role in stream management. <br />Changes in channel profile are accomplished using grade <br />structures constructed of rock, logs, woody debris or <br />manufactured products. Grade structures are particularly <br />useful in arresting incision (downcutting). At-grade struc- <br />tures stop incision at the existing channel elevation. El- <br />evated, in-series, grade structures can reverse the incision <br />and re-establish the pre-disturbance bed elevation and slope. <br />These elevated grade structures modify the effective bed <br />slope with commensurate influences on sediment transport <br />and flow capacity. These channels self heal as the sediment <br />is redeposited and bank heights decrease reducing the risk of <br />bank failures. Properly designed and installed elevated <br />grade controls can equilibrate the stream system hydrology, <br />hydraulics and sediment load following dam removal or re- <br />orientating astraightened stream to a meandering course. <br />These approaches of grade control are highly effective but <br />not simplistic; the cookie-cutter application is far less likely <br />to succeed. In flash-flood prone urban streams, flood <br />capacity must be maintained. Moreover, while the primary <br />purpose of grade structures is managing channel slope, the <br />location in plan form is critical as is the spacing within a <br />series of structures. In stable streams, hard points (riffles) <br />occur at the point of inflection in the meander waveform. <br />Misplaced hard points can reset a stream's meander pattern <br />and induce widespread erosion. Not only can misplaced <br />grade structures unwittingly reset the watershed-wide <br />meander geometry; structures that locally change plan form <br />can have similar impacts. These structures include mis- <br />shaped riprap slopes, poorly placed or constructed retaining <br />walls and progressively failing storm water pipe outfalls. <br />The deliberate adjustment of plan form using hard points is <br />sometimes called remeandering. The objective of <br />remeandering is to restore equilibrium between channel <br />slope, width and wavelength. Otto Franzius described the <br />methodology in the early 20th century. Once a stable <br />waveform is determined from geomorphology diagnosis and <br />analysis, the remaining elements of stream geometry are <br />iteratively balanced to this form. In addition to achieving <br />stable streams capable of competently transporting the <br />supplied water and sediment, stream planform geometry can <br />1 <br />:, r ~ r <br />{ ~ ~: <br />,~ <br />' i <br />~~x~+x,~„ -~ ~„~~ <br />,~~~~ ~, mow, ~ "~'~ ~,~~~ i <br />~, a <br />.. ~ <br />~~ ~ - .~ ; .r.r:; <br />Y <br />"~`t ~,~~ Via- , - f ~ <br />. _ ~ ~~ . <br />._ _ <br />r ~ -,... s <br /> <br /> `, , ~ t <br /> ,_ _~ ~+~> <br /> <br /> <br /> -k~-~n,,.~ - - 4 <br />ti ., <br /> ,t - a <br /> - 1 ~ r t :: s. ;T a <br /> <br />T r , ~, <br />'' : r r':'~ ~ v <br /> ~ ~ <br /> <br />F _ .~__.~ r <br />.(3 T ~f A <br />~ ..err ~; ~ia ~ ~?L., <br />~ <br />` .1 ' ~~ <br />_ ~ <br /> <br />be explicitly designed to reduce stress on bridge piers, <br />culvert crossings and other infrastructure. <br />In summary, the approach of modern river design firms is <br />to evaluate the fundamental stability of rivers and streams. <br />We, as design. engineers and scientists with extensive expe- <br />rience in landform analysis, fluvial science, resource <br />management and engineering, analyze problem areas as <br />elements of a whole and not in isolation. This more sys- <br />tematic approach avoids causing new problems in the <br />attempt to address the old ones. Greater stability of the <br />system is achieved and costs are better managed. Our <br />approach permits less intrusive designs such as proven soil <br />bioengineering techniques that return streams to a more <br />normal function. Because of our sound fundamental <br />science, our designs and recommendations are fully defen- <br />sible to the client, public and regulatory agencies. <br />Editors Note. Intuition & Logic will be presenting an <br />ADA Technical Seminar on Bio-Engineering at the <br />MAWD Annual Meeting. <br />15 <br />