Riverbank Stability Assessment under River Water Level Changes and Hydraulic Erosion

Abstract

The dominant mechanism of riverbank cantilever failure is soil erosion of the bank toe and near bank zone. This paper demonstrates that the shape of the riverbank cantilever failure depends on the properties of the soil and the fluctuation of the river water level (RWL). With a stable RWL, a riverbank with higher resistance force leads to failure with larger and deeper overhang erosion width. When RWL rises, a less cohesive soil bank will be eroded over a larger width and riverbank failure will occur earlier. With a low rate of rising RWL, riverbank failure may happen in a type of mass failure. With a high rate of rising RWL, a riverbank will fail in a type of overhang riverbank failure, with the soil erosion rate being the main affected factor.