ASSESSMENT OF RIVER BED EROSION AND MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES GENERATED FROM STEADIED DREDGING SHIPS IN HARBOUR ZONES

Abstract

Assessment of river bed erosion and morphological changes creates a better understanding of the specific characteristicsand processes in a water body, vital in generating an implementable effective watershed management strategies. In this work, erosion pins were deployed in studying the river bed erosion and changes in the bed morphology within and off the harbour to study bed erosion prior steadied and no steadied dredging ship activities. Thus, measurements and variations were used to quantify the river bed erosion due to steadied ships. The bed morphology was also assessed prior physical change. From results obtained, it was found that steadied ship at harbours contribute to bed erosion of the study area at rate of 2.7cmhr-¹.