ABSTRACT
Sediment replenishment with artificial gravel deposits is one option to compensate sediment deficits in rivers and to improve the ecological situation. Predicting and quantifying the erosion rate of an artificial gravel deposit is important to perform successful river restoration. Laboratory experiments have been performed to investigate the influence of various parameters on the erosion pattern of artificial gravel deposits. In the present paper the effects of deposit geometry, bulk density, grain size distribution, and hydraulic load on the erosion process are described. The temporal evolution of the deposit and the corresponding mean erosion rates were studied. The data analysis shows that the experiments lead to reproducible results. The mean erosion rate increases with deposit height, deposit width, and decreasing grain size. Furthermore, no significant impact of the bulk density was observed. These investigations together with further analyses will allow to design the frequency and deposit volumes for planned restoration projects.
