ABSTRACT
Following Einstein,[5] sediment load can be divided into wash load and bed-material load components. Wash load is that part found significantly in suspension and travels at approximately the same velocity as the flowing water. At non-flood discharges, suspended sediment is generally up to about 0.35 mm in particle diameter.[6,7] The bed-material load moves close to the boundary by rolling, sliding, or saltation (jumping), and consists of sand size or larger sediment (>0.35 mm particle diameter). Particles move slower than the flowing water because of collisions with the bed and other particles. This distinction between wash load and bed-material load is, in principle, similar to subsequent classifications based on the predominant transport mode or field measurement method: suspended sediment load and bedload.[8] Generally, bedload can be considered as a synonym of bed-material load, and suspended load as a synonym of wash
load, although part of bed-material load can be temporarily suspended in rivers during turbulent mixing processes. Suspended sediment and bedload have distinctive characteristics in terms of source areas, material properties, transport dynamics, and the nature of measurement techniques.
