ABSTRACT
The study of river channel processes both has a long history and is of very broad concern. Since the time of Leonardo da Vinci, and more particularly in the twentieth century, the scientific investigation of river channels has expanded to incorporate such fields as flow hydraulics, bed mechanics, sediment transport and sedimentation. Geomorphologists have begun to explore an increasing number of river-related process study fields. These have usually been field-based rather than developed through physical theory or laboratory experiment. River channel processes are treated as essentially a matter of sediment transfer. Models may prove insufficiently robust or controllable to be used at times of high flow and high sediment transport rates, or their design may not allow velocities to be gauged sufficiently close to beds or banks, or in shallow enough water. Devices available include pit-type traps permanently embedded across part of the whole stream bed.
