Chapter 17 



CONTRIBUTION OF MODEL ANALYSIS TO THE SOLU- 

 TION OF SHOALING PROBLEMS 



C. B. Patterson and H. B. Simmons 



Respectively, Chief, Research Center, and Chief, Estuaries Section 



Hydraulics Division, Waterways Experiment S'ation 



Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army 



Vicksburg, Mississippi 



INTRODUCTION 



Throughout the ages, man has sought persistently to resolve the 

 physical laws that govern the natural forces affecting his environment. 

 The accumulated thinking and experiments of many generations have 

 provided an impressive fund of exact and useful knowledge. Yet the 

 present knowledge of many fundamental processes is inexact or in- 

 complete, and must be supported by further research and experi- 

 ment before it can safely be applied to engineering practice. Many 

 problems inherent in sedimentation, or the movement of earth mate- 

 rials by flowing water, would seem to fall within that category. The 

 scope of questions treated in this symposium — by the many profes- 

 sional interests represented — should serve at once to emphasize that 

 the problems and damages resulting from uncontrolled sedimentation 

 are matters that occupy a wide field of interest and are of pressing 

 importance to the national economy. It is striking, then, that a ques- 

 tion so significantly related to the utilization and development of 

 major natural resources should be so little understood. 



The Corps of Engineers is responsible for the development and 

 maintenance of the navigable waterways and harbors of the nation, a 

 vast interconnected system that now supports a waterborne commerce 

 estimated at more than 600,000,000 tons annually. Wherever the 

 processes of sedimentation reduce the project depths, or tend as a sec- 

 ondary effect to shift channel locations, the Corps of Engineers is im- 

 mediately confronted with a serious problem. The importance of this 

 problem is emphasized by the tremendous cost of maintenance dredg- 



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