Turbulence flume to measure bed load

In order to develop a method of measuring bed load in an alluvial stream, a turbulence flume was designed and tested in the Hydraulics Laboratory of Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College. This flume has a number of advantages over other methods of measuring bed load because it operates continuously so that the stream is constantly in equilibrium. A system of baffles was used to create sufficient turbulence to force the bed load into suspension so that the entire load of the stream could be measured by means of suspended load samplers. The extreme roughness of the baffles eliminated the effect of the Reynolds number in the immediate vicinity of the turbulence flume, thereby making it possible to utilize model studies for determining in advance the optimum size and arrangement of baffle plates. The structure has been in use for three years and has operated satisfactorily as predicted.