What methodology is the City using to study the Brazos River erosion?

The City is using a the Observation Method for Meandering Prediction (OMM) developed by Dr. Jean-Louis Briuad at Texas A&M University. The methodology includes the following:


  • observation of historical movement of the meanders of the river
    Historical maps and aerial photographs are used to determine the river movement (migration) with time. The bank migration is measured using the available aerial photos to perform a historical observation of the river bank movement.
  • analysis of representative samples of the soil bank
    Soil samples are obtained at different depths along the critical bank locations to perform soil classification and laboratory testing with the objective of determining the erodibility of the soil at each location. Soils would be classified from very erodible category to non-erodible.
  • quantification of the erodibility of the soils (EFA tests),
    A soil sample is collected in a thin-walled tubes (Shelby Tubes).  The soil is put through an Erosion Function Apparatus (EFA) apparatus, to determine their erodibility at different velocity. As a controlled flow of water is push thought he apparatus, the soil is extruded from the Shelby tube and the rate of erosion is determined. The Erosion Function Apparatus (EFA) test uses site-specific soil samples acquired via thin-walled tubes (Shelby Tubes) to generate the erosion rate and shear stress which is plotted to create an erosion plot. The information produced by the test can help an engineer accurately determine the depth of scour or level of bank erosion as a function of time.
  • determination of the velocity hydrograph for the period of analysis,
    The river’s flow rate is plotted for different time intervals and different storm events. At each study location, and based on the river’s cross section, the corresponding average velocity for each flow is calculated for each time intervals analyzed. A hydrograph (plot showing the rate of flow versus time past a specific point in a river) is prepared showing the velocity versus time at each study location.
  • calibration of the observed migration with predicted migration using the TAMU-OMS software
    This mathematical model based software, was developed by TAMU specifically for determination of erosion rate and river bank migration. It predicts the future migration of a river bank in a period of time based on the actual migration for an earlier time period.
  • prediction of average future migration using the fitted soil erosion model
    The velocity data and soil type at each location are used as input for the MEANDER software to predict the average future migration for a time frame.
  • performing probabilistic prediction to obtain probability of river meander to a certain location.
    A risk analysis is done using the 100 year and 500-year storm frequency hydrograph as the input values at different locations. The MEANDER software determined the probability of the river to reach a certain point in a giving period of time.

Show All Answers

1. Will this impact my home value?
2. If I’m not in the flood plain, why should I worry about this?
3. What methodology is the City using to study the Brazos River erosion?
4. Who are the stakeholders and partners of the study?