Morphological modelling of rivers with erodible banks

A bank erosion mechanism and provisions to account for the associated planform changes and input of bank erosion products are added to a two-dimensional, depth-averaged model of river morphology. The model is applied to a reach of the meandering gravel-bed River Ohře (Eger) in the former state of Czechoslovakia. The agreement with observations is poor, but this can be ascribed to shortcomings in the flow and bed topography submodels rather than to shortcomings in the bank erosion submodel. Better results are expected when a three-dimensional flow model, equations for sediment mixtures and a bank accretion mechanism are included. This inclusion will have to be preceded by fundamental research on bank accretion mechanisms and on hiding and exposure effects in the relationship for the influence of gravity pull on sediment transport direction. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.