River Engineering
River Science and Engineering
River engineering is an important topic to understand for a hydraulic engineer working in natural settings. Those particularly involved in restoration of river systems should understand all of these factors. A hydraulic engineer should be able to understand what factors have formed the river and what factors are dictating how the river flows, now and in the future. Understanding the geologic processes that have created river valleys, on top of the processes that are shaping them, including climatology, soil science, and sediment transport. Those interested in river engineering should also have a good understanding of the ecological factors that contribute to the river system.
In the future, a new certificate or degree program may be offered. For now, relevant courses in Geology, Urban Planning, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Biology are listed below for reference. These courses provide important tools and information to ensure a well-rounded hydrologist or hydraulic engineer.
Courses offered at Wayne State University
Geology courses are particularly important to understand how a river forms and some of the factors in how the flow will change in different precipitation events and in the future. These courses will help one understand the effects of precipitation (GEL 1370), the present and historical depositional patterns in a stream (GEL 3400), landforms effecting rivers (GEL 4200), and soil principles (GEL 5150).
GEL 1370 Meteorology: The Study of Weather. Cr. 3
Weather theory including cloud types, cloud formation; types and formation of winds; rain, snow, other precipitation. Storm theory: formation of and dangers in thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes. Atmospheric phenomena: aurora, rainbows, the mirage, twinkling of stars, twilight crepuscular rays; weather forecasting, instruments, maps.
GEL 3400 Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Cr. 4
Prereq: GEL 1020 and 2130. Processes which produce sediments, environments of deposition, changes after deposition. Relationship between tectonics and sedimentation. Origin of sedimentary strata. Facies and correlations.
GEL 4200 Geomorphology. Cr. 4
Prereq: GEL 1020. Principles underlying development of landforms by geologic agents.
GEL 5150 Soils and Soil Pollution. Cr. 4
Prereq: GEL 1010, CHM 1220 and 1230, CHM 2280 and 2290, or consent of instructor. Physical, chemical and mineralogical properties and classification of soils. Behavior of pollutants in soils and methods for reclamation.
GEL 5450 Hydrogeology. Cr. 4
Prereq: GEL 1010; or consent of instructor. Characteristics and behavior of groundwater in earth materials. Groundwater geology of southeastern Michigan. Water well technology and methods for exploration. (Y)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an important tool to understand the data sets one works with when designing the restoration of a river. An introductory course such as GPH 3600 will better prepare students for what this type of data entails and how to use it.
GPH 3600 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems. Cr. 4
Prereq: GPH 3120 and GPH 3500 or equiv. recommended. Theory and application of computer-based systems for the analysis and representation of spatial data. (Y)
Numerous Civil and Environmental Engineering courses will be important to understand and restore rivers. These courses help a student to understand basic principles of static and flowing fluids (CE 3250), understand and quantify stream flow (CE 6130), hydrologic processes (CE 6150), and groundwater (CE 6190), and understand the fundamentals of developing numerical models (CE 7260).
CE 3250 Applied Fluid Mechanics. Cr. 4
Prereq: MAT 2030. Open only to students enrolled in professional engineering programs. Application of theoretical fluid mechanics to problems of special interest to civil engineers including pipe flow, open channel flow, forces on submerged bodies, and flow measurement. Laboratory component of course provides experimental verification of theories and computer visualization.
CE 6130 Open Channel Hydraulics. Cr. 4
Prereq: C E 3250 or equiv. Theoretical development of equations governing flow in open channels. Application to real-world engineering problems involving water surface profiles, flood studies, and rivers.
CE 6150 Hydrologic Analysis and Design. Cr. 4
Prereq: C E 6130. Principles of surface water hydrology and their application for evaluation of floods and the design of surface runoff control system; watershed characteristics; design storms and SCS methods; unit hydrographs; hydrologic models; application of computer methods.
CE 6190 Groundwater. Cr. 4
Prereq: C E 3250. Historical background, aquifers and aquitards, saturated and unsaturated flow, sources of ground water contamination, artificial recharge of ground water, development of ground water basins and efficient use of ground water resources.
CE 7260 Surface Water-Quality Modeling and Management. Cr. 4
Prereq: C E 4210 or consent of instructor. Principles and mechanisms governing the rate and transport of conventional and toxic pollutants in natural water; mathematical modeling of water quality in surface water systems; model applications for managing waste loads in lakes and rivers.
Biology courses will help one understand the ecological processes effecting a river and help in field work. These courses will help students understand an ecosystems function (BIO 4130), learn how to statistically analyze data (BIO 5040), and how to identify aquatic plants during field work (BIO 6450).
BIO 4130 (WI) Ecology. Cr. 4 (LAB: 3;LCT: 3)
Prereq: BIO 3070 and BIO 3100 and MAT 1800 with grade of C or above; consent of adviser for Environmental Science majors. Principles of population, community, and systems ecology.
BIO 5040 Biometry. Cr. 4 (LCT: 3;LAB: 3)
Prereq: BIO 3070 or 4130; MAT 1800. Quantitative methods in biology. Statistical approach to data analysis and the design of experiments. Laboratory section permits actual analysis of selected statistical problems.
BIO 6450 Aquatic Botany. Cr. 4 (LCT: 3;LAB: 3)
Prereq: BIO 4130. Systematics, physiology and ecology of algae and higher aquatic plants.