Line 01 · Hydraulics
Hydraulic engineering and hydro-sedimentology
Understand and represent the behaviour of water and sediment to support designs, permits, interventions and operating decisions.
This service brings together hydrology, hydraulics and hydro-sedimentology with field measurements and engineering analysis. It covers flow and flood studies, one-, two- and three-dimensional hydraulic and hydrodynamic modelling, assessment of erosion, scour, sediment transport and deposition, topo-bathymetric surveys, liquid and solid gauging, and studies and designs for watercourse occupation.
It also provides criteria for hydraulic works, water supply and sewerage systems, navigability, channel restoration and connectivity between rivers and wetlands. It applies to rivers, creeks, wetlands, reservoirs, coastal systems and associated infrastructure.
Documented use case
Integrated measurements to understand the dynamics of a creek system
In a system of creeks and wetlands in La Mojana, Tarulla carried out an integrated campaign to understand the shape of the terrain and the channels, water circulation and sediment transport under contrasting hydrological conditions.
The topo-bathymetric survey combined geodetic control with GNSS RTK, LiDAR and drone photogrammetry, and multibeam bathymetry, to obtain a continuous representation of the emerged surfaces and of the bed along navigable reaches. To characterise hydraulic behaviour, measurements were taken with an acoustic Doppler profiler at 90 cross-sections, determining discharges, velocities and flow profiles across the width and through the depth.
Sediment characterisation was carried out over two campaigns with suspended and bed sampling, laboratory analysis and grain-size distribution; medium and fine sands predominated in the bed samples. The result is a spatial, hydraulic and sedimentological baseline that allows the system to be read as a connected whole: identifying zones of stagnation, exchange, erosion or deposition, supporting hydrodynamic and transport models, and guiding interventions for channel restoration, water connectivity, bank protection and environmental monitoring.
Bathymetric points surveyed
Watercourses covered by the campaign
Cross-sections gauged with ADCP
Orthomosaic resolution
The Tarulla method
Five steps, from question to recommendation
We start from the decision the project must support and from the questions about the behaviour of water, sediment or infrastructure.
We define the scale, the variables, the scenarios, the information sources and the measurement campaign required.
We collect and quality-control field information through surveying, bathymetry, gauging, sediment sampling and other specialised equipment.
We integrate and clean the data to develop the applicable hydrological, hydraulic, hydrodynamic and sedimentological analyses.
We turn the results into models, designs, maps, reports and recommendations that the client and the authorities can review.
Specialities involved
Technical capabilities of this line
- Applied hydrology and hydraulics
- Hydro-sedimentology and channel morphodynamics
- Topo-bathymetry, gauging and field measurement
- 1D, 2D and 3D hydraulic and hydrodynamic modelling
- Sediment transport, erosion and scour
- Studies and designs for watercourse occupation
- Water, sanitation and navigation infrastructure
- Bathymetry, GNSS RTK, LiDAR, photogrammetry and ADCP