A special Lecture by Prof. Egashira on Sediment Hazard Management
"Importance of introducing sediment transport process in river planning"

Venue: Tsukuba

Date: 23 January 2009

Participant(s) from ICHARM:

Sediment related hazards especially mud and rock slides, landslides and debris flows are very frequent and devastating in mountain regions, while the river bank cutting and river aggradations or degradation are other serious concerns elsewhere in low laying areas. Therefore, a large portion of the world population is now facing these problems, which has still been a very challenging subject for scientists and engineers. There are very few researchers working in the field. Among them, Dr. Shinji Egashira, a former professor of Kyoto and Ristumeikan Universities in Japan, is one of the leading figures in Japan. In order to learn from his contributions in the associated study field , ICHARM had invited him to give a special lecture to the graduate students, who are currently enrolling in ICHARM master degree program on water-related disaster management. Prof. Egashira gave very interesting lectures on 'Importance of introducing sediment transport process in river planning' and 'Theoretical tools for sediment management'. Both lectures were well received by the students and other participants including ICHARM researchers. In his first lecture, Prof. Egashira brought about the examples from around the world e.g. debris flow disaster in Venezuela, Nagano landslides in Japan, river bank cutting in Mekong delta, river shifting in Kizu river Japan, Shoufong river sediment problems in Taiwan etc. and emphasized the importance of river environment and morphology while managing sediment hazards. Later, he introduced the theoretical basis for analyzing sediment transport processes including debris flow models and its role in predicting such natural phenomena.