The stable channel design functions are based upon the methods used in the SAM Hydraulic Design Package for Channels, developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station. This chapter presents the methods and equations used for designing stable channels, including channel geometry, and sediment transport capacity.
Much of the material in this chapter directly references the SAM Hydraulic Design Package for Channels User's Guide (USACE, 1998) and EM 1110-2-1601. There have been a number of alterations to the general approach used in SAM in order to expand its capabilities and to fit within the framework of HEC-RAS. For information on how to enter data for stable channel design and sediment transport capacity analysis, and how to view results, see Chapter 15 of the HEC-RAS user's manual.