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A cohesive sediment transport model considering the effects of flocculation, deposition and erosion is used in an attempt to simulate the suspended sediment distribution in a mesotidal estuary. The numerical model solves the three-dimensional (30) advection-diffusion equation using a two-time level scheme, and a semi-implicit finite difference approach. The transport model is coupled to a 3D-barotropic hydrodynamic model for the simulation of the major tidal components reproducing the non-linear effects. An application of these models in the Western Scheldt estuary is described. The results of the different tests show that the adopted approach provides a useful basis for a good understanding of the physical processes involved in sediment transport and for the study of practical problems. The sensitivity of the model to key parameters controlling the simulation of bed sediment/water exchanges, shows the importance of a good definition of bottom sediment characteristics and the importance of further development of a consolidation algorithm.

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