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reservoirs. The domain of this subject is fundamental for the adoption and implementation of sediment control measures and for the comprehension of the sediment effects on the water quality of a reservoir. In order to accomplish this objective two approaches were considered: a computational model was developed for the analysis and simulation of turbidity currents and a set of laboratory tests were conducted to characterize plunging turbidity currents in reservoirs. The computational model was designed to capture shocks and discontinuities and therefore can be used to model the propagation of sharp fronts and transitions in the flow regime. Numerical schemes of the Godunov-type based on HLL and HLLC Riemann Solvers and on the second order TVD version of the WAF scheme were implemented. The model reproduces the features identified in laboratory tests and is applicable to model the position of the front of a turbidity current advancing in a reservoir and to obtain the main characteristic of the current along the time. The laboratory tests were conducted considering a large range of the initial buoyancy flux and suspended sediment concentrations. Based on the experimental data, the plunging of the turbidity currents, the velocity of the front, the velocity profiles and the vertical suspended sediment concentrations and granulometric distributions, and return currents related aspects were discussed. 72 Perfis pultrudidos de GFRP em engenharia civil: soluções mistas,…