Reduction of scouring depth by using inclined piers

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1621-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zafer Bozkus ◽  
Murat Çeşme

The aim of this experimental study is to examine the effect of inclination of dual bridge piers on scour depth under clear-water conditions for various uniform flow depths. Duration of 4 h was used in the experiments for each run. Scour depths were measured at four different points around the piers. The depths of local scour around inclined piers were found to be substantially smaller than the scour depths around vertical piers. Dimensional and nondimensional curves were developed and presented to show the variation of scour depth with relevant parameters obtained in the dimensional analysis. Results of the study were compared to those obtained from a similar study performed with single inclined piers to see the effect of the second pier on scour depths. Useful equations for the design engineers were developed based on multiple regression analyses, to be used for predicting local scour depths around vertical and (or) inclined piers in uniform and (or) nonuniform sediments. Normalized scour depths measured around the vertical piers in the present study were compared with those computed by an equation suggested by Melville and Sutherland (1988), and also by an equation developed in the present study.

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poggi ◽  
Kudryavtseva

A non-intrusive low-cost technique for monitoring the temporal and spatial evolution of the scour hole around bridge piers is presented. The setup for the application of the technique is simple, low-cost and non-intrusive. It couples a line laser source and commercial camera to get a fast and accurate measurement of the whole scour hole in the front and behind the bridge pier. A short campaign of measurements of the scour hole around a bridge pier in clear-water conditions is presented to provide a control test and to show how to apply the new method. Finally, the results are compared with two of the most used equations, for the time evolution of the maximum scour depth in clear-water conditions, to show the effectiveness of the proposed technique.


2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 812-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Toth ◽  
L. Brandimarte

The scouring effect of the flowing water around bridge piers may undermine the stability of the structure, leading to extremely high direct and indirect costs and, in extreme cases, the loss of human lives. The use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models has been recently proposed in the literature for estimating the maximum scour depth around bridge piers: this study aims at further investigating the potentiality of the ANN approach and, in particular, at analysing the influence of the experimental setting (laboratory or field data) and of the sediment transport mode (clear water or live bed) on the prediction performances. A large database of both field and laboratory observations has been collected from the literature for predicting the maximum local scour depth as a function of a parsimonious set of variables characterizing the flow, the sediments and the pier. Neural networks with an increasing degree of specialization have been implemented – using different subsets of the calibration data in the training phase – and validated over an external validation dataset. The results confirm that the ANN scour depths' predictions outperform the estimates obtained by empirical formulae conventionally used in the literature and in the current engineering practice, and demonstrate the importance of taking into account the differences in the type of available data – laboratory or field data – and the sediment transport mode – clear water or live bed conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 943-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravindra Kumar Singh ◽  
Manish Pandey ◽  
Jaan H. Pu ◽  
Srinivas Pasupuleti ◽  
Vasanta G. Kumar Villuri

Abstract In this paper, experimental results of clear-water scour on a sand bed under short contractions were studied. Sequences of test runs were performed under clear-water conditions for three different contraction ratios. The outcomes of the experiments were employed to define the effects of various parameters on equilibrium scour depth under clear-water scour conditions. In this work, the precision of three maximum scour depth equations was tested from previous studies for contraction scour cases. Two new analytical equations were proposed to calculate time-dependent scour depth and maximum scour at equilibrium conditions, respectively, from the study. The proposed equations were validated using measurements from the present study as well as from previous literature, and the equations show a reasonable agreement between measured and computed values of scour depth under clear-water conditions in short contraction. The presented equations can be used for studying protection of the submerged portion at a bridge abutment or any similar structure.


Author(s):  
Fakhar Muhammad Abbas ◽  
Usman Ali Naeem ◽  
Usman Ghani ◽  
Amina Khan ◽  
Talat Farid Ahmad

The bridges are one of important structures in any country. The failure of bridges occurs due to many factors including design flaws and manufacturing construction errors. Among all imperfections scouring around the pier is the most detrimental. So, the estimation of local scouring around a bridge pier is of fundamental importance for the safe design of bridges. Although numerous researches have been done on local scouring around a single bridge pier. The present study investigates the effect of angle of inclination of dual bridge pier configuration on local scouring around bridge piers. Principally rectangular shaped dual bridge piers were installed in sand bed of laboratory flume at angle of inclination of 0°,7°,12°,15° and 19° with vertical respectively. Three different flow rates 9, 14 and 18L/sec were considered during each trial. The duration of each trial was kept around 2 hours. The scour depth was measured separately around both piers with the help of point gauge under clear water condition. The value of scour depth around upstream pier was larger as compared to downstream pier because of the lower strength of horseshoe vortices around downstream pier. From the experimental results, it can be concluded that there is an inverse relationship between the angle of inclination and scour depth, an increase in the angle of inclination leads to decrease in scour depth around both piers. The value of scour depth was maximum when piers were at 0° and minimum at 19°. It was also found that scour depth increases with the increase in flow rate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (09) ◽  
pp. 793-801
Author(s):  
Stjepan Lakusic

Groups of piers are used on bridges to minimise scour around bridge supports. The prediction of scour around piers due to interaction of vortices around bridge piers is more complex compared to scour prediction around a single pier. Four arrangements of bridge piers with different spaces in the lateral and longitudinal directions are investigated under clear water conditions to observe scour generation around bridge foundations. The experimental study is performed in a rectangular open channel. A 3D numerical study based on fluid dynamics is also conducted. Results show that different pier group arrangements produce smaller scour holes than a single pier.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 3281
Author(s):  
Hongliang Qi ◽  
Weiping Tian ◽  
Haochi Zhang

This research explores how a circular collar with a tilt angle (counterclockwise around the direction of the channel cross-section) could affect the local scour depth around a single cylindrical pier in clear-water based on Large Eddy Simulation (LES) in six cases. The results show that a horizontal circular collar is the best for reducing the local scour depth. With the increases of the tilt angle, the effect on reducing the local scour depth decreases gradually and is even counterproductive at the scour equilibrium. At the early stage of scouring, cases with circular collars show obvious scouring depth reductions. The smaller the tilt angle is, the better and longer-lasting the protection that the circular collar can provide. When the tilt angle is smaller than 5°, the location of the maximum local scouring is around 90–115° (the angle is measured clockwise from the flow direction) on both sides of the pier. When the tilt angle is greater than 5°, the depth of local scouring in the range around −115° to 115° is close to the maximum local scouring depth. Significantly larger areas reach the maximum scouring depth when the tilt angle increases. Compared to Case 1 (the pier without a circular collar), in the cases with a circular collar, the topographies downwards the pier in 1.0D (D is the diameter of the bridge pier) are changed to siltation from scouring. The topography downwards the pier changes from scouring to siltation with the increase of the tilt angle, and the shape of siltation changes from a long-narrow rectangle to an equilateral triangle. This study may provide valuable insights into the protection of the local scour of the pier.


Author(s):  
Mark N. Landers ◽  
David S. Mueller

Field measurements of channel scour at bridges are needed to improve the understanding of scour processes and the ability to accurately predict scour depths. An extensive data base of pier-scour measurements has been developed over the last several years in cooperative studies between state highway departments, the Federal Highway Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Selected scour processes and scour design equations are evaluated using 139 measurements of local scour in live-bed and clear-water conditions. Pier-scour measurements were made at 44 bridges around 90 bridge piers in 12 states. The influence of pier width on scour depth is linear in logarithmic space. The maximum observed ratio of pier width to scour depth is 2.1 for piers aligned to the flow. Flow depth and scour depth were found to have a relation that is linear in logarithmic space and that is not bounded by some critical ratio of flow depth to pier width. Comparisons of computed and observed scour depths indicate that none of the selected equations accurately estimate the depth of scour for all of the measured conditions. Some of the equations performed well as conservative design equations; however, they overpredict many observed scour depths by large amounts. Some equations fit the data well for observed scour depths less than about 3 m (9.8 ft), but significantly underpredict larger observed scour depths.


Author(s):  
Carlos Toro-Escobar ◽  
Richard Voigt ◽  
Bruce Melville ◽  
Meng Chiew ◽  
Gary Parker

Design criteria for riprap at bridge piers in rivers is based on the specification of a size, gradation, and cover that does not fail under an appropriately chosen flood flow. Experimental tests of riprap performance at bridge piers to date have relied on a configuration for which the ambient bed is not mobilized, that is, clear-water conditions. In the field, however, riprap is, as a rule, subjected to mobile-bed conditions during floods. Recent experiments by three cooperating research groups (University of Auckland, Nanyang University, and St. Anthony Falls Laboratory) indicate a heretofore unrecognized mechanism for riprap failure under mobile-bed conditions. When the flow is in the dune regime, the passage of successive dunes causes riprap that is never directly entrained by the flow to sink and disperse. Pier scour is realized as a consequence of these processes. In some cases, the depth of scour realized is not significantly less than that which would occur without riprap. When the riprap is fully underlain by a geotextile, edge effects can cause local removal of riprap, upturning of the geotextile, and general failure. When the riprap is underlain by a partial geotextile (i.e., one that covers an area less than the riprap), edge scour causes local sinking that anchors the geotextile. The sinking and dispersion of the rest of the riprap are greatly limited, and the riprap fails only when flow velocities are sufficient for direct entrainment. The experiments suggest improved design criteria for the installation of riprap in the field.


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