Use of Laboratory and Field Data to Evaluate the Pier Scour Equation from Hydraulic Engineering Circular 18

The Hydraulic Engineering Circular 18 (HEC-18) pier scour prediction equation is the most widely used pier scour prediction equation in the United States, if not the world, and understanding the equation’s performance is of interest to the bridge engineering community. Previous evaluations of the equation’s performance were limited to smaller sets of laboratory and field data. In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, published a U.S. Geological Survey pier scour database, consisting of 569 laboratory and 1,858 field measurements of pier scour. This extensive database is a valuable resource for evaluating the HEC-18 pier scour equation, which is the primary focus of the investigation presented in this paper. Although comparing predicted and measured values is a common method for evaluating the performance of a prediction equation, the present investigation used a different approach and evaluated the HEC-18 equation by comparing selected data from the USGS database with the dimensionless relationship used to develop the original equation. This alternative approach highlighted some of the strengths and weaknesses of the equation, which are not as evident in the more common approach of comparing predicted and measured values. The findings of the investigation are presented in this paper.