Review of Scour Technology by George W. Annandale: McGraw-Hill Civil Engineering Series, New York; 2006; ISBN 0-07-144057-7; 430 pp. Price: $99.95.

This brand new book has been designed to provide insightful solutions to practical scour problems. It provides understanding of the interaction between turbulent flow and all kinds of materials, from vegetated cohesive soils to bedrock. Methods are presented to assess the erosive capacity of water and scour resistance of natural and engineered materials. The engineering management of scour problems is a unique contribution of this book. Other interesting features include the analysis of turbulent fluctuations, brittle fracture, geologic considerations of bedrock, rock bolts, and joint alterations, etc.

The author shares 30 years of international experience in the analysis of scour, hydrology and hydraulics, and sediment transport. He proposes a unique approach to solve scour-related problems around bridge piers, below dams, in spillway chutes and energy dissipators, and in plunge pools and large water tunnels. His theoretical analysis hinges on stream power. The erodibility-index method is explained in considerable detail. Throughout the text, the author emphasizes the design of effective scour protection countermeasures.

The material is presented in 10 chapters; (1) scour management challenges; (2) engineering judgment; (3) scour processes; (4) material and fluid properties; (5) erosive capacity of water; (6) scour thresholds; (7) scour extent; (8) temporal aspects of scour; (9) engineering management of scour; and (10) case studies. The book also includes a brief preface with acknowledgments, a list of references, a useful list of symbols, and a combined author/subject index. The book is very well illustrated and several photographs of large structures are quite impressive. The illustrations and frequent references to solving practical engineering problems permeate throughout the entire book.

This book will be extremely useful to practicing civil engineers dealing with the topic of jet scour in plunge pools. This is a nice compendium of recent information and reflective discussion of the subject. It contains unique material on cohesive soils and on bedrock scour. What the author presents so well is a wealth of valuable information on the general subject of scour from vegetated channels to bedrock. The presentation includes relevant theory and understanding of rock and fluid mechanics. It also delves heavily into recent large-scale experiments carried out around the world. For instance, large-scale experiments such as those carried out at Colorado State University under Dr. James Ruff are presented and analyzed in this new text. The application of recent experimental results to large-scale field applications is perhaps the most valuable aspect of this book.

The author shares his vision and understanding of the engineering analysis of scour. His vision emphasizes a combination of (1) objectivity rooted in the quantitative results from analytical/numerical investigations and model studies; and (2) subjectivity based on practical experience, probability theory, uncertainty analysis, and “reflection.” His combination of objective and subjective reasoning leads to the development of appropriate engineering solutions. This book portrays the unique dimension of a design engineer perpetually savvy of new knowledge that ensures the stability of civil engineering structures such as large dams and highway bridges. This is the kind of professional commitment that will inspire many practicing engineers to share their knowledge and expertise.

The author kindly describes this work as an ongoing project and welcomes comments and suggestions for improvement. In my view, perhaps three elements should be considered to improve future editions in the direction of a potential textbook. First, this book may include some “recipes” for solving scour problems. Students may welcome additional calculation examples throughout the text. To the practitioner, a couple of worked numerical examples could have clarified how the stream power approach improves upon methods based on flow velocity and shear stress. Second, the notation used in the text is somewhat confusing. For instance, the symbol “P” in Equation (3.4) designates stream power per unit area with units of $\mathrm{kW}∕{\mathrm{m}}^2$ . When comparing with Equation (5.53), the same symbol “P” is subsequently used for the total stream power in kW. The symbol “p” is preferred in Equation (5.54) for stream power per unit area, but the same symbol is also used for pressure. Third, the presentation could be strengthened. Conceptually, the section on basic material and fluid properties in Chapter 4 should have been presented before the scour processes of Chapter 3. Likewise, the treatment of boundary layers and turbulence properties are fragmented throughout the text. Also, the analysis of scour of cohesive materials and bedrock could have been covered separately.

The publisher uses a light format and adequate font size and style to support readability. The quality of the illustrations and diagrams, as well as numerous black and white photographs, is also good.

In summary, this book is recommended to design engineers dealing with the engineering aspects of jet scour in plunge pools. It contains unique material on cohesive soils and on bedrock scour. With a focus on stream power methods, the book contains a lot of recent design-related information and an analysis of large-scale laboratory measurements and numerous field applications using stream power. At a cost of $99.95, the price is high for students but affordable to practicing engineers.