Control of Scour at Bridge Piers by a Downstream Bed Sill
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 1
Abstract
Results are presented from laboratory experiments to investigate the effectiveness of bed sills as countermeasures against local scouring at a smooth circular bridge pier, for flow conditions near the threshold of uniform sediment motion. The bed sill was located downstream of the pier, and its effectiveness with the distance between pier and sill was evaluated. The dependence of the scour depth on different dimensionless groups was defined. The results showed that a bed sill placed at a short distance downstream of the pier reduces the scour depth, area, and volume. In particular, the smaller the distance between the two structures, the larger the effectiveness of the countermeasure. The bed sill seems to take effect some time after the beginning of the test, as the scour hole downstream of the bridge pier develops sufficiently and interacts with the countermeasure.
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Acknowledgments
The experimental work was carried out in Portugal, by using a flume at the Departamento de Engenharia Civil e Arquitectura, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, from April to October 2004, and the Canal de Inclinação Variável, at Departamento de Hidráulica e Ambiente, Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), Lisbon, from Mar. to Oct. 2005. Funding was provided by the Italian Università della Calabria and Master ModeCI and the Portuguese Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI), Covilhã, Laboratorio Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), and Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Lisbon. Professor Martin Höck of the UBI is acknowledged for the assistance with the topographical instruments. The anonymous reviewers, the associate editor and the editor are gratefully acknowledged for their useful suggestions.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 1 • January 2009
Pages: 13 - 21
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 26, 2006
Accepted: Jun 18, 2008
Published online: Jan 1, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2009
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