Pier and Abutment Scour Interaction
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 12
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a series of flume experiments to evaluate the interactions between pier-scour and abutment-scour in a noncohesive boundary. To facilitate optimal structural design and minimize pier presence in a channel, many bridges have a pier located close to an abutment. Scant information exists as to how bridge pier proximity to abutment affects scour depth at an abutment and at a pier. The existing relationships for predicting scour at a pier or at an abutment in isolation do not estimate scour depth at a pier or an abutment when both are in close proximity to one another. During this study, scour depth, scour location, and bathymetry data were recorded for two common abutment forms: spill-through and wing-wall. For the abutment and pier configurations investigated, the results show that pier presence does not lead to substantial increases in abutment scour depth, although it may reduce abutment-scour depth when the pier is close to the spill-slope toe of a spill-through abutment; the pier acts to retain riprap stone and spill-slope soil in the scour region. However, scour depth at a pier located close to an abutment is determined predominantly by scour at the abutment and, therefore, may substantially exceed the depth estimated for an isolated pier.
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Acknowledgments
This study was conducted as part of Project 24-20, Estimation of Scour Depth at Abutments, funded by the U.S. National Cooperative Highway Research Board. The writers gratefully acknowledge this funding. Guidance provided by Bart Bergendahl of the Federal Highway Administration and William Bailey of the Wyoming Department of Transportation is much appreciated, as are the comments provided by the paper’s reviewers.
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 12 • December 2011
Pages: 1598 - 1605
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 5, 2009
Accepted: Apr 28, 2011
Published online: Apr 30, 2011
Published in print: Dec 1, 2011
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