Comparison of Sediment Load and Riverbed Scour during Floods for Gravel-Bed and Sand-Bed Reaches of Intermittent Rivers: Case Study
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VIEW CORRECTIONPublication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 5
Abstract
Hydraulic scour is one of the major causes of bridge and embankment failure during typhoon-induced or monsoon-induced floods in steep intermittent rivers in Taiwan. In this study, field data for sediment load and riverbed scour, measured in gravel-bed and sand-bed reaches between 2003 and 2013 are analyzed to determine their differences under nonequilibrium sediment-transport conditions. The riverbed scouring potential was extremely high during the fast-rising stage of a large flood in the bimodal gravel-bed reach. By contrast, the unimodal sand-bed reach with a higher suspended load typically demonstrated a lower scouring rate, although it was still higher than that of a perennial river. Existing bridge-scour formulas suitable for intermittent rivers were examined by separating short-term general scour and localized scour. A maximum general scour-depth formula is developed in this study for use as a potential tool for emergency evacuations and bridge closure purposes.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Water Resources Planning Institute, Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs of R.O.C. The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Jian-Hao Hong and Dr. Zhong-Zhi Shi for their assistances during the field experiments.
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Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 5 • May 2016
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© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 3, 2015
Accepted: Oct 15, 2015
Published online: Jan 6, 2016
Published in print: May 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Jun 6, 2016
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