Large-Scale Flume Tests of Riprap-Apron Performance at a Bridge Abutment on a Floodplain
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 6
Abstract
Laboratory tests using a large-scale model of a spill-through bridge abutment led to important findings about the performance of a riprap apron as an abutment scour countermeasure. Riprap stone is widely used for protecting side slopes of embankments against erosion, and several design guidelines are available in the literature. In contrast, only a few guidelines exist for the design of a riprap apron around an abutment. These guidelines focus only on the armoring effect of riprap, neglecting other effects. This study shows that apron performance involves several mechanisms: armoring the bed, dissipating large-scale turbulence shed from the abutment, reducing the peak unit discharge, reducing the average shear stress, and shifting the scour region away from the abutment. Together, these mechanisms substantially reduce the maximum scour depth. The test findings are compared with those from a much smaller model of riprap-apron performance.
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Acknowledgments
This study was conducted under Project No. UNSPECIFIED24-18, Scour Countermeasures for Bridge Abutments, the National Cooperative Highway Research Board.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 6 • June 2008
Pages: 800 - 809
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 13, 2007
Accepted: Sep 25, 2007
Published online: Jun 1, 2008
Published in print: Jun 2008
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