Scour Concerns for Short-Span Masonry Arch Bridges
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 2
Abstract
Short-span masonry arch bridges constitute a significant proportion of the existing bridge inventory in the UK, Ireland, Europe, and the northeastern United States. These historic structures are founded typically on relatively shallow footings of unknown depth and configuration or on timber piles weakened by age and environmental exposure. Flume experiments used two common forms of short-span, masonry arch bridge and showed how local scour may readily undermine such structures. The experiments demonstrated that traditional hydraulic adjustments do not significantly reduce scour depth: streamlining abutments with wing walls and using cutwaters on piers. The usefulness of stone armor placed around abutments and piers was proven, but such armoring may relocate scour downstream of the bridge. The findings emphasize the scour-countermeasure benefits of foundation strengthening, flow bypassing by means of relief culverts (where feasible), and the use of channel armoring and energy-dissipation structures downstream of the bridge.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study (e.g., scour depths, flow depths and velocities, and sediment size) are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
This study was conducted with funding from the UK Royal Society under Award No. IE140568. Thanks are due to DFI Senior Engineer, Mr. John McRobert, for encouraging this study, and to Mr. Mark Wilson, Hydraulics Technician at Ulster University, for help conducting this study.
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Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 2 • February 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 22, 2019
Accepted: Jun 13, 2019
Published online: Nov 19, 2019
Published in print: Feb 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Apr 19, 2020
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