Influence of unsteady flow hydrograph shape on local scouring around bridge pier

Abstract

Accurate estimation of scour depth is needed for economic and safe determination of bridge pier foundation depth. Most design criteria are based on maximum scour depth due to the steady design discharge without flow time limit. In this paper, the results are presented of an experimental investigation on local scouring around a single bridge pier under steady and unsteady flow regimes. For unsteady flow, triangular shape hydrographs with repeatable peaks have been chosen. Results show that both sharp and flat increases to the peak of hydrographs have a negligible effect on scour depth for the same base time. An equation is obtained to compute the scour depth due to a specific triangular hydrograph with specific base time, peak flow characteristics and pier diameter. Also, an equation is introduced to represent temporal variation of scour depth with respect to the steady flow condition.