International Journal of Civil Engineering

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL and Technology

OF CIVIL (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308
ENGINEERING AND (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 5, Issue 12, December (2014), pp. 277-281 IAEME
TECHNOLOGY (IJCIET)

ISSN 0976 6308 (Print) IJCIET

ISSN 0976 6316(Online)
Volume 5, Issue 12, December (2014), pp. 277-281
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SELECTION OF SUITABLE EQUATIONS IN

ESTIMATION OF LOCAL SCOUR

Mr.Ravindra A Oak
Professor, Deptt. of Civil Engineering
Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, College of Engineering

Mr.Hossein Mortazavi
Post Graduate (M.Tech. Hydraulic Engineering) Student at Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed
University, College of Engineering, Pune-(411043)

ABSTRACT

One of the most important reasons for bridges destruction is local scour around their piers,
especially in the flood time. There for determination of local scour depth around pier of bridge plays
an important role in design of bridge. In addition to the loss of life and property, the damaged
bridges lose their functions; and, lead to interrupted traffic and add extra costs. Some equations have
been obtained by different researchers using experimental observations and field data with the help
of regression analysis to determine the value of scour depth, and it is obvious the less gap between
observed scour and prediction scour, the better the equation. In this article, first local scour and its
parameters are introduced and then a comparison between scour equations has shown .with the help
of dimensional analysis a general equation for estimation of the scour depth around a bridge pier will
be obtained. From this formula, observed data and Using linear multiple regression analysis and
polygon multiple regression analysis, specific formulas for these areas are achieved from general
obtained formula.

Keywords: Local Scour, Determination, Comparison, Parameters, Regression Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Scour is the consequence of the erosive action of fluid water eradicating bed material from
around the abutments and piers that support the bridge and erosion of stream bed and bank material
which the bridge cross. it is a natural phenomenon and one of the main common cause of highway
bridge failures which results in the loss of lives and financial losses for reconstruction and

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 5, Issue 12, December (2014), pp. 277-281 IAEME

rehabilitation .during the period between 1989 and 2000, 53% of bridge failure in USA was due to
flood and resulting scour .the contraction scour results from a reduction of the flow area at the bridge
site due to the encroachment into the flood plain or the main channel by the piers, abutments and
approach embankments .the many parameters involved in bridge-pier scour may be classified as
stream flow characteristics such as velocity and flow depth, bed material characteristics such as the
sediment size and distribution, and bridge pier characteristics such as the width, shape, and length of
the pier .many efforts have been carried out throughout the world by researchers to develop
equations for forecasting the depth of bridge scour and understand the mechanism of this
phenomena, such as (Laursen and Toch, 1956, Shen et al., 1969; Breusers et al., 1977; Jain and
Fischer, 1979, Melville and Sutherland, 1988; Froehlich, 1989 Richardson, 1994; Lim, 1997 and
Heza et al., 2007, Haque, 2002, Tafarojnoruz et al. 2011 and many others) .Bridge pier scour is one
type of local scour which appears as a scour hole around a bridge pier which caused by sediment
transport that is driven by the local flow structure induced by a bridge pier. When water is flowing
past a pier, the velocity becomes zero on the upstream face of the bridge pier and adverse pressure
gradient is developed, as result a horseshoe vortex is formation and forced to move downward the
upstream surface of the pier and tends to remove the bed materials from around the base of pier. As
the depth of scour rises, the strength of horseshoe vortex will be reduced and the rate of scour from
the base is decreased, over a period of time equilibrium is occurred. For live bed local scour,
equilibrium is obtained when the inflow bed material is equal to the outflow. For clear water scour
scouring ceases when the shear stress caused by horseshoe vortex is equal to the critical shear of the
sediment particles at the bottom of the scour hole.
In this article, equations for estimation of scour around bridge piers are:
These equations are chosen for comparison of observed scour values and predicted scour values.

equation year

d =1.7b(  ) .
1- inglis  1949
y

2- laras d =1.05b . 1963

=1.95() -1
  
3-aronachelam  1965

V V
= 0.6( ) .
4-coleman 2gd gb 1971

5-norman d =3.b . 1975

=0.32(  ) ..() . .Fr . . ( ) . 

   
6-Froehlich  #$ 1988

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 5, Issue 12, December (2014), pp. 277-281 IAEME

d :maximum scour depth

y:upstream flow depth
b:pier width
Fr: upstream Froude number

d :Median sediment size

: pier shape factor

b :effective pier width

Due to several effective factors impact on local scour, using all of these factors is difficult. therefore

%& = '( ( )& , ) , b , V , y , g,,& - , *, + , , )

important factors are considered to find a general relation between them.

That%& , )& , ) , b , V , y , g, ,& - , *, + and , are defined maximum local scour depth, pier
shape coefficient, factor for angles between approach flow and pier axial, pier width, flow velocity
,upstream flow depth, gravity acceleration ,fluid dynamic viscosity, fluid density ,median sediment
size and standard deviation of bed material, sequentially. by using Buckingham theory ,and
ignoring 0 parameter final form of general equation is:
.../

= f (k  , k ,  ,
   4
, 5 )
 3#$ 5
,

0
.../
Notation: Reynolds number ( ) in turbulent flow can be ignored because of effect of viscosity
force in comparison with inertial force is negligible.

Field data:
Data from different state in United States are considered in this article. Data gathered by
Froehlich and data from new Hampshire field areas .These data were assembled by United States
geological survey (USGS) and available in its website.

New Hampshires fied data

678
9
row Name of river location Discharge ( ) Width of river (ft)

1 (Kenduskeg) (Bangor) 6620 111

2 (kennbec) (Gardiner) 80000 890
3 (Androscoggin) Bethel 29300 340
4 (penobscot) (Lincoln) 43000 1058
5 (Aroostook) (Ashaland) 22700 332
6 (St. John) (Van Buren) 111000 682
7 (Austin) (Bingham) 2750 145

New equations for the areas:

By using regression analysis with mini tab software, 2 new equations are obtained from
general formula, suitable for the areas.

Equation by linear multiple regression analysis is:

= - 1.67 + 1.97 k  + 0.0175 k + 0.206 

 


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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 5, Issue 12, December (2014), pp. 277-281 IAEME

Equation by polynomial multiple regression analysis is:

 
= 4.82-11.4(k  ) +6.98(k  )+0.000562(k ) + 0.0828( )+ 0.00356 : ;
 
  

For both new equations we have a constraint condition:

ds ds ds
=' 0 ACD =
< b b bF
ds ds
=' < 0 ACD = 0
b b

Analysis of results and conclusion:

Three Statistical Tests were carried out to find the Equation which gives the minimum error
in the computation of Scour Depth. Mean square error (MSE), mean Absolute Deviation(MAD) and
Tracking signal (ts) which are mathematically described by following equations. Also scatter plot
help to have a better understanding of tracking signal and distribution of prediction values against
observed data.

(HI JKI )
LJ(
MSE =
|HI JKI |
L
MAD =

The smaller the value of MSE or MAD, the more accurate the forecast

I(H JK )
I P
Tracking signal = NOH =NOH

DR = demand (real data) in period (t)

t = the period number

FR = the forecast (prediction) for period (t)

n = the total number of periods
Tracking Signal is used to determine the larger deviation (in both plus and minus) of Error in
Forecast.

equation year TS MAD MSE

1- New polynomial equation 2014 20.3211831 0.1571151 0.0479780
2-New linear equation 2014 -0.514521 0.1832823 0.0487467
3- laras 1963 -30.518092 2.432 8.5121867
4- inglis 1949 -27.729415 2.4046667 11.91106
5-Froehlich 1988 56.152987 3.8783333 46.713497
6-arunachlam 1965 -52.029535 4.9206667 47.777627
7-norman 1975 -50.672302 7.571 62.073927
8-coleman 1971 59.397153 4.7773333 72.651683

Equations obtained by regression analysis for the areas are more accurate and reliable. And it
shows deriving equation of prediction for every area which is concerned to construction is more
reliable than using previous relations.

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 5, Issue 12, December (2014), pp. 277-281 IAEME

SUGGESTIONS

[1] Collecting a vast range of field data, in several parts of river which is necessary.
[2] Deriving equation of prediction for every area which is concerned to construction.
[3] 3-collecting reports of scour in the area and listing the main reasons of that.
[4] Considering best methods of construction to preventing scour or minimizing its effects in the area
of construction.
[5] Study about local scour mechanism in each area.

REFERENCES

[1] Garcia, Marcelo H., Sedimentation Engineering: Processes, Measurements, Modeling, and Practice".
reston, ASCE Publications, 2008.
[2] Wardhana K and Hadipriono F.C.,Analysis of recent bridge failures in the United States", Journal of
Performance of Constructed Facilities.
[3] Mohammed, T. A., MegatMohd Noor, M. J., Ghazali, A.H., Yusuf, B. and Saed, K., "Physical
Modeling of Local Scouring around Bridge Piers in Erodable Bed", Journal of King Saud University.
[4] Johnson, Peggy A., "Advancing Bridge pier Scour Engineering", ASCE.
[5] Rahman Md. Munsur and Haque M. Anisul, " Local scour estimation at bridge site: Modification and
application of Lacey formula", International Journal of Sediment Research.
[6] Khwairakpam, Padmini, Ray, Soumendu Sinha, Das, Subhasish, Das, Rajib; Mazumdar, Asis, "Scour
hole characteristics around a vertical pier under clear water scour condition", Journal of Engineering
& Applied Sciences.
[7] Tafarojnoruz, A., Gaudio, R., and Dey, S. "Flow-Altering Countermeasures against Scour at Bridge
Piers: a Review", Journal of Hydraulic Research.
[8] Lee, Seung Oh "Physical modeling of local scour around complex bridge piers", PhD thesis, Institute
of Technology, Georgia, 2006.
[9] Arneson, L.A., Zevenbergen, L.W., Lagasse, P.F., and Clopper, P.E.," Evaluating scour at bridges",
U.S. Federal Highway Administration, Hydraulic Engineering Circular no. 18, 2012.
[10] sturm, T.W., 2001 .open channel hydraulics: New York,USA,McGraw-hill.
[11] Mohamed, T.A.,M.J.M.M.Noor and A.H.Ghazali,2005.Validation of some bridge pier scour formulae
using field and laboratory data. American J. Environ.
[12] froehlich .D.C, 1988 Analysis of onsite measurements of scour at piers. in American society of civil
engineers national conference of hydraulic engineering: Coloradospring, co American society of civil
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[13] Bruce W. Melville, Stephen E. Coleman Water Resources Publication, 2000 - Technology &
Engineering. 6.6 other design equation.

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