Author(s): Beatriz Nácher-Rodríguez, Francisco Valles Moran, Elvira Garrido De La Torre, José Luis Denia Rios

Linked Author(s): Francisco Vallés Morán

Keywords: Bridge scour; Bridge protection; Bridge vulnerability; Local scour; Field inspection;

Abstract: Concrete slabs are widely used as a measure to protect bridges against local scour. This type of protection often spans across the whole width of the river cross section. While it minimizes erosion at the upstream side of the bridge, large scour holes start to develop at the downstream side, as soon as the protection ends. As erosion develops, the material underneath the concrete slab is removed. This may lead to the failure of the protection and the potential collapse of the structure, as it has been documented in many real cases. This project aims to determine the scope of this problem by means of field inspections and bridge monitoring after flood events. The erosive phenomenon is also studied through physical modelling without scale effects. From a series of laboratory experiments, scour holes that develop with and without bed protection are compared, and a significant difference between both cases is observed. This approach allows us to increase the knowledge of this erosive process, to use that knowledge to adapt and improve this typology of protection, and to improve the methodology to assess vulnerability of bridges at river crossings during flood events.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/38WC092019-1146

Year: 2019