A Practical Approach to Estimating Scour Depths at Bridge Abutments

Observations of bridge-abutment scour lead to a practical new approach for estimating realistic scour depths at bridge abutments. Prior design approaches usually lead to unrealistically deep estimates of abutment-scour depth. The observations presented stem from flume experiments conducted with abutments with approach embankments subject to a range of erodibility conditions: fixed embankment on fixed floodplain; riprap-protected erodible embankment on readily erodible floodplain; and, unprotected readily erodible embankment on readily erodible floodplain.