New Imperial Equation for Local Scour around Various Bridge Piers Shapes

The assessment of the maximum scour depth around bridge piers is very important in design the foundations of bridges. Engineers are presently estimating the scour conditions at existing bridges and also thinking to design and build new bridges that should be safe from the problem of scour. In this paper, experimental data for local scour around different shapes of bridge piers are presented. The effects of velocity, Pier Froude Number and pier shape factor on the maximum scour depth are given. By analyzing the data, an empirical equation is formulated to estimate the maximum scour depth around various shapes bridge piers. The formula gave a good coefficient of determination between the observed and predicted scour depths and give a good idea to calculate the maximum depth of scour in cases similar to that covered in the present study. It has been observed that the reduction of the maximum depth of scouring highly dependent on pier shape factor.