Experimental Investigation of Scouring around Inclined Bridge Piers

Abstract

For a safe design of a bridge pier footing, it is important to estimate the maximum depth of scour as accurately as possible. The aim of this experimental study is to investigate the effect of an inclination of bridge piers on the development of the local scour depths around the bridge piers. The experiments were performed with single circular piers inclined towards the downstream direction making an angle with the vertical plane over uniform bed material under clear water conditions. Non-dimensional scour curves were developed to illustrate the temporal variation of the scour depth. The results of the present study were compared with those obtained using vertically mounted piers by the previous investigators. The depth of local scour around inclined piers was observed to be smaller than that of the case of the vertically mounted piers.