Experimental study of the effect of rectangular debris blockage on the scour hole development around a cylindrical bridge pier

Abstract

Abstract Studying the influences of the debris settled by the flood upstream of the bridge pier on the scour is important. In the present study, experimental tests were performed as four models including the bridge pier, the bridge pier with buried debris, the bridge pier with the free debris, and the bridge pier with free debris and the bed sill with the downstream gap equal to 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 times of pier diameter. The results showed that buried debris increased the maximum length of the scour hole (ls), and the maximum width of the scour hole (ws) by about 50, and 180% respectively in comparison with the alone pier. It resulted that buried debris has a more increased effect than free debris. Free debris at low submergence ratios reduces ls by up to 27%, and in high submergence ratios increases it by up to 37%. Also, free debris increases ws in all submergence ratios, which is by up to 127% for the critical case compared to the case without debris. At all distances, the bed sill reduces ls and ws, and the best performance for reducing ls and ws is when it is attached to the bridge pier.