Riverbed Morphologies Induced by Local Scour Processes at Single Spur Dike and Spur Dikes in Cascade

Abstract

Spur dikes are elongated structures extending from banks into rivers that mitigate erosion by forcing the flow away from the bank. The research on grouped spur dikes is insufficient in comparison with those on isolated spur dikes. Most of the studies focus on the maximum scour depth, omitting the bed morphological changes induced by local scour processes. Moreover, as yet, there is no established procedure for predicting the scour depth around spur dikes. This study aims to provide insights into the temporal and spatial morphological patterns around a single spur dike and spur dikes in cascade (three, five, and seven, consecutively). Experiments (of up to 318 h) were performed on a rectangular straight channel with dimensions of 20 m (length) × 1.0 m (width) × 1.0 m (depth). Nearly uniform sand with median grain size of 1.7 mm and sediment gradation of 1.5 was used for the mobile bed. The spacing between the elements for the spur dikes in cascade was 3b, where b is the spur dike width. All runs were conducted under a clear-water regime and steady flow conditions. Some limitations of the formulas for the equilibrium scour depth at the first spur dike reported in the literature were emphasised, with underestimations up to 160% and overestimations up to 200% at the earlier scour stages. The temporal evolution of the scour depth at the first spur dike was satisfactorily predicted with a correlation coefficient of 0.91. The scour processes at the other spur dikes were delayed and started at a dimensionless time greater than approximately 103. However, the scour rates increased to a high degree, with the scour depths tending to match those at the first spur dike.