BTUDY OF 1'IME-DEPENDENT L O C A L SCOUR

AROUND BRIDGE PIERS

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By A. Melih Yanmaz 1 and H. Dogan Altinbilek, 2 Member, ASCE

ABSTRACT: Estimation of maximum possible scour depth around bridge piers is

an important step in the design of bridge pier foundations. Under known hydro-
logical characteristics such as peak discharge and time-to-peak value of design flood
hydrograph, smaller scour depths can be obtained compared to the equilbrium
scour depths corresponding to clear water conditions. To examine such a phenom-
enon, time variation of local scour depths around bridge piers has to be determined.
To this end, sets of experiments are performed using single cylindrical and square
bridge pier models in the laboratory under clear water conditions with uniform bed
materials. Semiempirical time-dependent analysis of local scour depths around
bridge piers has been conducted using the sediment continuity equation for the
scour hole around bridge piers. For design purposes, nondimensional scour pre-
diction curves were prepared in terms of various sediment and flow properties.

INTRODUCTION

The problem of local scour around bridge piers has been studied exten-
sively by several investigators. However, no single analytically derived equa-
tion is available because of the difficulties of the problem, such as combined
effects of complex turbulent boundary layer, time-dependent flow pattern,
and sediment transport mechanism in the scour hole. Besides, since many
parameters affect the scour hole development, experimental studies have
been conducted by considering only certain aspects of the problem and
accepting the other parameters as constants.
Through a dimensional analysis, it can be observed that the relative scour
depth, djb, (scour depth/pier width) is a function of the relative approach
flow depth, djb, (approach flow depth/pier width) under the conditions of
cohensionless uniform bed material, single pier, long flow duration, wide
channel, and flow velocities close to the threshold conditions (Yanmaz 1989).
Breusers et al. (1977), Chiew and Melville (1987), Melville and Sutherland
(1988), Giinyakti (1989), and Yanmaz (1989) present curves relating djb
to djb. However, the effect of approach flow depth on the development
of the scour hole may be ignored beyond a certain value of djb. According
to Melville and Sutherland (1988), the relative scour depth, djb is inde-
pendent of relative approach flow depth for djb > 2.6. Figs. 1 and 2 show
the relation between djb and djb for a wide range of flow Froude numbers
under live bed and clear water conditions for cylindrical and noncircular
piers, respectively. The curves enveloping the data points in Figs. 1 and 2
as proposed by Giinyakti (1989) represent the upper boundary of the avail-
able scour data reported in the literature. However, the effects of sediment
size and gradation can be taken into account to modify the results obtained
from Figs. 1 and 2 that represent uniform bed materials. Raudkivi and

'Asst. Prof., Middle East Tech. Univ., Civ. Engrg. Dept., 06531, Ankara, Turkey.
2
Prof., Middle East Tech. Univ., Civ. Engrg. Dept., 06531, Ankara, Turkey.
Note. Discussion open until March 1,1992. To extend the closing date one month,
a written request must be filed with the A S C E Manager of Journals. The manuscript
for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on June 8, 1990.
This paper is part of the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 117,No. 10, October,
1991. © A S C E , ISSN 0733-9429/91/0010-1247/$1.00 + $.15 per page. Paper No.
26220.

1247

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

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1 DATA (YANMAZ, 1989)

4 ^

Mil
o BASAK ET AL.
o
| • * - CHABERTAND ENGELDINGER
a TARAPORE
:
+ CHITA LE *
'•_
A SHEN ET. AL

1
2-- ^--~—%h. •° * ° °
HANCU
•
JAIN AND FISCHER *
ds.
X MELVILLE
b
D GUNYAKTI
-
ro • YANMAZ yS o °
oo s
-
/
/ o
• o A
-
/ / O OQ O oo o O
-
/ o 0
0.5-

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

' O

I I . .1 i i i n , m l 1 1 J 1 I 1 I I—• • i • i • i I i » • i i • < • .1 • • " 1 " 1 1 I I_J .

I.I.I .„-m~
0.1 4 5 6 7 8 910
Jo_
b

FIG. 1. Correlation between djb and djb for Cylindrical Piers (Yanmaz 1989)
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DATA (YANMAZ, 1989)

A BASAK ET AL
m LAURSEN AND TOCH
X KNIGHT
a 6UNYAKTI
O YANMAZ

N>
CD

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

FIG. 2. Correlation between djb and djb for Noncircular Piers (Yanmaz 1989)
 Ettema (1983) propose correction factors to consider the effects of sediment
size and gradation (See Figs. 3 and 4). As can be seen from Fig. 3, for bl
D50 > 50 (where D50 is the mean sediment size), the correction coefficient,
K, approaches 1.0. Hence the effect of sediment size may be ignored for
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this range. As the-geometric standard deviation of the particle size distri-

bution, ug, increases, the correction coefficient, Ka, and hence the scour
depth decrease as a result of the armoring effect in the bed (see Fig. 4).

500 > 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1

U»/ u-utc
0.9 95 1.5 2.0 3.0 35 4.0
A A D W ID w o
100

o
oin

0 0.5 1.0

FIG. 3. Coefficient Showing Effect of Sediment Size (Raudkivi 1986)

1.00

FIG. 4. Coefficient Showing Effect of Sediment Grading (Raudkivi 1986)

1250

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

 A further correction ot the relative scour depth obtained from Figs. I
and 2 may be required with regard to the flow duration. The equilibrium
scour depth under clear water conditions is reached in quite a long flow
duration. According to Raudkivi (1986), almost 50 hrs of test duration is
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required to reach such a condition in the laboratory. The corresponding

flood duration in the prototype may consequently be beyond reasonable
limits. Therefore, the design of bridge pier foundations on the basis of
equilibrium scour depths under clear water conditions may yield consider-
ably greater values than may occur if the flow is of short duration. For a
known time-to-peak value of design flood hydrograph, smaller scour depths
may be obtained, which reduce the total cost of construction. For this
purpose, the time variation of scour depths has to be known. Although
many studies of local scour are reported in the literature, the number of
studies dealing with the time variation of scour depth around bridge piers
is very limited. Raudkivi and Ettema (1983) present sets of curves as a
function of ag that relate the relative scour depth to the nondimensional
time term together with the sediment and flow properties on the basis of
experimental studies (See Fig. 5).
The objective of this study is to develop a semiempirical method to de-
termine the time variation of clear water local scour depth around single
cylindrical and square bridge piers. The method to be presented is based
on the application of the sediment continuity equation to the scour hole
around bridge piers.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF PROBLEM

Based on the principle of conservation of mass, the sediment continuity

equation for the local scour hole around a bridge pier can be written as
dV
= Q„ Q„ (l)
dt

2.5
D5000"3m) b(m)
8 0.55 0.102
2.0 D 085 »
0 1.90 "
X 4.10 "
1.5

10

0.5

0 • 1 " 1 I
10 10"' 10" 10" 10° 10'

ew-x^
FIG. 5. Correlation between djb and (Djb) (H tlb)\vl(u b)\ (Raudkivi and Ettema
1983)
1251

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

 where dVldt = the rate of change of the scour hole volume V, with respect
to time t; Qso = the volume rate of sediment being carried out; and Qsi —
the volume rate of sediment being carried into the scour hole. The time-
dependent analysis of the local scour depth is based upon the determination
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of the terms used in (1). The results of laboratory experiments can be utilized
to obtain the values of coefficients needed by such an analysis and also can
provide an expression for the shape of scour hole around bridge piers.
The rate of sediment transport out of the scour hole, Qso, can be obtained
by utilizing the sediment pickup studies of previous investigators. In a study
conducted by LeFeuvre (1965), the rate of sand transport from a small area
of flat bed has been measured. In that study the sediment is forced into a
flow section through a vertical supply tube. At the end of the supply tube,
a small flat sediment bed is formed at the main flow section. During each
run, the sediment supply rate is held constant. The experimental results of
LeFeuvre's (1965) flat bed transport study have been reanalyzed by Le-
Feuvre et al. (1970) and a semiempirical pickup function based on force
analysis of threshold condition has been derived:

^ = 0.001 F (2)
u
where uju = the ratio of pickup velocity, which is the volume rate of bed
removal per unit area of bed per unit time ue, to the mean flow velocity at
particle level u; F [CDN2/(8.2 cos a) - tan a - tan cj)]25; CD = the
coefficient of drag on a particle falling in a quiescent fluid; Ns = the sediment
number and is equal to Ns = u/[(S — 1) gDS0)0-5; S = the specific gravity;
g = the gravitational acceleration; Dso = the mean particle size; a. = the
angle of inclination of the bed from horizontal; and cj> = the angle of repose
of sediment.
A similar study has been conducted by Van Rijn (1984) for movable beds
in which an empirical sediment pickup function is derived as
E = O.OOOSSp^Ag^o) 0 - 5 ^ 3 ^- 5 (3)
where E = the pickup rate in mass per unit area and time; p^ = the sediment
material density; A = the relative density which equals (p^ — p)/p; p = the
fluid density; D^ = DS0(Ag/v2)1/3; v = the kinematic viscosity; T = (T^ —
T&C)/T6C; t'b = the effective bed shear stress and Tbc = the critical bed shear
stress. Similar empirical pickup functions for movable beds are also pre-
sented in the same study.
Since only the clear water case with a flat bed is considered in this work,
the sediment pickup function given in (2) will be used in the analysis.
Because of the fundamental similarity of all local scouring situations, the
rate of sediment pickup expressed by (2) can be expected to be applicable
in any scour phenomena (Altinbilek and Basmaci, 1980). The output sed-
iment transport function, Qso, for the scour hole around a bridge pier can
then be formulated in a nondimensional form as

e, /F (4)

vtan <p
where the term Qso/[D50(2dJtan 4> + b)] is assumed to be the sediment
pickup velocity which is equal to the volume of sediment transported from
1252

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

 a unit area of particle size times the projected width of the scour hole
perpendicular to flow direction [DS0(2ds/tan 4> + b)] in unit time; a n d / =
the coefficient of proportionality, which differs from one scour to another
as a function of scour hole geometry, sediment and flow properties.
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EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

In sediment problems, it is difficult to reduce the obstruction dimensions

and sediment size from prototype to model with the same scale. A large
reduction in the size of sediment would affect the sediment pickup velocity
in the model due to the cohesion so that the similarity in the sediment
transport could not be achieved. To avoid the difficulties due to the scale
effect, model tests should be performed using the Froude criterion such that
the values of the sediment number A^ of the model tests fall in the same
range as those of the prototype.
Experiments to study the development of scour hole around bridge pier
models were conducted in a glass flume at the Hydromechanics Laboratory
of Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. The glass flume is
an L-shaped horizontal rectangular open channel 90 cm deep, 67 cm wide
with a concrete bottom. Side walls (except the test section for visual ob-
servations) of the flume are made of steel. The approach arm of the flume
is 5 m long. Water is conveyed to the flume from an elevated tank by means
of a 30-cm diameter pipe. The approach flume is higher than the test section
to provide a sharp-crested weir to measure the discharge. Details of the
flume are shown in Fig. 6. The flow rate in the flume is adjusted by a valve
on the pipe. Then the corresponding head on the sharp-crested weir is
measured. The other arm of the flume, which is 10.9 m long and 1.04 m
above the floor, contains the test section. Single bridge pier models made
of Plexiglas were set at 6.9 m from the beginning of this arm of the fume.
The bed in the flume was flattened before each run. During the experiments,
the upstream valve was slowly adjusted without causing any disturbance to
the bed material until the desired discharge was given to the flume (Yanmaz

.75m oischorgi to t w t i
(kwr tank

FIG. 6. Test Flume, Plan and Profile

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J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

 1989). The experimental conditions that were maintained in the laboratory
can be summarized as follows:
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1. Only clear water conditions with a flat bed were studied. No sediment
inflow was allowed into the scour hole from upstream.
2. In order to investigate the effect of the shape of bridge pier on the scour
hole development, cylindrical and square piers were tested.
3. To investigate the effect of pier size, cylindrical piers with diameters of
6.7 cm, 5.7 cm, and 4.7 cm and square piers having side lengths of 6.7 cm, 5.7
cm, and 4.7 cm were tested.
4. Two different uniform bed materials (quartz sand) were used with the
specific weights of 26.4 kN/m 3 and 26.3 kN/m3, the mean particle sizes of 1.07
mm and 0.84 mm with <JS = 1.13 and 1.28, respectively.
5. Bed materials were placed as a 15-cm thick layer in the flume bed with a
bed slope of 0.001.
6. The angle of attack of approach flow with the axis of square pier was kept
to be zero.

The scope of experiments are presented in Table 1. In the experiments,

the maximum scour depths around the bridge piers ds, were measured against
time t, relative to the initial bed level using a vertical scale attached to the
interior wall of hollow Plexiglas pier with a stick having a small inclined
mirror at its end. The measured data to be used in the analysis are presented
in Figs. 7 and 8 for cylindrical and square piers, respectively.
In the literature, there is limited information concerning the required time
to reach the equilibrium state under clear water conditions. As indicated
earlier, almost 50 hrs of test duration may be required to reach such a
condition (Raudkivi 1986). However, from a practical standpoint it is very
difficult to perform a wide range of experiments with such a long duration.
Therefore, the maximum duration of an experiment, te, was about six hours
during which the final equilibrium scour depths were not achieved although
the rate of scour did decelerate to smaller values for all experiments. In
fact, the prototype flood duration corresponding to this model test duration
is quite long and can be assumed to be sufficient for the limits of the practical
prototype applications.
During the course of the experiments, it was observed that the maximum
scour depths occurred at the midpoint of the upstream face of cylindrical
and square piers. The grains at the upstream side of the piers were observed
to be dislocated due to horseshoe vortices. As the scour hole enlarged with
respect to time, the strength of the horseshoe vortices weakned, causing
smaller rate of scour development, and the scour depth approached an
equilibrium value asymptotically. These observations are consistent with
those of Laursen and Toch (1956), Shen et al. (1969), and Melville (1975).
However, due to the limited test duration there is no information about
how the final scour depth measurement is close to the equilibrium value,
which can be reached under the same test conditions. Values of scour depths
at various test durations as percents of final scour depths can be computed
from the scour data in Figs. 7 and 8. Approximately 3 1 % , 3 8 % , and 49%
of the final scour depths were achieved at 0 . 3 % , 0.6%, and 1.7% of the
test durations, respectively. For 3 3 % and 67% of the test durations, almost
87% and 9 5 % of the final scour depths were achieved, respectively.

1254

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

 TABLE 1. SCODB of Ex^nsm^nts
Experiment Pier ^50 b 0 d0 T„ fo ds at te
number type (mm) (cm) (Us) (cm) (C°) Ns (min) (cm)
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(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
1 cylinder 1.07 6.7 40 16.5 17.0 2.21 360 10.2
2 cylinder 1.07 6.7 35 15.2 17.1 2.13 330 9.5
3 cylinder 1.07 6.7 30 13.5 17.2 2.00 360 9.2
4 cylinder 1.07 6.7 25 12.1 17.1 1.90 330 7.8
5 cylinder 1.07 6.7 20 10.5 17.0 1.77 210 6.4
6 cylinder 1.07 6.7 15 8.5 17.0 1.59 235 6.2
12 cylinder 1.07 6.7 10 6.5 16.5 1.39 300 5.6
13 cylinder 1.07 6.7 5 4.5 16.5 1.16 270 3.9
14 cylinder 1.07 5.7 40 16.5 16.5 2.21 360 9.8
15 cylinder 1.07 5.7 35 15.2 16.5 2.13 330 9.0
16 cylinder 1.07 5.7 30 13.5 16.5 2.00 320 8.3
17 cylinder 1.07 5.7 25 12.1 16.5 1.90 330 7.1
18 cylinder 1.07 5.7 20 10.5 16.5 1.77 240 6.1
19 cylinder 1.07 5.7 15 8.5 16.5 1.59 240 5.8
20 cylinder 1.07 5.7 10 6.5 16.5 1.39 300 5.1
21 cylinder 1.07 5.7 5 4.5 16.5 1.16 270 3.2
22 cylinder 1.07 4.7 10 6.5 16.2 1.39 300 4.1
23 cylinder 1.07 4.7 20 10.5 16.2 1.77 240 5.9
24 cylinder 1.07 4.7 30 13.5 16.1 2.00 330 7.7
25 cylinder 1.07 4.7 40 16.5 14.5 2.21 360 9.5
26 cylinder 0.84 6.7 10 6.5 14.5 1.58 300 7.7
27 cylinder 0.84 6.7 15 8.5 14.5 1.80 300 9.1
28 cylinder 0.84 6.7 20 10.5 14.5 2.00 300 9.6
29 cylinder 0.84 6.7 25 12.1 14.0 2.15 300 10.1
30 cylinder 0.84 6.7 30 13.5 13.5 2.26 300 10.7
31 cylinder 0.84 5.7 15 8.5 14.0 1.80 300 7.5
32 cylinder 0.84 5.7 20 10.5 14.0 2.00 300 8.3
33 cylinder 0.84 5.7 25 12.1 13.5 2.15 300 8.8
34 cylinder 0.84 5.7 30 13.5 14.0 2.26 300 9.5
35 cylinder 0.84 4.7 15 8.5 14.0 1.80 300 7.0
36 cylinder 0.84 4.7 20 10.5 13.7 2.00 300 6.8
37 cylinder 0.84 4.7 25 12.1 13.5 2.15 300 7.7
38 cylinder 0.84 4.7 30 13.5 13.7 2.26 300 8.5
39 square 1.07 6.7 40 16.5 17.0 2.21 180 14.0
40 square 1.07 6.7 30 13.5 16.5 2.00 300 11.2
41 square 1.07 6.7 25 12.1 16.5 1.90 300 9.4
50 square 1.07 5.7 40 16.5 16.0 2.21 270 14.1
51 square 1.07 5.7 30 13.5 16.1 2.00 300 11.0
52 square 1.07 5.7 25 12.1 16.2 1.90 300 9.2
56 square 1.07 4.7 40 16.5 14.2 2.21 300 12.5
57 square 1.07 4.7 30 13.5 14.2 2.00 300 10.6
58 square 1.07 4.7 25 12.1 14.2 1.90 300 8.9
62 square 0.84 6.7 30 13.5 13.7 2.26 300 12.6
63 square 0.84 6.7 15 8.5 13.7 1.80 300 9.3
66 square 0.84 5.7 30 13.5 13.7 2.26 300 12.0
67 square 0.84 5.7 15 8.5 13.7 1.80 300 8.9
70 square 0.84 4.7 30 13.5 13.5 2.26 300 11.4
71 square 0.84 4.7 15 8.5 13.5 1.80 300 8.5

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J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

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SYMBOL EXPERIMENT

9 1
o 2
D 3
m 4
A 14
15
0 ^ ,S^J%
&V 16
18
* 23
+
X 24
13 25 J
Aa j f M ^ . ' '
j* 27
29
b 1.2
# 30
a
r 32
0 A
_i 34 f
MoX a'/I?
V 37 A
A 38
*r f 1
A
1
o r
•tft*
XVA «V ° • r ^
A
ov a 7
© m fit
X r
+ T
1- El_-

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

j i i i i i 11 J i i i i i i i J—i—i i i i 11 »
1.0
t/t.

FIG. 7. Scour Data for Cylindrical Piers

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t
• » as. <•**& o «»* *

-
K l> S O < XL 0 Oft *> —
x
„ ._ 0 -
am t> as «j\a a *>
<•;• L -
a ©
0 . D . i-
> «t * « 4* <+x
^a
-
a s 0 a
> K » X ®' a + L,< * ^ —
> wt. » M <+L 0 «* a ^
® ® 1 O n
_
> ' * » * 9 ^ L « ° «* °>S
B
l> « » « +<Lx° 4* °_S
9
K L^x °»
• T, " S
t> HC
S O °
-
I
*

B
®L

0 a
4

® L „ _
° _ I
> * » a •o+_V s
Q
BUS a
a D • - 3
o
^ « * 2L M & o
4 w
a
5
9 00
|> EC
x L « &,«(
oa I (3
¥1> 5? *+ -9 •»*> -
z i <b "~
Id
2 —
ERI

m n —o _ NtpNajcgmujNO — -
L &fc
a. » X l«KM
UJ a oa
-J
0
01 90 D » O <[>1.+««B»K1.
s —
(0
>

4I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1257

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

 DETERMINATION OF GEOMETRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SCOUR HOLES

The determination of time-dependent shapes of scour holes around bridge

piers is the first step in the analysis. For this purpose, experiments 7-11
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and 42-46 for cylindrical and square piers, respectively, were performed
with Ns = 2.0 and b = 6.7 cm. Experiments were stopped at the end of
different test durations; namely 5 min, 20 min, 60 min, 100 min, and 150
min to determine the contours of the scour hole around bridge piers. After
each run, the bed was flattened to run the experiment with the next duration.
One of the contours around the cylindrical pier obtained at the end of 100
min of test duration is shown in Fig. 9. To determine the side inclination
of scour hole, ()>', the cross sections A-A and B-B were taken (See Fig. 10).
The side angles were then measured on these cross sections using the test
results of the respective experiments. The average side angle of the scour
holes around cylindrical and square piers was obtained as $' = 33°, which
is close to the natural angle of repose of quartz sand. To determine the rate
of change of side inclination of the scour hole, a three-dimensional coor-
dinate system was placed at the bottom of the scour hole with the origin
located at the center of the base of the pier. The coordinates x and y are

FLOW DIRECTION

FIG. 9. Contours of Scour Hole Around Cylindrical Pier at t = 100 min

1258

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

 Boundary of scour
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Flow hoi®

Direction

FIG. 10. Coordinate System of Scour Hole

I.O

0.9
a
j>

0.8 -

0.7-
2 max
0.6 - *°
0.5 -

_
^fi
0.4

0.3 -
SYMBOL EXP
/ a A • 7
0.2
o 8
y® A 9
0. I - 0 10
a II
I i i I I i i i i
O.I 0.2 0.3 Q4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 I.O
x x
/ max
FIG. 11. Correlation between */*_,„ and dz,„ax

along the sections A-A and B-B, respectively, whereas the z-coordinate is
located at the vertical centerline of the pier (see Fig. 10). In the analysis x,
y, and z are the time-dependent coordinates of the scour hole, whereas
xm-dX, ymw and zmax are the maximum coordinates of the scour hole measured
at the end of the tests. The correlations between x/xm.dX or y/ym.dX and z/zmdX
were investigated to examine the rate of change of the side inclination of
the scour hole. As an example, the correlation between x/xm.dX and zlzm.dX

1259

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

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FIG. 12. Geometric Description of Scour Holes (a) Cylindrical Pier; (b) Square Pier
on section B-B along the points O-T (See Fig. 10) is shown for the cylindrical
pier in Fig. 11. As observed in Fig. 11, the data points lie along the bisector
line. The analysis carried out for the other sections of the scour holes around
the piers tested yielded also similar correlations. It can therefore be accepted
that the shape of the scour hole remains almost unchanged with respect to
time. However, the rate of change decelerates as time elapses. As a result,
the volume of the scour hole can be approximated by an inverted cone
having circular and square bases for cylindrical and square piers, respec-
tively. The side inclinations of the scour hole are approximately equal to
the natural angle of repose of the sediment. Volumetric expressions of the
scour holes can then be derived on the basis of this approximation using
Fig. 12. The expression for the volume of the scour hole around the cylin-
drical pier can be derived referring to Fig. 12 (a) as follows:

V = TT I"' y2dz - TT(TI2^ (5)

Writing y in terms of z as given in Fig. 12 (a) and integrating,

£ M^b
V (6)
3 tan <)> \tan §
is obtained. Eq. (6) has also been proposed by Carstens (1966) and Shen
et al. (1969). The volume of scour hole around a square pier can similarly
be determined referring to Fig. 12 (b). The coordinates of points P, Q, S,
F, Q', and S' in Fig. 12 (b) are P = (a, a tan <$>, 0); Q = (B' cos $ , B'
sin * , ds); S = [(1 - X)P + XQ], 0 g X S 1; P' = (fyi, & tan $ , 0), 0
S M 1 ; 2 ' = (SB' cos <J>, tfi' sin 0 , ds); and S' = [(1 - \)P' + XQ'].
X and £ are the parameters to define the coordinates of the points. Substi-
tuting the values of P' and Q' into S' lead to x = (1 — k)^a + X£8' cos
$ = A(X, $, * ) ; v = (1 • - X)£« tan * + X^B' sin <D = /2(X, g, * ) ; and z
= Xds = /j(X), where a = b/2; and B' = (dslt&n <)> + b/2) as shown in Fig.
12 (b). The total volume of the scour hole around the square pier, V1; is
eight times the volume element, V, as described in Fig. 12 (b) less the
volume of the pier below the flume bed elevation:

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 Vi = 8V - dsb- (7)
The volume element, V, can be determined from
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'-IT/4 fl fl

7' = |/|d\d£d* (8)

Jo Jo Jo
where |/| = the determinant of the Jacobian of the transformation from the
Cartesian coordinates to the coordinate system shown in Fig. 12 (b) and
can be obtained as

W = *(&&-&&) (9)

Substituting (9) into (8) and evaluating the required integrals results in

K. * ' d." . b\ - + 2dJL + b>) m tan ( ^ I - 2 ^ . . . (10)

3 tan ch 2/ Vtan

DEVELOPMENT OF METHOD

To determine the time-dependent variation of the scour depth, (1) is to

be solved taking Qsi = 0 and using the expressions given in (4), (6), and
(10) for cylindrical and square piers, respectively. The steps of development
of the method will be presented only for cylindrical piers; similar manipu-
lations also apply for the case of square piers. Time derivative of (6) is

dV IT I d2s , _,\ d(ds)

— = T —'— + bds - ^ v(11)
dt tan <>
t \tan <\> J dt '

Eqs. (1), (4), and (11) are combined and solved f o r / t o obtain

+
tan <b \tan
/ ~^(T^: bd\d{ds)
(12)
J + b
"(tlm^ ^DsoFdt
Successive values of / can be computed from (12) using the experimental
values of ds versus t for the integration limits. An inspection of the computed
/values indicates that the rate of sediment transport is inversely proportional
to the scour depth. At the early stages of each experiment, the net rate of
sediment transport out of the scour hole is very high leading to large values
of/. As the depth of the scour increases, the net rate of sediment transport
out of the scour hole decreases. When the depth of the scour approaches
an equilibrium value, the rate of sediment transport out of the scour hole
(and thus the value of/) tends to zero. Investigating the terms used in (12),
a relationship between / and other nondimensional parameters such as dj
b, Ns, CD, and tan 4> can be obtained. However, to consider the effect of
unsteadiness, through a dimensional analysis djb can be replaced by ut/D50
in which the effect of approach flow depth is also considered since u is a
function of da (Yanmaz 1989). In the analysis, based on the suggestion of
Altinbilek and Carstens (1972), values of CD representative of sand grains
having a shape factor of 0.7 were taken as approximately equal to those for
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 a disk. It can be assumed that / i s related to the other terms in the following
form:
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/ = bJ-~\ (JV,)ta(Cfl)»(tan $ ) * (13)

where b0, bu b2, b3, and bA are constants. The values of these constants are
obtained through a multiple linear regression analysis as bQ = 30000, bl =
0.75, b2 = 5.80, b3 = 2,80, and b4 = 6.40.
Eqs. (1), (4), (11), and (13) are combined and solved for d{ds)ldt to
obtain

d(ds) _ FfuD50 tan <$> I 2ds + b tan <fr

(14)
dt IT \d2 + bds tan 4>
Eq. (14) is a first-order nonlinear differential equation which can be solved
by the second-order Runge-Kutta method. An example for the comparison
of experimental scour depth versus time data for experiments 14, 15, and
16 with those obtained by numerical differentiation of (14) is shown in Fig.
13. Similar manipulations can also be performed for the case of square piers
for experiments 39, 40, and 41. As observed from Fig. 13, computed and
measured scour depths are in good agreement in general. To simplify the
application of the method, the solution of (14) can be found with nondi-
mensional parameters to obtain the scour prediction curves. For this pur-
pose, the nondimensional scour depth, d's = djb, and the nondimensional
modified time, t' = tD50 [(S - l)gD50]°Vb2 are substituted into (14). After
simplifying,
d{d's)
dt'

30,000F ^50 2d!, + tan §

(15)
TT(NS)S-5S(CD)280(tan <\>yA0(t')°-: b d'2 d', tan

FIG. 13. Comparison of Experimental and Computed Scour Data

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 The iiondimeusioiiai aifieieiiiial equation for the case of square piers can
similarly be obtained as:
d{d's) _ 23.4 x 10 6 F(C o ) 366 (tan 4>)1133 A c O 1'72
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dt' (Nsy-83(t')°-86 \ b
(2ds + tan <)))
(16)
ndl2 3.266^1
0.111
tan2(j> + tan §
The solutions of (15) and (16) for various b/D50 and Ns values can again be
found by the second-order Runge-Kutta method. The nondimensional scour
prediction curves with b/DS0 = 80 are given for cylindrical and square piers
in Fig. 14. Under known sediment and flow properties, the values of b/D5Q,
Ns, and t' are computed. The corresponding scour depth is then determined.
It should be noted that an important by-product of the aforementioned
analysis is the verification of the fact that the relative scour depth around
the cylindrical pier is smaller than that of the square pier.

NUMERICAL EXAMPLE

A numerical example is presented to illustrate the application of the

method developed in this study and to compare the results with those ob-
tained from Fig. 5 and Figs. 1 and 2, which represent a wide range of
available scour data reported in the literature.
Depths of scour around the single cylindrical and the square pier with b
= 0.65 m in a trapezoidal river having a side slope of 1:2 will be determined.
The bridge site has the following features:
The flood discharge = 90 m3/s.
The Manning's roughness coefficient 0.025.

1000

,D
50v/tS'l)9Ds°/b2

FIG. 14. Nondimensional Scour Prediction Curves with b/D5a = 80

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TABLE 2. Computational Steps of Numerical Example

Solution Using Enveloping , Solution Using Fig. 5 Solution Using

Curves in Figs. 1 and 2 with <jg = 2.0 Proposed Method

Pier d„lb ds = d's x b x K x Ka d's ds r d's d s = d's x b x K x K„

type (2) (3) (m) (5) (6) (m) (8) (9) (m)
(1) (4) (7) (10)
Cylinder 1.88 2.10 0.92 8.4 x 10" 4 0.71 0.46 196.2 1.08 0.47
Square 1.88 2.34 1.02 196.2 1.62 0.70

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991.117:1247-1268.

 . The mean particle size of the bed material = 8 mm with as = 2.0 and
S = 2.65.
• The river bed slope = 0.001.
• The flood duration = 8 hrs.
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» The river base width = 50 m.

With the data provided, the approach flow depth is computed as 1.22 m
from the Manning's equation. Shear velocity then becomes 0.106 m/s. Hence
the flow velocity at particle level u is found to be 0.766 m/s from the Prandtl-
Karman velocity relation (Garde and Ranga Raju 1978)

— = 5.75 log f + 8.5 (17)

where «„. = shear velocity; y = the elevation relative to river bed and taken
to be 0.6D5O as suggested by LeFeuvre et al. (1970); ks = the equivalent
sand roughness and taken to be D50 for fine sand. The sediment number is
computed as 2.19. The correction coefficients for sediment size, K = 1.0,
and grading, Ka = 0.67, are obtained from Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. The
computations are presented in Table 2. For the purpose of comparison, the
solution of the same problem using the enveloping curves in Figs. 1 and 2
and Fig. 5 with <jg = 2.0 is also given in columns 4 and 7 of Table 2,
respectively. It can be seen from Table 2 that the results for the cylindrical
piers obtained from Fig. 5 and the proposed method are almost the same.
It can also be seen from Table 2 that the new method results in almost
49% and 31% reductions in scour depths around cylindrical and square
piers, respectively, relative to the equilibrium scour depths obtained using
the enveloping curves in Figs. 1 and 2. This example clearly illustrates the
considerable effect of the time parameter on the determination of the scour
depth.

CONCLUSIONS

The time variation of local scour depth around bridge piers is investigated.
A semiempirical method based on the sediment continuity equation is de-
veloped to determine the scour depth as a function of time around bridge
piers. In the analysis, the boundary layer thickness in the scour hole is
assumed to be negligible. The conclusions of this study, which are limited
to clear water conditions, uniform bed materials on a constant bed slope of
0.001, and single cylindrical and square piers with Ns ranging from 1.16 to
2.26 are as follows.

1. The shape of the scour hole around bridge piers remains almost unchanged
with respect to time. The rate of change, however, decelerates as time elapses.
The shape of the scour hole can be approximated by an inverted cone having
a circular base for cylindrical piers and a square base for square piers. The side
inclinations of the scour holes are almost equal to the natural angle of repose
of the sediment.
2. The time variation of the scour depth around bridge piers can be deter-
mined by solving a differential equation resulting from the application of the
sediment continuity equation for the scour hole.
3. In the sediment continuity equation [(1)], the term representing the sed-

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 iment transport rate out of the scour hole can be expressed by the sediment
pickup function given in (2) for the flat bed regime.
4. The nondimensional scour prediction curves presented for various b/Dsn
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and 7VS values can be prepared by solving (15) and (16) for cylindrical and square
piers, respectively. These curves are utilized under known flow and sediment
characteristics.
5. The design of bridge pier foundations based on the equilibrium scour depth,
which is reached in a very long flow duration, may cause overestimates. Smaller
scour depths, however, can be obtained within reasonable limits of flow dura-
tion. This may result in a reduction in the cost of construction. The value of
the scour depth corresponding to the flood duration of a particular design can
be determined from the nondimensional scour prediction curves.

APPENDIX I. REFERENCES

Altmbilek, H. D., and Basmaci, Y. (1980). "Localized scour below submerged

vertical gates." Proc. Conf. on Computer and Physical Modelling in Hydraulic
Engineering, ASCE, New York, N.Y., 39-50.
Altmbilek, H. D., and Carstens, M. R. (1972). "Bed material transport and bed
forms." /. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 98(5), 787-794.
Breusers, N. N. C , Nicollet, G., and Shen, H. W. (1977). "Local scour around
cylindrical piers." J. Hydr. Res., 3, 211-252.
Carstens, M. R. (1966). "Similarity laws for localized scour." J. Hydr. Div., ASCE,
92(3), 13-36.
Chiew, Y. M., and Melville, B. W. (1987). "Local scour around bridge piers." /.
Hydr. Res., 25(1), 15-26.
Garde, R. J., and Ranga Raju, K. G. (1978). Mechanics of sediment transportation
and alluvial stream problems. Wiley Eastern Limited.
Giinyakti, A. (1989). "Characteristics of alluvial streams and river training." Proc.
Sediment Transport Technology, Vol. 2 UNESCO, General Directorate of State
Hydraulic Works, Ankara, Turkey.
Laursen, E. M., and Toch, A. (1956). "Scour around bridge piers and abutments."
Bulletin No. 4, Iowa Inst, of Hydr. Res., State Univ. of Iowa.
LeFeuvre, A. R. (1965). "Sediment transport functions with special emphasis on
localized scour," thesis presented to the Georgia Inst, of Tech., at Atlanta, Geor-
gia, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philos-
ophy.
LeFeuvre, A. R., Altmbilek, H. D., and Carstens, M. R (1970). "Sediment pickup
function." J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 96(10), 2051-2063.
Melville, B. W. (1975). "Local scour at bridge sites." Report No. 117, Univ. of
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Melville, B. W., and Sutherland, A. J. (1988). "Design method for local scour at
bridge piers." /. Hydr. Eng. Div., ASCE, 114(10), 1210-1226.
Raudkivi, A. J. (1986). "Functional trends of local scour at bridge piers." J. Hydr.
Eng. Div., ASCE, 112(1), 1-13.
Raudkivi, A. J., and Ettema, R. (1983). "Clear water scour at cylindrical piers." /.
Hydr. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 109(10), 1209-1213.
Shen, H. W., Schneider, V. R., and Karaki, S. S. (1969). "Local scour around bridge
piers." /. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 95(6), 1919-1940.
Van Rijn, L. C. (1984). "Sediment pickup functions." /. Hydr. Engrg. Div., ASCE,
110(10), 1494-1502.
Yanmaz, A. M. (1989). "Time dependent analysis of clear water scour around bridge
piers," thesis presented to Middle East Technical Univ., Ankara, Turkey, in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

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 APPENDIX il. NOTATION

The following symbols are used in this paper:

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a = 6/2;
b = pier width;
t>o, b
l, b2, b3, b4 = coefficients;
B' = djtan cj> + b/2;
CD = drag coefficient;
D* = dimensionless sediment size parameter;
Dso = mean sediment size;
d0 = approach flow depth;
ds = maximum depth of local scour around the pier;
d's = djb;
E = sediment pickup rate;
F = [CDA^2/(8.2 cos a) - tan a - tan <$>]2S;
/ = coefficient of proportionality;
g = gravitational acceleration;
/ = Jacobian;
K = coefficient showing the effect of sediment size;
Ka = coefficient showing the effect of sediment gradation;
K = equivalent sand roughness;
K = sediment number;
S = specific gravity;
Q = discharge;
Qsi = sediment inflow to the scour hole;
Qso = sediment outflow from the scour hole;
T = dimensionless shear stress parameter;
T = water temperature;
t = time from beginning of experiment;
te = duration of experiment;
f = tD50 [(S - l)g/>50)/62;
u = flow velocity at particle level;
ue = pickup velocity;
"* = shear velocity;
«*c = critical shear velocity;
V = volume of scour hole around cylindrical piers;
V = volume element of scour hole for square piers;
v,X = volume of scour hole around square piers;
= coordinate of scour hole;
•^max = maximum coordinate of scour hole at te;
y = coordinate of scour hole;
y max = maximum coordinate of scour hole at te;
Z = coordinate of scour hole;
zmax = maximum coordinate of scour hole at te;
a = bed inclination;
A = (p* - p)/p;
X = parameter;
V = kinematic viscosity of water;
« = parameter;

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 p = density of water;
p. = density of sediment;
°s = geometric standard deviation of sediment grading;
T i = effective bed shear stress;
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7
bc = critical bed shear stress;
$ = spherical coordinate;
f = angle of repose of sediment; and
<>
4>' = side inclination of scour hole.

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