 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (March 2024) |
Bridge scour is the removal of sediment such as sand and gravel from around bridge abutments or piers. Hydrodynamic scour, caused by fast flowing water, can carve out scour holes, compromising the integrity of a structure.[1]
In the United States, bridge scour is one of the three main causes of bridge failure (the others being collision and overloading). It has been estimated that 60% of all bridge failures result from scour and other hydraulic-related causes.[2] It is the most common cause of highway bridge failure in the US,[3] where 46 of 86 major bridge failures resulted from scour near piers from 1961 to 1976.[4]
- ^ Linda P. Warren, Scour at Bridges: Stream Stability and Scour Assessment at Bridges in Massachusetts Archived 2017-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Geological Survey, 2011.
- ^ Mark N. Landers, Bridge Scour Data Management. Published in Hydraulic Engineering: Saving a Threatened Resource—In Search of Solutions: Proceedings of the Hydraulic Engineering sessions at Water Forum '92. Baltimore, Maryland, August 2–6, 1992. Published by American Society of Civil Engineers.
- ^ Bridge Scour Evaluation: Screening, Analysis, & Countermeasures, United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Technology & Development Program
- ^ "USGS OGW, BG: Using Surface Geophysics for Bridge Scour Detection". Water.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2010-07-30.