Effect of Collars on the Downstream Movement of the Maximum Scour Depth Location Around Bridge Abutments and Piers

Abstract

A detailed investigation has been conducted to study the shift location of the point of the maximum scour depth for both bridge abutment-collar and pier-collar arrangements. In the present study, an experimental program has been conducted for abutment-collar arrangements and additionally, the data obtained from the literature for the pier-collar arrangements have been revisited and analyzed to complement the framework of this study. For the abutment-collar arrangements, a series of experiments under clear-water conditions were carried out for different abutment lengths with fixed values of collar location and collar width. For pier-collar arrangements, data used from the literature have been involved constant pier diameter with various collar sizes at various elevations. To describe the locations of these maximum scour depths, their coordinates with respect to the location of the abutment or the pier were obtained. Results from this investigation showed that when a collar placed on or below the bed level was used as a countermeasure against scouring, either on an abutment or on a pier, it was observed that the maximum scour depth was routed downstream of the bridge structure.