Application of Riprap and Collar to Prevent Scouring around Rectangular Bridge Piers

Abstract

Various methods to control scour around bridge piers have been proposed, including application of riprap and installing a collar around piers. In the present study application of riprap alone and a combination of riprap and collar were examined experimentally for scour control around rectangular bridge piers. Piers aligned with the flow and skewed at 5, 10, and 20° to the flow were tested. Piers with three different aspect ratios equal to 1:3, 1:5, and 1:7 were used in this study. A collar three times wider than the piers’ width was installed around the piers at the streambed level. All experiments were conducted at the threshold of motion of the bed material. The size and extent of stable riprap stones for prevention of scouring around the piers was found by experiment with and without the collar. A method previously given for calculating stable riprap size around circular piers is extended for rectangular piers with different aspect ratios and skew angles with and without collar protection. The extent of stable riprap layer in all tests is also presented.