Effects of Embedment Depth on Scour Around a Pier Foundation Under Flooding

Key Points

• The research investigates how different embedment depths affect scour around pier foundations during flooding events.
• Conducted two types of movable bed experiments to analyze scour progression.
• Initial tests involved steady flow conditions to observe changes in soil cover thickness.
• Subsequent tests simulated unsteady flow conditions to examine scour under flood-like scenarios.
• Scour progression scenarios revealed that sediment removal continues even with a stable scour depth.
• Once the riverbed degradation exceeds the embedment depth, scour depth increases again.
• In unsteady flow tests, rapid increases in scour depth were noted when the pier was exposed during flooding.