Indian practice on estimation of scour around bridge piers - A comment

Well-laid foundation is mostly provided in road and railway bridges in India over large and medium-sized rivers. The age-old Lacey-Inglis method is used for estimation of the design scour depth around bridge elements such as pier, abutment, guide bank, spur and groyene. Codal provisions are seen to produce too large a scour depth around bridge elements resulting in bridge sub-structures that lead to increased construction costs. Limitations that exist in the codes of practice are illustrated in this paper using examples. The methods recently developed for estimation of the scour are described. New railway and road bridges are required to be built in large numbers in the near future across several rivers to strengthen such infrastructure in the country. It is strongly felt that provisions in the existing codes of practice for determination of design scour depth require immediate review. The present paper provides a critical note on the practices followed in India for estimating the design scour depth.