Overview

One day training course on the prediction of scour at bridges over water or floodplains due to hydraulic action and the management of high risk bridges, drawing on international good practice guidance.

The United Kingdom has a large stock of historic bridges with shallow foundations which can be susceptible to undermining by scour.  The prediction of scour and management of vulnerable bridges can help to prevent the catastrophic failures seen in Cumbria in 2009, whilst ensuring cost-effective use of resources.

Who should attend

Professionals involved in the assessment of scour or the design of scour protection works at existing bridges, as well as the design of new bridges over water or floodplains.  Owners and asset managers responsible for the management of bridges over water or floodplains.

Course outcomes

By attending course delegates will gain:

• An appreciation of the mechanisms of bridge scour and factors affecting scour
• An awareness of notable bridge failures and lessons learnt
• An awareness of guidance documents, their evolution and limitations
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative scour assessment using  methods from a range of guidance documents, including wide abutments
• Experience in prioritising and choosing scour management strategies, including flood warning and emergency response, specialist assessment, monitoring and scour protection
• Awareness of hydrodynamic forces on bridges

Topics covered

• Mechanisms of bridge scour
• Historic bridge failures and lessons learnt
• Guidance documents
• Data gathering and site inspection
• Predicting contraction scour
• Predicting local scour at piers and abutments
• Assessing priority rating
• Scour management strategies

This course includes information from the following guidance:

• Network Rail Standards and EX2502
• Rail Safety and Standards Board Safe management of railway structures
• Design Manual for Roads and Bridges BA 74/06
• Manual on scour at bridges and other hydraulic structures (CIRIA C551)
• Evaluating scour at bridges (HEC-18) (United States Federal Highway Administration)
• Bridge scour (Melville and Coleman, 2000)

Related courses

• Management of Flood Risk to Bridges    
• Bridge and Weir Design
• Culvert Design and Operation

Summary

• One-day course
• Comprehensive course notes will be provided
• Counts as 6 CPD/CET hours

Presenters

Richard Buck BEng CEng MICE MCIWEM C.WEM

Dr Amanda Kitchen MEng PhD CEng MICE