Local Scouring in Lowand High Gradient Streams at Bed Sills

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Local scouring in low and high gradient streams at bed sills

Affouillement local dans des courants à faible et forte pente sur des seuils de fond

MARIO A. LENZI, Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Land and Agroforest Environment, Univ. of Padua, via Romea, Agripolis, 35020 Legnaro
(Padova), Italy
ANDREA MARION, Assist. Prof., Dept. of Hydraulic, Maritime and Geotechnical Engineering, Univ. of Padua, via Loredan 20, 35100
Padova, Italy
FRANCESCO COMITI, PhD Stud., Dept. of Land and Agroforest Environment, Univ. of Padua, via Romea, Agripolis, 35020 Legnaro
(Padova), Italy
ROBERTO GAUDIO, Research Eng., I.R..P.I , National Research Council (C.N.R.), Via Cavour, 87030 Rende (Cosenza), Italy

ABSTRACT
The main characteristics of local scouring downstream of bed sills, forming a staircase-like system in high-gradient streams with non-uniform alluvium,
have been investigated through 13 clear-water laboratory runs. Three initial longitudinal slopes and different flow rates were considered, keeping the
same distance between the baffles. The grain size distribution of the sediment is that of a real alpine torrent scaled to the model dimensions. The
measured scour depth, length and shape are compared to previous results concerning low gradient and uniform sediment gradings. A dimensional
analysis approach appears to remain valid; nevertheless some simplifications cannot be made, since the jet regime plays an important role both for the
depth and the length of the scour, and consequently affects the scour shape. Two equations are proposed for the estimation of the maximum scour depth
and length. The equations are from previous data sets on low-gradient tests and a new one of experimental results on high-gradient cases.

RÉSUMÉ
Les principales caractéristiques d’affouillement à l’aval de seuils de fond, formant un système en marches d’escalier dans des courants à forts gradients
avec des alluvions non uniformes, ont été étudiées à travers 13 essais de laboratoire en eau claire. Trois pentes longitudinales initiales et différents débits
furent étudiés en gardant la même distance entre les déflecteurs. La distribution des tailles de grains de sédiments est celle d’un réel torrent alpin à
l’échelle des dimensions du modèle. Les mesures de profondeur, longueur et forme de l’affouillement sont comparées aux résultats antérieurs concernant
de faibles pentes et des granulométries uniformes. Une approche par analyse dimensionnelle semble rester valable : cependant quelques simplifications
ne peuvent plus être faites car le régime de jet joue un rôle important à la fois pour la profondeur et la longueur de l’affouillement, et par suite en affecte
la forme. Deux équations sont proposées pour l’estimation du maximum de la profondeur et de la longueur de l’affouillement. Les formules proviennent
des ensembles de données précédentes sur les essais à faible pente, et une nouvelle formule des résultats expérimentaux dans les cas de forte pente.

Keywords: bed sills, channel erosion, local scouring, high-gradient streams, laboratory flume.

prevent the stream bed from being excessively degraded and in-
1. Introduction
cised ([5], [32], [33], [24], [16], [15]).
Mountain streams are often subject to channel incision. One Referring to mountain steep streams (torrents), peculiar hydraulic
method to stabilise them is to use a sequence of transverse grade- and sediment features are observed: highly heterogenous grain
control structures, or bed sills. Local scour downstream of the size distribution of the bed material and very low relative submer-
sills can endanger their stability and create the risk of failure if gence. Armouring processes and high roughness coefficients are
the foundations are not designed taking into account the maxi- the principal results of such conditions ([20],[21]).
mum scour depth. The issue concerning the choice of a representative diameter for
Local scour by free jets is difficult to treat theoretically due to the local scouring with graded sediment mixtures has not been com-
complexity of its dynamics. Consequently experimental studies pletely solved yet. Most authors suggest the choice of D90 as the
play a major role in relating the scour features (depth, length, effective diameter ([33], [6], [9]), some others indicate Dm (me-
shape, time-development) to the hydraulic and sediment vari- dian diameter) or D85 [27] instead. A very interesting evaluation
ables. Field measurements present logistic problems along with in the case of scouring by horizontal submerged jets was pre-
difficulties in evaluating hydraulic and sediment parameters, sented by Aderibigbe and Rajaratnam [1]. They found that the
therefore most of the research concerning this particular form of best correlation between the non-dimensional scour depth and
scour has been carried out using laboratory tests. The majority of length and the densimetric Froude number (the only parameter
the studies have addressed the problem of single, isolated drop seemingly affecting their results) was using D95. Such diameter
structures ([13], [25], [30], [27], [26], [6], [9], [17], [30], [10], was also found to be roughly the median size of the bed material
[28]); much less is known about the case of staircase-like systems inside the final scour hole.
of low check-dams or bed sills, the most popular technique to Another concern in predicting the scour depth and length for slop-

Revision received June 27, 2002. Open for discussion till April 30, 2003.

JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC RESEARCH, VOL. 40, 2002, NO. 6 731


ing channels is the tailwater depth and its link with the jet trajec- Coupling Eq. (4) and a resistance formula like the Manning’s
tory ([31], [29]). In all studies that tested the role of the tailwater equation for wide channels (with n roughness coefficient):
depth, this was found to affect the scour process directly ([27],
[9]). The jet impact angle plays a major part in determining the hu 5 / 3 Seq1 / 2
scour depth along with its geometry ([6], [28]): the more vertical q= (5)
n
the jet, the deeper the scour and the steeper the downstream side
of the scour hole, with an angle roughly corresponding to the jet the uniform flow depth and the equilibrium slope can be ex-
angle. pressed as:
In order to determine how the characteristics of high-gradient
torrents affect the scouring process, a series of laboratory experi- (nq )6 / 7
ments (13 runs) has been carried out using the Sloping Sediment hu = (6)
(θc ∆D)3 / 7
Duct facility at HR Wallingford Ltd. (United Kingdom).
(θc ∆D)10 / 7
Seq = (7)
2. Definition of the problem (nq )6 / 7
The problem was defined by Gaudio et al. [16]. Considering the Eq. (6) expresses the dependance of the uniform flow depth from
system sketch in Fig.1, the function for the maximum clear-water, other physical parameters. This allows hu to be dropped from Eq.
long-term scour depth can be written as: (1).
Introducing the critical specific energy on the sills:
ys = f ( g, ν, ρw , ρs ’, q, hu , D, a1 ) (1)
H s = 1.5 ⋅ 3 q 2 / g (8)
where g is the gravity acceleration, ν is the kinematic viscosity of
water, ρw is the density of water, ρs’ is the submerged density of the application of the Buckingham’s Π theorem to Eq. (1) without
sediments, q is the water discharge per unit width, hu is the water hu and choosing g, ρw and q as fundamental variables – leads to:
depth of uniform flow condition, D is a characteristic grain size
and a1 is the ‘‘morphological jump’’, defined as: ys q a a 
= φ  , ∆, 1 , 1  (9)
Hs ν ∆D H s 
a1 = (S − Seq )L (2)
Neglecting the influence of viscosity for fully turbulent flows and
where S is the initial longitudinal bed slope, Seq is the equilibrium assuming that the relative submerged density of the sediment is
bed slope and L is the distance between sills. The equilibrium constant, Eq. (9) can be simplified as follows:
slope for clear-water can be addressed by the Shields’ condition
for threshold of motion for fully developed turbulence flows: ys a a 
= Φ 1 , 1  (10)
Hs  H s ∆D 
hu Seq
θc = = constant (3) It can be observed that the first parameter represents the ratio be-
∆D
tween the energy loss associated to the drop and the flow energy
where θc is the critical dimensionless shear stress and ∆=ρs’/ρw on the sill, whilst the second is the ratio between the morphologi-
is the relative submerged density of sediments. Therefore: cal jump and a term proportional to the mobility of the bed parti-
cles.
θc ∆D The dimensional analysis discussed above, assumes a substan-
Seq = (4) tially constant geometry for the overall flow pattern. This is actu-
hu
ally a rough approximation as the geometry seems to be affected
by the slope, through the development of different values of the
jet angles. Eq. (10) could in principle include another non-dimen-
sional parameter, e.g. those included in the jet angle equation
found in [6]. In this work, only Eq.(10) has been investigated.
Marion et al. [24] and Gaudio and Marion [15] tested different
slopes ranging from 0.0062 to 0.0160, distances between the sills,
L, from 2 to 6.5 m, two uniform gravel gradings (D50 = 4.1 mm
and 8.5 mm, respectively) and a uniform coarse sand distribution
(D50=1.8 mm). The formation of a small step (‘‘sill step, a2’’) in
front of each sill was observed and measured. It was then related
to the subcritical regime through the Froude number, Fr, as fol-
Fig. 1. Definition sketch of the system. The initial channel slope S0 is lows [16]:
analogous to S in the text.

732 JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC RESEARCH, VOL. 40, 2002, NO. 6


a2 = hu − hc = hu (1 − Fr 2 / 3 ) (11)

The step a2 was shown to be a quantity dependent from the vari-


ables listed in Eq. (1), and therefore it was not added to that equa-
tion.
It appeared that in both low-gradient tests only the second param-
eter of Eq.(10) affected the results. The regression formulae pre-
sented in [15] was the following:

ys a
= 0.180 1 + 0.369 (12)
Hs ∆D50
Fig. 2. Grain size distribution curve.

which covers the range 1.3 a1/(∆D50) 9.1, with a correlation co-
efficient R=0.94. adopting a geomorphologic criterion ([11], [22]).
Similarly, adopting the same dimensional analysis for the scour In all the tests the initial bed was set at a constant slope, achieved
length ls, the authors obtained the following empirical relation by tilting the flume. The slope was determined from the differ-
(valid only for the gravel sediments): ence in elevation from a horizontal water surface. Three slopes
were tested: 0.0785, 0.1145 (which is the actual reach gradient)
ls a and 0.1480. The range was chosen in order to cover the most
= 1.87 1 + 4.02 (13) common slopes occurring in natural step-pool systems. Three
Hs ∆D50
wooden baffles (1 cm-thick, and the width of the flume) were
inserted into the granular fill of the flume. The distance between
which covers the same range, with R=0.94. the sills was 1.050 m. In order to guarantee long-term equilibrium
As in the other studies, the non-dimensional scour holes were conditions the test duration was set at 18 hours for all tests. The
found to be self-affine, with the maximum scour depth occurring duration was selected on the basis of direct observation and by
at a distance of 0.3·ls to 0.4·ls from the sill. using a video-camera to record the local scouring zone. An elec-
It is important to point out that in all these tests the scour length trical point gauge with an acoustic device was used to measure
was never long enough to be constrained by the following sill. the bed profile and the water surface elevation: for the former the
Thus the distance L did not produce effects of interference on the longitudinal interval was 2.5 cm in the scour hole and 5 cm else-
development of the scour. where, for the latter it was 10 cm. The profiles were taken along
The goal of the present research was to assess whether equations the centre-line only when the scour holes were two-dimensional,
similar to (12) and (13) were applicable in mountain high-gradi- otherwise two other longitudinal bed profiles were measured. The
ent streams with heterogenous grain size distribution, or whether maximum depth in the cross-section was also measured. The
two parameters are needed as expressed by Eq.(10). scour length was determined visually as the point where the equi-
librium slope was obtained downstream of the hydraulic jump
zone.
3. Experimental set-up and data processing
Although the initial bed was set-up with extreme care, the scour-
Thirteen clear-water tests were carried out using a mobile-bed ing process exhibited some asimmetry because the development
physical model set up in the Sloping Sediment Duct in the labora- of lateral bars produced a concentration of flow in a narrower
tory of HR Wallingford. This facility allows the easy modifica- section. This phenomenon was more significant with low to me-
tion of channel slope for a wide range of values (±65%). The dium flow rates. This is in agreement with the well-known result
flume is 5.57 m long, 0.6 m wide, 0.245 m deep, has a metal bot- that planform instabilities arise with low water depth/channel
tom and alternate glass and metal side walls [12]. width ratios.
The grain size distribution of the sediment used in tests is shown The dimensions of the scour holes were never large enough to
in Fig.2, where the characteristic diameters are also reported. It occupy most of the distance between the sills. Therefore no inter-
was a very heterogeneous mixture, ranging from coarse sand to ference between the sills occurred during the scouring process
small cobbles. The geometric standard deviation σ g = D84 / D16 = ([8], [23]).
5.38 was much greater than the threshold proposed by Breusers The maximum scour depth, ys (Fig. 1), was calculated down-
and Raudkivi [7] for the definition of nonuniform gradings stream of the central sill, identifying the cross-section where the
σg=1.35. The relative submerged density was ∆=1.63. maximum depth occurred and computing the cross-section aver-
The size grading reproduces at a 1:40 scale the sediment distribu- age depth (on 13 values). The equilibrium slope Seq was evaluated
tion of a reach of the Maso di Spinelle Torrent, a major tributary from the bed profiles. The values of the sill step a2 were also
of the Brenta River, in Valsugana (Trentino region, Italy). Along evaluated from the bed profiles. Once the equilibrium slope was
this stream several boulder check-dams have recently been built, obtained, the morphological jump a1 was calculated using Eq. (2).

JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC RESEARCH, VOL. 40, 2002, NO. 6 733


In order to apply the non-dimensional approach proposed by in few centimetres-deep pits) and to the fact that some tests led to
Gaudio et al. [16], it was necessary to analyse the hydraulic be- three-dimensional scour. In Fig. 3 the scour depths are plotted
haviour on the sills, i.e. verify whether critical flow actually took along with data reported by Marion et al. [24] and Gaudio and
place on the sill and whether the flow energy could be expressed Marion [15], in accordance to their original single parameter for-
by Eq. (8) as in low gradient tests. Average Froude numbers, Fr, mulation. In their work, the grain size was uniform and the choice
were calculated from the profiles, producing evidence that even of a representative size was straightforward (D50). It is evident
for the steepest (Seq= 0.10 to 0.07) tests the regime in the ‘‘quasi- that the new points do not match with the previous results and,
uniform’’ reach (downstream of the scour hole) was at most criti- therefore, the formulae obtained with mild slopes and uniform
cal (Fr 1). For the lowest equilibrium slopes (Seq=0.07 to 0.04) sediments cannot be generalised to high slopes and graded mate-
the flow regime was subcritical (Fr = 0.7 to 0.9). rial. The choice of different representative diameter (e.g. D90) did
not produce any better agreement. It was hypothesised, therefore,
that the adoption of a single parameter formula like Eq.(13), al-
4. Results and discussion
though applicable to mild slopes, is not appropriate when
analysing scour at high slopes.
Maximum scour depth
A multiple regression analysis was then performed using the sta-
Tab. 1 shows the maximum scour depth, ys, measured in each test tistical software package (Statistica 5.1). The best fit to the exper-
along with other measured quantities; Tab. 2 reports the calcu- imental data was obtained with the following non-linear equation:
lated quantities and the main non-dimensional parameters.
It must be pointed out that the data from the present research are 0.8626 1.4908
ys a   a 
subject to an ‘‘intrinsic’’ scatter, due to the high non-uniformity = 0.4359 + 1.4525  1  + 0.0599  1  (14)
of the sediment grading (i.e. the presence of protruding cobbles Hs  Hs   ∆D95 

Tab. 1. Initial condition and measured quantities, (hsill, flow depth at the downstream edge of the sill; for the
sediment characteristics, see Fig. 2)
Test Q q S Seq L ys ls hsill a2
(m3/s) (m2/s) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m)
H1 0.0111 0.0185 0.0785 0.068 1.050 0.050 0.21 0.024 0.007
H2 0.0125 0.0208 0.0785 0.065 1.050 0.066 0.30 0.027 0.010
H3 0.0143 0.0238 0.0785 0.053 1.050 0.082 0.38 0.028 0.010
H4 0.0165 0.0275 0.0785 0.046 1.050 0.095 0.42 0.032 0.015
H5 0.0175 0.0292 0.0785 0.044 1.050 0.106 0.42 0.033 0.020
H6 0.0044 0.0073 0.1145 0.096 1.050 0.035 0.15 0.013 0
H7 0.0075 0.0125 0.1145 0.088 1.050 0.064 0.19 0.018 0
H8 0.0098 0.0163 0.1145 0.076 1.050 0.075 0.25 0.021 0
H9 0.0125 0.0208 0.1145 0.062 1.050 0.106 0.30 0.026 0.004
H10 0.0143 0.0238 0.1145 0.053 1.050 0.122 0.35 0.029 0.004
H11 0.0040 0.0067 0.1480 0.104 1.050 0.071 0.18 0.013 0
H12 0.0060 0.0100 0.1480 0.090 1.050 0.095 0.20 0.017 0
H13 0.0090 0.0150 0.1480 0.073 1.050 0.133 0.30 0.022 0.004

Tab. 2. Calculated quantities and non-dimensional parameters.

a1 a1 ys ls
Test Hs (m) a1 (m)
Hs ∆D95 Hs Hs
H1 0.049 0.011 0.225 0.161 1.020 4.28
H2 0.053 0.014 0.267 0.207 1.244 5.65
H3 0.058 0.027 0.462 0.391 1.416 6.56
H4 0.064 0.034 0.535 0.498 1.488 6.58
H5 0.066 0.036 0.546 0.529 1.597 6.33
H6 0.026 0.019 0.734 0.284 1.323 5.67
H7 0.038 0.028 0.737 0.406 1.696 4.90
H8 0.045 0.040 0.899 0.590 1.668 5.56
H9 0.053 0.055 1.039 0.805 1.998 5.65
H10 0.058 0.065 1.115 0.943 2.107 6.04
H11 0.025 0.046 1.861 0.675 2.861 7.05
H12 0.033 0.061 1.872 0.890 2.921 6.15
H13 0.043 0.079 1.848 1.150 3.121 7.04

734 JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC RESEARCH, VOL. 40, 2002, NO. 6


3.5 Tab. 3. Experimental range of the non-dimensional parameters in the
low and in the high gradient tests.
3
a1/Hs a1/∆D95
2.5
This study 0.225 – 1.872 0.161 – 1.150
2 Marion et al. [24] 0.101 – 0.512 0.720 – 5.31
ys/Hs

Gaudio and Marion [15] 0.155 – 0.377 2.208 – 5.644

The use of the D95 produced the best correlation, nevertheless this
turned out to be almost insensitive to the choice of the representa-
tive grain size.
In Tab. 3 are reported the experimental ranges of the two parame-
Fig. 3. Non-dimensional maximum scour depths as a function of ters a1/Hs and a1/(∆D95) for the previous low-gradient tests and
a1/(∆D50). the new steep runs.

which has a correlation coefficient R=0.951 and explains 90.5%


Scour length
of the variance (Figs. 4 and 5).
In Figs. 6a and 6b the non-dimensional lengths of the scour hole
are plotted, adopting the D50 and D90 respectively; they are com-
pared with the results obtained for uniform gravel and low-gradi-
ent tests [24].
The suggestion that the choice of D90 provides a good fit to the
data might be misleading, as the points displaced in Fig. 6b fall

Fig. 4. Non-dimensional maximum scour depths as a function of


a1/(∆D95) and a1/Hs.
Fig.6a. Non-dimensional scour lengths as a function of a1/(∆D50).
3.4

3.0

2.6

2.2
Observed Values

1.8

1.4

1.0

0.6

0.2
0.2 0.6 1.0 1.4 1.8 2.2 2.6 3.0 3.4

Fig. 5. Comparison between predicted (Eq. 14) and observed values of


the dimensionless maximum scour depth (data from the present
study, from Marion et al., 1998, and from Gaudio and Marion). Fig. 6b. Non-dimensional scour lengths as a function of a1/(∆D90).

JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC RESEARCH, VOL. 40, 2002, NO. 6 735


into limited ranges of a1/(∆D90) without overlapping.
Affinity and similarity of the scour holes
Thus, as for the scour depths, an analysis considering the two pa-
rameters a1/Hs and a1/(∆D) has been carried out (Fig. 7), leading Following Gaudio et al. [16], the degree of self-affinity among
to the following best-fit, multiple regression formula: the scour holes is shown in Fig. 9. This methodology allows the
comparison of different scour holes by scaling the longitudinal
−1.808 1.129 distance measured starting from the sill to the scour length (x1/ls)
ls a   a 
= 4.479 + 0.023  1  + 2.524  1  (15) and the depth to the maximum scour depth (y/ys). Since it was not
Hs  Hs   ∆D95  possible to quickly raise the water level by blocking the down-
stream end of the flume, the upstream part of the scour profile
with R=0.986 and an explained variance of 97.3% (Fig. 8). (made up of the finest particles and almost reaching the top of the
For the same pair of variables but using D90, the goodness of the sill) was always eroded by the decreasing flow rates when the
fit did not change, whereas using D50 it decreased to R=0.964. pump was being closed; therefore that part of the profile (0< x/ls
Hence it seems that the length of the scour hole is affected by the < 0.2) should not be taken into account.
coarsest grains more than the depth of the scour. New test profiles show to be somewhat self-affine (with the ex-
ception of test H5, which consists of the highest flow rate experi-
mented). However they only partly overlie with those from the
low-gradient tests. The approximately affine nature of the scour
hole enables the assessment of the scour hole volume using the
prediction equations for the maximum scour depth (Eq. 14) and
the scour length (Eq. 15). In order to establish whether the geo-
metric similarity of the scour hole is present or not, it is required
that both longitudinal and vertical dimensions of the scour hole
are scaled to the same factor (e.g. the scour length, Fig. 10). New
tests scour holes do not show similarity and the downstream side
of the pit clearly correlates with the initial slope values: the
steeper the initial condition, the steeper this side. This is consis-
tent with the fact that the jet angle was found to be roughly equal
to the inclination of the downstream part of the scour hole ([6],
[10], [28]). The large difference in the jet trajectory can therefore
explain to some extent the larger scatter shown by the affinity
graph in Fig. 9.

5. Application of the scour predictive formula


In order to use Eqs. (14) and (15), estimation of the following
parameters is required: the critical specific energy, Hs, which can
be derived from Eq. (8) once the design discharge is determined;
Fig. 7. Non-dimensional scour lengths as function of a1/(∆D95) and the relative submerged particle density, ∆, which can be assumed
a1/Hs. in the range 1.6-1.7; the grain diameter D95 of the bed alluvium;
the morphological jump, a1, which is given by Eq. (2). The evalu-
ation of the equilibrium slope, required for the jump a1, is a criti-
22

18
Observed Values

14

10

2
2 6 10 14 18 22

Fig. 8. Comparison between predicted (Eq. 15) and observed values of


the dimensionless scour lengths (data from the present study and
from Marion et al., 1998). Fig. 9. Affinity of the scour holes.

736 JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC RESEARCH, VOL. 40, 2002, NO. 6


ably be achieved using other roughness formulations ([18], [4],
[14], [2]) which are not discussed in this study. However, in prac-
tical application the adopted design discharge is large (return pe-
riod of 50-100 years), and therefore the submergence ratio, Sr, is
expected to be above unity.

Numerical example:
A mountain stream subject to incision is to be protected with bed
sills and the distance between the structures has been chosen to be
L=20 m: determine the clear water long-term maximum scour
depth and the scour length given the following torrent characteris-
Fig. 10. Similarity of the scour holes. tics:
– design discharge with 100-yr return period: Q100=30 m3/s;
– channel average slope: S=0.11;
cal point. – channel width: B=10 m;
Marion et al. [24], whose experiments were characterised by high – sediment characteristic diameters: D65=0.40 m; D90=0.75 m;
relative submergence ratio, Sr= hu/D84>10, found good agreement D95=0.90 m.
between the measured equilibrium slope and the one calculated
through Eq.(7) with θc=0.040 and D=D50, assuming that the Man- The following parameters are assumed:
ning’s coefficient could be determined using the expression: – Shields incipient motion parameter: θc=0.076;
– relative submerged density of the sediments: ∆=1.63.
D901 / 6
n= (16)
26 Calculation:
– unit width discharge: q =Q/B=3 m2/s;
On the contrary, the present tests feature very low submergence – Manning roughness coefficient (Eq. 17): n=0.063 s/m1/3;
ratios Sr, roughly ranging from 0.7 to 1.7, as found in natural – equilibrium slope (Eq. 7, with D65): Seq=0.057;
mountain torrents. Therefore Manning’s coefficient has been – morphological jump (Eq. 2): a1=1.06 m;
evaluated through the Keulegan’s equation developed for macro- – critical specific energy above the sill (Eq. 8): Hs=1.44 m;
roughness conditions: – non-dimensional parameters: a1/Hs=0.74; a1/(∆D95)=0.72;
– non-dimensional scour depth (Eq. 14): ys/Hs=1.59;
D901 / 6 – maximum scour depth: ys=1.59x1.44 m=2.29 m;
n= (17) – non-dimensional scour length (Eq. 15): ls/Hs=6.26;
15.1
– scour length: ls=6.26x1.44 m= 9.01 m.

which gives n=0.038. The critical Shields’ mobility parameter, θc, 6. Conclusions
was set equal to 0.076, following the indications found in the sci- Bed sill sequences are useful to prevent erosion in incised chan-
entific literature for coarse grain size distributions [19]. Finally, nels, but the local scour hole downstream of the structures needs
the most appropriate diameter to be used in Eq. (7) was assessed an adequate estimation, particularly in the case of high-gradient
by searching for different diameter the best fit between the exper- streams, where the scour depth is enhanced by the effect of larger
imental points and the theoretical curve assuming the above val-
ues for n and θc. This calibration process led to the identification 0.20
of the D65 (equal to 0.016 m) as the ‘‘characteristic’’ grain size
for the equilibrium slope. 0.15
Fig. 11 shows the measured equilibrium slope and the curve 5
expressed by Eq. (7) versus the unit discharge q: it can be ob-
S eq

0.10
served that the agreement is fairly good except the three runs with 0
the smallest discharges, which have submergence ratios Sr less
than 1.
The evidence that for these tests the equilibrium slope is less than
the predicted one might be due to the larger flow resistance in-
duced by surface effects (i.e. small hydraulic jumps in correspon-
dence with protruding cobbles) when the submergence drop be-
low the unity, as found by Bathurst ([3], [4]). Fig. 11. Measured and calculated equilibrium slope values as a func-
Better results in predicting the equilibrium slope might presum- tion of the unit discharge.

JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC RESEARCH, VOL. 40, 2002, NO. 6 737


ratios between the morphological jump (i.e. the drop energy) and S = initial bed slope;
the flow energy. Previous results for stream at low-mild slopes Seq = equilibrium bed slope;
have been extended to high-gradient torrents, using a two-param- Sr = hu/D84 = relative submergence;
eter non-dimensional formulation for the maximum scour depth x = longitudinal abscissa starting from the sill;
and length. The scour dimensions (in particular the scour length) y = scour depth;
are shown to be affected by the size of the coarsest fraction of bed ys = maximum scour depth with respect to the initial bed;
material. The scour holes developing on steep slopes do not show ∆ = ρs’/ρw =relative submerged density of the sediment;
similarity. They are more roughly self-affine than for streams at ν = kinematic viscosity of water;
low-mild slopes; seemingly this is mainly due to the larger range θc = critical dimensionless shear stress;
of jet geometry (i.e. the jet impact angle). The dimensional analy- ρw = water density;
sis presented along with the two semi-empirical equations for the ρs’ = submerged density of the sediment;
scour length and depth represent a designing-tool to estimate the σ g = D84 / D16 = standard deviation of the grain size distribution;
scour dimension in different channel types (gravel-bed and boul-
der-bed). Nevertheless further investigation is required in order
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