HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES

Hydrol. Process. (2012)

Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/hyp.9318

Evolution of scouring process downstream of grade-control

structures under steady and unsteady ows
Jau-Yau Lu,1* Jian-Hao Hong,1 Kai-Po Chang1 and Tai-Fang Lu2
2

1
Department of Civil Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
Department of Statistics and Informatics Science, Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan

Abstract:
For many incised channels, one of the most common strategies is to install some hard structures, such as grade-control structures
(GCSs), in the riverbed to resist further incision. In this study, a series of experiments, including both steady and unsteady ow
conditions, were conducted to investigate the scouring process downstream of a GCS. Three distinct phases, including the initial,
developing and equilibrium phases, during the evolution of scour holes were identied. In addition, a semi-empirical method was
proposed to predict the equilibrium scour-hole prole for the scour countermeasure design. In general, the comparisons between
the experimental and simulated results are reasonably consistent. As the studies on temporal variation of the scour depth at GCSs
caused by oods are limited, the effect of ood hydrograph shapes on the scour downstream of GCSs without upstream sediment
supply was also investigated experimentally in this study. Based on the dimensional analysis and the concept of superposition, a
methodology is proposed to simulate the time evolution of the maximum scour depth downstream of a GCS for steady ows.
Moreover, the proposed scheme predicts reasonably well the temporal variations of the maximum scour depth for unsteady ows
with both single and multiple peak. Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS

grade-control structure; scour; sediment transport; unsteady ows

Received 3 March 2011; Accepted 16 March 2012

INTRODUCTION
Channel incision receives public attention as a result of the
impacts on man-made structures and its high repairing or
replacement costs. Many civil engineering structures, such
as bridges and levees, have been extensively affected by
channel incision in Taiwan and also throughout the world.
One of the most widely used remedial measures is to install
grade-control structures (GCSs) in the river to limit further
degradation upstream of the GCSs. However, the GCSs
cannot completely solve the incision problem in case of
sediment starvation because edge failure may occur
downstream of the GCSs and nally damage the GCSs
through head cutting.
After a GCS is constructed, initially, the coarser sediment
particles are trapped upstream of the GCS, whereas the ner
particles may pass through it during oods. The GCSs are
usually 1.52 m higher than the original riverbed. When the
ow passes through a GCS, a critical ow condition may be
found immediately upstream of the GCS, whereas a
supercritical ow condition can be found on the ramp of
the GCS. Downstream of the GCS, an impinging/plunging
jet diffuses the energy into the pool. Far downstream of the
pool, a uniform ow may occur (Lenzi et al., 2003a).
Scour downstream of a GCS/drop has attracted many
researchers to study. Initially, they focused on the geometry
of the scour hole, especially for the equilibrium maximum

*Correspondence to: Jau-Yau Lu, Department of Civil Engineering,

National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan 40227.
E-mail: [email protected]
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

scour depth. Schoklitsch (1932) proposed one of the earliest

formulae to predict the scour depth for the ow over a drop
based on a ume study. The main parameters in his equation
are the unit discharge, the height between head and tailwater
level, and D90. Schoklitsch (1932) considered the unit
discharge and the height difference as parameters related to
the impact forces on the bed, and D90 as a parameter related
to the resistance. After Schoklitsch (1932), many researchers
paid a lot of attention to the scouring issue. Mason and
Arumugam (1985) and Hoffmans and Verheij (1997)
summarized a wide range of empirical equations for
predicting the equilibrium maximum scour depths induced
by plunging jets. Bormann and Julien (1991) took into
account the effect of the jet angle near the water surface on
the scour depth downstream of a GCS. However, in these
previous studies, a deposit mound was formed downstream
of the scour hole because of the horizontal channel slope. No
matter whether it is an impinging jet, horizontal jet or
plunging jet, if the channel bed slope is very mild, eventually
a deposit mound will occur downstream of the scour hole
and becomes a boundary condition to arrest the development
of the scour hole (Chiew and Lim, 1996).
Considering the effect of channel slope on the scouring
processes downstream of bed sills, Gaudio et al. (2000)
proposed formulae to describe the maximum scour depth
and the length of scour hole based on a morphological
length and a median particle size. Lenzi et al. (2002)
extended the research of Gaudio et al. (2000) and
proposed improved relationships to predict the scour
depth and length. In the studies of Gaudio et al. (2000)
and Lenzi et al. (2002), the distance between two bed sills

J.-Y. LU ET AL.

is long enough for the development of the scour hole.

Moreover, Marion et al. (2004) investigated the effect of
the sill spacing and sediment grading on the potential
erosion by jets formed over the sills. They found that
decreasing the distance between two sills may lead to the
reduction of the scour hole as compared with its potential
size. Similar results can also be found in Meftah and
Mossa (2006). Both Marion et al. (2004) and Pagliara
(2007) studied the effect of sediment gradation on scour
depth and pointed out that the effect is pronounced for
non-uniform sediment.
Many investigations on scour proles induced by jets
have been carried out over the past decades. Chatterjee et al.
(1994) and Dey and Sarkar (2006) investigated the scour
downstream of an apron because of submerged horizontal
jets and found that the scour proles are similar in nature.
Pagliara (2007) also proposed a polynomial equation to
describe the measured scour proles. However, Gaudio et al.
(2000), Lenzi et al. (2003a,b), Meftah and Mossa (2006)
and Tregnaghi et al. (2007) pointed out that scour proles
at equilibrium are afne. To reduce the scour depth and
to prevent the failure of the GCS, the hydraulic engineers
usually launch riprap or gabions downstream of the GCS.
Although it is very useful to know the scale of the scour
hole for the adoption of the proper scour countermeasure,
only little attention has been placed on the scour-hole
proles downstream of the GCSs under sloping channel
conditions.
In natural rivers, severe riverbed scour usually occurs
during oods. The unsteady force acting on the riverbed
is different from that acted by a steady ow. Breusers and
Raudkivi (1991), Hoffmans and Verheij (1997) and
Dargahi (2003) showed that many scour phenomena are
time dependent and should be investigated in advance.
To date, the time variations in bridge-scour depths have
attracted the attention of many researchers (Kothyari et al.,
1992; Cardoso and Bettess, 1999; Melville and Chiew,
1999; Mia and Nago, 2003; Chang et al., 2004; Oliveto and
Hager, 2005). Oliveto and Hager (2005) also examined their
calculating scheme under a multiple-peak hydrograph.
With consideration of the primary horseshoe vortex,
sediment pick rate and superposition concepts, Kothyari
et al. (1992) proposed a semi-empirical model to calculate
the time evolution of the maximum pier-scour depth under
steady and unsteady ow conditions. Lu et al. (2008)
modied the method by Kothyari et al. (1992) to simulate
the variation of pier-scour depths in the eld and obtained
good agreement with the measured values. Recently, a
similar concept was also adopted for the simulation of the
temporal variations of scour at non-uniform piers under
unsteady ows (Lu et al., 2011).
In contrast to pier scour, little research has been conducted
regarding the time evolution of the maximum scour depth
downstream of a sill/GCS. Gaudio and Marion (2003) and
Dargahi (2003) proposed different time scales for the
simulation of the temporal variations of the maximum scour
depth. Tregnaghi et al. (2009; 2010) investigated the effect
of ash oods on the scour at sequence sills with
symmetrically triangular-shaped and long ood recession
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

hydrographs, respectively. They provided a methodology to

predict the nal scour depth downstream of a sill after the
occurrence of a ood. Recently, Tregnaghi et al. (2011)
assumed that at any time, the scour depth evolves at the same
rate as in an equivalent steady ow. Based on this
assumption, they proposed a model for the simulation of
time-varying scouring at bed sills under single-peak
hydrograph conditions. However, the scouring process
under a multiple-peak hydrograph was not considered.
Furthermore, the effect of incision-related undermining
of GCSs tends to occur during high-ow conditions.
Based on the eld observations and investigations (Water
Resources Planning Institute, 2009), it was found that
most GCS failures occurred during oods. More research
into scour downstream of a GCS is required, especially
under unsteady ow conditions.
The present study aims to investigate the development
of scour hole in non-cohesive sediment downstream of a
GCS. The experimental results are used to develop a
semi-empirical model for predicting the equilibrium scour
prole. An attempt is also made to calculate the temporal
variation of the maximum scour depth downstream of a
GCS under both steady and unsteady ows.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE

The experiments were carried out in a re-circulating ume
17.5-m long, 0.6-m wide, and 0.6-m deep with glass
sidewalls. The ow discharge was controlled by an inlet
valve and calibrated by a water tank downstream of the
ume. The linear correlation coefcient between the valve
opening reading and the ow discharge was 0.998. Figure 1
shows the schematic diagram of experimental arrangement
under equilibrium scour conditions. The working length of
the ume L that represents the sediment recess was 3.5 m,
which was chosen to be large enough to guarantee full scour
development with no geometrical interference (Marion
et al., 2004). Two types of perspex making the GCS models,
with different ramp slopes (Srm = 0.25, 0.143) and two
uniform sediment sizes (D50 = 2.7 mm, 3.5 mm), were used
for the scouring tests. The head of GCS models P (total drop
height) was kept constant (P = 45 mm). Eighteen sets of
experimental runs under steady ow conditions (Table I),
and 32 sets of experiments under unsteady ow conditions
(Table II) were performed in this study. As shown in Table I,
all the ows belong to subcritical ow. The Froude numbers
range from 0.36 to 0.93. The stepwise hydrographs for
the unsteady ow conditions, including the advanced,
symmetrical and delayed hydrographs, are shown in
Figure 2. No sediment was supplied upstream during the
experiments. A video camera was attached to the glass
sidewall to record the temporal variations of the bed proles.
The video records were then analysed using a digital image
processing technique with a precision of 0.3 mm developed
by the authors. It had also been tested against point gauge
measurements. Reasonably close results were obtained
using the two methods. As shown in Figure 1, point B
represents the location (xs,me) of the maximum equilibrium
Hydrol. Process. (2012)

SCOURING PROCESS OF GCSS DURING FLOODS

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of scour downstream of a grade-control structure (not to scale)

Table I. Experimental results for steady ow conditions

Run
S-M1R4-5
S-M1R4-8
S-M1R7-5
S-M1R7-8
S-M2R4-5
S-M2R4-8
S-M2R7-5
S-M2R7-6
S-M2R7-7
S-M2R7-8
S-S1R4-1
S-S1R4-4
S-S1R7-1
S-S1R7-4
S-S2R4-1
S-S2R4-4
S-S2R7-1
S-S2R7-4

Sb

Srm

D50 (mm)

q (m2/s)

Fdd

xm,e (mm)

ym,e (mm)

lm,e (mm)

Fr

0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.015
0.015
0.015
0.015
0.015
0.015
0.015
0.015

0.25
0.25
0.143
0.143
0.25
0.25
0.143
0.143
0.143
0.143
0.25
0.25
0.143
0.143
0.25
0.25
0.143
0.143

3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7

0.0167
0.0475
0.0167
0.0475
0.0167
0.0475
0.0167
0.0225
0.0283
0.0475
0.0167
0.0475
0.0167
0.0475
0.0167
0.0475
0.0167
0.0475

3.50
4.75
4.12
5.87
3.62
5.05
4.43
4.68
5.20
5.98
3.05
4.99
3.05
4.64
2.85
4.73
3.19
4.83

119
316
124
259
150
604
149
171
337
522
213
445
152
679
326
678
335
836

59
136
55
129
71
151
74
95
104
152
111
204
92
241
169
246
149
300

450
1450
470
1220
683
2500
700
894
1087
1750
888
1750
532
1950
857
2150
1056
2150

0.81
0.77
0.93
0.63
0.56
0.58
0.85
0.64
0.61
0.60
0.67
0.86
0.54
0.67
0.41
0.45
0.36
0.53

Sb = channel bed slope.

Srm = ramp slope.
D50 = median particle size.
q = discharge per unit width.
Fdd = (q/hd)/(gD50)0.5, where g = [(rs-r)/r]g, reduced gravitational acceleration,
rs = sediment density,
r = water density,
g = the gravitational acceleration.
xm,e = position of maximum scour depth at the equilibrium stage for steady ows.
ym,e = maximum scour depth at the equilibrium stage for steady ows.
lm,e = maximum scour hole length at the equilibrium stage for steady ows.

Table II. Experimental conditions for unsteady ows

Run
U-S1R7
U-M1R7
U-S1R4
U-M1R4
U-S2R7
U-M2R7
U-S2R4
U-M2R4

Sb

Srm

D50 (mm)

Type of
hydrograph

0.015
0.01
0.015
0.01
0.015
0.01
0.015
0.01

0.143
0.143
0.25
0.25
0.143
0.143
0.25
0.25

3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7

(a) ~ (d)
(a) ~ (d)
(a) ~ (d)
(a) ~ (d)
(a) ~ (d)
(a) ~ (d)
(a) ~ (d)
(a) ~ (d)

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

scour depth. The distance from the original bed to point B

represents the maximum equilibrium scour depth (ys,me),
and the distance between point C and the upstream end
corresponds to the length of the maximum equilibrium local
scour hole (ls,me).

RESULTS
Scouring process

Based on the study with clear-water inow, in general,

the scouring process downstream of a GCS under steady
Hydrol. Process. (2012)

J.-Y. LU ET AL.

Figure 2. Stepwise hydrographs for the tests under unsteady ow conditions: (a) symmetric; (b) delayed peak; (c) advanced peak; and (d) symmetric,
with a lower peak

ow condition can be identied into three distinct phases

during the evolution of scour hole, that is, the initial,
developing, and equilibrium phases. Figure 3 depicts the
typical experimental results for the development of the
scour depth as follows:
1. Phase I (initial stage)
The movable bed was scoured by the impinging jet
induced by the GCS, and a small deposit mound was
formed downstream of the scour hole.
2. Phase II (developing stage)
The dimension of the scour hole increased with time. The
sediment particles oscillated along the downstream slope of
the scour hole. Furthermore, the maximum scour depth
occurred near the sides of the ume because of the formation
of secondary ows in the xz plane induced by the hydraulic
jump (z is perpendicular to xy plane in Figure 1).
3. Phase III (equilibrium stage)
It can be further identied into three sub-scouring
processes. First (Phase III(a)), bursting phenomenon
can be found near the location of the maximum scour
depth. The scour hole near the GCS was approximately
two-dimensional. Second (Phase III(b)), a deposit
mound was temporarily formed on the downstream
slope of the scour hole because of the accumulation
of the falling sediment particles entrained by the
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

impinging jet. During this period, the hydraulic jump

occurred very close to the GCS. The impinging jet was
somehow restrained by the hydraulic jump, and the
location of the maximum scour depth moved slightly
upstream. Finally (Phase III(c)), the hydraulic jump
gradually moved downstream. The impinging jet was
not restrained by the hydraulic jump any more, and the
deposit mound vanished gradually. During the equilibrium stage, the scouring process followed the
cycle (a)(c) of Phase III. The bursting phenomenon
decreased with time, and the scour hole almost
remained unchanged. Finally, the maximum scour
depth occurred near the sides of the ume.
Scour hole dimensions at equilibrium stage under steady ows

The placement of an armor layer downstream of a

GCS, such as rock riprap and rock gabions, is one of the
most widely used countermeasures to protect the structure
from erosion or edge failure. The estimation of the
geometric parameters of the scour hole, including the
position (xs,me, ys,me) of the maximum equilibrium scour
depth and the length of the scour hole (ls,me), is required
for the proper design of the countermeasures. Farhoudi
and Smith (1985) and Dey and Sarkar (2006) found that
the sediment size and tailwater depth ht affect the scour
depth downstream of a spillway apron. Based on the
experimental data, Dey and Sarkar (2006) and Pagliara
(2007) reported that the densimetric Froude number had
great effect on the scour depth downstream of an apron
because of submerged horizontal jets and block ramps,
respectively. However, the experiments performed by
Hydrol. Process. (2012)

SCOURING PROCESS OF GCSS DURING FLOODS

Figure 3. Schematic diagrams of scouring process downstream of a grade-control structure under a typical steady ow condition

Dey and Sarkar (2006) and Pagliara (2007) were under

horizontal bed slope conditions. In this study, the
experiments were conducted with different bed slopes
(Table I). With consideration of the ndings by Farhoudi
and Smith (1985), Dey and Sarkar (2006) and Pagliara
(2007) and incorporating the effect of bed slope,
regression analysis for the experimental data (Table I)
yielded the following dimensionless equations for the
geometric parameters of the scour hole (xs,me, ys,me, ls,me)
0:887
xs;me =P 38:9S1:263
Fdd
ht =D50 0:867
b

(1)

0:759
ys;me =P 351:3S1:667
Fdd
ht =D50 0:494
b

(2)

0:812
ls;me =P 11:3S0:595
Fdd
ht =D50 0:761
b

(3)

Figure 4 shows the comparisons of the measured and

predicted scour hole parameters. The R2 values for
Equations (1) ~ (3) are 0.86, 0.93, and 0.81, respectively,
indicating that Equations (1) ~ (3) correspond satisfactorily
with the experimental data. Physically, Equations (1) ~ (3)
show that the locus of the maximum scour depth or scour
length increases with an increase in channel slope Sb,
densimetric Froude number Fdd, or tailwater depth ht, and a
decrease in bed material median size d50. In fact, a
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Figure 4. Comparisons of the measured and computed dimensionless

geometric parameters (xs,me, ys,me, ls,me) for scour holes

dimensional analysis can be performed to prove the validity

of the functional forms of Equations (1) ~ (3).
A comparison of the scour depths predicted by Lenzi
et al. (2002), Marion et al. (2004) and Equation (2), and our
measured data was also made. As expected, Equation (2), in
Hydrol. Process. (2012)

J.-Y. LU ET AL.

general, gave the best predictions. The performance of the

equation by Marion et al. (2004) was slightly better than
that of Lenzi et al. (2002). No empirical equation for the
prediction of scour hole length was derived in the study by
Marion et al. (2004). A comparison of the scour hole
lengths predicted by Lenzi et al. (2002) and Equation (3)
and our measured data indicated that both equations gave
fair predictions.
Scour hole proles at equilibrium stage under steady ows

Dumped riprap and rock gabions are the most common

scour countermeasures to minimize the scour depth
downstream of a GCS. In this section, a semi-empirical
model is proposed to predict the scour-hole prole.
Accordingly, river engineers can design the scour
countermeasures more economically. Dene X = xs/ls,me
and Y = ys/ys,me, where the longitudinal and vertical
coordinates xs and ys for describing the scour hole are
measured with respect to the origin A in Figure 1. Based
on the analysis of the existing data [Gaudio and Marion,
2003; Meftah and Mossa, 2006] and those collected in
this study, the dimensionless scour-hole prole can be
described by
ys
ys;me





xs
xs U
C0 exp C1
1  exp C2
ls;me
n

(4)

where
C0, C1, and C2 are empirical coefcients; U

p
ght Seq ; g = gravitational acceleration; ht= tailwater
depth; n= kinematic viscousity. The coefcients C0, C1,
and C2 are determined using the scour-hole characteristics, which are as follows: (i) atxs = xs, me, ys/ys, me = 1;
(ii) atxs = xs, me, dys/dxs = 0; and (iii) atxs = ls, me, ys = a2,
where a2= equilibrium general scour depth in reach CD
(Figure 1), which can be estimated as follows based on
Gaudio and Marion (2003):
a2 ht  hc

2 1=3
q


;
3=7
g
c D50
nq6=7

for a2 =ht > 0:15 (5a)


2 p
0:001
ht  a2
2g 0:605
0:08
ht  a2 3=2 ; (5b)
a2
3
ht  a2
for a2 =ht 0:15

where n = Mannings roughness coefcient; c =critical

Shields mobility parameter =htSeq/(D50) for wide
channels; Seq = equilibrium bed slope downstream of
the maximum scour depth; = relative submerged
particle density = (rs  rw)/rw; rs = density of sediment
particles; and rw =density of water; q = water discharge
per unit width. Using the pre-mentioned three boundary
conditions, one can obtain three equations. The empirical
coefcients C0, C1, and C2, can then be determined by
solving the simultaneous nonlinear equations.
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The scour-hole proles computed using the presented

method are compared with the observed experimental
data in several typical cases as shown in Figures 5(a)(h).
In general, the proposed method predicts the experimental data with bed slope Sb= 0.015 better than those with
Sb = 0.01. It is because the undulant variations occurred
on the lower slope (Sb = 0.01), although this phenomenon
gradually disappeared on the higher slope (Sb = 0.015),
especially with higher ow discharges or smaller median
sediment size, for example, Figure 5(h).
Figure 6 shows the comparisons of the results obtained
from the proposed model with the experimental data of
Meftah and Mossa (2006). The model predicts the
scour-hole proles between the origin and the maximum
scour depth very well but slightly overestimates the scour
depths for reach beyond the maximum scour depth.
Overall, however, the model predicts the scour-hole
proles quite reasonably.
Temporal variation of maximum scour depthsteady
ow conditions

The time variation of scour downstream of a GCS

because of plunging jet was tested for uniform sediment
with different sizes (Table I). According to the experimental observations, the scour depth ys,t at time t can be
expressed as a function of tailwater depth (ht), densimetric
Froude number, time, and channel slope as follows:
ys;t =ys;me f Sb ; Fdd ; T

(6)

where T = t/tR; tR = reference time = ht/(gD50)0.5; g = g.

The dimensionless maximum scour depth ys,t/ys,me can be
expressed as an exponential function of T as follows:


ys;t =ys;me 1  exp b0  T b1

(7)

where bo = 0.0468 and b1 = 0.421 are coefcients determined by using SPSS. The coefcient of determination R2
for Equation (7) is 0.95. As shown in Figure 7, all the data
collapse in a narrow band. Although there are some
discrepancies between the measured and predicted results
at the initial stage of scour activity, the model, in general,
predicts the temporal variations of scour depths downstream of a bed sill under steady ow conditions
satisfactorily.
Evolution of maximum scour depthsingle-peak
hydrograph

Tregnaghi et al. (2009, 2010) had performed a series of

experiments on scour downstream of uniformly spaced
bed sills with uniform sediment under both symmetrical
and asymmetrical hydrographs. The time variations of the
maximum scour depth during oods were investigated
and tted with polynomial equations. In the present study,
a semi-empirical model is proposed for calculating the
time variations of scour at a GCS under unsteady ow
conditions based on the concept of superposition. Figure 8
Hydrol. Process. (2012)

SCOURING PROCESS OF GCSS DURING FLOODS

Figure 5. Comparisons of the observed (circle) and predicted (curve) scour-hole proles under steady ow conditions for runs: (a) M1R4-5, (b) M1R4-8,
(c) M2R4-5, (d) M2R4-8, (e) S1R4-1, (f) S1R4-4, (g) S1R7-1 and (h) S1R7-4

shows the schematic diagram of the model. A stepwise

hydrograph consisting of the rising (Q1 ~ Q3) and
recession (Q4) limbs as depicted in Figure 8(a) is used
to illustrate the procedure.
Chatterjee et al. (1994), Dey and Sakar (2006) and
Pagliara (2007) found that the scour hole shapes
downstream of a GCS and cross-river hydraulic structure
are similar in nature. Meftah and Mossa (2006) also found
that if the spacing between two GCSs is long enough, the
shapes of scour holes are also similar. In Figure 3, during
the initial stage (only a few seconds), a deposit mound
was temporarily formed downstream of the GCS and
gradually washed away by the ow. However, one can
see in the gure that the shapes of scour holes are fairly
similar during the developing and equilibrium phases.
Based on this nding, we assume that the concept of
superposition can be applied to most of the scouring
processes except for the very initial stage under unsteady
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ow conditions. As the initial stage is very short, it would

not affect the calculation signicantly.
Figure 8(b) shows the time variation of scour depth at a
GCS for different steady ow rates (Qj, j = 1, 2, 3 and 4).
The specic steps for computing the scour depth at a GCS
under an unsteady ow are given below:
1. For the rst ow rate Q1, the time evolution of scour
depth follows the ys curve of Q1 [i.e. OA, as shown in
Figure 8(b)]. The corresponding scour depth is ys, 1.
2. As the ow rate increases from Q1 to Q2 at time t1, the
temporal variation of scour depth follows the path A00 B
of ys curve corresponding to Q2. Because Q2 > Q1, the
time required for the scour depth to reach ys,1 for the
ow rate Q2 is less than t1. This time is designated as t1
in Figure 8(b).
3. When the ow rate increases from Q2 to Q3(> Q2) at
t t1 t2  t1 , the yscurve follows the path B00 Cof the
Hydrol. Process. (2012)

J.-Y. LU ET AL.

Figure 6. Comparisons of the scour-hole proles predicted by the proposed method with the experimental data of Meftah and Mossa (2006)

scour depth curve for Q3. Because Q3 > Q2, the time
required for the scour depth to reach ys,2 for the ow
rate Q3 is less thant2. This time is designated as t2 in
Figure 8(b).
4. However, at time t3, as the ow rate decreases from Q3
to Q4 corresponding to t t2 t3  t2 , the scour
depth may remain unchanged, that is, ys,3 = ys,4. On the
other hand, if the slope of the recession limb is mild,
the scouring potential of Q4 may cause further scour,
which means ys,4 may be slightly greater than ys,3.
Furthermore, for the steep recession limb, the scour
depth remains unchanged because of the reduced
stream power. The ys curve may follow the pathC00 D
of the scour depth curve for Q4.

Considering the stepwise discharges Q1 and Q2 (> Q1),

Q1 lasts a period of t1, whereas the subsequent Q2 lasts a
period of (t2  t1). The time evolution of the scour depth
for Q1 is determined by
8
" 
1=2 #b1 9
<
=
t1 g D50
ys;m t1
1  exp b0 
:
;
ys;me1
ht;1

(8)

For the stepwise discharge Q2, the scour depth versus

time can be expressed as
8
" 
 
1=2 #b1 9
<
=
ys;m t1
t1 g D50
1  exp b0 
:
;
ht;2
ys;me2

(9)

Determination of time lag ti

To determine the time lag ti, Equation (7) for the temporal
variation of the scour depth at a sill under steady ow
conditions is adopted.

As shown in Figure 8(b), one can obtain t1 based

 on

Equations (8) and (9) by letting ys;m t1 ys;m t1 ,
that is,

8
20
0

1=2 !b1 11
< 1
t
g
D
1
50
AA
t1
ln4@ys;me2  ys;me1 ys;me1  exp@b0 
ht;1
g D50 1=2 :b0
ht;2

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

39b1
=1
ys;me2 5
;

(10)

Hydrol. Process. (2012)

SCOURING PROCESS OF GCSS DURING FLOODS

The same procedure continues for the remaining steps of

the hydrograph.
Experiments on the scour depth evolution under
stepwise hydrograph without upstream sediment supply
were carried out as summarized in Table II. Figure 9
shows the time evolution of the scour depth under
stepwise hydrographs with single-peak ow conditions.
For the stepwise hydrographs with the same peak ow
and duration [Figures 9(a) ~ (c)], the experimental results
show that the maximum scour depths are almost the same.
Interestingly, the time for the occurrence of the maximum
scour depth highly correlates with the type of the
hydrographs. For example, the maximum scour depth
occurs earlier for the advanced hydrograph than the
delayed one. For the same duration with different peak
ows as shown in Figures 7(d) and 9(a), the maximum
scour depth increases with an increase in the peak ow. In
general, the proposed model simulates the time evolution
of the scour depth downstream of a GCS under singlepeak ood conditions reasonably well. It can be seen that
the scour depth is slightly reduced after the ood peak,
which is resulted from the collapse of the sediment
particles near the downstream edge of the GCS. The
falling sediment may slightly reduce the scour depth.
Multiple-peak hydrograph

Figure 7. Dimensionless temporal variations of maximum scour depth

under steady ow conditions

As the ow rate increases from Q2 to Q3, one can use

similar concept to determine t2 , that is,

During the natural ood events, the multiple-peak

hydrographs occur frequently. The proposed model is
used to simulate the scour under unsteady ow with a
multiple-peak hydrograph. Figure 10 shows a comparison
of the simulated and measured scour depth evolutions
under a multiple-peak ow hydrograph. The second peak
of the hydrograph is larger than the rst one in this case.

8
20
0


1=2 !b1 11
< 1
t

t

t
D
g
h
2
1
50
t;3
1
AA
t2

ln4@ys;me3  ys;me2 ys;me2  exp@b0 
ht;2
g D50 1=2 :b0

It should be noted that when ti is less than zero,

ys, i + 1 = ys, i, and the scour depth will not increase with time.

39 1
=b1
ys;me3 5
;

(11)

As shown in Figure 10, in the rst portion of the

hydrograph, the maximum scour depth occurs at the rst

Figure 8. Illustrative scheme for computing time evolution of scour downstream of a GCS during a ood: (a) ow hydrograph, (b) time variations of
scour depth under steady ows, and (c) time variation of scour depth for an unsteady ow
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hydrol. Process. (2012)

J.-Y. LU ET AL.

Figure 9. Simulated and measured scour depth evolutions under stepwise hydrographs with single peaks: (a) symmetric, qp = 0.0475 m3/s, (b) delayed
peak, (c) advanced peak, (d) symmetric, qp = 0.0283 m3/s

Figure 10. Simulated and measured scour depth evolutions under a

stepped hydrograph with multiple peak

peak (t = 5400 s). In the second portion of the hydrograph

(t > 9000 sec), the scour depth initially increases slowly.
However, it increases rapidly near the second peak
(t = 10 800 ~ 12 600 s) because the second peak (qp2 =
0.0475 m2/s) is much greater than the rst (qp1 = 0.0283
m2/s). Similar to the results for the single-peak hydrograph, the scour depths are also slightly reduced after
the two peaks. However, for the practical purpose, the
maximum scour depth is of major concern, and the
proposed scheme gives reasonably accurate predictions.
Prediction of maximum scour depth after unsteady ows

Figure 11 shows a comparison of the predicted and

measured nal maximum scour depths under unsteady
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Figure 11. Comparison between the calculated and measured nal

maximum scour depths under stepped hydrographs

ow conditions. The dashed lines give the 5% error

interval, whereas the solid line is the perfect agreement line.
In general, the proposed prediction procedure gives less than
5% error for all of the data, including the single-peak and
multiple-peak hydrographs. Only two data points are
outside the interval, indicating the prediction is fairly
satisfactory. In reality, most of the coarse sediment particles
are trapped upstream of the GCS, whereas only a slight
amount of them can be carried downstream by the ush ow
Hydrol. Process. (2012)

SCOURING PROCESS OF GCSS DURING FLOODS

during oods. The ne particles may not have signicant

effect on reducing the scour depth downstream of the GCS.
For a single ood event, the discharge hydrograph usually
can be approximately represented by a stepped hydrograph,
and the scour depth downstream of the GCS can be
computed by the proposed scheme. However, the proposed
scheme is under the condition without sediment supply
upstream of the GCS. As a result, the computed scour depth
tends to be conservative and on the safety side.

CONCLUSIONS
Experiments on scour downstream of a GCS because of
ood events were investigated with two uniform sediments
without upstream sediment supply for various ramp slopes,
channel slopes and ow hydrographs. The proposed method
is proved to be a useful tool for the analysis of the problems
involving plunging jet scour induced by oods. Based on
the experimental results and the analysis of the scour
downstream of a GCS, the main ndings of the study are
summarized as follows:
1. According to the experimental observations, the hydraulic
jump formed downstream of a GCS-induced large
secondary ows and the vortices (xy plane), resulting
in the occurrence of the maximum scour depths near the
side walls.
2. Empirical formulae are derived to quantify the maximum
scour depth, the scour length, and the location of
the maximum scour depth downstream of a GCS
under steady ow conditions. The equilibrium scour
hole dimensions (xs,me, ys,me, ls,me) increase with an
increase in the channel slope, densimetric Froude
number, and tailwater depth and a decrease in the median
sediment size.
3. The equilibrium scour-hole prole downstream of a
GCS for steady ows can be estimated based on an
exponential function with three boundary conditions.
The comparison between the experimental data and the
predicted values gives good agreement.
4. The dimensionless maximum scour depth for steady
ows can be expressed as an exponential function of the
dimensionless time T. The empirical equation predicts the
temporal variation of the maximum scour depth
reasonably well.
5. Based on the dimensional analysis and the concept of
superposition, a scheme is proposed to estimate the
temporal variation of the maximum scour depth
downstream of a GCS under unsteady ow conditions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was supported by the National Science Council of

the Republic of China. The writers gratefully acknowledge
Mr Zhong-Zhi Shis help and Prof. Rajkumar V. Raikars
valuable suggestions.
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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