A review of bridge scour monitoring techniques

The high profile failure of the Malahide Viaduct, in Dublin, Ireland which is a part of the EU TEN-T network of critical transport links was caused by foundation scour. In a study of five hundred bridge failures that occurred in the United States between 1989 and 2000, flooding and scour were the cause of 53% of the recorded failures (Wardhana and Hadipriono 2003). Scour is a common soil-structure interaction problem. In light of current changes in climate, increased frequency of flooding, coupled with the increased magnitude of these flood events, will lead to a higher risk of bridge failure occurring. Monitoring scour is of paramount importance to ensure the continued safe operation of the aging bridge asset network. Most monitoring regimes are based on using expensive underwater instrumentation that can often be subject to damage during times of flooding, when scour risk is at its highest. This paper presents a critical review of existing scour monitoring equipment and methodologies with a particular focus on those that use the dynamic response of the structure to indicate the existence and severity of the scour phenomenon affecting the structure. A sensitivity study on a recently developed monitoring method is also undertaken.