Some Elements About Scale Effect on Scour Studies

To study the effect of scour on bridge structures, it is necessary to take into account the scale of the problem. To understand the vibrations of a structure, as for example a bridge pier affected by scour phenomenon, several experiments are in complementarity: first the behavior of reduced scale bridge piers can be studied in a hydraulic flume, where all conditions are taken so that the soil is scoured, second, the real-scale dynamical behaviour of bridge piers can be monitored and analyzed. Both approaches are presented here, and the complementary aspect of the results is shown.