Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-10-008
Date: November 2009

Countermeasure Design for Bridge Scour

To support transportation departments and others in evaluating scour critical bridges, a newly updated training course on Countermeasure Design for Bridge Scour and Stream Instability (Course No. FHWA-NHI-135048) is now available from the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) National Highway Institute (NHI).

The updated course uses FHWA's newly revised Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 23 (HEC-23), Bridge Scour and Stream Instability Countermeasures: Experience, Selection, and Design Guidance (Third Edition), as the supporting text. Scheduled to be released this winter, the third edition summarizes nationwide experiences with bridge scour countermeasures, provides selection guidance to support the development of plans of action for scour critical bridges, and includes detailed design guidelines for a variety of scour and instability countermeasures. The revisions to HEC-23 were based on more than 10 years of laboratory and field research by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and FHWA.

The 2.5-day course covers the selection of countermeasures for stream instability and scour, strategies and guidance for developing plans of action, basic design concepts, and evaluation of countermeasure failures. Also included is an introduction to fixed and portable instrumentation for scour monitoring. The course is structured around 10 separate design workshops. Each course includes workshops on riprap revetment design, filter design, and riprap protection for bridge piers and abutments. State transportation departments scheduling the course then select additional workshops that meet their specific needs and interests. These additional workshop options include bendway weir and guide bank design, riprap design for wave attack, biotechnical engineering, and design of riprap for open bottomed culverts.

A minimum of 20 participants are required for the course, with a maximum of 30. The course fee is $455 per participant. The course is scheduled to be held December 8-10, 2009, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and February 2-4, 2010, in Springfield, Illinois. To schedule the course in your State, visit www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/training/brows_catalog.aspx. For more information on the course content, contact Larry Arneson at the FHWA Resource Center, 720-963-3200 (email: larry.arneson@fhwa.dot.gov), or Joe Krolak at the FHWA Office of Bridge Technology, 202-366-4611 (email: joe.krolak@fhwa.dot.gov).

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