The most common cause of bridge failures over streams is from floods scouring bed material around bridge foundations. Scour is the engineering term for the erosion caused by water of the soil surrounding a bridge foundation (piers and abutments). Bridge scour evaluation requires multidisciplinary inputs.

This presentation will focus on the formation of bridge scour, types of bridge scour, and what to consider in estimating bridge scour. It will touch on items to be included in a scour report and provide available guidance material.