Chapter 1 1 Introduction fl ‘The design of a bridge across a river demands that detailed attention be paid not only to the route location, potential traffie flow and structural and foundation details, but also to the characteristics of the river beneath, To evaluate the characteristics of the river, it is necessary to collect information on aspects such as channel stability, sediment discharge, scour and sediment deposition and hydrodynamic forces. Predictions about what may happen in particular circumstances also need to be made. For such predictions, one of the important data required is the hydraulic data, This data can be gathered by aerial, hydrographic or hydraulic surveys, 4.1 IMPORTANCE OF HYDRAULIC FACTORS IN BRIDGE DESIGN ‘The process of arriving at final design of a bridge is very elaborate and complex, involving geotechnical, hydraulic and structural attributes. These attributes are adjusted in such a way that they satisfy functional, economical and aesthetical constraints, The hydraulic parameters which, influence sequential phases of bridge design can be summarized as follows Phase L. During this phase, site reconnaissance, review and analysis of available river data are undertaken with a view to selecting possible bridge locations that are compatible with the proposed communication route. Phase If. At each of the possible bridge sites, the hydrographic and hydraulic surveys are conducted. Phase III. From the available data, the following hydraulic parameters are assessed: Design flood flow Na . Approach velocity and direction River meandering characteristics Maximum flood flow Maximum flood level 1 3 tional requirements 5. Bed and bank characteristics 7. Flood plain width4 & Design of Bridge Sinusures Phase IV. During this phase, linear waterway, normal scour depth, afflux. backwater effect, flow velocity, including the works requirements for a suitable river taining scheme are determined. Phase V. Various alternative methods of construction taking into uevount factors such, as structural loading, soil characteristics, economy of construction, availability of manpower (skilled and unskilled) and materials of construction, access to the site, prevailing climate, environmental impact, and maintenance are considered. Detailed investigation of certain other factors, which affect the configuration of the bridge, is also necessary at this stage. Proper freeboard, vertical clearance, height of the bridge and hydrodynamic forces on the pier are estimated. Due consideration is given to proper location and geometty of the piers. The ‘geometry of the piers should be such as to minimize the backwater effect and scour. The piers, should be aligned with the principal direction of flow so that a streamline flow is maintained. Phase VE. For the proposed configuration of the bridge, normal scour, maximum scour and backwater effect are computed. For more refinement in computations, if needed, the number of piers is reduced and also if more reduction in scour is required, the local and general scour effects can be altered by adjusting the waterway opening. Phase VIL The cost of alternative schemes for euch location is appraised in this phuse. If the cost of the scheme is outside the budgetary constraints, savings may be possible by altering the designs. Phase VIL After studying the alternative bridge designs for each of the possible bridge locations, the best scheme is selected for detailed design. Based on the recommendations, a decision to verify the hydraulic parameters by model investigations is normally considered during this phase. 1.2 COMPUTATION OF PEAK FLOOD FLOW Predicting peak discharge rates or synthesizing complete dischurge hydrographs for use in the design of minor and major bridge structures are two of the more chullenging aspects of bridge hydrology. Generally, a hydrologist is required to provide peak rates of discharge and stages al a design frequency, or synthesize a complete discharge hydrogeaph for a design storm. Hydrologic design aspects of a complete bridge structure are considerably more complex than those of a small bridge or culvert. The economic selection of waterway from various possibilities dictates the final design and is a function of the degree of protection to be provided, project economy, agency policy and construction standards Most of the infomation and techniques presented in this chapter are directed towards prediction of peak discharges with particular reference to small, medium and large size catchments, based on availability of rainfall-runoff data including the cutchment characteristics. 1.2.1 Empirical Methods ‘The empirical formulae for prediction of peak discharges are employed only when sufficient data are not available for detailed and precise analysis of catchment response. One of theIntroduction 8 drawbacks of these empirical methods is that each formula is applicable only to the catchment for which it is developed. ‘The general form of the empi sal equation is, Q=ca" ay yeuk discharge wea of the Cand n are constant ichment which absorb storm and catchment characteristics. Dicken’s formula Dicken for the first time in 1885 made an attempt and derived a formula of the following form to predict the maximum flood on the basis of the studies conducted on Indian rivers, for determining. waterway for bridges. o=cat 2) ‘The above formula is applicable to catchments in Central and North India. ‘The constant C varies from 2.80 to 5.6 for plain catchments and from 14 to 28 for mountainous regions, From. the recent studies [1] conducted to make Dicken’s formula applicable to different parts of India, the constants a listed in Table 1.1 are suggested: ‘Table 11 Dicken’s constants for different watersheds Type of watershed Dicken 's constant C ‘Bare caichments covered with precipitous bills 196-280 Catchments with bills on the skins with undulating country 140-168 ‘Undulating country with hard indurated clay 12140 Flat, sandy, absorbent or cultivated plains 28-10 Ali Nawaz Jung Bahadur’s formula ‘This formula (2] involves a logarithmic function of areas as the exponent. Jung Bahadur was ‘of the opinion that the formula to be applied should be simple but rational without involving much of the judgement on the part of the hydrologist selecting the coefficient @ =c(03684)( 0925 = soe) a3) ‘The value of C is 49 and 60 for regions in South and Nosth India respectively. Ryve’s formula Ryve modified the Dicken’s formula for application to catchments in southern regions of India. ‘The modified formula is gu a4)6 6 Design of Bridge Simerares where ‘A = area of the catchment in sq. km C= 6.74 for areas up to 24 km from the coast = 8.45 for areas 24-161 km from the coast = 10.1 for hilly areas ‘The modified Ryve’s formula can also be written as. @= cH? _ GAY (1s) where C\ = modified Ryve's constant which varies from 1/3 to US of C ‘A = combined area of the catchment in sq. km Ay = intercepted area of the catchment in sq. km. Inglis formula Inglis [3] studied the available hydrologic records of catchments of erstwhile state of Bombay and of a few catchments outside the state (© arrive at a simple relationship as follows: 124 (16) ‘This formula is applicable to regions in Maharashtra and Decean plateau. 1.2.2. Envelope Curves For developing envelope curves, the maximum flood discharges and the respective areas of the drainage basin possessing similar hydrometerologic charucteristies are compiled. The maximum. flood discharges versus the drainage areas are plotted on the log-log scale and a smooth curve known as the envelope curve is fitted to pass through the plotted points: By using this curve, the maximum flood discharge can be estimated for a given drainage basin. Envelope curves for Indian rivers developed by Kanwar Sain and Karpov (1) ate shown in Fig. 1.1 100 70 40 8 oer ‘Maximum flo discharge in thousands of comecs 12 4710 20 40 70100200 500 1000 Drainage area in thousands of squae kilometres Fig. 1.1 Envelope curves for Indian rivers.Insroduesion 9 T 1.3 FLOOD FLOWS AND CATCHMENT SCALE When the intensity of rainfall exceeds the abstractive capability of the catchment, surface runoff cccurs. Eventually, large amounts of surface runoff concentrate to provide large flow rates referred to us floods. The study of floods, their occurrences, causes, transport and elfecs is the essence of flood hydrology. In general, rainfall varies in space and time, However, under certain given conditions, it is possible to assume the rainfall to be either (1) constant in both space and time or (2) constant in space but varying in time or (3) varying in both space and time, The catchments scale helps to determine which one of these assumptions is justified on practical grounds. Generally, small catchments are those in which runoff can be modelled by assuming constant rainfall in both space and time. Midsize catchments are those in which runoff can be modelled by assuming rainfall to be constant in space but varying in time. Large catchments are those in which runoff can be modelled by assuming rainfall to vary in both space and timeChapter 2 l Catchments 2.4 SMALL CATCHMENTS 2.1.4 Characteristics ‘The characteristics of smnall catchments can be stated us follows: 1. Rainfall is assumed to be uniformly distributed both in time and space. 2. Storm duration generally exceeds the concentration time. 3. Runoff is primarily by overland flow. Channel storage processes are negligible. - It is difficult to define the upper limit of size of small catchments. Sizes ranging trom 0.65 t0 sq. km have been mentioned in the literature [4, 5]. The current practice is to use 1.3 to 2.5 sq. km, as the upper limit. There is no theoretical lower limit, and, catchments as small as 1 ha also fall into this category. Some authorities regard small catchments as those whose concentration time is 1h of less. It may also to be noted that small catchments are either concentrated or superconcentrated 2.1.2 Analysis of Runoff Response ‘The following methods are used for analysis of runoff response from small catchments: 1. Parametric approaches, such as the rational method, which lump all relevant hydrologic processes into a few descriptors like rainfall intensity and catchment area. 2. Deterministic methods such as overland flow models. These methods are beyond the scope of this book, Rational method ‘The rational formula was introduced in the United States by Kuichling in 1886[6]. Since then, it has become the most widely used method for the analysis of runoff response from small 8