Q8. Define Scour in the River and Chalk it out its importance.

Ans. Scour is defined as a natural phenomenon of lowering the riverbed level due to removal of
sediment by the erosive action of flowing stream. The magnitude of reduction in the riverbed
level below an assumed natural level (or initial level) is termed scour depth.

Scour can be classified in various categories depending on the magnitude of erosion, change in
characteristics of the river, type of obstruction etc. as general scour, contraction scour, and local
scour.

Fig1.1 Pattern of scouring near a bridge pier of 6 cm diameter during experiment

Above figure is taken from the experiment conducted by me during my Maters for professional
project. Project title is “TURBULENCE CHARACTERIZATION AROUND CIRCULAR
BRIDGE PIER”.

IMPORTANCE OF SCOUR IN RIVER

It is important to observe and estimate the scouring depth in the initial stage. Since scouring
normally takes place around an obstruction which may be the pier of the bridge. Now if scouring
will take place near the pier due to high discharge then it will directly impact the foundation on
which pier is built and hence the stability of the bridge or structure will be at risk.
If scouring takes place for a longer duration then there is possibility that soil near the pear may
collapse and hence structure will also collapse as the load of structure is transmitted on theses
piers and the piers transmit the total load on the foundation.

Hence for safety of the structure which is constructed across the flow in a river, Scour becomes
the critical component which must be taken care properly.

Q 7 what are the geotechnical investigations for Dam Design?

Ans. Geotechnical investigations for the design of dam are done in order to find the bearing
capacity of the foundation on which dam is proposed to be constructed. Apart from estimation of
bearing capacity, there are several other important factors which are studied for the safe design
of dam.

The geotechnical Investigations involved sample collections, in-situ tests and laboratory analysis
to investigate the parameters such as Atterberg Limits, soil classification, moisture-density
relationship, stability analysis, drainage, consolidation settlement, permeability and ground water
level.

The foundations have to carry weight of the dam. The geotechnical investigations of the dam site
must be done so as to detect the thickness of the foundation strata, presence of faults, fissured
materials, and their permeability, slope, and slip, etc. The type of the dam is decided on the basis
of bearing capacity available along with the terrain.
Q 6 List down the important parameters for water supply pipeline design in mountainous
regions.
Ans. In comparison to plan area it seems to be more challenging while designing water supply
pipelines due to un-evenness of the terrain in the mountainous region. Since terrain is not
uniform so there is large variation in the pressure and the fluctuation in the pressure and velocity
makes the designing more challenging.
The important parameters for water supply pipeline design in mountainous regions are-

Q 5 Write down the drawbacks of Mathematical Models.