Abstract

Local scouring around hydraulic structures in natural streams is a complex process whose evolution is influenced by many interrelated phenomena. The aim of the present work is to give a contribution for a better understanding of the scouring process due to man-made structural interventions inserted along a river. In particular, the attention is focused on the scour hole development downstream a bed sill. The evolution of the erosion process and the variation of the geometrical characteristics of the scour hole (depth, length and shape) are analyzed on the basis of data collected during experimental work carried out in a straight channel constructed at the laboratory of the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Idraulica ed Applicazioni Ambientali – University of Palermo (Italy).

Keywords: Man-made interventions, erosion, local scour, experimental analysis