Publication Information
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is developing the NextScour Research Initiative with the goal of improving scour analysis and providing more accurate scour depth estimates for bridge foundation design. This initiative is an interdisciplinary effort between hydraulics and geotechnical engineers to address the existing knowledge gaps surrounding traditional methods of scour analysis. In 2020, FHWA established a Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) study to collaborate with State departments of transportation on future bridge projects at sites with layers of cohesive soils that could potentially provide resistance to hydraulic loads. This report documents one of the case studies, Lafayette Avenue Bridge in Michigan, and provides an example of how the NextScour approach can assist practitioners as they calculate scour depths and conduct bridge foundation design.
Recommended citation: Federal Highway Administration, NextScour Case Study: The Lafayette Avenue Bridge Over the Saginaw River in Bay City, Michigan (Washington, DC: 2023) https://doi.org/10.21949/1521957