Bridge failures are generally resulted from scour of the bed material around bridge piers and abutments during severe floods. In this study, scour phenomenon around bridge abutments and collars, located at abutments as scour countermeasures, were experimentally studied. The experimental study was carried out under clear-water scour conditions with uniform non-cohesive sediment (having a grain size diameter of d50=0.90 mm). The experimental flume is a rectangular channel of 30 m long and 1.5 m wide filled with this erodible bed material. Based on the results of 97 experiments conducted during the study, the efficiency of various sizes of collars, which were used to reduce the local scour depth, located at different elevations around the abutments was determined. The results obtained were compared with previous studies, and the effect of the sediment grain size on the performance of abutment collars was emphasized. It was noticed that when the collar width was increased and placed at or below the bed level, the reduction in scour depth increases considerably. It was also found out that the change of the sediment size did not affect the optimum location of the collar at the abutment, which yields the maximum scour reduction around the abutment.

During severe floods, bed material around bridge piers and abutments are scoured by the flow and as a result, bridges are subject to damages. These damages are mostly unrepairable and can result in loss of lives and property. In this thesis study, abutment scour under clear-water condition was investigated and collars were tested as scour countermeasures around the abutments. The experimental study was carried out in a rectangular channel with an almost uniform cohesionless bed material of d50=1.50 mm for a test period of 3-hours. The channel was 28.5 m long and 1.5 m wide. The erodible bed material was placed into the test section that was 5.8 m long and 0.48 m deep. For this thesis study, 60 experiments were carried out with and without various collars placed at different elevations around the abutments. The scour formation around the abutments with collars was observed and scour reduction efficiencies of the collars were studied. Experiment results were compared with the previous studies of Dogan (2008) and Kayat&uuml / rk (2005) in terms of sediment size, abutment shape and flow depth, and the effects of these factors on collar&#039 / s scour reduction efficiency were studied. Based on the results of the experimental studies, it was observed that scour depths decreased as the collar width increased and the collar placed deeper into the sediment bed for a given abutment length. When the present study and the previous studies were compared, it was observed that sediment size and flow depth had no significant effect on the scour reduction performances of the collars.

The major damage to bridges occurs due to scour of the bed materials around piers and abutments during severe floods. This study involves the experimental investigations of the various scour patterns forming around abutment models tested with and without collars as scour countermeasures. The experiments were conducted in a rectangular channel under clear-water scour conditions. In the first part of this study, 34 experiments were conducted with semi-circular end abutment models with and without a collar for a period of 3 hours. Collars of various sizes were placed at different elevations on the abutment models, and the scour reduction efficiencies of collars were investigated for the different flow depths. Based on the results of the experimental studies, the optimum locations of collars on the abutments, which result in minimum scour depth around the abutments, are obtained at the bed level and below the bed level depending on the flow intensity values. In the second part of this study, the effects of flow depth and abutment length on the temporal development of local scour at bridge abutments were studied. 20 experiments were performed without collars for a time period of 8 hours. It was observed that at the upstream of the abutment, the depth of the local scour increases rapidly within the first three hours of the experiment for the different flow depths.

Many river bridges fail or are seriously damaged due to excessive local scouring around piers and abutments. To protect a bridge from scour-induced failure, it should be designed properly against excessive scouring and its scour criticality should be checked regularly throughout the service life to take prompt action. The Federal Highway Administration of United States (FHWA) developed a program, HYRISK, as a basis for evaluation of existing scour failure risk of a bridge. It provides implementation of a risk-based model, which is used to calculate the annual risk of scour failure of a bridge or series of bridges in monetary values. A case study is carried out for a bridge crossing Fol Creek in Black Sea Region (close to Vakfikebir), for the illustration of this software. Besides, hydraulic analysis and scour depth computations of the bridge are carried out via HEC-RAS program. Also, a study is carried out to recommend scour countermeasures that can be applied to the aforementioned bridge.