ABSTRACT
Scour is a complex phenomenon and one of the most frequent causes of riverine bridge failures. Detecting scouring effects is a complex geotechnical/structural/hydraulic engineering challenge. Incorporating more risk-based approaches into scour assessment frameworks may allow for enhancements over current processes which remain reliant on visual inspection to detect bridge scour. Scour detection and monitoring is inherently a ‘damage detection’ task. A wide range of technologies for scour monitoring are available which may partially replace or supplement visual inspection activities. Recently, a new rating framework has been presented to assist engineers to assess the relative merits of different sensor technology options on scour-prone bridges. In this paper, the development of this framework is reviewed and compared with other scour rating frameworks; suggestions for future development and calibration are proposed.
