A device designed especially to measure the effects of scour on bridge supports is now being manufactured commercially under a patent from the Texas Transportation Institute and Texas A&M University. The device helps predict the effects of scour, or the erodibility of rocks and soil, which is a critical condition for an estimated 25,000 bridges in the U.S. The machine is used in conjunction with a site- specific method of collecting soil samples for testing in the device. Other applications include soil studies for piping dams, beach erosion and surface erosion. One study centered on the Amtrak derailment neat Kingman, AZ, in 1997, which was derailed on a bridge that collapsed in a flash flood. The main culprit was the erodibility of the caliche layers undermining one of its piers.
Abstract