THE BALTIC JOURNAL

OF ROAD AND BRIDGE ENGINEERING

ISSN 1822-427X print / ISSN 1822-4288 online

2014 Volume 9(3): 215–224

NUMERICAL AND FIELD INVESTIGATIONS

OF LOCAL BRIDGE ABUTMENT SCOUR
AND UNSTEADY DOWNSTREAM RIVER FLOW
FROM A NEARBY HYDROPOWER PLANT
Arvydas Šikšnys1, Narimantas Titas Ždankus2, Gintautas Sabas3, Oksana Barvidienė4
1Institute of Hydraulic Engineering, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Universiteto g. 10, 53361 Akademija,
Kaunas, Lithuania
2 Dept of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Kaunas University of Tehnology, Studentų g. 48, 51367 Kaunas,
Lithuania
3, 4Dept of Hydraulics, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio al. 11, 10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
E-mails: 1 arvydas.siksnys@asu.lt; 2 narimantas.zdankus@ktu.lt; 3 sabas@vgtu.lt; 4 oksana.barvidiene@vgtu.lt

Abstract. Sudden and often fluctuations of water discharges and levels in the downstream reach of the hydropower
plant make water fauna and flora existence conditions unbearable. Besides, a riverbed here is subjected to long last-
ing and intensive scour and deformations. The aim of our investigations is to develop measures improving the water
flow regime in the downstream reach of the hydropower plants. The Nemunas River and Kaunas hydropower plants
were selected as basis for our numerical and field investigations. Actual flow regime below the hydropower plant was
observed and analysed on the ground of the long lasting dynamic measurement data. Numerical treatment of field
measurement data and flow simulation works were arranged and carried out simultaneously. Numerical hydrodynamic
model MIKE  21 made it possible to evaluate existing river flow conditions and to apply the model for simulation of
many different turbine regimes and to select the optimal one. The content of our research was as follows: 1) analysis
of typical turbines regimes while switching them on and off and flow regimes downstream; 2) continuous long last-
ing measurement of water level in many cross-sections of the river under investigation downstream the hydropower
plants; 3) numerical simulation and investigation of untypical turbines regimes while switching them on and off and
flow regimes downstream with application software MIKE 21 in the same unsteady flow conditions in which field
measurements were made; 4) evaluation of the accuracy of hydrodynamic modeling results and possibilities for their
application in predicting the local bridge abutment scour. The obtained data on water level and flow rate dynamics
downstream the Kaunas hydropower plants have been analysed. Numerical model was developed to simulate the scour
at bridge abutment and was calibrated for the same unsteady flow conditions. The obtained accurate results can be used
for local bridge abutment scour evaluation.
Keywords: hydrodynamic model, Kaunas hydropower plant, hydropower plants (HPP), bridge abutment scour.

1. Introduction water flow in river stretches where it is affected by irregu-

The practice show that the hydropower plants (HPP) and lar operation of HPP (Kаgаnоv et al. 2010; Šikšnys, Sabas
the regulation of rivers runoff change their hydro-mor- 2011; Vaikasas, Poškus 2009; Ždankus, Sabas 2005, 2006;
phological characteristics. Sudden starting and stopping Ždankus et al. 2008). Lithuanian researchers often discuss
of HPP turbines due to uneven demand of electric power problems related to a negative impact of HPP on eco-
during a 24-hour time period cause stream flow fluctua- systems; suggest different measures to reduce this nega-
tions in the river which have an effect on riverbed defor- tive impact. In addition, stream flow fluctuations in the
mations, local and general scours of the riverbed and ulti- plain rivers are a scour result of erosive action around the
mately – changes of ecosystems and hydraulic-hydrologic piers and abutments of bridges (Richardson, Davis 2001;
state (Labutina 1985; Milius, Darbutas 2011). In recent Ždankus 2000). Local scour arises around abutments,
years several studies have been published about unsteady piers and embankments, which is caused by the rapidity

Copyright © 2014 Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) Press Technika doi:10.3846/bjrbe.2014.27
http://www.bjrbe.vgtu.lt
216 A. Šikšnys et al. Numerical and Field Investigations of Local Bridge Abutment...

of the flow. Many studies have been carried out to develop numerical MIKE 21 hydrodynamic model. Results showed
the relationships for predicting scour depth rate at bridge that: 1) flux wave motion velocities in the nearest stretch
abutments under stream flow scour condition and these of the downstream reach of the HPP simulated using the
relations have been used for designing purposes (Esmaeili MIKE 21 hydrodynamic model are much larger than ve-
et al. 2011; Moncada-M et al. 2009; Zarrati et al. 2006). The locities calculated using formulas given by the other au-
prediction of damages or failure of the bridge structures in thors, however, these differences gradually decrease in the
flow, causing the scour near bridges in rivers, is one of the flow direction moving away from the HPP; 2) flux wave
main tasks for engineers (Gjunsburgs et al. 2014; Kamaitis motion velocity in the nearest zone to HPP does not de-
2012; Skibniewski et al. 2014). pend on wave water discharge and its height, however, in
It is established that the largest and the most intensive the subsequent flow stretch wave motion velocity increases
fluctuations of water levels and flow velocities are observed when wave water discharge and its height increase; 3) for
in the downstream reach of the HPP dams and gradually the estimation of the reliability of hydrodynamic modeling
weaken in the flow direction. Rather complex hydraulic results field measurements are necessary.
problems involving unsteady water flow in many cases were Why are the reliability and the accuracy of obtained
approached using the simplest calculation methods where results so important while investigating different cases of
one-dimensional Saint-Venant, Bernoulli and continuity unsteady water flow in the Nemunas River below the HPP?
equations, Newton’s second law etc. were applied, complex Such approach is necessary in order that many important
morphometric characteristics of natural riverbeds were questions about the safety of Kaunas residents and the
calculated using simplified prismatic riverbed schemes Nemunas River ecosystem could be answered reasonably,
not taking into consideration geometric shapes of a river e.g.: 1) What is the real threat to the “Zalgiris” arena in
channel and its variety of hydraulic roughness, ignoring the the Nemunas River island in case of an accident on HPP?
uneven distribution of flow velocities across the width of 2) How long would it take for a wave to reach the Nemunas
the river, vortex zones and other important factors. Such a River Island in case of an accident on HPP and what would
schematization of hydraulic calculations can affect signifi- be the height of such a wave? 3) How does the Kaunas HPP
cantly the accuracy and the reliability of obtained results. affect the navigation conditions in the Nemunas River?
For example, Kaganov et al. (2010) several parameters (wa- 4) How can a negative impact of the Kaunas HPP on the
ter levels, water discharges, wave motion velocities, etc.) of river ecosystem be reduced?
a natural gravitational wave are compared using different The main goal of this work is to analyze characteristic
methods: using “BOR”, “RIVER”, “MIKE 11” computer pro- cases of unsteady flow in the downstream reach of the Kaunas
grams. It was established, that water flow wave height er- HPP, investigate them using the MIKE 21 hydrodynamic
rors reached 20%, wave motion velocity errors – 16% and model, and estimate the reliability of modeling results and the
water level rising time errors – 28%. suitability of the model for solving practical problems.
Irregular operation of Kaunas HPP (the largest in
Lithuania) turbines induces flux and reflux waves in the 2. Investigation methods
Nemunas river near Kaunas, therefore flow velocities, The whole investigation was split into several stages and
water levels and water discharges vary very intensely in conducted in the following order: 1) Kaunas HPP char-
a rather long river stretch. In the study (Ždankus, Sabas acteristic operation regimes causing unsteady flow in the
2005) the modelling exercise was performed by simulating downstream reach of HPP were analyzed; 2) synchronous
several cases of unsteady water flow observed in the down- field measurements of water level dynamics in the Nemu-
stream reach of the HPP and in a rather short (1.3 km) nas River near Kaunas were performed for various Kau-
stretch of the Nemunas River using the two-dimensional nas HPP operation regimes; 3) numerical hydrodynamic
model MIKE 21 was used to investigate the dynamics of
hydraulic characteristics of the Nemunas River under the
same conditions of unsteady water flow as in field meas-
urements; 4) the accuracy of modeling results was estimat-
ed and the possibilities of application of these modeling
methods to solve practical problems was evaluated.
In this work the authors investigated the unsteady wa-
ter flow in the stretch of the Nemunas River from Kaunas
HPP to the mouth of the Neris River (Fig. 1). The length
of this stretch is 15.3 km. Analysis of water level fluctua-
tions in this stretch was performed in four places of the
river cross-section (measuring in distance from the river
mouth): 225.82 km (near the Kaunas HPP below dam);
Fig. 1. The stretch of Nemunas River under study, water level 218.48 km (at the Panemune Bridge); 214.46 km (at the
measuring points: 1 – Kaunas HPP; 2 – Panemune Bridge; Railway Bridge); 211.54 km (at the Aleksotas Bridge). At
3 – Railway Bridge; 4 – Aleksotas Bridge these control points accurate synchronous measurements
The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering, 2014, 9(3): 215–224 217

of water level dynamics were carried out: from 2004.09.20 regime typical for Mondays, which allows the calculation
until 2004.10.11 and from 2005.07.04 until 2005.07.22 of flow velocity and water level changes in each time step.
(Fig.  2). For this purpose autonomous pressure sensors The first stage of modeling was matched to the model
with programmable data drives were used. The first se- calibration procedure. The final results from the fully cal-
ries of measurements were performed with the period of ibrated and tested hydrodynamic model obtained in the
1 minute and the second – with a 5-minute period. The last time step of the first stage were used in the second
accuracy of measurements was ±1 mm in both cases. Pres- stage model for the calculations of unsteady flow during
sure sensors were submerged under water and placed on the first time step.
the bottom of the river. During this operation river water The HPP operation regime selected for investiga-
levels were measured at all four control points. Measure- tions from several discussed weekend versions was the one
ment results were transferred to a computer where baro- which allows to reveal and to measure more accurately
metric corrections were made and altitudes of water sur- the characteristics of flux waves – the height and velocity
face were calculated. of the wave, flow velocity and water level changes, their
Data collected by the Kaunas HPP on turbine water intensity, etc. In this respect the most appropriate HPP
discharges and water levels is sufficiently accurate (accu- operation regime was observed on 2005.07.17 which was
racy of water levels ±1 cm, water discharges – ±1.0 m3/s) characterized by a rather long period of steady flow with
though the period of measurements is quite long – 1 hour. one active turbine until 07:20 hours. After that followed a
Using the results of water level measurements the sudden start and short operation for several hours of ad-
heights of flux waves caused by HPP as well as their mo- ditional 3 turbines and from 10:30 hours 3 turbines were
tion velocities and the intensity of water level fluctuations stopped and again a single turbine of the HPP was opera-
were calculated and analyzed. The principles and methods tional for a rather long time (Fig. 3).
of numerical modeling of channel flows with MIKE 21 At the open lower boundary of the model under
programs are discussed by Ždankus et al. (2008), Šiksnys steady flow conditions a varying water level at the mouth
and Sabas (2011). It was tested an advanced method of un- of the Neris River was observed (WL – Neris Fig. 3). It was
steady water flow modeling using MIKE 21 program. The calculated using actual heights of the water surface mea-
basis of the two-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic sured on 2005.07.18 at the nearest measurement point at
model is the digital terrain model (DTM) of the Nemu- the Aleksotas Bridge. The slope of the water surface typical
nas riverbed which was prepared using GIS software and for this stretch of the river, the distance between the mea-
the bathymetric measurement data of the Nemunas River surement point at the Aleksotas Bridge and the mouth of
provided by the Lithuanian Inland Waterways Authority.
These measurements were carried out in 2005 when the
possibilities of cargo and passenger shipping on this water
route were studied. The above mentioned model consists
of a rectangular grid (dimensions of an element 5´5 m,
the total number of elements exceeds 230 thousands. The
DTM of the riverbed was converted from GIS format to
MIKE 21 format. The accuracy of the DTM of the riverbed
was tested visually with programs designed for the visual-
ization of MIKE 21 data and also using hydraulic charac-
teristics (riverbed roughness coefficient, flow widths and
velocities) simulated during the model calibration process.
The analysis of the graphs representing the operation
regimes of the HPP showed that on weekends, when the
consumption of electrical energy decreases, Kaunas HPP Fig. 2. Dynamics of water levels measured in the Nemunas
often operates in the stable 1 turbine mode with an ex- River near Kaunas 2005.07.04 – 2005.07.23
ception of flux periods and special circumstances in the
power grid. For this reason on weekends the water flow in
the Nemunas River below the Kaunas HPP usually stabi-
lizes and when on Mondays other turbines of the HPP are
started, the river water discharges and water levels begin
to increase (Fig. 2).
For these reasons the modeling of unsteady water
flow was conducted in two stages: 1) modeling of steady
water flow under HPP operation regime typical for week-
ends, which allows the calculation of steady flow veloci-
ties and water levels in the whole river area under study;
2) modeling of unsteady water flow under HPP operation Fig. 3. Hydrodynamic model background conditions
218 A. Šikšnys et al. Numerical and Field Investigations of Local Bridge Abutment...

the Neris River and the duration of motion of flux waves in where b – abutment width, m; H – water depth except
this stretch were used in these calculations. scour depth, m (Fig. 4).
At the open upper boundary a varying water discharge The maximum depth of the local bridge abutment
of the HPP was obtained. As it was already mentioned, wa- scour hole in a moment of stabilization is calculated by the
ter discharges of the HPP are measured rather infrequent- formula:
ly, with the period of 1 hour. A turbine launch takes only
about 2 minutes so the water discharge in the downstream , (3)
reach of the HPP increases rather rapidly. The exact time of
turbine start in an 1 hour interval is not known, therefore
at the upper boundary of the model 2 graphs of water dis- where V – mean flow velocity before bridge abutment,
charge variation were used: 1) Q (HPP) consists of actual m/s; M  –  coefficient of bridge abutment depending on
HPP water discharges measured each hour; 2) Q (mod) shape; K – coefficient of geometry depending on flow and
consists of actual HPP water discharges but in this case abutment situation conditions; m – exponent depending
turbine start and stop times were specified so that model- on the bottom sediments carried by the flow and form-
ing results would match water level dynamics measured at ing the riverbed; when the bottom sediments get into the
the measurement points in the river. scour hole m = 0.5; otherwise m = 0.6.
The discussed hydrodynamic model was used to cal- The depth of local bridge abutment scour during
culate varying water levels and flow velocities in the whole flooding is estimated by dividing a flood hydrograph
stretch of the Nemunas River under study over a period into elementary time steps having made an assumption
of 24 hours on 2005.07.18. Modeling results (water level that in every time step the water flow is steady (Techni-
dynamics) were analyzed and compared with water levels cal Directions for the Calculation of Local Bridge Abutment
observed at the measurement points in the Nemunas Riv- Scour). In this case the depth of local scour is estimated se-
er. These results were also used to make conclusions about parately for each time step from the initial scour depth hpr
the reliability of the hydrodynamic model and its practical (i.e., in the beginning of the estimated time step) until the
application possibilities. end of the estimated time step hg by the formula:
Many studies have been carried out to value a scour
at bridge abutments (Salaheldin et al. 2004; Vоskоbоinik , (4)
et al. 2004). The authors analyzed local bridge abutment
scour steady and unsteady downstream river flow from a where – relative scour depth in the beginning of
nearby hydropower plant. The guide was used to count the
local scour depth at the Railway Bridge abutment and oth- the estimated time step; – relative scour depth at
er hydraulic characteristics with different HPP work re-
gimes. Flow velocity before bridge abutment has the form: the end of the estimated time step; Δt – duration of time
step, h; τ – timescale of the unsteady process of the local
, (1) bottom soil scour, h.
The timescale of the local bottom soil scour under the
stable water flow conditions is estimated in hours by the
where V0 – a non-scouring mean flow velocity in vertical
following formula:
(when the open channel bottom is horizontal), m/s; Kv –
velocity coefficient for recalculating mean flow velocity to
the maximum flow velocity before abutment: , (5)

, (2) where d – average diameter of a soil particle, m.

To facilitate estimations a methodical material was
used (Technical Directions for the Calculation of Local
Bridge Abutment Scour) also the tables and graphs of local
scour of bridge abutments of various shapes, dimensions
and structures. The flow velocities V and depths H were
selected according to the hydrodynamic modeling results.
With the help of field investigations the estimated width
of the abutment was determined b = 6 m, also the prevail-
ing soil of the bottom sediments in the Nemunas River –
fine sand, average diameter of sand particles d = 0.2 mm,
the bottom of the riverbed at the bridge abutment – not
strengthened. The underwater part of bridge abutment is
strengthened by a vertical wall of steel dowels, the front
Fig. 4. Principal scheme of local bridge abutment scour part of the wall is rounded, the coefficient of abutment
The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering, 2014, 9(3): 215–224 219

shape M = 0.85 was used (Metodical Recommendations for height of approximately 0.56 m in the downstream reach
the Calculation of Local Bridge Abutment Scour). of the HPP and 0.42–0.56 m at the Aleksotas Bridge (here
The bridge abutment scour estimations were carried the first number is the height of the first wave, the sec-
out under various conditions of steady water flow: 1) un- ond – the biggest measured height of the wave). In both
der the operation of 1–4 turbines of Kaunas HPP; 2) under mentioned cases the heights of flux waves simulated us-
the maximum water discharge of spring flood of 10% reli- ing the hydrodynamic model at every measurement point
ability. Intensity of the non-stationery abutment scour was using data about water level dynamics measured at the
estimated under conditions of unsteady water flow when same points is presented in Table 1. Results show that flux
all four turbines of Kaunas HPP are put into operation and waves on 2005.07.18 are approximately twice as high as
when water discharge increases from 120 to 480 m3/s. those on 2005.07.11 although the number of operational
Based on the obtained estimation results the possi- HPP turbines and water discharges were increased 2 and
ble scour of bridge abutments was analyzed and evaluated 4 times, respectively. It is obvious that the change in wa-
due to unsteady water flow in the downstream reach of ter discharge and the wave height depend non-linearly
Kaunas HPP. on each other. This effect can be explained considering
the shape of water discharge graphs of lowland rivers. Ac-
3. Analysis of water level measurement results cording to these dependencies, when water level raises
Analysis of the dynamics of water levels measured in the the ratio of the change in water level to the corresponding
Nemunas River showed that the increase of operational change in water discharge decreases, as in the above men-
turbines from 1 to 4 induces a flux wave which is 1.12 m tioned cases. Thus the higher water level is the smaller tid-
height at the Panemune Bridge and while travelling al wave is formed as a consequence of irregular operation
downstream it shrinks to 0.88 m at the Aleksotas Bridge of HPP turbines.
(Table 1). The increase of operational turbines from 1 Measurement results show that during the flux wave ris-
to 2 induces flux waves of much smaller height, e.g. on ing phase the duration of it and the intensity of water level
2005. 07.11 in addition to one operational turbine another variation are greater in comparison with the flux wave falling
was started and then stopped after 2–3 hours and after phase. Both phases of the wave lengthen significantly in the
an hour the start-stop process was repeated as shown in direction of the flow and the wave height decreases (Fig. 5).
Fig. 5. In this case a double flux wave emerged and had a This accumulative effect can be observed only in rather long

Table 1. Flux wave parameters calculated using the measured water levels

Position of measurement Height of wave, m Water level rising intensity, m/h Wave motion velocity, km/h
point and the river stretch
No. 2005.07.11 2005.07.18 2005.07.11 2005.07.18 2005.07.11 2005.07.18
Below the Kaunas HPP 0.55–0.57 1.08 0.18–0.28 0.28–0.37
Stretch I 8.6 5.30
Panemune Bridge 0.55–0.62 1.12 0.19 0.41
Stretch II 7.6 7.02
Railway Bridge 0.42–0.50 0.91 0.15 0.36
Stretch III 6.2 7.20
Aleksotas Bridge 0.42–0.56 0.88 0.15 0.34

Fig. 5. Dynamics of the Kaunas HPP turbine discharges Q (HE), water levels in the downstream reach of the HPP WL (HPP), water
levels at the Aleksotas Bridge WL (Aleks)
220 A. Šikšnys et al. Numerical and Field Investigations of Local Bridge Abutment...

flow stretches and it depends on hydro-morphologic and hy- 4. Analysis of hydrodynamic modeling results
draulic characteristics of the river. All bridge supports and the relatively small Jiesia River on
It can be seen from the Table 1 that the water level ris- the left bank of the Nemunas River were ignored in this
ing intensity undoubtedly depends on the change in HPP DTM. Furthermore, several other inaccuracies were noticed
turbine water discharges hence on the wave height (Fig. 6). at the Sanciai ramp and other navigation structures which
It can be noticed that there exists a close relationship be- do not affect the parameters of unsteady flow studied in this
tween the flux wave height and the water level rising in- work significantly. The accuracy of the DTM was controlled
tensity (coefficient of determination R2 = 0.93). The asser- using the flow widths estimated from river orthophoto-
tion can be made that under normal irregular HPP turbine graphs and hydrodynamic steady flow model. It was estab-
operation conditions the water level rising intensity (m/h) lished that the errors of flow widths are acceptable – they do
amounts to 36% of wave height (m). not exceed 5 m, i.e., the dimensions of the elementary grid
Analysis of the Nemunas River water levels obtained point. It constitutes 3–5% of the flow width.
on 2005.07.18 at the measurement points of the river sho- Roughness coefficients for different stretches of the
wed that a flux wave travelling from the HPP reaches the river between measurement points were calculated dur-
Aleksotas Bridge after approx 2 hours and 30 minutes. It ing the calibration procedure of the hydrodynamic mod-
was established that the wave motion velocity weakly de- el. Their values ranged from 0.022 to 0.028, considering
pends or does not depend at all on the change in turbine the guides and their recommended values for typical riv-
water discharges. For example, when HPP turbine water ers without vegetation. According to our previous studies,
discharge increased from 127 to 277 m3/s on 2005.07.11, roughness coefficients in the lower stretches of the Ne-
the flux wave reached the Aleksotas Bridge after 2 hours munas River were larger – 0.028 to 0.032. Flow velocities
and 20 minutes (Fig. 7), therefore this result falls within in the waterway of the river stretch under study do not
the measurement accuracy limits. exceed 1 m/s under one operational HPP turbine con-
Measurement results were used to calculate the aver- ditions. This value is close to actual flow velocity values
age motion velocity of a flux wave between the Kaunas HPP measured under similar conditions in our previous works
and the Aleksotas Bridge. It was found to be equal to 5.7 and with an exception of a few short river stretches near the
6.1 km/h on 2005.07.18 and 2005.07.11 respectively. Howev- measurement point below the Kaunas HPP and other at
er, wave motion velocities calculated using the values of water the Panemune Bridge. It can be presumed that in the giv-
discharges and water levels recorded at the HPP are not suf- en hydrodynamic model smaller values of roughness co-
ficiently accurate due to the reasons that were already men- efficients and greater values of calculated flow velocities
tioned. Wave motion velocity was calculated with a much in the above mentioned river stretches are observed due
greater accuracy in the second and third river stretches be- to inaccuracies in the DTM of the river bed. Bathymetry
tween the Panemune Bridge and Aleksotas Bridge where its inaccuracies revealed during this testing stage, in the au-
values were in the range between 6.2 and 7.6 km/h (Table 1). thors’ opinion, do not affect the modeling results of un-
Summarizing the results of measurements of the Ne- steady flow in comparatively short river stretches, howev-
munas River water level dynamics it can be concluded er, in the future bathymetrical measurements of distinct
that the results of such measurements can be used for an river stretches should be carried out with greater accuracy.
approximate establishment of the general regularities of During the model calibrating procedure the authors mod-
unsteady water flow in the downstream reach of the HPP eled an unsteady flow with one operational HPP turbine
under normal operation conditions. However, they can- until 2005.07.18, 7:00 hrs. Starting from this moment the
not be used to predict the outcome of extreme situations authors calculated the 1st stage of unsteady water flow us-
such as HPP accidents or spring floods. In these cases ing the schedule of Monday HPP turbine operation. In this
more elaborate methods of hydrodynamic investigation stage the water discharge hydrograph at the upper open
are required. boundary of the model was set using the actual HPP water
discharges of that day. Calculations were performed with
the hydrodynamic model for each time step and the values
of unsteady flow velocities and water levels in the whole
river reach area were obtained. These results were used in
graphs representing the dynamics of water levels at the riv-
er measurement points (Fig. 1). Figs 7, 8 uses the following
abbreviations: “(meas)” – measured water levels; “(sim)” –
simulated water levels; “WL below HPP” – water level in
the downstream reach of the HPP; “Panem. t.” – water level
at the Panemune Bridge; “R-way. b.” – water level at the
Railway Bridge; “Aleks. b.” – water level at the Aleksotas
Bridge; “Q(HPP)” – HPP water discharges.
Fig. 6. Relationship between the height of the flux wave induced In the graphs the water level dynamics simula-
by the HPP and the water level rising intensity ted using the hydrodynamic model match the actual
The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering, 2014, 9(3): 215–224 221

measurement results during the flux wave rising phase at shift errors – up to 35 minutes. At the other measurement
the measurement points, errors do not exceed 10 cm. Ho- points the modeling results were rather accurate (Fig. 8).
wever, the flux wave phase calculated in the model begins More accurate actual graphs of water discharge dy-
much earlier (1.05–2 hours) than it was actually obtained namics would fit the purpose of model calibrating much
in the river at all measurement points, except at the Alek- better. However, in this work the modeling of unsteady
sotas Bridge where the occurrence of water level dynamics flow phenomena with MIKE 21 programs was conducted
established at the lower open boundary using measure- for the first time and this method proved itself useful. It
ment results can be observed. After several successive tri- has many important advantages over other investigation
als of the model the authors managed to obtain the tidal methods and allows to establish and analyze various cons-
wave water level results that matched the actual measure-
tantly changing hydraulic characteristics of water flow at
ment data rather well (Fig. 7).
any point of river reach area (within the boundaries of the
The operational period of all 4 HPP turbines was
grid) and at any moment of time, therefore it allows to bet-
extended in the model, however, the values of HPP water
discharges in the water discharge graph Q (mod) remained ter understand rather complex unsteady flow phenomena.
unchanged. The calculated water level dynamics fit the re-
5. The local scour of Railway Bridge abutment
sults of water level measurements during the wave rising
phase rather well, errors are less than 10 cm. However, lar- Operation of the Kaunas HPP turbines and increase in
ger errors of the hydrodynamic model were still observed their water discharge cause a flux wave (Fig. 9) which af-
during the reflux: water level errors reached 30 cm and time ter 1.5–2 hours reaches the Railway Bridge. From this

Fig. 7. Comparison of actual measurements of Kaunas HPP impact on the Nemunas river water levels and results obtained from
the 1st stage of the model

Fig. 8. Comparison of actual measurements of Kaunas HPP impact on the Nemunas River water levels and results obtained from
the 2nd stage of the model
222 A. Šikšnys et al. Numerical and Field Investigations of Local Bridge Abutment...

results showed that this difference is related to the dura-

tion of HPP turbines operation: if all the 4 turbines oper-
ated non-stop not for 2 hours but for more than 6–7 hours,
the height of flux wave, illustrated in Fig. 9, would be sig-
nificantly larger and would reach the height of 1.8 m.
The abutment scour duration was estimated from the
initial scour depth h = 0.69 m which stabilizes at the mini-
mum river water discharge, i.e., under the operation of 1
Kaunas HPP turbine for a sufficiently long time.
Relationship between the maximum depth of abut-
ment scour (h), the steady Nemunas River flow discharge
(Q) and the average diameter of bottom soil particles (d) is
given in Fig. 10. The graph shows that under the operation
Fig. 9. Changes in the flow velocities V0 at the second abutment of all HPP turbines for a sufficiently long time no bridge
of Railway Bridge due to the increase in the number of operating scour would occur if the average diameter of the bottom
turbines from 1 to 2 (V1–2), from 1 to 3 (V1–3) and from 1 to soil particles was > 20 mm. Even when the maximum water
4 (V1–4) discharges of spring floods are passed by the HPP dam, the
abutment scour in this case would not reach 1 m. However,
when soils at the bridge abutment are sensitive to scouring
the depth of scour under the extreme conditions of spring
floods may cause danger to the stability of bridge abut-
ments.
Time factor is not of less importance to the bridge
abutment scour. The mean multi-year water discharge in
the Nemunas River (260 m3/s) is about two times less than
the total discharge of all 4 turbines of the Kaunas HPP, the-
refore the number of the most frequently operating tur-
bines is increased only during the “peak” electricity con-
sumption hours, and under conditions of dry period this
lasts for several hours per day only (Fig. 2).
Due to irregular operation of the Kaunas HPP turbi-
Fig. 10. The depth and duration of the local scour at the second nes, the depth of bridge abutment scour has been conti-
abutment of Railway Bridge before stabilization nuously changing: with the increasing water discharge, the
flow velocities and water level the bridge abutment is scou-
moment the flow velocities start to rapidly increase and red out, and with the decreasing water discharge and velo-
stabilize after 4–6 hours (Fig. 10). cities the scour hole is once again sanded-up. The largest
At the same time the water levels have been corre- scour depths could be achieved in case of the continuous
spondingly increasing (Fig. 9) as well as the flow depths operation of 4 HPP turbines for a longer period than
before bridge abutment until reaching their maximum val- 3  days. To determine the time factor, based on formulas
ues (Table 2). To compare the changes in water levels (i.e., (4) and (5) the dependence of the bridge abutment scour
the heights of flux wave) measured at the Railway Bridge depth on time was estimated and represented graphically
and reaching almost 1.0 m (Fig. 10) with the changes in when during the operation of 1 turbine all the 4 turbines
flow depth at the bridge abutment H (2.88–1.02 = 1.86 m) are switched on at the same time (Fig. 11).
determined in the model, it is obvious that the heights of Comparison of the measurement results of water lev-
flux wave in both cases differ. Hydrodynamic modeling els (Fig. 2), durations (Table 2) of the maximum bridge

Table 2. Estimation results of the maximum depth and duration of bridge abutment scour (d = 0.2 mm)

Number of operating Water discharge of Flow depth Non-scouring Flow Scour depth after Scour
HPP turbines and the Kaunas HPP Q, H, flow velocity V0, velocity V, stabilization h, duration τ,
flood probability m3/s m m/s m/s m h
1 120 1.02 0.44 0.46 0.69 –
2 240 1.84 0.45 0.61 2.01 162.4
3 360 2.4 0.46 0.72 2.81 109.7
4 480 2.88 0.48 0.84 3.36 72.1
10% 1752 6.74 0.51 1.14 5.90 27.3
The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering, 2014, 9(3): 215–224 223

abutment scour (before stabilization) and dependence of

scour depth on time (Fig. 11) showed that the depths of
bridge abutment scour usually do not reach their maxi-
mum values estimated in Table 2. A more threatening sit-
uation from this point of view can occur under flooding
conditions. When water discharges, velocities and depths
of the flow increase several times, the flood lasts for sev-
eral days then the processes of local scour of the riverbed
become very intensive and the abutment scour can reach
maximum values (Fig. 10).
The scour of one bridge abutment under the conditions
of unsteady water flow studied in this paper in a simplified Fig. 11. Dynamics of the bridge abutment scour depth in
way does not reflect a variety of this complicated process Kaunas HPP after switching on 4 turbines (d = 0.2 mm)
and all its influencing factors, the obtained modeling and
estimation results only illustrate the main scour regularities 7. A technical condition of bridge abutments should
and the related threats. For example, in summer 1987 the be controlled systematically and after each larger flood.
measured depth of the local scour of the second abutment of
the Railway Bridge was about 2.5 m, thus, it is probable that References
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