Experimental Study on Scours Downstream of Floodgates

The river reach downstream of a floodgate at the estuary of the Xinyihe River is about 1.3kmlong.and the riverbed is composed of clotty clay.In the experiment,soil samples are taken from the con-struction site,and the incipient velocity is determined in a laboratory flume,and it is used to design thescour model and to select model sand material.The experimental results show that scours below thefloodgate is unavoidable due to large discharge and low tidal level.Scours is caused by two factors:the rap-id flow passing though the floodgate and the water drop near the river mouth during low tide.and thescour below the floodgate is more critical to the structural design.It is suggested that anti-scour wallsshould be used instead of riprap.The ideas and methods adopted in the experiment can be used asreference in the study on river scour under similar conditions.