Fragility of a Weir Structure due to Scouring

Abstract

In recent years, several catastrophic flooding accidents have occurred at critical facilities. The Arkema chemical plant in Texas suffered chemical explosion because hurricane Harvey related flooding resulted in a loss of power supply. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster occurred due to loss of external and backup power supplies following the tsunami induced flooding. In order to prevent flooding at such critical and toxic facilities, flood protection systems such as weir structures or floodwalls are being planned or have been constructed. The risk of flooding at critical facilities which are located on the downstream side of a flood defense structure is directly related to the fragility of flood defense structure. All the flood defense structures are subjected to scour around their foundations. The stability of the foundation is endangered when the scour depth becomes significant at the downstream toe. This paper explores the effect of scouring on the fragility of a concrete weir structure.