Spotlight: Scour Assessment and Protection Surveys

Scour surveys are imperative for the Rail Industry to keep their infrastructure in full working order. Often, damage or wear and tear to assets such as railway bridges can go unnoticed if it is below the waterline, so surveys need to be carried out to assess the damage and make recommendations for repair. 
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In order to gain a clear picture about the health of a railway structure such as a bridge, a Scour Assessment Survey is needed. The survey will be conducted across various parts of the bridge as well as upstream and downstream of the structure. The survey will produce upstream and downstream cross sections, bed levels and photographs to enable hydrological models, depth and flow velocities to be calculated.

The results of this survey will produce an ‘at risk’ rating of low, medium or high and, if medium or high, a more extensive Scour Protection Survey may be required in order to inform the repairs that will need to be made to the bridge. This Scour Protection Survey is designed to be more in-depth and will include upstream and downstream elevations/cross sections, full Topo of bed levels, location of any coring, hydraulic modelling of the watercourse and photographs. 
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Unlike land or building surveys, scour surveys are more complex because data needs to be collected above and below the waterline, which involves the use of a number of pieces of equipment and diversely trained Surveyors.

At Grantham Coates Surveys we have years of experience in conducting surveys for Scour Protection and our team are trained to carry out surveys in conditions that can be tricky and ever-changing. We use the latest laser scanning technology to collect bridge elevations, abutments and pier details quickly and effectively, whilst our boat team can be deployed with an underwater sonar to capture point cloud data of the bed levels and everything that cannot be seen just by wading; such as submerged posts, undercutting of abutments and bed materials.

When the Scour Protection is complete, the data is used to create detailed 3D drawings of the state of the bridge above and below the waterline so that design and build work can be informed and planned. Without Scour Assessment and Protection Surveys, damage to rail infrastructure caused by flooding and unpredictable weather could go completely unnoticed until it is too late, so form an essential part of rail infrastructure maintenance.

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