Investıgatıon of scour at brıdge pıers over harsıt stream usıng HEC-RAS

In this thesis, three bridges located along the Harşit River within the city center of Gümüşhane were selected to investigate the processes of local scour and erosion around bridge piers. Scour around bridge foundations is one of the major causes of structural damage in river engineering, making it a critical factor for the safety and service life of bridges. For this purpose, the study area was numerically modeled using the HEC-RAS 6.5 software, and the hydrodynamic behavior of the flow around bridge piers was analyzed. Different discharge scenarios, seasonal flow variations, and the influence of bridge geometry on scour were evaluated. In addition, sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the model's response to changes in geometric and hydraulic parameters. The results indicated that scour depth varies significantly with seasonal discharge conditions and that bridge geometry plays a decisive role in the development of scour. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to engineering practices by providing insights into predicting scour risks and ensuring safer bridge design in river environments.