The Utah Department of Transportation commissioned a study to determine whether or not shallow-flow rock structures could reliably be used at bridge abutments in place of riprap. Research was conducted in a two-phase effort beginning with numerical modeling and ending with field verification of model findings. As part of phase one, two finite element meshes were created in Surface-water Modeling Software (SMS) and analyzed with FESWMS-2DH. Second, field studies were conducted and a preliminary database was developed to track field studies conducted on 98 shallow-flow rock structures in Utah. Data organization in ArcGIS® and Microsoft Access® is presented followed by instructions on how to use the database. Both numerical model and field research results indicate that shallow-flow rock structures are not viable scour countermeasures at bridges.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Utah Department of Transportation commissioned a study to determine whether or not shallow-flow rock structures could reliably be used at bridge abutments in place of riprap. Research was conducted in a two-phase effort beginning with numerical modeling and ending with field verification of model findings. As part of phase one, two finite element meshes were created in Surface-water Modeling Software (SMS) and analyzed with FESWMS-2DH. Second, field studies were conducted and a preliminary database was developed to track field studies conducted on 98 shallow-flow rock structures in Utah. Data organization in ArcGIS® and Microsoft Access® is presented followed by instructions on how to use the database. Both numerical model and field research results indicate that shallow-flow rock structures are not viable scour countermeasures at bridges.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dahle, Benjamin P."],"institution":"Brigham Young University - Provo","degree_name":"MS","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:29:20Z","subjects":["vanes","bendway weir","scour","cross-vane","j-hook","wier","Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1481","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dahle, Benjamin P."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2008-07-16T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Brigham Young University - Provo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["vanes","bendway weir","scour","cross-vane","j-hook","wier","Civil and Environmental Engineering"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1481","https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/etd/article/2480/viewcontent/ETD_CISOPTR_1485.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology; Civil and Environmental Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Utah Department of Transportation commissioned a study to determine whether or not shallow-flow rock structures could reliably be used at bridge abutments in place of riprap. Research was conducted in a two-phase effort beginning with numerical modeling and ending with field verification of model findings. As part of phase one, two finite element meshes were created in Surface-water Modeling Software (SMS) and analyzed with FESWMS-2DH. Second, field studies were conducted and a preliminary database was developed to track field studies conducted on 98 shallow-flow rock structures in Utah. Data organization in ArcGIS® and Microsoft Access® is presented followed by instructions on how to use the database. Both numerical model and field research results indicate that shallow-flow rock structures are not viable scour countermeasures at bridges.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application:pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Brigham Young University - Provo"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Evaluating Shallow-Flow Rock Structures as Scour Countermeasures at Bridges"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Dahle, Benjamin P."],"dc:date":["2008-07-16T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology; Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Utah Department of Transportation commissioned a study to determine whether or not shallow-flow rock structures could reliably be used at bridge abutments in place of riprap. Research was conducted in a two-phase effort beginning with numerical modeling and ending with field verification of model findings. As part of phase one, two finite element meshes were created in Surface-water Modeling Software (SMS) and analyzed with FESWMS-2DH. Second, field studies were conducted and a preliminary database was developed to track field studies conducted on 98 shallow-flow rock structures in Utah. Data organization in ArcGIS® and Microsoft Access® is presented followed by instructions on how to use the database. Both numerical model and field research results indicate that shallow-flow rock structures are not viable scour countermeasures at bridges.
"],"dc:format":["application:pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1481","https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/etd/article/2480/viewcontent/ETD_CISOPTR_1485.pdf"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["Brigham Young University - Provo"],"dc:source":["Brigham Young University - Provo"],"dc:subject":["vanes","bendway weir","scour","cross-vane","j-hook","wier","Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"dc:title":["Evaluating Shallow-Flow Rock Structures as Scour Countermeasures at Bridges"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:29:20Z"}