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Joseph R. Olimpio

Publications and source records attributed to Joseph R. Olimpio.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2000

Use of a ground-penetrating radar system to detect pre- and post-flood scour at selected bridge sites in New Hampshire, 1996-98

Ground-penetrating radar was used to measure the depth and extent of existing and infilled scour holes and previous scour surfaces at seven bridges in New Hampshire from April 1996 to November 1998. Ground-penetrating-radar survey techniques initially were used by the U.S. Geological Survey to study streambed scour at 30 bridges. Sixteen of the 30 bridges were re-surveyed where floods exceeded a 2-year recurrence interval. A 300-megahertz signal was used in the ground-penetrating radar system that penetrated through depths as great as 20 feet of water and as great as 32 feet of streambed materials. Existing scour-hole dimensions, infilled thickness, previous scour surfaces, and streambed materials were detected using ground-penetrating radar. Depths to riprap materials and pier footings were identified and verified with bridge plans. Post data-collection-processing techniques were applied to assist in the interpretation of the data, and the processed data were displayed and printed as line plots. Processing included distance normalization, migration, and filtering but processing was kept to a minimum and some interference from multiple reflections was left in the record. Of the 16 post-flood bridges, 22 ground-penetrating-radar cross sections at 7 bridges were compared and presented in this report. Existing scour holes were detected during 1996 (pre-flood) data collection in nine cross sections where scour depths ranged from 1 to 3 feet. New scour holes were detected during 1998 (post-flood) data collection in four cross sections where scour depths were as great as 4 feet deep. Infilled scour holes were detected in seven cross sections, where depths of infilling ranged from less than 1 to 4 feet. Depth of infilling by means of steel rod and hammer was difficult to verify in the field because of cobble and boulder streambeds or deep water. Previous scour surfaces in streambed materials were identified in 15 cross sections and the depths to these surfaces ranged from 1 to 10 feet below the streambed. Riprap materials or pier footings were identified in all cross sections. Calculated record depths generally agree with bridge plans. Pier footings were exposed at two bridges and steel pile was exposed at one bridge. Exposures were verified by field observations.

New Hampshire↗
USGS2000

Evaluation of pier-scour measurement methods and pier-scour predictions with observed scour measurements at selected bridge sites in New Hampshire, 1995-98

In a previous study, 44 of 48 bridge sites examined in New Hampshire were categorized as scour critical. In this study, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) evaluated pier-scour measurement methods and predictions at many of these sites. This evaluation included measurement of pier-scour depths at 20 bridge sites using Ground- Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys. Pier scour was also measured during floods by teams at 5 of these 20 sites. At 4 of the 20 sites, fixed instruments were installed to monitor scour. At only one bridge site investigated by a team was any pier scour measurable during a flood event. A scour depth of 0.7 foot (0.21 m) was measured at a pier in the channel at the State Route 18 bridge over the Connecticut River in Littleton. Measurements made using GPR and (or) fixed instruments indicated pier scour for six sites. The GPR surveys indicated scour along the side of a pier and further upstream from the nose of a pier that was not detected by flood-team measurements at two sites. Most pier-scour equations selected for this examination were reviewed and published in previous scour investigations. Graphical comparison of residual pier-scour depths indicate that the Shen equation yielded pier-scour depth predictions closest to those measured, without underestimating. Measured depths of scour, however, were zero feet for 14 of the 20 sites. For the Blench-Inglis II equation and the Simplified Chinese equation, most differences between measured and predicted scour depths were within 5 feet. These two equations underpredicted scour for one of six sites with measurable scour. The underprediction, however, was within the resolution of the depth measurements. The Simplified Chinese equation is less sensitive than other equations to velocity and depth input variables, and is one of the few empirical equations to integrate the influence of flow competence, or a measure of the maximum streambed particle size that a stream is capable of transporting, in the computation of pier scour. Absence of a flow-competence component could explain some of the overprediction by other equations, but was not investigated in this study. Measurements of scour during large floods at additional sites are necessary to strengthen and substantiate the application of alternatives to the HEC-18 equation to estimate pier scour at waterway crossings in New Hampshire.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗