ICE - Institution of Civil Engineers - Virtual Library

• Introduction

• Response group descriptions

• Governance, costs and standards of service

• Flood risk multipliers under the Foresight scenarios

• Sustainability

• Summary

• References

• Thames Road Bridges

• Thames Rail Bridges

• 1. Dagenham Breach

• 2. Woolwich Ferry and Foot Tunnel

• 3. The Thames Flood Barrier

• 4. The Blackwall Tunnels

• 5. Greenwich Foot Tunnel

• 6. Rotherhithe Tunnel

• 7. The Thames Tunnel

• 8. Tower Bridge

• 9. The Tower Subway

• 10. London Bridge

• 11. Cannon Street Bridge

• 12. Southwark Bridge

• 13. Blackfriars Rail Bridges

• 14. Blackfriars Bridge

• 15. Victoria Embankment

• 16. Waterloo Bridge

• 17. Cleopatra's Needle

• 18. Hungerford Suspension Bridge

• 19. Charing Cross (Hungerford) Rail Bridge

• 20. Westminster Bridge

• 21. The Albert Embankment

• 22. Grosvenor (Victoria) Bridge

• 23. Chelsea Suspension Bridge

• 24. Chelsea Embankment

• 25. Albert Bridge

• 26. Hammersmith Bridge

• 27. Barnes Rail Bridge

• 28. Chiswick Bridge

• 29. Kew Rail Bridge

• 30. Brentford Dock and Augustus Way Bridge

• 31. Footbridge, Syon Park, Isleworth

• 32. Richmond Sluice and Half-Tide Lock

• 33. Twickenham Bridge

• 34. Teddington Lock and Weir

• 35. Kingston Bridge

• 36. Chertsey Bridge

• 37. Staines Bridge

The increased demand for materials for flood and coastal defences as sea levels rise and rainfall increases should be reflected by a sustainable use of natural resources. Recycled and secondary materials offer significant potential to reduce the demand for primary materials, but the way in which this is done in a sensitive water environment will be of interest to the whole of the construction industry. The paper examines five criteria that should influence choices between materials options for projects: whole-life costs, technical efficacy, impact on the local environment, environmental impact of materials production and procurement policy. The latter is examined in the context of the sensitivity of the procurement of tropical hardwoods, which are in particular demand because of their durability. A case example is given of the reconstruction of the fire-damaged Southend Pier in which reclaimed tropical hardwoods were imported from the Netherlands for most of the work. Finally, two examples of the reuse of tyres in baled form are examined. One example looks at the technical advantages of using these recycled materials in a flood embankment project and the other at a pilot project to examine and try to allay concerns about leachates from the tyre material.

This informative manual has been designed to provide guidance on the principal issues surrounding the use of timber in coastal and river engineering.

For centuries timber has traditionally been used for the construction of a wide range of coastal and river structures including: groynes, jetties, lock gates, navigation aids and riverbank protection. It is an attractive choice of construction material because it is renewable, is easy to use, repair and recycle, has a high strength/weight ratio and is visually appealing.

As a result of damage and failures due to undermining of foundations and the blockage of water flow caused by sediment aggradation downstream of scour holes, scour in hydraulic engineering has become an important issue in recent decades. This paper presents recent research on: (a) plunge pool scour in which a variety of effects were investigated; (b) bridge piers for which spatial and temporal scour development was described using particle image velocimetry for a test case; (c) the failure of riprap-protected spur dykes in a straight river reach. In all three fields, the main features of scour are described based on similitude according to Froude—that is, using the densimetric Froude number of the approach flow as the dominant parameter. The large number of parameters involved were controlled with suitable experimental setups allowing for the determination of the governing effects of a scour problem. Results are presented that readily apply to river engineering problems.

River engineers commonly need to predict sediment transport rates in the absence of adequate field data, and so make frequent use of numerical sediment transport models. This paper compares the performance of two such computer models for the prediction of graded sediment transport. The intention is to inform model users of the level of accuracy that can be expected for typical applications. One model uses the Parker bedload transport equation and the other uses the Meyer-Peter and Müller sediment transport formula modified for use with graded sediments. The computer model predictions are compared with detailed experimental data collected for the purpose of computer model validation. The Meyer-Peter and Müller-based model produces better predictions of sediment transport rates, whereas the Parker-based model performs better in terms of the grain sizes of both the bedload and the bed material. These results illustrate the limitations of present models and indicate areas requiring further investigation.

The inaccuracy, and prohibitive field costs, involved in the evaluation of mixing coefficients severely limit the predictive capabilities of water quality models. This paper examines the traditional method of evaluating transverse mixing coefficients from field measurements and suggests a new simplified method of evaluation with significantly reduced data requirements. Results are presented from a series of laboratory experiments conducted on a large-scale test facility. Two planform configurations were tested—a straight and a meander channel. Both channels were of trapezoidal cross-section. Velocity measurements are presented together with the results of tracer studies conducted from continuous point source releases.Transverse mixing coefficients have been evaluated using both the traditional method of moments and the new method. The new method is shown to be a viable technique to obtain estimates of transverse mixing coefficients. The results highlight the impact of planform curvature on the rate of transverse mixing. The longitudinal location of a release with respect to a curvature is shown to be critical to the rate of transverse mixing.

A study was conducted to determine how the tailwater depth beneath a free-falling water jet affects the dimensions of local scour. Available data on scouring in uniform bed material due to circular and rectangular outflow jets were compiled and analysed. It was found that the scour hole geometry (i.e. maximum depth of scour, width of scour hole, length of scour hole and height of ridge formed downstream of the scour hole) is a function of the densimetric Froude number and the ratio of tailwater depth to drop height. The effect of tailwater on scour was investigated and limiting values for tailwater are introduced. It was observed that at low values of tailwater depth, increasing tailwater depth is associated with increasing scour hole dimensions, while at high values of tailwater depth the reverse trend occurs. For low tailwater conditions, the densimetric Froude number has little or no effect on the ridge height downstream of the scour hole, which is affected only by tailwater depth. New empirical equations for the prediction of scour hole geometry and ridge height are presented.