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Extent of stabilized streambed region by alkaline activated cement around bridge piers and abutments in clear water condition
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  • Published: 15 February 2026

Extent of stabilized streambed region by alkaline activated cement around bridge piers and abutments in clear water condition

  • Abbas Ghaedi Haghighi1,
  • Amir Reza Zarrati1,
  • Mojtaba Karimaei Tabarestani2 &
  • …
  • Seyed Mohammad Fattahi1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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Subjects

  • Civil engineering
  • Hydrology

Abstract

Bridge scour remains one of the leading causes of hydraulic failure in bridge foundations, posing severe economic and safety risks. Conventional countermeasures such as riprap may be costly, while Portland cement raises sustainability concerns. This study investigates the use of Alkaline-Activated Cement (AAC) as an innovative and eco-friendly stabilization method to determine the optimal extent of treated streambeds around cylindrical and rectangular piers, as well as wing-wall and vertical-wall abutments. Laboratory flume experiments were conducted under flow intensities of 0.75 and 0.9, with trial-and-error testing applied to establish effective protection geometries. Results show that with the AAC optimal extent found in each case, maximum scour depths reduced by 70–80% compared to untreated conditions and successfully shifted scour holes downstream without compromising stability. The findings highlight AAC-treated streambeds as a practical and sustainable countermeasure for bridge scour, while also underscoring the need for further research on the influence of flow angle of attack, Froude number, and live-bed conditions to refine design guidelines.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Abbreviations

A:

Necessary treated extent area in plan in order to control the scouring

Bawi :

Internal width of wing-wall abutment

Bawo :

External width of wing-wall abutment

Bp :

Width of rectangular bridge pier

Bav :

Width of vertical-wall abutment

\(\:{d}_{16}\) :

Diameter for which 16% by mass of sediment is finer

\(\:{d}_{50}\) :

Diameter for which 50% by mass of sediment is finer

\(\:{d}_{84}\) :

Diameter for which 84% by mass of sediment is finer

dsp :

Depth of maximum scour hole at downstream of treated area

dsu :

Depth of maximum scour hole around bridge pier and abutment

\((d_(\rm su) - d_(\rm sp)/d_(\rm su) )\) :

The ratio of scouring depth formed downstream of AAC-treated area in respect to the maximum scouring that occurs in the absence of protection

emax :

Maximum void ratio of sediments

emin :

Minimum void ratio of sediments

Fr :

Froude number

Gs :

Specific gravity of the sediment particles

h:

Approach flow depth

Lp :

Length of rectangular bridge pier

La :

Length of abutment

Lu :

Length of treated area at upstream

Ld :

Length of treated area at downstream

Ls :

Length of scour hole at the downstream of treated area

\(\:{u}_{*}\) :

Shear velocity of upstream flow

\(\:{u}_{*c}\) :

Critical shear velocity of bed material

W:

Width of treated area

\(\rho\) :

Mass density of water

\(\sigma_g\) :

Shear velocity of upstream flow

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Funding

This research received no funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, No. 424, Hafez Ave, Tehran, 15914, Iran

    Abbas Ghaedi Haghighi, Amir Reza Zarrati & Seyed Mohammad Fattahi

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran

    Mojtaba Karimaei Tabarestani

Authors
  1. Abbas Ghaedi Haghighi
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  2. Amir Reza Zarrati
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Contributions

Ghaedi Haghighi: Conducted the experiments and analyzed the results as well as writing the draft of the paper Zarrati: Analyzed the results, Edited and wrote the paper Karimaei Tabarestani: Analyzed the results, edited the paper Fattahi: Analyzed the results involving the treatment of the streambed, editing the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amir Reza Zarrati.

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Ghaedi Haghighi, A., Zarrati, A., Karimaei Tabarestani, M. et al. Extent of stabilized streambed region by alkaline activated cement around bridge piers and abutments in clear water condition. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40143-z

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  • Received: 23 May 2025

  • Accepted: 10 February 2026

  • Published: 15 February 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40143-z

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Keywords

  • Bridge pier scour
  • Abutment scour
  • Extent of scour protection
  • Soil treatment
  • Alkaline-Activated cement (AAC)
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