Hydraulics Laboratory Activities

Activities at the Federal Highway Administration's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory include elements of physical and numerical experimentation, data analysis, and implementation of new laboratory capabilities.

Experiments

Current

• Optimum Bridge Deck Shapes to Minimize Pressure Flow Scour Phase II
• Drag and Lift Forces Phase II
• Effects of Water Flow and Shaking on Scouring of Bridge Piers Phase
• Laboratory Experiments to Determine Wave Forces and Moments on Typical US Highway Bridge Decks
• Pier Scour Countermeasures Using Fluidic Devices

Pending

• Scour in Cohesive Soils Phase I
• Pier Scour Countermeasures Using Fluidic Devices
• In situ (field) Scour potential Testing Device using a Vertical Jet
• Fish Passage in Large Culverts with Low Flows

Completed

• Junction Loss Experiments (06/06)
• "Bottomless" Culverts (05/06)
• Effects of Inlet Geometry on Flow Capacity of Single and Multiple Barrel Box Culverts (South Dakota DOT) (10/05)

Future

• Pressure Flow Scour for Live Bed Conditions (Using a Sediment Recirculating Flume)
• Scour in Cohesive Soils Phase II
• EFA (Erosion Function Apparatus) Testing
• Reevaluation of the Adjustment Factor for Coarse Bed Material Under Live Bed Scour Condition
• Ship Collision Forces on Bridge Piers
• Buoyancy Forces on Culverts

Analysis

• Abutment Scour Analysis
• Scour Countermeasures

Capabilities

• Hydrogen Bubble Technique
• Automation
• 2-D (2 Dimensional) Particle Imagery Velocimetry (PIV)
• 3-D (3 Dimensional) PIV
• 3-C (3 Component) 3-D PIV (Real 3-D PIV)
• OPM (Optimal Pressure Measurement)