Estimating scouring in meanders: which formulas for which context? Application to riverbank stabilisation using soil and water bioengineering
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Abstract
Erosion is essential to the proper functioning of watercourses. However, when the assets are high and cannot be moved, it may be necessary to fix the banks with protective structures. In addition to offering a degree of resilience in the face of flood and landslide hazards, soil and water bioengineering techniques have the advantage over civil engineering of preserving or enhancing biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. In practice, these techniques are mainly designed empirically by experts and promoted by feedback analyses. This study focuses on the phenomenon of meander scouring, a key process leading to the destabilization of these structures. An analysis of the existing literature has resulted in the compilation of eleven formulas, each offering a method for estimating scour depth. Their respective fields of application cover a wide spectrum of hydromorphological contexts where meanders may be present. This article presents a summary of the formulas listed, their origins, specific features and limits of application. A calculation tool, available online (Fructus et al., 2025), for applying the formulas, supplements it. Estimated scour depths, always coupled with field observations, enable a more informed and qualitative design of soil and water bioengineering structures implemented in meanders. To limit the effects of scouring on the structures, it is then possible to adjust the structure bottom level and anchoring technique, for example by modifying the length of the fascine piles, or by creating dead-wood structures underneath the lowest level of bank shrubby vegetation recovery.