Riprap Design for Overtopping - Man Do I Need a Martini!

Riprap remains one of the most common and cost-effective means of providing erosion protection, structure stability, and slope stabilization from overtopping flow conditions. Currently, at least twenty-four riprap design relationships and/or synthesis procedures have been formulated since 1936 for sizing stone riprap. Most of these relationships were derived from a limited empirical database extending over a relatively small range of boundary conditions; each expression often targeted for a specific use or application. Commonly, designers extrapolate a stone-sizing relationship beyond the boundary conditions of development to determine an appropriate stone size to resist stone movement, particularly for median sizes greater than 10 in. The intent of this presentation is to highlight the twenty-four relationships/procedures currently available for designer consideration and provide a “road map” for their specific use and/or application for angular stone.