Scour Hole Problems Experienced by the Corps of Engineers; Data Presentation and Summary

Abstract : The hydromechanics involved in scour hole development encompass many interrelated process. Singularly, some of these processes are well understood and often quantifiable (tides, tidal currents, and waves). Other processes such as sediment transport and wave/current/structure interactions are less understood but perhaps just as important in scour hole development. Why does a scour hole form a tip of one jetty (of a two-jetty system) and not at the other, such as at Indian River Inlet, Delaware? Why do scour holes develop on the outside of a jetty's trunk, such as at Suislaw? Why does scour occur adjacent to an inner section of jetty, along the throat, such as at Little River Inlet, South Carolina. Is scour a manifestation of an unstable inlet.