Análisis hidráulico de la socavación en puentes: Caso de estudio puente Arturo Sandez en Girón, Ecuador

The effects of damage to bridge infrastructure due to scour can lead to the collapse of structures, as evidenced by the collapse of the Arturo Sandez Street bridge in Ecuador. The objective of the study is to analyze the effects of scour on bridge infrastructure and propose corrective measures to prevent collapses. By combining hydrological, hydraulic and water-structure interaction modeling. Through a RTK (Real-Time Kinematic), a detailed topography essential for predicting geomorphological changes was achieved. In turn, the hydrological analysis of the basin was subdivided into 5 sub-basins that were simulated by the HEC-HMS program. For the hydraulic study, a depth of 4.18 meters was modeled in the HEC-RAS software, considering a modeling flow of 76.90 m³/s in a 50-year scenario. For the water-structure interaction, the ANSYS CFD program was used using finite volumes, where the areas that were most affected by the effects of scour on the infrastructure were determined. This article demonstrates the importance of integrated numerical modeling to mitigate the risk of bridge collapse in areas vulnerable to fluvial scour and facilitates the implementation of corrective actions with a mathematical model as a preventive tool in infrastructure management